Hi everyone! I am pretty new to this venture of coin collecting and investing. I was curious as to what would be a better idea for revenue in the future: Lots of common date silver coins from pre 1964 or Key dates of coins in decent condition? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Agreed key dates big ones that are appreciating are Morgan dollar key dates (1889 CC) (1884 S) (1893S) (1895) as for peace dollars the pricing on the 1928 is down while the 1921 is appreciating.
Collect what you want key dates in or sets that you build.Coins in the best condition are the best but keep it to what you can afford.Also welcome to ct
Absolutely key dates. Melt values fluctuate widely but they don't add any more of the keys. Demand seems to keep the prices more firm. IMHO
You may get better or at least more varied responses from the CoinChat or US Coins Forums. My observation has been that the best investment returns come from the low quality coins that sell for around bullion value, and the very highest quality coins [both key dates and coins in the higher grades of condition]. Everything in between requires extraordinary levels of skill in selection and pricing gained by many years of study. If you aren't ready to commit yourself to becoming a real expert, the safest purchases are at the extremes.
TBH, I am not sure what I would invest in right now. Key dates have gone up a lot, but I am always nervous predicting they will continue to do so. They are "key" to putting together a complete set. How many people put complete sets together nowadays? It is nowhere near what it used to be. I think keys are getting outlandishly priced versus true scarcity. Bulk silver will only go up if silver rises, so that investment is really a bet on the silver market. If you put a gun to my head, and said I had to buy US coins for investment, I think I would buy type coins or early commemoratives. Nice looking, high grade for the price, desirable coins that collectors and not speculators will always demand. Just an opinion.
I tend to agree, and I've had several discussions about key dates being overvalued in some of the other forums. People like them because they have outperformed other coins in the past. That's fine, but it could also mean they are now overpriced. Nobody knows for sure and everyone has to collect what they think is best.
TBH, I have never liked key date collectors. I mean people who will only collect 1877 indian head cents, and no other ones. I have met such collectors before, the only thrill they get is by amassing lots of keys other collectors need to complete their sets. It has always struck me as odd how they get so much pleasure in denying so many people the ability to complete their sets. I even met one gentleman who had 2.5 rolls of 1877 cents and gleefully talked about how so many other collectors could complete their sets except for him going to every show buying up all of the 1877's. He especially like to find dealers with a complete set and talk them into breaking the 1877 out for him. Weird bird. Did he make money? Yeah, he bought them up when they were $100-$150 a peice. Keys always get attention because they are "famous", but at todays pricing and due to lack of as many people putting together complete sets, I think they are way overvalued versus availability. Yes, many are not very available in certain grades, but that is grade scarcity not key date scarcity. An 1877 cent I do not believe is 1,000 times scarcer than an 1890 or similar. Its an artificial price since it is famous.
Of course. Supply is fixed, what about demand? I would say key dates used to be demanded since they were scarcer than others and were wanted by collectors to complete their set. However, I would postulate that they are now demanded more because they are "key" dates more than to fill collection holes. Is that demand steady? I don't think so, I would say its more speculative based than collector based. In the 1980's an 1877 was about $100 in G, which was fair since it was about 200 times rarer than an 1890, (rough numbers from memory). I wouldn't quibble with that, in fact I bought a few. However, since then the 1890 went to $1-$1.50 in G, and the 1877 is $1000. Supply didn't change, demand did. I would say collector demand is the same, but specualtive demand has increased. To me, that is risky since speculative demand can always change their minds. Always remember intrinsically these little bits of metal we collect have little value. It is basically demand from collectors who appreciate them that makes any indian head penny worth more than $.02. Speculators come and go, but collectors form the base of the hobby. This is just an example. Its not meant to be limited to IH cents, just an example I remember.
