I have been doing some reading & I need some advice. Which is the "Best" Strategy to get the best bang for limited bucks when buying certified US $5, $10 & $20 gold pieces?? (BTW- My Total budget is limited to just a couple of pieces tops & ALL of them will be certified coins) Should I buy low mintage "sleeper" AU gold at Mr. Bowers' "Optimal Collecting Grade" (i.e.; coins with eye appeal that have a steep price jump between AU & MS grades) or buy more common date gold at as high an MS state that I can afford for that type of coin?? Thanks, Bill
What is your goal? There are a lot of people on this board that do not think coins are a good investment. Me being one of them. As part of the question you mention sleeper gold low mintage - I can't predict when they might wake up and take off. Of course the $20 saints always seem like good ones that sell, but me I would wait for gold to go down. Which might never happen, but who knows. I personally think the older the lower mintage ones are better - again not as an investment.
I've been happy with AU58 pre 1933 purchases. You don't pay MS money but get a high end circulated example. For instance I got a 1912 NGC AU58 $2 1/2 Indian for $280. I got a 1862 [Civil War date] one dollar gold coin AU58 NGC for $240. Don't know if they qualify as sleepers but both are nice dates.
That sounds like a good idea, buying fairly/pretty nice certified coins for not much above their spot bullion price!!:hail:
But you want to buy coins with numismatic value, these coins are more than just bullion. The 'best' strategy really is to study the market, I studied the Indian Quarter Eagle market for months before I made a purchase, and even then my purchase was dumb. Study the gold market hard, and see what things go for, do searches of eBay's Completed Listings, and Heritage Auction Archives, look all around, DLRC, B&M, Stacks, everywhere, and see what coins are going for. Once you and the market are one, look at retail and wholesale prices for coins, along with what they are going for, and buy something. This is a long process, but education is the only key to making a smart investment, even if the investment is a crap shoot. Lots of coins go very cheap, or slip through the cracks of a big auction, because of higher level coins. Look for ANYTHING, big mintage, small mintage, AU, BU. Anything can slip through the cracks and be yours for a nice price. Time and patience buddy, time and patience.
