Asked in another thread but not answered: A question for the MS 69/70 crowd - As related to your coins with those grades, do you see yourself as a collector or as an investor?
The only investors in numismatics are those people with deep pockets. Most coins that have grades of 69 or 70 are usually relegated to "modern" classifications. The only investors with deep pockets who mess around with "moderns" are those people who want to sell them as quickly as possible on eBay while the feeding frenzy is strong. Maybe that is why you couldn't get a definitive answer before. Chris
I bought and sold many moderns from 2006-2014. After screening I sent them to PCGS. This is just me now, I sold all the 70s and if I liked the coin I kept a NICE 69. At that time I was a collector and an investor. Sold all of my moderns in 2011-2012, couldn't afford both classic and moderns. I chose classic. Here's a few examples of my long gone moderns. View attachment 400119 Check out the serial #s.......I can tell the difference in a 69/70.
I can, too, but most people don't think it's possible. Maybe it is because they haven't tried. Nice selection! I'll bet the bidiots went crazy. Chris
And they'll get to do so all over again in few years when they try to sell them and find out how much money they lost.
Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a bit of a terminology problem here. In the parlance of Wall Street, an "investor" is typically considered to be someone with a longer horizon, someone seeking capital appreciation by buying and holding stocks over time periods usually measured in years. Whereas someone who buys and sells a lot, in time frames measured in days, weeks and months, is considered a "trader." Seems to me that a lot of the MS70 activity is driven by those I would call traders (not investors), who buy, grade and flip coins in short order. The profit per coin may be relatively small, but generate enough volume and there's money to be made. So, if the OP were to ask me if I'm a collector or a trader, that's any easy black and white answer: I'm a collector, 100 per cent. But if you ask me if I'm a collector or an investor, the answer gets more complicated. Yes, I'm a collector first, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't take a small amount of comfort in the knowledge that over the long term my collection should hold its value, and likely would fetch more than what I've put into it, should I ever want or need to sell it. (I don't deal in high end rarities, but many of my best coins were purchased years and even decades ago, and have increased in market value many times over — testament to the benefits of a long term buy-and-hold investment strategy!) No, I won't get rich and retire on my coins. As a collector first and foremost, that's never been my motivation. But I also won't get burned by them, like the Coin Vault customer who walks into a show to sell his MS70 slabs.
I'm a collector who usually preferred MS70 coins when possible. For example, I bought five sets of the 2011 ASE limited release coins then sent the unopened box to NGC for grading. Did some eBay shopping and wound up with four sets of early release MS/PF70 sets.(maybe five sets don't remember) The sets graded MS/PF70 are worth significantly more then ungraded or 69s. I no longer buy coins. I collect foreign currency and will start collecting US currency. The point being people collect what the want. I've been at shows where I've seen people only buy 69 grade coins because they don't sell for much more then raw in a lot of cases. Others only buy 70s and others only buy ungraded. I started buying graded coins because I ran out of storage space due to the Mint packaging. I bought an AGE HR that nests in a nice wooden box about eight inches tall. The coin goes in a PCGS storage tray and the beautiful box goes the basement. Waste. The five coin 2011 coin set boxes occupy a lot of space. The five sets of graded coins go into a PCGS storage boxes. The Mint boxes go in the basement. I consider myself to be a collector first with an eye for investments. They are not always incompatible terms. I collect what want I and make no judgments about what others collect.
Maybe I should have been a bit more precise in what I was asking. When you obtain a top MS coin, do you do so to keep it and enjoy its beauty (Collector) or do you obtain it with the intention of profiting by its sale (Investor, or Trader if you prefer)? This is not to say that a collector wouldn't accept a profit from a sale of an unneeded or duplicate item to upgrade his collection, but what I'm going after is intent at the time of purchase.
Are you speaking as a modern registry collector or are you saying the only people who buy modern 70's are registry collectors?
I don't own any MS70's, but there is one I want to own. I'm looking for the ugliest looking, over-graded, possibly cleaned, ACG MS70. I don't even care much what the coin is, just that it be an ugly, overgraded ACG slab. Needless to say, I'm a collector.
Sometimes if I see a high grade coin and if it's priced right that I could make a profit from it, I will buy it. I don't see anything wrong with that.
