I got to thinking the other day, "Man, I wish I had been alive 80 years ago when all these fantastic coins were in circulation and you could obtain them easily from other collectors for relatively cheap.." So, then I started thinking, "Man, what am I going to wish I had collected and snatched up in 50 years, when I'm old..?" So, what about the Presidential Dollar Coins? A PF69 Ultra Cameo set is rather cheap to obtain, running about ~200 bucks, slabbed and shipped. Even a PF70 UC set isn't a ton more >1k, if you're patient. Slabbed MS65+ are 5 dollars and up..a pretty easy set to make in high grade, right? Here are some points I keep coming back to.. On the negative side.. -I've heard tell of warehouses full of these coins sitting there, just sitting there..like a puppy at a pound, waiting for someone to come pick them up. -The threat of suspending the series(might never get off the ground). -They're really not a pretty coin, IMHO. The reverse is so, blah.. again, just my .02. On the positive side.. -There's talk about removing the dollar bill from circulation, assuming this happens, I imagine that older dollar sets, Presidential, Sacagawea, Ike's, so on, would tend to become more desirable(even though some of those series are admittedly ugly). -This series, individual of the others in a lot of ways, appeals to history/presidential buffs as well. -The threat of suspending the series(makes it more collectible, I think?). So, what do you guys think? Am I just overthinking it? Or is this really a set worth pursuing because it's likely to increase in value? Or a set worth pursuing only because you'd care to pursue it? Appreciate your thoughts. -Erik
If you collect what you like/enjoy you win regardless. However, nobody ever wants to collect a depreciating asset. I like the ATB silver quarters both big and small. Welcome to CT. TC
Buy the stuff you wish you were around 80 years ago to purchase. They are not making anymore of them. Specifically, go 19th century if possible.
Silver always seems to have appeal. In the series I collect - Kennedy Half Dollars - the really high-grade slabbed cu-ni clad pieces have appeal to a limited number of registry collectors. The slightly lower-grade stuff is a dime a dozen. Given a choice between PR69DCAM clad proofs and silver, any kind of silver, the market always seems to prefer the precious metal. Manganese brass isn't precious, and it never will be, so you be the judge.
Those are all valid points. I've been working on a slabbed silver state quarter set and a barber dime set for the reasons you all have listed. I probably am overthinking it, as the closest series I suppose you could compare it to would be the Eisenhowers..and those have done okay over the years, but it's not like anyone's retiring on them, to be sure.
If you like them and enjoy them then by all means buy them, study them and collect them. However, a fifty year investment plan in coins with such huge mintages leaves me cold.
Understood. I didn't mean specifically a 50 year plan, or a large investment..moreover, is it worth it to invest a couple thousand in nice(PF 69, PF 70, MS 65+) coins to sit on and sell/trade later on. Even though I talk about how homely they are, I do enjoy them and have the collection in PF70 Ultra Cameo.
70UCAMS might appreciate a bit, not 69's - the mint technology is advanced to the point where 69's are common among proofs. Search up all the PR69DCAMS in the Kennedy series, from the 70's onward: everybody's got them, and nobody wants them. They're registry war casualties, as another poster so aptly put. MS65's are also far too common and plentiful. Why would you pay a premium for a slabbed MS65 dollar, when you can get ample raw ones for much less?
Modern PR/PF69 coinage is currently viewed as a loss-leader. These are coins that have failed the cut in the search for the profitable PR/PF70 grade. They certainly can be good looking coins, but I don't see investment potential in them.
If I had had the money thirty years ago to sit on a few coins, I would have chosen key or semi-key Morgans, in high grades, with excellent eye-appeal. Morgans have never gone out of style, as in never. They're probably the most collected coin in US history - the market for them is always huge, even among junk silver enthusiasts.
Collecting Presidential Dollars should be just as popular as collecting two cent pieces in 148 years. Not dissing the piece mind you, and it certainly is easy to get some good ones (although the MS67 for Washington and Adams is gonna set you back a bit) but they just have not hit any real popularity with collectors wanting to spend serious money on them. Most are simply too plentiful. However, that will more than likely change in 100 years.
