Proof vs. Bullion Coins

No one is going on to get wealthy collecting ASE proofs. I buy one every year from the Mint and don’t get them graded.

A few exceptions: there’s the limited 1995-W proof that goes for four figures, this year’s San Francisco proof (that created a bit of controversy) and I find the reverse proofs really neat.

But mostly it’s a matter, to me, of buying them because I like them.

 

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I really enjoyed reading your story about the baseball cards and see the analogy you are trying to make. For me, it's more about the FUN in the collection, and less about the monetary appreciation or lack thereof (whichever side of the argument one takes). That's why I thoroughly enjoyed your baseball card memories. Thanks for sharing.

 

Great post, and in my opinion, dead-on. I've got several albums of those 80's/90's cards, very well cared for, and market-wise nearly worthless.

With everyone and his dog having a few MS ASE's under their pillows, I think it's a bullion coin, a guaranteed ounce of silver, no more, no less. With a 'Walker' obverse, and 'Kennedy' reverse, it could have at least been original! Now if they immediately cut off production, and melted any reserves . . . that might be a different story.

I have to agree with Baseball though that the coin/bullion market can and will grow. However it's a different crowd, mostly coming in from an investment angle, with limited interest in the encyclopedic knowledge a lot of the older collectors have.

Though CT as a whole generally discourages coin collecting as an investment, that is the wrong move in my opinion as that is what can save the hobby. We should encourage every newbie to invest, and invest smartly, as it's self-fulfilling and the only thing that will keep coin values strong.

 

But as a HOBBY, I'm not sure I want coin values strong. It prices me out of the market for those items I want. High prices that keep collectors from being able to build those collections drives people out of the hobby and in the long run could kill it. And I feel the "encyclopedic knowledge" is a big part of the hobby. Without it it isn't a hobby, it is just speculation.

 

This might seem like it is totally out of left field, but bear with me for a moment and perhaps it might make some kind of sense.

About five years ago I decided that I wanted to be able to bind books myself. The ability to produce a durable, hardcover book seemed like a fine skill to have. So I began studying the subject, and I was amazed to discover that in the last thirty to forty years there has been an explosion in the small-scale production of books, of "artist books," of everything having to do with the production and almost "worship," of books, of THE BOOK. To take one sub-category, I guess you'd call it: the fine binding, or deluxe edition, numbering maybe 100 or 250 copies, produced by a meticulous and highly skilled craftsperson. Every piece of these books is special. Special fonts. On special paper. With special hand-marbled end-papers. Special hand sewn head bands, tooling, gilt, leather . . . expensive? Of course. What are these books about? In many of these ultra-fine binding types, the book could be Moby Dick, or Timon of Athens something in the Public Domain, but aside from that it doesn't really matter. Why not? Because the people who buy them don't read them.

What's going on here? I think in part this reification has to do with the simple fact that even when modern people do want to read something they find it on their computer. They don't use books. If books were still considered useful, there'd be bookstores. But where I live even the used bookstores have pretty much all closed down.

Now, I think that the collecting of bullion coins is driven by a similar sort of feeling. Whether it's true or not, there's a pretty pervasive belief that physical money means less and less, and might even soon be gone. And It can't be denied that, like the ultra-fine bindings, some of these bullion coins, like the silver Eagles and the Libertads and some of the others are very attractive. But like the books which aren't read, they are coins in name only.

 

That may well be true, but every once in a while I do discover that someone has bought a pack of cigarettes at the local convenience store using an SAE or two. When is the last time you found that someone used a finely-bound book to pay for their purchase?

Chris

 

I made a ton of money selling my ASE proofs which were still in their cardboard Congrats sets. I bought them throughout the years but never handed them out for high school graduates.

So I guess "sometimes" you could make some significant money on buying ASE proofs. It was 5x upto 33x what I paid.

So never say never.

I also have baseball cards from he early/mid 1970s.

 

Would those be 'proof' books?

I continue to believe the best wealth is that which you physically possess. The current preference for digitally uploaded info/money driven by convenience is rather short-sighted in my opinion. Book ownership is knowledge you possess. Who's to say that knowledge, especially practical and useful, is not an even more valuable commodity than potential barter items or comsumables.

 

A proof 1 ounce gold buffalo does it for me.

 

Can somebody tell me how to start a thread here on countable. I want to start a discussion on my 1928 plain Peace silver dollar. I have a password, but can't figure out how to start a post. I can only reply to posts.

 

Go to the forum you want to post in. There is a button at the top to start a new thread.

 

https://www.cointalk.com/forums/coin-chat/create-thread

 

is that like the 1922 Grant Commemorative, Star and no Star variety ?