Coins to invest in??

In addition to the collections I am working on, Barbers and Large Cents in circulated grades I am thnking about starting to but slabbed coins as an investment. I want to buy coins that appeal to me but that I would not be able to collect the full series of, just coins that I like.
Anyone else doing this? Any tips to coins that might be a good invesment over a bad one?

thanks Tony

 

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Tony,


I am a novice compared to the rest however I will give you my thoughts.

Buy Pre-1933 gold coins for investment purposes. Sure I like coins however I buy with the intent of making money.

Someone thought I was off my rocker the other day when I posted that gold will hit 1000 dollars an ounce. I stick by my statement because in the past gold hit 850 an ounce under the same economic situations we are in now. High oil prices, falling dollar, iminent terror etc etc.

Buy pre-1933 gold coins because you make out not only with the price of gold rising which directly effects price of pre-1933 gold coins (unlike what someone else said) but the numismatic value over time goes high as well.


Today I bought a 1891s liberty head 20$ MS-62 for 665 dollars.

Will hourd it for 40 years and give it to the little one, should be worth quite a bit by then.


Tony: Hit two birds with one stone buy Pre-1933 gold coins for the gold content and numismatic value.

 

Hi Coinfreak, I was thinking about getting started buying Slabbed World Gold as a collection, not as an investment for me but for my kids in the future. I am price concious and cannot spend the $$ for US Gold at those prices. I was thinking about slabbed key and semi key US silver.
Whatda think.

Thanks Tony

 

If I'm going to get into a crapshoot, I'll do it at a crap table with discretionary funds, not in the coin market with my future food and shelter on the line.

Since by now everyone knows my opinion of coins as an "investment", this is the last comment on the subject I intend to make in these forums.

 

Here we go again.


What coins are investment coins

 

Whowa

Don't get testee boys,, just asking a question.
I understand what you are saying 100% What I want to do is to buy a few certified coins that I like, it will be part of my collection,as I said I am collecting circ. grades only now but once in a while if I can I want to buy some high grade stuff. If it goes up then so be it, I am NOT looking to make a KILLING in the coin market.

Tony

 

At a local gun show today there was a guy selling coins. He was preaching to everybody that the stock market was going to crash next month and that silver was going to skyrocket very soon. He was also predicting, like someone else did here a couple of weeks ago, that silver would be $100 per ounce and gold over $1000 (by Christmas no less). He was, of course, strongly recommending a silver investment. I think the guy was half nuts but I did stop by a shop and "invest" in four good looking Morgans. Dave in WV..
Oh BTW.. The going price for a roll of mercs at the gun show was $50.00. which I thought was way high. I guess I remember buying too many rolls at $25.00.

 

He was also predicting, like someone else did here a couple of weeks ago, that silver would be $100 per ounce and gold over $1000 (by Christmas no less).

pcrdnadave: It was me who predicted gold would hit 1000 dollars an ounce by christmas and 100 bucks an ounce in silver.


I stick by my statements/

Gold was 850 an ounce before why do you think it is such a pipe dream that it will go slightly over that to 1000?

I may have been endulging in a few wines when I said by Christmas but gold just it a 14 year high last week?

Oil is up, stocks are stagnent, dollar is plummeting.......

These are why people like me are buying pre-1933 gold coins.


Roy: I will go with the notion that you own alot of coins.. Under that preminition guys like me who buy coins make your collection appreciate.


Thanks for letting me share.

 

agree

I have to agree with you Coin Freak, I too think gold will go up, way up.
This is not the reason I want to invest in coins though.

regards Tony

 

Tony: If you agree with me ( finally someone out of 250 million americans) then why do you not like the idea of buying gold bullion coins?


Much better than bars and "paper" stocks.

Why do you think gold bullion coins or gold Pre-1933 coins are bad when they are worth there weight in gold?

 

As you obviously are not going to listen to common sense, you might as well listen to me: keys. The 1909-S VDB, etc., etc., etc., etc. You can find them in the Red Book. You can find tons of articles about them. Everyone knows them; everyone likes them; everyone wants them.

Of course, the money is not in selling coins, but in buying them. Collectors get suckered into "Greysheet" prices all the time because they think that this so-called "Coin Dealer Newsletter" is some kind of secret club that they are now privileged to join ... for $100 a year... You see them at coin shows all the time with Greysheet sticking out from their pockets, walking targets each one, a fish who put the hook in his own mouth and is looking for an angler to reel him in.

Oh! I bought this Gem BU Sliding Indian Trime for 10% back of bid!.. Of course you did... and you could only do that because someone else took a loss when they sold, which is what will happen to you when you sell.

If you look at the Greatest Worldclass Collections (Pittman, Eliasberg, 1804 This or 1913 That or you name it), you will see losses against inflation. More to the point, you will see tremendous losses against productive effort not invested. Pittman was an engineer for Kodak. Eliasberg was in oil. Money put into those technologies would have returned much more to those men.

This is a hobby. Dealers make money by bringing buyers and sellers together. Collectors enjoy the ownership of artistic rarities.

 

Coin Freak, I said I agree with you that gold will go up, I did not say that I wanted to invest in gold. Maybe Gold Coins of numismatic value to me, but that's it. Like I said if they go up good, if not well.
Mike please see above... I know what you are saying. Any coin I buy I consider part of my collection, I will buy it because I like it. I do not go by Grey sheet prices, if I want to but a specific coin, I will do some research as to price, get my price from a few different sources and if I like it and feel that the price is fair I'll buy it. I am not trying to get coins for wholesale ar any other bargain price. I know as a collector I have to pay what the dealer wants if I want the coin.
I am just trying to broaden my scope of collecting by buying some higher grade coins that I will like for numismatic value and the fact that they might appreiciate.
Are you guys trying to tell me that all buying of highgrade coins should me avoided???


