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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Rabone, post: 322799, member: 1515&quot;]Well GDJMSP, the first thing that I thought of when I saw your post and responses thereto was how it was odd that you was not getting your throat stomped on by those in the community that religiously preach: “I do not collect for profit, I collect for pleasure.” Maybe that Admin title stopped that usual knee jerk reaction, because I have seen it, and I am sure everyone else has seen it happen as well.</p><p>Now moving on to the subject of the article, I have to disagree with the body of the article. Let us look at what the author is saying.</p><p><br /></p><p>First of all, he contents that instead of buying current modern U.S. Mint products, you should be buying Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles. But in doing so, he quickly admits that there are dates out there that have “...literally tens of thousands of coins certify to high grades.” He then culls down the field even farther by stating “If at a particular grade of Saint-Gaudens 2,000 or more coins are certified to that grade or higher, that date in that grade is likely to behave as a <i>bullion</i> coin with a small numismatic premium; it will go up and down with the price of gold – <i>melt value plus a small premium</i>.” (emphasis marks are mine.) So taking this example, we are to determine that to qualify as true numismatic worthy coin, it has to have a population of under 2,000 pieces. How many collectors are there in the world today? Estimates range from 100,000 to over 2,000,000. Regardless of what number you are comfortable with, of those collectors what percentage of them are able to afford a 1907 High Relief Saint-Guadens double eagle? Two percent? Three percent? How about a 1932 Saint-Gaudens, currently listed in MS-65 at $140,000? Provided of course that one even comes up for sale. A half percent? Less?</p><p><br /></p><p>The author continues to support his supposition by comparing the Saint-Gaudens to the current First Spouse gold coins. He claims that there are 40,000 MS-69&amp;70 and PF-69&amp;70 coins being minted. Having one means you are just part of a 40,000 member club. Because all the coins are ultra high grade, maybe in 100 years (and several thousand being melted down during this time for bullion value), maybe then you will have a coin worthy of numismatic value. But don&#039;t hold your breath.</p><p><br /></p><p>The authors own argument falls apart when he then compares the value of a 1915 Saint-Gaudens double eagle (Accepted as a numismatic rare coin and of numismatic value.) By the authors own admission, after holding this coin for over 93 years (lets see, how many generations is that...4?) it currently is only $200 over melt. Anyone with a bit of economic knowledge knows that the “rule of 72” beats that by several factors. See here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_72" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_72" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia on Rule of 72</a></p><p><br /></p><p>So let us look at some modern U.S. Mint products and see what they have done. I start with the one probably everyone is most aware of, the 1996 W Proof American Silver Eagle.</p><p><br /></p><p>Offered only with the complete American Eagle gold set, it was just kind of tossed in there. In fact, there was no price difference between the 4 gold coin set and the 5 coin set. Both were offered at $999.00 Today, 13 years later, the W Silver dollar alone is fetching prices of $10,000 if you happen to come upon one that someone is willing to part with. That is 1,000 percent profit in just 13 years, from ONE coin of the set. That blows away the “rule of 72” by mega factors.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ok, that was an easy one. How about the 1999 Silver Proof set? Originally offered at $31.95 now selling for $370 a set. That is 1,158 percent profit in just 9 years. And my last example is the 2004 uncirculated mint set, twenty-two pieces sold for $16.95 – now retails at $75.00. A 443 percent profit in three years.</p><p><br /></p><p>My point is this, profit can be made from all aspects of collecting. But without hindsight, it is damn tough to know just which of the modern products will increase in value. Will the U.S. Marine commem continue to hold its value in 10 years? 20 years? Who knows. But right now it is a hot item in the commem market due to current world conditions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Collect what you want for whatever reason you want. I enjoy collecting for the history and for the beauty. I am also one who freely admits that I collect with the intent of making a profit in several years to help fund my retirement. I make no bones about that. Would I like to own a 1917 High Relief Saint-Gaudens double eagle? You bet! But I would rather own a 1995 W American Silver eagle for profit sake. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie9" alt=":eek:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />hya:[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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