Unique Coins or American Silver?

Hello everyone,
I have been collecting coins for awhile. I also have inherited some coins over the years. I have both AU and AG coins. The Ag I am keeping but lately I have become interested in what I call unique coins from the Perth Mint, Tuvalu, and Canadian Mints. I like many of the colorized 1 oz coins from some of their special limited edition series of coins.
This brings me to a question. First let me preface this question with a statement. My wealth/retirement isnt tied to my coin collection, in that I need to save them in order to use the money "down the road." So having said that, Would you sell off some of your Peace and Morgan silver dollars for these unique coins hoping they will appreciate in value due to their scarcity, or hold on to the American Silver coins. I have many dimes, quarters and halves also up to 1964 that I would consider selling too. I am thinking since my grandchildren love these colorized coins maybe one day they will inherit them and hopefully keep them, instead of selling them like most people do when they get a Morgan or Peace. My grandkids arent enamored of either of those coins as hard as I have tried to tie them to American History. They say they "look plain grandpa"
So dont be too harsh on my question.
I do see quite a premium on these coins. For an example the Australian Mint Map Shaped Coins command a pretty steep premium on the open market, however if one gets a good deal, the difference in selling is quite better than selling a AU common Peace or Morgan.
Thoughts?

 

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If you and the grand kids enjoy picking up these examples I see no need to criticize you. There's a saying around these parts........collect what you like.

 

If the question is purely one of future value, I think the Morgans/Peace will have more holding/staying power, so long as the US is one of the top-three economies in the world. The bullion products are nice to look at and have a lot of novelty value (plus your g-kids like them). It comes back to how much value you put on smiles and laughter.

 

These types of "Made for Collector" issues from small countries have a very poor record on the secondary market and regular issues that are colorized by an outside company seem to do even worse.

If you like the coins, then buy them, as long as you are not concerned about the resale value. If future value is important, then I would suggest studying the become comfortable with grading. There are many beautiful and/or historically significant coins that have potential to go up in value. As with any collectable, you have to know what you're doing. The more effort you put into learning, the higher your potential for making money

Truly rare Morgan and Peace Dollars should increase in value, but you need to know what is "truly rare" and stay away from the problem coins. Common date AU dollars are tied to bullion if commodities move the value moves.

 

They love to look at my Pert Mint "Land Down Under" coins and several I have from the Australian Mint like the Map Shaped Coin series. I just ordered a 2017 South Africa Silver Krug SP70 First Day Issue coin and they think its "ugly". But the Perth Mint "Warriors" coins I ordered they cant wait to see then they come in. I find myself having fun watching their eyes light up when I open a box with a strangely shaped coin inside. Makes my day. I have asked them if they want Papa's coin collection one day, and they have expressed an interest, but my granddaughter in particular told me she didnt like that lady with the crown or the old lady coins LOL. Of course we all know which coins they are talking about.
Thanks for the nice replies.

 

Agreed that is a good idea. Im pretty much educated about the Morgan and Peace coins that are of "value" versus the common ones. However once I step away from those I am lost. Good advice.
Thanks

 

I am a big fan of certain Perth Mint items, particularly the Lunar Series. These are released every year and feature lunar animals (something both kids and adults can like). The bullion versions are my favorite since they are a combination of collectible and silver. The premium upon release can be from $4-$10 over spot. This makes them more expensive than the typical Silver Eagle or generic round, but less expensive than the collector coins that Perth and other Mints issue. Some prior years have held their value or even increased, but some of the more recent years are close to original pricing or slightly lower. Still the downside risk of these tends to be lower than many of the other Perth coins that can be issued for $70-$100 and then only be worth $30-$50 in a few years.

What makes these fun to collect is that the design changes every year. Unfortunately the Queen is always on one side, but at least the other side changes. These are available in multiple sizes (0.5 oz, 1, 2, 5, 10 oz , kilo, 10 kilo) and regular, colorized, gilded, and proof. There are also privy versions (which is a whole separate story).

