Hobby & Investing…

So I started this with my young grandsons and love doing this with them (we all get excited about coin roll hunting and possible errors). But I’m curious as to where I can learn what to invest in if I want to make any money, or can you? Here are a few of my burning questions:

1. What coins are the best financial investment?
2. What coins are most popular among collectors and why?
3. Should I purchase only graded coins?
4. Are there any auctions you trust? If so, which ones?
5. Will low mintage coins be of value in the future? And is there a list somewhere of low mintage dates for modern US coins?
6. Are mint and proof sets even worth having? If so, which ones?
7. What sites do you recommend to make purchases at the best prices?

Is there a resource where I can look all this up without spending a small fortune on a lot of books?

So sorry for the long post and maybe this should be several different threads. But I’m new at this and have already made costly mistakes. Therefore all the questions.

Please be nice.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Don't be sorry. All your question are great! Ask all that you need to ask. But you won't get just one answer. There are different types of coin collectors with different preferences. Such as myself with a huge collection of Mint Errors going back 38 years.

We are always nice

 

I'd keep the two separate. For me this is a hobby, its something I want to enjoy. When I start chasing a dollar with it it becomes a job, not something I enjoy as much. Coins are a way for me to get away from worrying about work and (oddly) money.

If there has to be an investment arm to your collection maybe look at stacking some bullion coins. You'll still enjoy the art and history of the coin, but the value is tied to the metal content of the coin. Little numismatic value to worry about so all you need to watch are the trends for the precious metals.

 

Well shoot. I don’t know how to delete a post that was posted in wrong place. Sorry.

 

Wow! That’s impressive!

And everyone has been awesome so far. But when some have done it so long, things are just common sense to them. But for us newbies, it’s like learning a foreign language.

Thank you for taking the time to answer and ALWAYS BEING NICE.

 

That is a long time! Thank you for taking the time to answer all my questions!

 

Well I’d really like to have some things that would be worth something in the future. It’s doubtful anyone else will care about this after I’m gone, unless it has value.

 

Oh @Mimi J, that's going to be tough if you want honesty, but OK, I'll give it a try. Here we go...

This is a tell tail of not knowing your subject before assuming you can make money at it.

Your questions:

1) None.

2) While I agree with @GDJMSP that Morgans & cents are very popular, each collector (read: accumulator) assembles at their own whim, & you will notice that there are absolutely no 2 collections/accumulations which are the same.

3) No (however, you should learn to grade raw coins before you invest heavily).

4) There are many auctions you may trust, but Ebay is not one of them. And be wary of Etsy, Craigslist & Facebook to name a few.

5) Mintage is not a reliable indicator of future value. If you have no other book, you should acquire a Red Book - it will indicate mintage numbers by year. (a used copy not over 2-3 yrs will suffice, & it will offer a wealth of information about US coins.)

6) Only if you personally like them.

7) That is extremely subjective & changes daily. Not reliable sources.

The best resource to start off is the Red Book

So, regarding:

The real answer is that it is a terrible idea as a money making proposition, (unless, perhaps you want to become a "dealer" - which would involve much more subject knowledge than you currently have).

Now let's see if I can put this in perspective for you. My current assessment of my personal collection is that it's value is around/approximately 320% of what I "invested" (read: spent) accumulating it. But (there's always a but...), I started collecting 65 yrs ago, & less than 10% of my coins were acquired in the last twenty yrs.

Collecting coins should be for fun, for your personal enjoyment, satisfaction, appreciation of beauty, accumulation of historical knowledge, and many other reasons...but money making is not one of them.

I hope this wasn't tooooo harsh, & I hope you will continue collecting/accumulating your treasure into the future, & share your experiences & questions with us. This endeavor is a journey, not a destination.

 

This goes for the guys as well as the women.

 

These are most of my Attributed Mint Errors. I have more in the raw.

 

Nice Ed! Can I borrow a couple of those? Isn't that an older Pic? I have the same shirt! It's faded now. My wife bought it for me too....

 

The "investment question" has surfaced on this forum many times. It's a reasonable question because you're spending money that you've earned or obtained and you don't want to waste it. A lot of people will tell you "buy what you like because coins are a terrible investment." That's generally true. Coins, especially at the level discussed on this forum, have very little investment potential.

Can you still make money on them? Yes, I have both made and lost money on coins via selling over the years. Just make sure not to take the "don't collect coins for money" advice as an excuse to buy sloppily or irresponsibly. Some people seem to do this. In other words, don't overpay because you like something. Never overpay.

To buy responsibly, educate yourself on the hobby in general. Look at things that do sell. Look at things that don't sell. Talk to people online. Read some books. Above all, be patient. Don't buy on impulse. Buying randomly or impulsively without knowing more about the market can cost you a lot of money in the end.

Try to learn a lot about cleaned coins, altered coins, and counterfeit coins. When I started, I unknowingly bought a number of cleaned coins. I also overpaid for them. It's an easy mistake to make if you don't know what to look for. In the end, be careful with your money. Like you, I also don't want to end up with a bunch of coins that nobody wants. I now try to collect for quality rather than quantity. It suits me well and I spend a lot less money on coins that I seem to enjoy a whole lot more.

In the end, take the advice to "collect coins only for pleasure because they're terrible investments" with caution. That may be true, but that doesn't mean you should waste your money, either.

Sidenote: if you wanted to be a dealer, especially for a living, then you would definitely have to treat coins as an investment, so you can learn a lot from dealers as well. You can also find people who do treat coins primarily as investments. They buy high priced coins for the specific purpose of reselling them for more money (they may or may not call themselves "dealers"). Typically, such coins cost thousands of dollars or more each, because they have intense rarity or desirability. Some people refer to these as "investment grade" coins. I haven't seen a lot of discussion of that kind of buying on this forum.

 

@Mimi J I have been collecting for over 75 years. Coins are fun, but they are not an investment. Errors are fun to find, but they just happen to be in your pocket or in your bank roll. I have found one notable error in my 75 years. However, I don't set out in search of them. If you set your goals on getting rich you will be terribly disappointed. Have fun and stay in touch with your friends here at CT. Welcome.

 

Stop wrinkling the damn bed. And why HER side?

Wrinkle your own side!

 

I only buy a coin if I like it or if it is too good a deal to pass up. My time coin roll hunting would have put me in the debtors' prison long ago. I personally like Buffalo Nickels and Trade Dollars (and I currently don't have any of the latter). Some people collect by size, others by time periods, some because they like the design, etc. Years ago, I put together most of every type of US coinage from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but my dad collects dates and mint marks. Of course, that makes his collection that much more expensive. I pretty much sold everything to buy my first house, seeing that as a better investment.
The point I am making, I suppose, is that I like coins because of the history behind them and I find it relaxing.

 

Mimi… I had a small windfall in the late 90’s. I bought gold because I was a coin collector that had never been able to afford gold before. I got really lucky, so then on the heels of my good fortune (translated good luck), I bought a lot of silver. If you want to see just how bad of a ride that was, look up raw silver values in the early 2000’s…… Get yourself a Redbook and enjoy the hobby with those wonderful grandkids. And just maybe a few years down the road, you too may get lucky.

 

WHA?????

 

You guys are being very negative. I just saw some click-bait saying the drummer boy quarter is now worth 69 million. I believe that's up by about 50 million since last week.