Are coins dead as an Investment?

We all have seen the PCGS 3000 graph.

Are you in it for the long term? What do you think of paying around a 65 pct premium for a stickered coin when the issue itself is not moving in a substantial positive direction (MS66 generic Saints)?

 

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Coins have always been dead as an investment.

 

If you are approaching coins as an investment, you're doing it wrong.

 

Just about everything I have bought has depreciated in value through the years. Especially the stuff that I've purchased from the mint. Coin collecting is just that .....collecting.

As for investment, I don't think any dealer hangs on to any coin long term. They make their money buying and flipping at the right time. Investing? Fools errand.

 

They were never alive. Well, not for me anyway. Unless you're a professional numismatist or dealer, forget it! I don't think you'll ever hear a financial advisor telling you to add coins to your financial portfolio. If you do, I'd be running in the other direction.

 

I agree with the above comments. I do not believe coins have ever been a good investment, if making a profit is your intent. Coin collecting is a hobby. Some coins in my collection have appreciated in value, most have not. I collect because I love the history and the artistry of the coins.

 

Great place to store a bit of wealth. Not a good place to invest.

 

I think the period from 1972 to the 1989 crash was basically an upward trend then after that a steady down slide.

My focus has changed to the areas I like and having a decent store of value.

 

http://www.antiquesage.com/obscure-certified-coin-bubble-late-1980s/

 

Although I often buy coins in the hopes that when it comes time to sell I will make a few bucks. I never think of coins as an investment as I hardly ever turn much of a profit! That's not what coin collecting is about to me.

 

My coin collecting interests have zero to do with investment.

 

Excellent article.

 

With your budget that you have, buy coins that are pleasing
and are CAC stickered. Buy these coins over several decades.
Don't buy copper unless it is a pleasing Red/Brown leaning toward
brown or a fully brown coin. Buy only the prettiest TONED
silver coins, ones that just make your jaws drop! Un-toned coins
are fine as long as they are FLASHY. The same rule for gold coins
FLASHY!! Your great grand children will be thankful. You on the
other hand will enjoy buying these treasures and holding them
till you pass. If you want an investment that reaps profits now,
I suggest a well balanced portfolio of mutual funds and ETF's.
Very rarely do collectors enjoy profits unless they are in it for
the long term, usually 5+ decades. Hopefully the 40 and younger
crowd will find numismatics as exciting as we do. Make sure all
of your coins are in PCGS or NGC plastic. Anything else is just
throwing your money away.

 

I wrote this about coins as an investment. It begins with a short discussion of investing in coins in general and ends with more attention to ancient coins:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/numis/investment.html

I agree with most of the above contributors that coins are not likely to make much money, but, I conclude, "Regardless, treat collecting as a hobby to enrich the mind, if not the wallet, and it pays off well enough."

 

What a sad state of affairs... nowhere do I see "buy what you like, love, or want"... Also - buy coins you will never, ever actually touch.

 

MCAGIA... Make Coins A Great Investment Again

 

Coins -- bullion or numismatics -- are NOT an investment. They are a speculation. They may or may not make you money.

We can enjoy how they look and play with them, unlike the XOM stock I bought yesterday or the preferred stock I'm buying for mom tomorrow.

When I pass -- hopefully not for a while -- my heirs will have a bit of fun, celebrating and cursing all of the dozens of coins I purchased from all different types, taking much longer to value than a simple financial brokerage statement.

Well, I just did that. I think premiums for Saints is pretty much washed out -- it's nothing compared to a few years ago or earlier this century. So that's good.

If gold goes to $3,000 an ounce (November ?), my Saints (and silver) probably double if not triple. But if gold falls back to $1,100 I have reverse leverage to the downside.

 

If silver and gold double, so will the cost of food and fuel. They are money.

 

Read and heed! Enjoy the hobby. Invest your money elsewhere.

 

Don't ever buy from the US Mint and expect to make money unless you buy several and flip them while they are hot.