How can I become a coin investor?

Not necessarily true. See the many and long threads about how dealers are unfair and how the ANA favors dealers. Do you think that 300 to 1000 people travel to conventions, spending three to seven days in a hotel to lose money? I am talking about dealers, not collectors, though there are collectors who also make money. (They just do not think of themselves as "dealers." It just depends on what you put on your W-2 when file.)

 

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It is a matter of definition. A "numismatist" can be a dealer and a dealer can be a numismatist. Not all collectors are numismatists. I am a numismatist, but not a collector. I study for the art and science of the forms and uses of money. I do buy and sell but my goal is research. I have sold at a profit, but that was not my goal at that moment. I earn my living as a writer. I do earn other income, as well. But for me, the wealth I create in numismatics comes from researching facts, and then presenting them in an interesting format that publishers pay for.

Lots of people make money in coins. Just go to a coin show or convention. They crowd the hall.

 

Even that isnt a guarantee. Looking at Heritage Auctions, some coins $1,000 and up have gone down over 20 years

 

Everyone gets lucky once in a while, but no one in this forum has the money to buy the few coins worth investing in except for a couple well-known, nationally respected dealers.

 

If you really study hard for a month or so you might have what it takes to be a part time dealer on instagram trying to flip garbage common coins for months on end aiming to squeak out a $2.75 profit after shipping.

 

I don’t disagree. The OP mentioned he just purchased his first Redbook. That tells me he is somewhat fresh I this wonderful hobby. And the way I see it, once a person finishes reading their first book, it is likely not a good time to enter the field of publishing....... I would hate to see him buy a few polished Morgans only to find he can’t sell them....... Yes, there are many who earn an honest living in numismatics. But coming to that decision on the heels of buying your first Redbook is a bit premature at best. Just don’t want to see him be disillusioned is all.

 

Nonsense. I wrote an article for the ANA about Proof Double Eagles. (They pay well enough for articles; an it was their suggestion for a topic.). Anyway... Ed Trompeter, Louis Eliasberg, and Dwight Manley were among the very many very wealthy collectors who lost money in the hobby -- because making money in the hobby was not their goal. They made their money in other ways. In point of fact, if they had devoted all of their efforts to their careers, they would have made more money: Ed Trompeter sold cars, for instance, and they are highly collectible.

On the other hand, millionaires in the coin business did not start out with millions. Jim Halperin, Steve Ivy, Harlan Berk, David Lawrence (David Feigenbaum)... we can name 300 more ... all of them started out just like everyone else. But they had the ineffable qualities of entrepreneurship and became successful. It must be learned; it cannot be taught.

 

So is real estate. It is just that we do not have an established hobby in real estate. But if you go to the offices of a successful commercial realtor, you will see pictures on their walls of their prized properties. In fact, real estate agents "collect" deals like fishermen and their stories. By the ethics of real estate, a broker or agent can be part of a deal just for introducing two people. "I was part of the sale of the Empire State Building...." [picture on wall]. But, no, it is not developed as a hobby per se.

On the other hand, numismatics, sailing, bowling, tennis... How do you make money in tennis? ... Can you "build wealth" in tennis? If you think not, try to find a free raquet.

 

In a sense, every sale is a "flip" but the term came into use through the housing market. Before the Real Estate Meltdown of 2008, it was a craze to buy a house with no intention of living in it (or renting it) knowing that someone else will pay more for it in a short time. So, "flipping" came into the language of commerce. But it is all "flipping" if you ignore the subjective experience of time.

In our hobby, we do have people (or at least stories about them) who go to an ANA convention, buy a coin in this aisle and sell it for more in that aisle. I am confident that it happens at every convention, a dozen times a day.

But, again, every sale is a flip. The problem is that "flip" sounds effortless. It is not.

 

Pretty sure you're both overlooking a few members. At least one has admitted to having a multi-million dollar collection (although it would have been hard to deny given the string of new purchases he's posted here), and another has been fighting a legal battle with an auction house over a million-dollar discrepancy in what he thinks they owe him.

But I'm pretty sure neither of these members made their fortunes by trading coins.

 

The advice is not free. And the author makes money. And it builds his reputation as an expert. And if you follow the advice and profit - even one person in 10,000 - he has a new friend in the business.

SCOTT TRAVERS
https://www.usgoldexpert.com
http://blog.greysheet.com/travers-greysheet-pricing-tools/
Scott A. Travers ranks as one of the most knowledgeable and influential coin dealers and advisors in the world. His name is familiar to readers everywhere as the author of seven bestselling books on coins: The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual®, Revised Seventh Edition (Penguin Random House); How to Make Money in Coins Right Now, Second Edition (Random House); One-Minute Coin Expert®, Sixth Edition (Random House); Travers’ Rare Coin Investment Strategy, Second Edition (Simon & Schuster); Scott Travers’ Top 88 Coins to Buy & Sell, Second Edition (Penguin Random House); The Insider’s Guide to U.S. Coin Values, 21st Edition (Penguin Random House); and The Investor’s Guide to Coin Trading (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). m have won awards from the prestigious Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG). In 2002, NLG awarded him its highest honor, the lifetime achievement Clemy

 

I did say no one on this forum except for a few people

 

If you are that interested in losing your butt in something you aren’t knowledgeable in, I suggest the stock market.

It’s s lot quicker.

 

Most every reply to your opening comment, has been given to you, with the utmost truth and sincerity. That being said, as an investment, coins, should be placed way down the line, in the order of investment items, to make money on. With the volatility of precious metals, and the unknown fluctuations, of coin prices themselves, it is difficult to "turn" a profit, as a coin "investor".

Not trying to be rude, but simply put, unless you have the rare ability, to see into the future, using coins as an "investment", has an extreme probability, of not happening. Even the very best, experienced, knowledgeable, cautious, honest, and most likely, already wealthy individual, will have an extremely hard time, using coins, as an investment tool.

In closing, if you have money now, and want to invest in something, to turn a profit, and make even more money, you should probably not use coins. This, and pretty much, every other reply, to your original post, is in no way, saying that what your asking, can not be done. However, you have received replies, from some of the most experienced individuals, on this site, and with that many combined years of experience, between them, it is simply unlikely to happen.

Just the same though, I wish you luck, and good fortune, and honestly hope that if you go ahead with this investment venture, that you succeed.

 

To be a bit more succinct, if you've got a chunk of money that you want to invest in coins just for the financial return, you can get the same result and save a lot of time and effort by just taking 20-50% of that money and burning it.

You're buying coins from, and selling them to, other people who want to make money. If they're actual dealers, they need to make money to stay in business. They make that money from you, not for you.

 

As has GDSTMP pointed out in the "Ethics" thread, we have many different opinions.

 

There is a ton of money to be made in this hobby, but just like the California gold rush the real money wasn't made in gold. It was made in businesses that supported and provided services to the 49'rs. The trick is in figuring out where the need is.

 

At MSNS Conventions, when we were at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn, which had three or four in-house food outlets, our YNs worked as food runners, being paid in tips. My daughter made made more in a day that I did at that time.

 

Even in Real Estate, you will lose your shirt if you don't put in the time to learn the basics.

 

You can do it, but it takes a lot of education. Raw coins sell for much less than graded coins, so if you know how to grade coins and detect counterfeits, there is an opportunity to profit from buying them raw, having them graded, and then selling the graded coins.

It's much easier said than done, though. How much work are you willing to do to learn? How much of a loss can you handle when you make the inevitable mistake?