"Investing" in Coins

I think there are opportunities at the very top of the food chain.
So if you were to buy a highly desirable million dollar coin, very often you
see these same coins come up for auction several years later and they realize much higher prices.

 

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There are still a ton of coins available to Cherry pick and if you know what you're doing it can pull in decent returns.

 

Low mintages have a sort of "gravity" all their own. Yes, demand is king, but sometimes low supply can CREATE its own aftermarket demand. I call this the "key coin effect", and I wrote about it in Numismatic News as far back as 1994.

 

Collecting coins for me is about the Pursuit of Perfection. I have an idea in my head of what coin I can afford in a certain grade and look for it. I am often delusional but that's ok. Many of you are too. US Coin Prices are dropping as far as I can tell so it's more of a labor of love than anything else. I don't expect to make a profit at all, as many here beat that into my head when I first started.

 

I have noticed over the past several years the "key coin effect" has had little to no aftermarket demand and expect it's a direct result of over producing of artistically meritless coins by the US mint.

 

Very true, especially in series like US coins. A 1916D dime is not a rare coins by any definition. Its downright common compared to most coins in the world struck over the last 2500 years. It is only in regard to other mercury dimes can it be called scarcish. However, US numismatics has labelled it "key", and this designation someone makes it a more "special" coin.

One of the reasons I left US coin collecting actually, catastrophically expensive "keys", but the pressure to buy one. Now I buy what strikes my fancy. Personally, I believe US "key" coins to be the most overvalued and risky of all numismatic purchases. I simply do not see the date and MM collectors trying to complete sets as much. Most "key" US coins are expensive because they are "key" and not really any collector demand. To me, that is a dangerous place to be, in the greater fool theory of "investing".

 

AMEN. The way I look at it, say I work with my coins for five hours a well. That's five hours or "entertainment". I figure that if I went out and paid for "entertainment" I would spend at a minimum $7 an hour. That means my collection returns me $35 in entertainment value per week. That's $140 a month or $1820 per year. I've been collecting for 46 years so call it almost an $84,000 return on my "investment". And frankly I probably spend a lot more than 5 hours per week on them.

 

Investment? No, absolutely not.... A decent place to store wealth? For me, yes. If I have a twenty in my wallet you can bet by the end of the day that twenty will be gone. If I use that twenty to purchase a couple of nice Franklins... Those Franklins will go in my safe and stay there a while.

 

It does seem that low mintages command a higher market price generally speaking, but there are also plenty of exceptions. Especially when lots of people put them away thinking the price will rise. Makes it just as easy to find an MS60 as it does one in circulated condition. Seems like I was just reading about a Lincoln wheat penny that suffered this fate, 1931 maybe?

However, that wouldn't stop me from squirreling away some low mintage coins, and I probably will from time to time.

 

There have been a few like that. 1933?

 

I don't buy for profit but because I want to complete a set or just thoroughly enjoy collecting coins for a certain country that I'm working on. Everytime I buy something I don't expect to get back what I paid. So if I paid $100 I don't expect to get $100, I may put on my records that I hope to get lets say $20 if I ever sell it. Why do I do that? I set my expectations low so that I won't be disappointed. This is a hobby for me and a far better hobby that I'm spending money on than anything else. I can expect somewhat of a return vs other things that I could waste money on (alcohol, cigarettes, etc)

 

I really need to put one of those bubble gum/ toy machines at coin shows, and have them accept pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, ike size dollar coins, $2.50, $5, $10 & $20 gold coins.

I don't really "invest" in coins. I consider it a break even "investment" whether 10 or more years later. So I only track the expense of a coin, not it's current value. I'm sure I paid too much for stuff I bought early one, hopefully I'm a much better buyer today.

 

The high-grade error market is even more volatile. I notice doing research on Heritage that some monster broadstrikes, wrong-metal errors, and 50-90% off centers with full datrs are cheaper than they were 15 years ago, yet others are several hundred or even a couple thousand more. It is a such a small market and thus is more of a roller coaster in terms of pricing and value. I do find they are more fun to collect and generate much more interest than standard collecting of the same coin with diferent years and mintmarks.

 

This is known as a “thin” market. You sir, have “thickened” it.

 

I brought my collection to school to show all my classes for culture day. My 10th grade kids went nuts. Loved it. Had a million questions. No one was sitting at their desk playing games on their phones. People actually talking to each other. It is fun to show them and answer their questions, when I can.

 

I invest in (blue chip) stocks and safe-liquid bonds.

My hobby is coins, and I have earned a less-than-average return on these in the last 30 years, but I am still a buyer.

I think the cryptocurrencies' craze will end badly.

 

Great to hear and kudos!

Hopefully they didn't rush off to YouTube after class lest your fine efforts be for not.