Investing in today's markets? What to do?

I respectfully disagree with the liquidity of coins.

If you are buying a coin for its "numismatic" value, then you are in the collectible market. You are making a lot of assumptions about its future value and desirability to others. You might as well be buying Barbie Dolls or Pokemon cards. Seriously.

You are making the assumption that your choice of coin (or pokemon card) is what everyone will want in a year, five years, etc.

Now, I'm not talking about ultra rare coins that go for thousands of dollars - that's a different animal.

Your coin may retain its value in a down market, but it becomes much, much harder to sell at that price. I'm guessing you can ask almost any dealer about recent sales volume compared to six months ago. Check out recent threads in this forum about lower attendance at coin shows.

My friend, do not assume your high priced coin is a liquid asset (at least for what you expect to get back).

 

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Barbie Dolls and Pokemon Cards

The last time I looked Barbie Dolls and Pokemon Cards do not contain any precious metals. I think a precious metal coin will always be liquid, but I think I need to define asset as I look it at concerning coins. I look at a coin as an asset for something "stashed away" to feed my family or something in hard times. I really have no interest in selling them, but I do belive there will always be a market for the precious metal. I don't mean there will always be a big profit. But, if times are bad enough to force me to sell my coins I would think they would be worth more than what I paid. My coins are not the coins the wealthy have. I think "junk" peace dollars would be a better investment than mint state coins in the scenario I'm mentioning for me to think about parting with my collection. Do I think these times will ever come? Not really. Do I think the coin prices on the coins I want are going to flatten or decrease ? Yes, and I can't wait because I want the coin, not the profit.:eating:

 

Gold and silver coins are not an "investment" the way stocks or businesses are investments. They are a cash substitute similar to holding foreign currencies except that they are more inflation resistant. Of course it isn't true that they don't generate a yield. Larger investors use basis-trading techniques to earn risk free interest on their bullion holdings. You can't do this with a couple of one ounce coins, but the opportunity exists. It is somewhat surprising that no institution has formed a mutual fund where small investors can pool their money to do this the way the big guys do. And to anticipate the response, no, the gold and silver ETFs don't use basis trading to generate a yield so they aren't what I'm talking about.

 

The last time I looked a 1909 VDB didn't contain any precious metal and a whole lot of other coins that coin collectors buy.

If you're counting on the value of the precious metal (as you state a couple of times), then you're talking about the bullion value of your coins and not the numismatic value.

Two completely different things.

 

I would like to see one of the on line coin pricing websites program it so it reflects sells of similar coins on ebay. Many of us do this with a particular series or coin, but it would be so indicative and more accurate if it covered most during a week. I have a program that searches ebay for current listed coins, but not " completed" listings. Does anyone use one that does?

Jim

 

Absolutely right! I learned THAT lesson regarding the use of ebay completed listings to measure a coin's value quite a while ago, the HARD WAY, I hate to admit!

 

http://coins.ha.com/common/auction/prices.php

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