Does anyone here actively collect colorized coins? Does the fact they are colorized make them more or less valuable or does it have no effect at all?
Altering a coin is damaging to it. Damaged coins are worth less, actually worthless in the view of many. Colorizing is simply a gimmick to attract unknowledgeable purchasers, who get a major shock when they try to peddle their pride and joy.
Along with what hontonai mentions, there is also a benefit I've seen where young kids are drawn to them because they "look cool" or different than the "change" they currently collect. As a result, they are interested in coin collecting in some fashion which holds their interest longer. Perhaps as they grow, they come to better appreciate un-altered coins as well. To your question, no I don't collect them but have bought them [the premium on them irks me to no end! ]. The coins themselves are less valuable than the unaltered ones, but the value I place on them isn't monetary - I get to hang with generation below me and share an interest.
OP, are you talking about painted silver eagles and such, or coins like the Perth Mint is putting out?
I haven't seen the ones from the Perth Mint yet. I was looking around the web last night and saw these and thought they looked interesting (though the prices seemed pretty high to me) http://www.mintproducts.com/colorized-coins/
Yeah, those are the type that have drawn warnings here. They are not the Perth Mint type products. If you like them, go for it, but don't buy them looking for profit or appreciation. They are damaged coins, colorized after leaving the mint.
Well, a benefit to colorized ASEs is that they can be bought for much less premium as bullion (at least at my local shop).
Just looked at the Perth Mint site a little. i think the coins look very cool, but again they seem pretty pricey. Please let me know if you disagree.
OP, I would say if you like color on coins, to only buy coins that left the mint with that color. Any color applied AFTER it left the mint is by definition damage and will lower its value. Look up Tuvalu coins, they have been making colorized coins for quite a while. They are pretty, just not my thing.
Personally, I like a bunch of the designs coming out from the Perth Mint and others, especially the Lunar Series and the Working Dog series of silver proofs. Yes, they are pricey compared to the bullion cost of silver, but in this case I'm buying for the like of the design, not the content of the material. For true bullion, I'm buying elsewhere where I can get the best spot deal. I own colorized ASE's and the kids really like them and think they're neat so I don't mind them, but don't go out of my way to acquire them. Bottom line, I agree with what Rick and Medoraman have said, buy it directly from a Mint that makes them that way. Anything else otherwise it's marketing and a waste of money you'll most likely not get back later.
Mr. Flute nails it! I have also bought colorized ASEs well below spot, and an all-day soak in acetone fixes them right up, for bullion, ALMOST as good as new.
I imagine a long soak in coin dip would do the trick as well. Get all of the color off of them, and send them right to the melting pot.
Or you could buy this one and pay just slightly over spot... http://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-1oz-Fi...61152530196?pt=Bullion_US&hash=item3ccde75f14 Hey, at least he's honest and funny about it!
Agree. While some of the coins look fairly cool, they'll have as much value in the future as a bottle cap collection. Unless someone forms a Colorized Coin Society (CCS) which has plenty of members! Even then though, the market would be extremely limited where some "might" recoup their costs but "most" would just lose money.
The RCM puts out some colorized coins now. I've never been a huge fan of them though. The non-PM ones can be had for fairly cheap, relatively speaking. I think there's a glow in the dark dinosaur series. Any PMD colorizing, of course, is stupid and worthless, as everybody's been saying.
That's like saying (thinking back to CT's controversial 1889-CC dollar), "it doesn't matter when the mint mark was put on..."
some colorized coins have pretty low mintage especially the lunar series. i think they are pretty ugly but they sell very well, at least as well as their non-colored counterparts
It sure does, both in terms of "catalog value" and legal tender status. The latter depends on the issuing country, of course, but if you want to turn third party painted pieces in at a central bank, they may well say No. Christian