Here are some examples from 2017:

(1) Regular bullion 2 oz 2017 rooster ...the 2 oz size can often have the lowest premium (but not always)
https://www.providentmetals.com/2017-2-oz-silver-year-of-the-rooster-perth-lunar-series.html

(2) 1 oz privy 2017 rooster:
http://www.gainesvillecoins.com/pro...perth-mint-limited-mintage-of-only-30000.aspx

(3) 1 oz colorized rooster:
http://www.gainesvillecoins.com/products/174913/2017-1-oz-colorized-silver-rooster-australia.aspx

 

Collect whatever makes you happy, and in this case your grandchildren. Although the colorized, gilded, holographic,etc... don't have a great track record as far as price appreciation, (some do though) if you like them, get em. I like many of these types, and there seems to be more out there daily. Passing this great hobby on to youngsters is priceless,, and that factors into the cost.
Welcome to C.T. btw.

 

Thank you for that information. I believe I have a Lunar series coin somewhere around here. I have too many....... I will have to check. As for this one, my grandkids and I were looking at coins just yesterday and I clicked on the colorizied Rooster and they started laughing. I said whats so funny and they said why would they put a rooster on a coin Papa LOL. Kids are just too darn funny.

 

Thank you very much. I like it here already. Was a member of another forum, but since it was so cliquish I left. Everyone was better than the others.... Not my cup of tea.

 

On another subject. Has anyone here had any luck on AuctionZip purchasing coins through their live auctions? I picked up 6 ungraded of course Proof 2000 W ASE's last week for less than spot but a little over once I paid the 10% commission and shipping. That was my first foray into online auctions. I was surprised at what some people passed over, and I wasnt interested in them at the time. Looking back the prices were much lower than those on the bay and I may should have bought them. If nothing else and silver goes back over $25.00 I could have made out pretty well.

 

I know exactly what you mean. Some of us can get a little unruly now and then, but the mods are usually right on top of things. This site is intended for the younger, as well as older folks, so please enjoy the fun, and mountains of knowledge that can be found here.

 

There are also dogs, dragons, tigers, etc if roosters don't do the trick.

Also two others series are the Koalas and the Kookaburras (birds). Those also change designs every years and are often less expensive than Lunars.

 

I just picked this up at an online auction, 2017 Perth Mint Error Dragon and Phoenix Reverse Proof for $30.00 plus 10% commission. Pretty coin for a good price I thought. Going on the bay around 60 to well over a hundred. Forgive the bad photography.

 

The Dragon & Phoenix is a cool coin. I like the design, but have not picked one up yet.

 

I agree its a very nice design. I love phoenix's and dragons so this was perfect. The auction had this listed as just "Dragon and Bird Silver coin" so I got lucky. Probably wont get that lucky again. And its an error too. I want a 2017 Krug but the prices are outrageous. And I happen to like Proof coins but I just cant bring myself to pay those high premiums. And they keep going up.....

 

The Bullion Silver Krugerrand is actually coming down due to the high 1 million mintage and super high initial premium (the proof should as well, although not to the same degree being that its mintage was 15,000).

And keep checking those auctions as some items always slip by due to poorly worded titles or bad ending times.

 

Haven't had much luck (as I'm a cheapo) but I do like it..........

 

If I may.... I would, most respectfully, suggest first deciding what's most important to you. From your posts I'm guessing it's the enjoyment you're getting from the grandkids along with your personal like of the modern mint products, but isn't for me to answer. As long as you're not banking on what you presently enjoy to survive down the road, ask yourself what that enjoyment is worth. Even if (big IF since we know nothing about the mentioned others) the Morgan or Peace end up doing better, how much better would they need to do in order to equal said enjoyment? The greater point is that there's much "value" in a smile on a child's face, and in your own happiness, that's tough to place a dollar amount on, but nonetheless needs to be taken into consideration.

You also must think about the cost of liquidating no matter which path you choose. Unfortunately, all too often collectors ignore this aspect until too late, and are rather disappointed to learn that they're not going to pocket, or so easily pocket, what they were expecting when the time comes to sell. I'm not going to tell you one path is better than the next, but am simply urging you to look ahead and formulate a plan, be it for you or your loved ones. Welcome to the forum, sir.

 

Thank you sir. I will hopefully get some knowledge here that is much needed it seems.