So many things contribute to answering this question. Gold market can cause serious swings in those coins. Hype on certain sets and market availabilty also fluctuate creating the "market price". It is virtually impossible to say what will go up or down in the future. If you are looking for investment purposes, look at the key dates or gold based coins.
If we knew this we would be buying all we could---but with the market you never know what will happen. I think the big thing is too...Collect what you like...you will never go wrong. Speedy
the story of my life. The only thing I ever seem to actually be able to invest in and make money on is precious metals. And patience is all you need to make a buck there
For me, Eagles. Platinum, Gold and Silver. They have the inherant value of the metal and even some collector value as well.
I'm not sure either how to determine what will go up or down but I do agree with Speedy. I collect silver commem and whether they go up or down I will always enjoy looking at them and showing them to friends and family.
I must agree with williamdtipton on this one. I have been very fortunate doing my own thing, which I enjoy, as I am not paying anyone else to lose my money for me. I figure I can do it best by myself! This past few years has been very good as most coins have made some progress, some more than others. Any coin with a Carson City mint mark has done remarkably well. Key dates in most series have exploded! If you are just starting out I wouldn't hesitate to get on the Sacagawea band wagon as that set (P, D, and S) has doubled in the last year and should they end the series any time in the near future these will be very hot! Also not to late to give buffalo nickels a serious look! Pick something you like, stick with it and most of all be very patient when buying.
My guess is that silver eagles have about the best chance of increasing in value on a percentage basis. The problem is, the coins are cheap and bulky, so you need a way to store a fairly large hoard of them to make a lot of money.
As y'all probably saw in the early 80's, silver, depending on circumstances, can get expensive, gold seems to always be expensive per ounce, and platinum is platinum, 'nuff said about it
All markets have a tendency to do whatever is necessary to make everyone wrong. This is even more true in collectibles markets since it is nearly impossible to predict where the demand will go. It is primarily demand which drives coin prices historically. It is for these reasons that investing in coins will usually not result in profit. Even if you do correctly identify a good area for appreciation there is every possibility that the increases will bypass the specific items you were able to locate and set aside. Finding rare coins is tough since they are rare and investors are more inclined to find more common coins to set aside and then pay a high mark-up. Collectors often fare better because they are more likely to recognize the rarities and actually have them in their collections. This being said I believe the most undervalued coins with the greatest chances of becoming fairly valued or overvalued are mint state clad quarters. There are several forces and trends working in their favor. Perhaps the most powerful is the simple fact that the coins have been overlooked for so very long. In the past most collectors set aside at least a few current coins every year for themselves and future collectors. This mostly ended in 1965 and these coins went into circulation. Another major factor is demographics. A whole new generation of collectors is cutting their teeth on the states issues which are clads and quarters. It is a very tiny jump from saving a 1999 Delaware quarter for your collection to finding a nice 1998 worth keepin also. There are other coins to help bridge this gap like the bicentennial quarter also. Established mainstream collectors are getting older and will have to be replaced. As new collectors come on board it seems likely that at least a few will pick up the old clad quarters as a quest. Most of these exist in small enough numbers that any increases in demand can cause a fairly dramatic increase in price. Especially watch the better dates, higher grades and less well known varieties. Watch the '76-D DDO. This coin is rare and the only important variety of a one year type but is seen for under $1,000.
Well I can't let crystalk64 and CladKing talk you into clad coins...I would suggest that you collect pre 1964 coins...they are nice and most of all they are silver...now the nickel and the cent are not silver but I'm sure you knew that. I would also suggest that you look at Franklin halves....Proofs and BU coins... Speedy
For you youngsters who are starting their coin collecting and wanting to know which coins are hot and which ones are not; take it from an old worn out collector like me and listen to someone like cladking. I have found that he knows what he is talking about on this issue and you could do far worse by going some other direction. What cladking is telling you is right-on!
Lest anyone misunderstood the point of my last post it was this: To do best as an investor you need to think and act like a collect- or. Collect what you find interesting and the pleasure you derive from it will not only be sufficient reward but is the best chance to profit economically also. If you don't like clad quarters (or anything else) the market will as- sist you in doing it in such a way as to minimize your profits. If you do like them, it may be one of the better areas to reap rewards. They are undoubtedly one of the last great frontiers with lots of ways to learn about the hobby and its related aspects. Have fun. Ignore advice, and you'll do fine.
It's like baseball cards. The cards that are valuable are the ones nobody saved when they were new. Mothers everywhere through out millions of dollars worth of future profits. When people started putting boxes of them away, they guaranteed that the cards would never be worth much. The valuable coin of the future is probably the one that isn't being saved today in a high mint state condition -- probably because nobody likes it. So maybe the truth is to collect what you like to enjoy the hobby, and collect what you hate if you want to make money.
I am with Bacchus on this one. This is my luck as well. Say like the 2004 Mint Sets that I requested over and over for Christmas last year and got none of. Only to read about their very low mintage numbers after sales were closed.