Tony

 

This is scary Mike

I’m in complete agreement with an entire posting of yours.

 

I would certainly never tell anyone what should, or shouldn't, be collected.

If you enjoy collecting coins in TPG slabs, then who am I to tell you that you are wrong?

I'm also not qualified to offer investment advice. I do have some investments, but not in precious metals, or collectible coins.

IMO, coin collecting is a hobby. I will only spend as much as I can afford to loose.

I love to quote one of our good friends, GD, who says; "Coin collecting is not investing. It is coin collecting."

 

Yes Jody, As I stated, everything I buy is part of my collection, period. As I am just getting back into the hobby, I am trying to learn from those who have done before. However, I have always heard but what you like, that's what I want to do.

Thanks Tony

 

buy what you like

 

Well stated GD.

As many of you know, I believe that GD has one of the best eyes for coins that I have ever seen. His passion for obtaining the best examples is evident in all of his coins.
The best collections, Bass, Epson, Ford and many others followed this same idea. They simply did not pick a coin because it was a high grade, or because someone else thought that it was special. They bought it because it was special to them.

Mike Marrotta makes a great point. Collectors who spend their time and money trying to act like investors or dealers are often left on the short end of the stick.

This is a business. Simple as that. Those who succeed do so because they take the time to understand how the business works.

When collectors look for advice on how the system works, they choose to either follow it or they don't.

Many here choose not to heed the advice of the people who know this business. They make up their minds that this is such an easy business, and no matter how many times the answers don't match up the illusion in their minds, they choose not to listen.
The cold hard facts are this is not an easy business. Many hours are put into it.
Someone earlier quoted buying pre 33 gold. Well as they do not make post 33 gold coins (bullion doesn't count) that statement leaves a lot to be desired.
Many gold coins dated prior to 1933 still trade near bullion levels. They have for near a hundred years. What special event is going to happen so that this change?
Many others speculate that gold and silver will fly to magical levels never seen.
For those of us that make a living in this market, these wishes and dreams are just that.
NO dealer in the country is hoarding gold or silver on the off the wall chance that a new Hunt brothers market will take off.

It appears that some of you feel that those of us who know the market are trying to spoil the fun or keep something a secret. Well we are sharing what we know because we have a passion for this hobby. We share because we want to share our knowledge with others. We give back a little to a hobby that has given us so much.

Take a few minutes to consider why all of us who know the market keep stating DO NOT USE COINS AS INVESTMENTS. This isn't because we don't know what we are talking about.

When I look for investments I ask the advice of those who know what they are talking about. The same goes for any major purchase that I make. When I ask advice, I listen to those who know what they are talking about. I do not listen to the casual observer who may get lucky once in a while. I have learned that even a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while.

You can choose to listen to the collectors who have been in this for a very long time, or dealers who make a living in this business, or the casual observer who has the get rich quick scheme in their dreams. Those are your choices.

 

"At a local gun show today "
If I was at a local gun show and I thought that gold was going to go up to 1,000 an ounce within the year then I think I would stock up more on ammo then silver or gold for that means the --- will hit the fan. I'm glad that pcrdnadave shared that ranter with us. Now if we could figure out how to get people to sing about that great state again.

Now Gold will go up, disasters will happen, foreign governments will fall and changes in the tax codes are unpredicatable at our level of information.So even if I feel there is no reason to panic I do believe that investing in gold coins for gold bullion value is a good idea on a limited basis especially for the person who is not an expert in coin values and in coins in general. Why not have gold in hand rather then an IRA stating that someone else is holding your gold for you.

Now I would think that investing in gold coins for collectors value is something that one does not become an expert over night in and most of us will never develop the skill and knowledge of some of the experts here and perhaps then some will. As for me, I am sure that I have over spent on my collection but I don't care for one I am not a day trader of coins and I am planning on holding them for a lifetime and that value will surly pass what I did spend for them by then. Two everyone has to make a profit for captailism to work and as long as I get what I think I am getting for at a fair price then that's cool, and three who cares if I occasionally spend 10, 20 or 30 dollars more for a coin then the market value if that was the coin I wanted and that was a rare time for me to get it after all it is not like buying stock shares where you may buy hundreds or thousands at a time and need to be careful with the price for it will multiply. Also how many times have we spent money on dinners that we either didn't really like or ate even if we really weren't hungry. After you eat and digest you are only left with well you know what I want to say and how many times did we spend the same amount for a beer in bar, with a smile ,that a whole six pack would cost us in a store and after a little while all we have is well you know what I really want to say but with the coin, you have an object that brings you pleasure to view over and over again and to share with your friends and loved ones as well as knowing that you have something to leave to your children or favorite niece, nephew etc.. down the road.

 

On the other hand, there are those coins that dealers are willing to pay Red Book for.

The matter is complicated. It surely generates long and emotional responses. Perhaps that indicates a total lack of knowledge. Maybe we just have a hard time conceptualizing the subject and then summarizing our ideas. When talking about numismatics sounds like talking about religion and politics, something is amiss.

You don't see these long, forceful posts over which Spanish official goes with which initials on the 8 Reales.