What single coin up to $3,000 and single coin up to $5,000 would you buy as an investment to be sold say 15 years from now.
Coins historically are collected for pleasure not investment. If you expect to turn a profit on a particular coin in fifteen years you probably will be disappointed.
Coins are not suitable for investments, but if were to spend that much in coins, then gold bullion. I would definitely not buy any ancient coins as investments, but if in terms of buying coins for that amount, I'd rather buy Roman gold Aureus, their price always trend upwards!
Coins are an awful investment tool. They are great for storing wealth, but terrible for investing.... All that said, I would buy pre-33 gold myself.
I would probably go with the 1955 DDO Cent. The 1914-D Cent would probably be another good choice. Bust coins have done well over the years but picking a single coin is going to be tough. It's all really a gamble. You could win or loose. I see the hobby as a place to park money I can afford to loose.
I wouldn't choose a coin perse as they tend to be terrible investment mediums. If I had the money and wanted to put it into something numismatic though, I'd put it into pre-33 US gold. It has seemed to do well value-wise and will always at least have the bullion value. More of a wealth storage than an investment.
The new collectors coming out seem to think coins are a good investment. They are not. They are fun and should be relaxing like any hobby.
The fun thing about the coin hobby is that coins will always have some value. Probably not what you paid for them but some value. With many hobbies if not most, you end up with a lot of stuff that has little value and is tough to sell.
My opinion, whatever price increases on value happen, it's usually eaten up by inflation over the years also. I'd say you are better off with bullion coins bought with little to no markups, and then knowing what you spent and waiting for the right time to sell high, then rebuy low, and just keep that revolving door going, buy low/sell high, and keep adding to the pile over the years. Just important to know how much you paid in total, and what price point you'd want in order to sell, and then what price point you'd want to rebuy at. It's not "stacking" which is buying and adding top the pile regardless of the price and coming to an average cost for all or part of the stack. I'd say as investments go, that's a better opportunity than most coins in general, mostly because there's more fluctuation in precious metals than coins.
Like others said, DO NOT. The reason is the buy sell spread will eat you alive. Best case for most people, sell at auction. You pay 20% of the proceeds to the auction firm. THEN, if you happen to make a "profit", you have to pay special hobby income tax rates. By the time you factor in buy/sell spread, this special income tax rate, and inflation, I bet you 99% of all "investment purchases" are a loss. Having said all of that, if I had to I would buy a problem free, pretty, higher grade Type coin. I am nervous that date collecting will erode in the future, and date keys are already way too high, but I see demand for scarce, pretty, high grade Type coins surviving more. Maybe a really pretty liberty cap or something. If you had deep ancients knowledge, I would take advantage of hoards and buy a high grade coin always in demand of non-ancient specialists like the Athenian tet hoard released a few years ago. 3 full crest full XF+ examples I believe would hold their values.
There are loads of individual coins you could buy as an investment up to $3000 or $5000 and sell in 15 years . . . and lose money on.
I think a really nice Athens owl tet would be a good buy now if you were selective and patient for the right one. Once they are all distributed, the nicer examples will likely climb over time in my opinion. I wouldn't do it as an "investment" per se, but if I was a betting man, I'd bet at a profit in the future if one was smart, patient and selective in picking a raw example.
The reason also coins are a bad investment is when you go to sell them to a dealer is that they will automatically take a certain percentage off say 30-50% off because they have to make a profit selling your coin. Yes that sucks, but that is coin collecting life. If you are not getting any fun from coin collecting then you are doing it wrong. You also need a buyer. If you don't have 1 then you are stuck with a very high priced coin. Like others have said buying gold coins as a storage of wealth is a good idea.
I have always said I'm a collector not an investor!! I have never heard of a financial advisor recommending investing in coins!! I recommend you enjoy the hobby but try to make your fortune elsewhere!
I agree. In ancients, if you have knowledge of the market, one can almost always "make money" by buying into hoards. I use the word "making money" by meaning you save yourself money long term by buying cheaper than you will have to pay in the future. I never mean it by ACTUALLY making net return on the investment.
It hasn't occurred to me until literally this minute, but does anyone know if there's a mechanism to write off long term losses in coin (or in my case paper money) "investments" against long term gains made in the stock market?
You would have to keep records, claim that you are "in the business" of buying and selling them, to do so. The IRS HATES hobby losses. They do everything they can to stop exactly your thought. It stems from millionaires raising horses for their pleasure, but then writing off the losses against income taxes. That is why they came up the Hobby Loss rules. Very difficult to pull off sir.
Ah, gotcha, thanks. As soon as you mention horses I see I'm not the first to come up with this brilliant idea...
