Buying extremely valuable coins... a good investment?

Hey everyone,

I look on ebay a little bit everyday and see quite a few interesting coins. I cam across this one just now;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1798-1-EARL...30?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item25719f5f1a

It's listed at $37K BIN. The value of this coin is around $40K+ however, the SAME coin sold just last year at auction for more than $55K (http://images.goldbergauctions.com/php/lot_auc.php?sale=65&site=1&lot=5041). My first question is... why would this be selling for almost $20K less than it auctioned last year. Second question would be, do you guys find extremely expensive coins or ones in the top 1-2 of POP a good investment? Is there anywhere I can check the history of value on certain coins?

Thanks!

 

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Well, If you look the total mintage of 1798 1$ is more than 327.5 K so I think is not a GOOD INVESTMENT on that Particular coin. Now when it comes to a single coin that will be different story. A priceless one. If you look on a 1933 20$ Double Eagle Gold Coin sold for 7.6 Million US Dollar consider LEGAL ONE to Own but is not UNIQUE and is not a PRICELESS ONE too Because too many out there! Just my Honest Opinion.

 

Well you can check what coins went for in prior Heritage auctions. Also you can add any ebay listing to your watch list or put in low bid and have it send you email when auction ends. This way you can build your history in your inbox for prices for historic ebay listings and you can search your inbox and get the prices when similar listings pops up.

 

I would love to have a decent chain cent and I might pony up for that (if I had the dough) but other than that I just do not see it.

 

The owner paid too much when he bought it for $55k, as it sold for $32k when it was in NGC holder during 2008.

 

I think Doug covered it really well. I can tell you from my recent Heritage auction that the coins I bought a few years back did as heritage expect, but not what I hoped for. I can tell you when I bought the coins I did a bunch of research before buying the coins. Now other than those coins I did really well on some, but the ones where I chose to pay a premium to get a coin I wanted did not cover the premium. And some got close. At the same time I had several do so well I was trying to figure out why - could have just be two people caught up in the auction. For example I had a 1926 buff nickel MS66 buffalo nickel that I paid 375 for - it was a very nice nickel and it was a very nice strike - it hammered at 900. If I could figure out how to do that on all my coins I would be rich. The others were about the same - while very nice coins and well struck I just could not figure out why so high. These coins were bought retail - 1 from the penny lady, 3 from Harlan and 1 from Northeast. I think that is right places. Now I am trying to figure out if I can do it again - all were purchases within the last year.

 

If you buy what you truely like and will enjoy owning then its a good investment.

 

Like any investment, it's good if you get in before everybody else does. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. That said, I personally don't like INVESTORS driving up the price of my collectables. I'm a numismatist, not an INVESTOR. Go invest in Houses or perish the thought, a startup company that employes PEOPLE.

Rant Over.

 

Which indeed is the only way coins are a "good" investment. Buy what you enjoy, if you are in it for "investment" you may well get cleaned out.

 

If this is the case, and I'm not suggesting it's not (because markets do go up and down), then why wouldn't the seller wait a while before selling rather than taking a certain $20K loss? It doesn't make much sense and makes me wonder if there's another reason this coin is being offered.

OP, have you considered calling the seller to see what he might have to say about this coin?

 

It could be nothing more than the seller's kid's tuition is due . I'm guessing that the OP is assuming that the person who bought the coin for $55k is the same person who was trying to sell it now. Who knows? That coin may have traded hands a couple of times since then. Anyway, the seller ended his listing yesterday morning.

 

I know what you're saying but regardless of how many times the coin has changed hands (I'm guessing not many in a year for this particular coin), someone is taking a loss. Seems to me that if that seller can afford $50K coins, he should have a decent sense of investing and not have to lose a quick 20 large to pay a bill (unless $50K is chump change ).

 

I agree with what has been said here...and I think Doug summed it up really well.

IMHO, it is also a poor idea to invest in what you collect. Most people here collect coins for the pure joy of it. When you get that really nice or special piece, you become attached to it. If I purchased a really nice high dollar coin that I was very proud of, I would probably have a hard time letting it go. I think people should invest in items they have no emotional attachment to and collect the things they do. The two should never be mixed.

 

The answer to your question is right in your question. You said the coin sold at auction a year later for almost $20k less. I have to ask you, you think that was a good investment? Heck no, and that's why collectors always say do not invest in coins to make money because your idea could go south quickly.

 

Yeah, it crossed my mind that he was simply cutting his losses (regardless of whether the coin might lose any more value); probably the most likely scenario. Still, I wouldn't call it "making sense." I guess some people who can afford $50K coins can also afford to be fickle in their decisions.

 

Good coins for me are art, money,and a hedge. If you have bought and held for say thirty years, gold and silver has been good to you. Add in some gold and silver anniversary sets on a regular basis and your interest has probably made you some money. Not everyone bought Microsoft or Google and sold at the perfect moment.
Selling I do not do . I will trade some of my services I provide for good quality coins.

 

Just because a coin is worth X amount of dollars, does not mean you will get for it. What it's worth and what you end up getting are two different things.

 

Keep in mind these are also some of the people who might make 10k, 20k or 50k on another coin they sell.