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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;trogdor, post: 3748219, member: 21943&quot;]I am a biased respondent, however I will give a long reply. I believe <u>collectors</u> should treat this down swing as an opportunity to purchase what they are interested in at more attractive prices. Investors should probably take their losses and leave the market.</p><p><br /></p><p>This hobby has been somewhat spoiled by investment mentality, and many collectors have been fortunate enough to take sizable profits when they&#039;ve sold. Many others have had the good fortune to break even. Seeing this repeatedly has convinced a large number of collectors that they should expect to make a buck or at least break even when they sell. This is a mistake.</p><p><br /></p><p>People should collect coins for enjoyment with profit or a store of value being far down the list of reasons why one does so. If someone is purchasing coins to make money, they&#039;re probably going to be disappointed. If a collector is worried about purchasing a coin for fear that a financial loss will result later, they should save themselves the disappointment and keep the $ in their pocket.</p><p><br /></p><p>I get asked far too often if a coin someone is considering is a &quot;good investment&quot; and my answer is always the same no matter what it is or how much it costs. &quot;No.&quot; I hate to think that numismatics will go the way of stamps, but IMHO the odds are more likely than not. Not enough new collectors are replacing the old, and our hobby is only one of many that are following the same trend. I think expecting a recovery to the good old days is wishful thinking. That doesn&#039;t mean we shouldn&#039;t buy coins though, but we should buy them for the right reasons.</p><p><br /></p><p>Two stories:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) A very intelligent man who had recently retired from a major financial firm bought a handful of four to five figure coins out of auction and told me he would be doubling up on them in a couple months. The sellers were &quot;fools&quot; to have sold them at the prices they did. After he sold them he&#039;d be reinvesting it all into coins and doing the same. He reasoned, with this strategy he&#039;d be a full time coin dealer in a year or two and have an inventory of a million or so. You can easily guess that he never bought coins from us again. I saw him at a coin show a few months thereafter and asked him how he was doing. He didn&#039;t want to talk about his progress. I haven&#039;t seen him since. While his dreams may have been grandiose, he was well educated and was buying thoughtfully. His major error was buying coins for the wrong purpose to begin with.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) A sickening number of clients and surviving spouses are flabbergasted by the worth of their coins now that the time to sell or auction has come. For years they assumed their assets were rising in value. Trusting wives eagerly accepted their husband&#039;s assurances that his collection was at the very least a secure savings account. Infrequently they get lucky. Most of the time they have to accept the dismal truth, and sometimes this financial shock greatly impacts the rest of their lives. Being the guy to talk to a devastated spouse that thinks she has $800,000 for retirement when she really has $80,000 is not an enjoyable experience.</p><p><br /></p><p>We collectors are at fault for lying to ourselves and our families that coins are a good way to save/invest. Granted, there are worse ways to spend money, and we will probably recoup a good portion of what we put in, but this (or any other) hobby should not be your retirement plan or savings account. Be honest with yourself and your loved ones about the value of what you own.</p><p><br /></p><p>With all that doom and gloom behind me, I will say I personally have made some great scores in numismatics and most of us have stories where we&#039;ve done well. I don&#039;t think those are the stories that should be celebrated first though. Better are the ones where we made friends, gained knowledge, hit a personal goal, etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>Collectors should look upon the downward trend with eager eyes. We want to grow our collections with bigger and better, and now is our opportunity to do so, but certainly not with investment (or even savings) in mind.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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