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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 25046297, member: 101855"]I have been collector for 65 years, and was a dealer for about 14 years. I made money as a dealer, which included both the wholesale and retail markets. Given that, here's my advice. Frankly you are better off enjoying the hobby, and staying away from the idea of buying to make money. Aside from the dealing aspect, I have made money in coins the say way invest mavin Bernard Baruch advised. "Make money with your ... butt ... Buy land and sit on it." That's how I've made money with a lot of the collector coins I have. I have found it hard to sell coins to dealers for fair prices once I stopped being a dealer. It seems like they obsessed with better and "key dates." I like some common coins, but many collectors don't. I think that the prices are too high for those "key dates" relative to their rarity, but that's what I found when I was dealer. They buy stuff like the 1937-D Three Legged Buffalo Nickel, which is really a common coin. When I was dealer, if I could buy one for the Grey Sheet bid, it was an easy way to make a fast $100. If you are spending any serious money, the answer is "Yes" in the U.S. field. Getting coins graded is expensive, and it takes a lot more expertise to buy raw coins. Counterfeits are a real problem now, and you need to know what you are doing. My advice is the buy the coin in the holder you want, and leave the crack-out game to the pros. I cracked out some stuff when I was dealer and did well. But that's me. I'm coin nut. Grading is not as accurate and avoiding counterfeits on slabs. You need to know how to grade coins. There is no way around it, unless you find an honest dealer. CAC is not "the panacea" that some people make it out to be. I also collect British and Imperial Roman. I prefer those coins raw, and so do many dealers, BUT you need to know how to grade and spot the fakes. No. Collector demand is more important than rarity. You can have the rarest piece in the world, but no one wants it, the price is low. Mintages are only part of the answer. What's more important is how many coins survive? AND, even more important, do collectors want the coin? That is key. The 1880 gold dollar has a mintage of 1,600. That sounds great, but about 1,000 of them have survived. The coins were well made, and many have a P-L look. Collectors are attracted to them because of the low mintage, but don't go overboard because of it. Here's mine. I like gold dollars, so that's why I have one. [ATTACH=full]1602152[/ATTACH] As for mintages, buy a copy of the Red Book. Its lists all of them. I am no fan of modern coins as "an investment." The survival rates are very high, and "the good ones" are often hyped for a while until the next fad comes along. After that, many of them gather dust. Here's an example. In the 1960s, when I was a kid collector, the 1960 Small Date Cent in Proof sold for $50 when $50 was "real money." My 2024 Red Book says it's worth $7 retail in PR-65, Red. That's $7 in today's "lucky bucks." If you bought one for $50 back then, you are up the creek without a paddle. I can cite many more examples. Proof sets have been dead for years. I have a run from 1936 to date simply because I like them. Some of the old ones have held their values, but the new ones, since 1970, are dead and buried. I have never cared for Mint Sets. I bought and sold some of the old double sets, which ended in 1958, when I was a dealer, but it's specialized area. A lot of those sets have been cherry picked for the higher grade pieces. I am a freelancer. I buy from all over the place, but I have some dealers I look up right away at the shows and others I would not touch with a ten foot pole. Having said that I once bought a very expensive coin from one them. He had the right coin at the right price, and probably needed the five figure sum for some reason and knew I was good for it. I probably have not told you what you wanted to hear, but I've given you my honest opinions.[/QUOTE]

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