Howdy all, First of all...I am new here and this is my first post. I was a collector several years ago then got away from it, but I still have all of my coins. Now I am getting back into it and I am trying to catch up. My question concerns the American Silver Eagle commemorative. I have gotten one of those for Xmas from my brother the last few years (the Uncirc variety...not proof) and now I have quite a collection of them (15 total). According to PCGS, they are worth anywhere from $15 to $20 each, but that is only if they are MS65 or better. Is there anyway for me to know if they are MS65? I have heard that coin dealers buy these in rolls for a discounted price then put each one in a plastic container so you never know what kind of condition they are in. Obviously, they aren't graded. Will I have to pay to have them graded? Also, I was thinking about buying a 2006 Proof Silver Eagle since I assume they will be worth more than the uncirculated (boy..I wish I had a proof 1993 or 1994). Do you think these will be a good investment? (Get out your crystal balls..)
Welcome to CoinTalk! They aren't commemorative really...they are really just bullion--but many people call them a coin. . #1..PCGS price guide isn't a good one to go by...online auctions are the best. You can get most ASE for under $20....some at my dealers today were about $12-$15 each. Yep--grade them .... Nope--but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that most of the coins that come out of the rolls would be in MS66 or better and many better. And you do know what kind of condition they are in....each coin is like a fingerprint...you have to grade each coin by itself and you can tell that by looking at the coin...if you want to post good clear photos here we can help you grade them. Yep--about $20-$25 each. Not total true...a UNC can be worth more than a Proof...but that depens on alot of things... I (and if you search this forum will see many many people think this way) don't advise you to use coins as an Investment.....coins can go up and go down with the wind...so it is best if you do it for the love of coins and then if you make a fast buck...that is great! Speedy
Speedy covered the topic in his usual thorough and professional manner. I'll just add the following. I think coins are a great investment, but you have to understand what type of investment they are. Coins are like buying a foreign currency, but one that is fairly inflation-proof and not necessarily tied to the US dollar. So they probably won't perform as well as the stock market because there is no reinvestment of retained earnings, but should do as well or better than a sound currency, like the Swiss franc used to be or the Deutchmark before the wall came down. This is particularly true for a coin like the ASE. If you want to make money, there are two basic ways. First, become very very very expert in the hobby and use the knowledge to buy things such as key date coins and the like at reasonable prices for the grade. Second, do what you are doing by collecting something relatively simple like ASEs at prices close to the bullion value and hope that silver goes up in price. Some people who have studied silver believe this is probable because of production shortages. Don't expect either method to be profitable quickly, or a sure thing.
The proof 1993 ASE is worth quite a bit since it was the first year they were minted in Philadelphia. According to PCGS, the 1994 proof is also worth quite a lot...does anyone know why? Was that year a low mintage or something?
they do have a low mintage...that is part of the reason....other reason is that many people are huting them and so that drives up the price. Again...PCGS price guide ISN'T a good one to go by. Speedy
But don't you think at least part of the reason *why* they are going for such high prices on eBay is because of what coins book, websites, etc say they are worth? Obviously there is some kind of trait that draws people to them and makes them valuable. The demand for them has obviously driven the price higher, but there had to be a reason people were wanting them in the first place.
The reson some people want them is because they need them for their set...some want them because they were born that year or so...and others want them because they just do. The price guide is put together from what coins are selling for...not what coins should sell for. the only problem with PCGS price guide is that they hype it up and make coins look $$ when you can get them cheaper anywhere else...even the Past President of PCGS that sells coins...he has never gone by their price guide. Coin books and websites and such can't tell you what a coin is worth...because the values are changing everyday in some cases...they can post what coins have been selling for and seem to be the normal price. The question of what makes a coin valuable is asked alot...no one can say for sure... some say its demand...some say mintage...some say grade...some say date or mintmark....all that I've listed are true...but on some coins no one knows...and on the ASE I just don't know. There are hundereds of millions of them some its more than likely not because its a really rare mitnage because if that is the case there are alot of coins with a mintage of under 1000 that needs to be worth lots more. Grade it can't be...they are all PF...and mintmark it can't be...so the only way we can say makes this coin worth so much more is demand---BUT if someday that demand goes down...or people start to sell these fast...the value can crash and make them worth the same as the others. Speedy
I understand your point...the demand is high for certain coins for whatever reason and that demand makes people willing to pay more for them and that is what makes the price go up. There has to be something there that drives the demand, but we may never know exactly what. Let me ask you something else then...what about the 1986 Liberty Coin Set? It seems like those were in high demand when they first came out...everybody I knew had or wanted a set. Did the value of those ever get very high? I know they aren't worth much now...I believe they have even depreciated because they are selling for less than their original mint issue price. Did demand ever drive up the value of those? Sorry for starting a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" discussion.:headbang:
I can't say for sure....I've just been collecting for about 5-6 years.... I'm sure someone will know for sure and be by to tell us soon....if I was betting I would say that when the set came out it went up in value for about a year...then after that people started seeing alot of them the value when down--but I don't know for sure. If you look at some other Mint Sets and some Proof sets you will see that some of them are selling for below what the mint sold them for....its partly a guessing game Don't be sorry...we all start somewhere...we are glad we can help!
Sure we know what drives the price up - hype. And hype creates popularity and popularity creates demand and that drives the price up. But it's generally very short lived and the price quickly drops. As for the '86 set, no the price never really rose. They minted so many of them that anyone who wanted one could have it for the asking. Like many of the other modern commems the price quickly dropped below issue price.
I would agree with Hype in most cases....but in some like rolls of 1983 BU Quarters I would disagree since there doesn't seem to be much hype there and the value is way over $100. Speedy
