Bullion purchases

Are the copper 1 Troy oz bars worth investing in?

Thanks
Frank

 

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no

 

Not worth much.

 

So what is worth investing in?

 

Whats worth investing in?

 

The lists of what is and what is not worth investing in are both very long.
Much too long to go into here.
They also over-lap.

 

You can get an ounce of copper for less than 10 cents. Don't pay ridiculous premiums for "copper bullion"... pre 1982 pennies are made of 95% copper.

 

No

 

Diverse portfolios of holdings with long (10 years at a minimum) track records of success.

 

As others have pointed out, the copper bullion coins are not a good investment. There are two good reasons for this:

1. Copper is not a precious metal.
2. The copper bullion coins carry a huge premium that you will likely not be able to recover when you sell them.

When you want to buy any sort of metal for an investment, then you want to find a way to buy that metal as close as possible to it's melt value. If you want to stock up on copper, then the best way to do that right now is to buy pennies because the copper contained in pre-1982 pennies is worth more than face value. True, you cannot legally melt them down for their copper, but someday... In the meantime, they are worth at least $0.01, but it isn't too hard to find people who are willing to pay $0.015 or $0.02 for them.

If you have a way to get them in bulk, Canadian pennies are even better. They were making them with 98% copper through 1996.

Had you used the word "collecting" instead of "investing", I'd say if you like them and they are worth the price, then I'd say go for it. But don't buy them for their copper content as an investment.

 

^ what he said.

If you like the looks, the design, and you want to own it just because you like it and think it's nice, then go right ahead.

As for an investment, no, they're horribly overpriced for the pure bullion value. At best you're paying $16/lb for the rounds, whereas copper scrap for melt is under $4/lb right now.

 

Gold and Silver bullion close to spot value.

If you are intent on copper bullion, I'd suggest either buying already sorted pre 1982 pennies or sorting them yourself. If you buy them already presorted you should be able to buy it well under melt.

 

I think the copper rounds are kinda cute, but let's face it .....they ARE just a gimmick.

But for a buck a piece you could do a lot worse buying gimmicks (at least its not colorized!!!!)

 

Only if you wanted to help fund some future college tuition (note that I said help, probably not by much, perhaps pay for their meal vouchers at the campus cafeteria) say maybe, 10-12 generations away, in the year 2200.

 

I buy mainly world gold and silver coin issues' around spot price who knows one day they could even get numi value increase like we have seen with Chinese coins. I personally stay away from bullions'.

 

The premiums tend to be high percentage wise.
I have a couple hundred pounds of wire copper shot chops in bags. Each bag weighs in about 10 pounds. I use to buy in #60 pound shipments in a USPS flag rate box.

I happen to like the copper shot. I would rather sell it than my coins when times get rough. I no longer buy the bars and rounds due to the extra prem over shot.

If Copper drops to the two dollar range, I will like load up on copper again.

 

Just like my Uncle Rick (rickmp) said - the list goes on and on and on!
But this is how I do mine (mind you, I am still learning myself) :

40% on pretax-401a (+ 100% matching 403b) and after-tax ROTH-IRA - I didn't put all into PM because of 100% return on 401a into 403b - Even better after 3 years vesting - it goes to 150% and they are all mine!

60% on precious metals (gold bullion, gold numismatic, silver bullion, silver numismatic and platinum numismatic) - I am thinking of expanding to palladium (waiting for American Palladium Eagle here so badly .... )
Of the PM investment; right now I put 40% on gold, 50% on on silver, and 10% on platinum in terms of dollar amount. When palladium comes, silver will get knock down to 40% and the 10% goes to palladium.

In near future, I am also planning to purchase a house - so the above percentage will vary accordingly.

Just keep in mind: do NOT put everything into a single basket!

 

I believe that there's a time coming when a lot of wealthy people will have to dump their collections (of all kinds) in order to maintain their standard of living, accepting fire-sale prices.

That sort of casts a pall over "investing" in coins, although I'd certainly want to be holding coins instead of baseball cards, Longaberger baskets, NASCAR stand-ups, or bobbleheads, etc., etc.

Everybody's going to head for the Exits at the same time, in the frantic search for liquidity. The amount of household wealth ALREADY lost in this country is staggering, but there's more downside to be dealt with.

"WASHINGTON — The typical American family lost nearly 40% of its wealth from 2007 to 2010 as the Great Recession reduced household net worth to a level not seen since the early 1990s.

The net worth of the median U.S. family — one with an equal number of families richer and poorer — fell to $77,300 in 2010 from $126,400 three years earlier, after adjusting for inflation, the Federal Reserve said in a new report Monday."

This lost wealth is never coming back. We blew it.

 

I agree on coins over baseball cards and others. Even though coin collecting isn't an investment - but in a way I personally think that it preserves your wealth. I used to buy useless designer clothes and latest gadgets, but in 2010 everything changed. I turned to 401/403 and PM.

On the other hand, what I am doing maybe bad for the economy??? On one hand, I am saving for my future but, on the other hand, I am spending less and less ...

 

Amen Doug444.
I wish you were not so prophetic. I feel you are right.

At Bio, we have never been real big on high fashion or high tech, but did travel, and give more away. It is scarey that fire sales are so clearly in the future. I have one pair of work/daily pants, a couple tops, one skirt, and several dressy outfits. That's about it. As I grow fatter, I only buy one or two items to wear - if I want to look fashionable again, it will be due to losing weight. Clothes just cost too much. I have had the same purse for over 10 years. It cost under $10 too.