An e-mail received today: “Interested in building a collection-investment of rare coins that has the best chance of appreciating in value – a collection that you’ll have fun building and one that you’ll be proud to show off?” Mark Ferguson Professional Numismatist Prices and services are listed below. Email me to arrange a call to discuss a mentoring program that’s tailored especially for you: mark@RareCoinMentor.com I also have access to other top experts across the country who specialize in particular areas of numismatics. [paste:font size="4"]Here Are Just A Few of the Ways We Can Help You Understanding the coin market Deciding what coins to collect and invest in Developing a strategy for determining what grades and grading services to collect Valuing your coins and prospective purchases Acquisition strategies Registry collecting A collection reboot: upgrades, cross-overs and stickering Marketing/sales plan for your collection-investment We can’t predict how much coins will appreciate in value over time. In fact, we can’t even predict they will appreciate in value. But we can ensure you that we’ll help guide you in building a collection of rare coins that has the best chance of appreciating in value, as coins have continued to do over time, that you’ll have fun building your collection-investment and that you’ll be proud to show it off! …and, we can help you figure out how to sell your collection for the top market price when the time comes! [/paste:font] Mark Ferguson’s Quick Bio: Independent coin dealer/professional numismatist since 1969 Professional coin grader at PCGS, 1987-1990 Market analyst for Coin World’s Coin Values magazine and price guide, 1997 and 2002-2009 Author, The Market in Depth column for the Coin Dealer Newsletter, 2010-2015 Author of hundreds of articles and market reports for Coin World, CoinWeek, The Numismatist and other publications Book author, The Dollar of 1804: The U.S. Mint’s Hidden Secret Market Analyst/Publisher, CAC Market Values price guide, 2016-present Publisher, Rare Coin Strategies newsletter, 2019-present ANA Life Member #1809, since 1976 “I’m a seasoned pro in all areas of U.S. coins, from common circulated coins to major high-grade rarities. I have deep experience researching, valuing, grading and buying and selling high-end rarities in all series of U.S. coins. While I own a few coins, I am unbiased in that I don’t maintain an inventory of coins. In addition to mentoring and publishing, I work as a buyer’s agent and consignment seller for clients.” Three Mentoring Programs to Choose From We offer three one-on-one mentoring programs to help you. Each program can be tailored to fit your personal circumstances and collecting interests. Collection-Investment Kickstart The Collection-Investment Kickstart is an 8-week series of one-on-one phone or skype calls – one, one-hour call per week. Kickstart is perfect if you’re new to numismatics and wondering what to collect and how to get started, or if your collection has been inactive for a while and you want to give it a reboot. At the end of eight weeks, you’ll have a clear vision of what your collection-investment will look like when it’s finished and a plan for building and selling it. Here’s what we’ll cover during the 8 weeks: Week 1: Together, we’ll review your purpose for building a collection of rare coins, the amount of money you intend to invest, your time-frame for building and holding the collection before selling it, and your collecting interests. This will help us determine what to collect and to develop a collecting plan. We’ll also discuss an overview of the coins you already own, if any. Week 2: If you have an existing collection, we’ll analyze it to see if it can use a reboot, refocus or adjustments. If you’re just starting out with no existing collection, we’ll use this time to further develop your collecting plan. Week 3: By week three, you’ll have a clear idea of what coins you’ll be collecting. We’ll discuss whether Registry collecting is for you and we’ll take a look at books, references and other resources that will be useful to you in building your collection-investment. We’ll also have time to discuss any questions that have come up for you and continue developing your collecting plan and strategies. Week 4: We’ll plan out the ideal grades and grading services for the coins in your collection and we’ll more closely analyze the same of the coins you already own. We’ll determine whether changes should be made to be in sync with the collecting plan we help you develop. We’ll discuss upgrades, cross-overs and stickering, if helpful. Week 5: During this call, we’ll focus on valuing coins. We’ll discuss various methods used to determine the values of the coins you already own and those you plan to purchase. We’ll give you guidance so that after this call you’ll know how to accurately value the coins you’ll be purchasing. You’ll know how to determine the minimum you should expect to pay for a given coin you want to purchase. And you’ll know how to determine the maximum you should reasonably expect to pay so you’re in line with the market. Week 6: This week, we’ll develop an acquisition strategy that you’ll use to acquire the coins you want to own. We’ll explore strategies and sources that will be effective for you, such as purchasing from dealers, auctions, coin shows, purchasing complete collections, using an agent, want lists and other creative ways to dig up the coins you’re searching for. Week 7: At this point, your complete collecting-investing plan will come together. We’ll explore various ways to sell your collection when the time comes. Knowing how you plan on selling your coins could impact your purchasing decisions. We’ll also discuss ideas you could use to help market your collection, long before you actually sell it, such as Registry collecting, displaying your coins, writing about them or even you, the collector. Week 8: This is our wrap-up week. We’ll use it for review, questions or any other considerations that come to mind. Collection-Investment Kickstart: $12,500 Value-Added Review Value-Added Review includes everything the Kickstart program offers over 8 weeks, as outlined above. Your Value-Added Review will take place over the following 4 weeks. Value-Added Review expands upon Kickstart by actually valuing your coins for you, as well as estimating the costs of your planned acquisitions (limitations apply to the number of coins). Kickstart gives methods you can use to value the coins you own and those you plan to purchase, but in Kickstart, we do not value the coins for you, as we do in the Value-Added Review. After our valuation, we will discuss each of your coins with you, and those you plan to purchase. We will recommend upgrades, cross-overs and stickering coins that are intended to increase the value of your collection. Our valuations for the coins you own can be performed using grades, descriptions, auction descriptions, photos and the like. Especially for high-value coins, an in-person review of your coins could be more accurate because the “eye-appeal” of the coins can be more easily judged. The cost of our in-person appraisal is $5,000 per day plus travel expenses. Value-Added Review: $25,000 Collection Builder Plus Our Collection Builder Plus program includes the 8-week Kickstart program and the Value-Added Review. Collection Builder Plus takes place over a full year. The program begins with a one- to two-day in person meeting with your mentor. Travel costs are extra. We’ll look over the coins you already own, if any, and discuss the attributes of each of them and we’ll cover as much of the Collection-Investment Kickstart in person as you care to go over. We’ll develop a sales and marketing plan for your collection that you can employ when the time is right. And we’ll value any coins you want to sell in the near-term so you’ll know how much money they should reasonably sell for. Over the course of the year, you’ll have access to call, text or email your mentor at convenient times to discuss proposed purchases and/or sales of coins. Discussions could involve anything from values of coins, populations and rarities, grades and eye-appeal, the market for specific coins, their histories and pedigrees, purchasing at auction, negotiating private purchases or sales, or anything else that’s pertinent. You’ll have your own personal rare coin mentor that you can reach out to at times that are convenient for both of you over the course of a full year. Reasonable time limitations apply. Agent services to facilitate buying and selling coins, examine auction lots and determine bids, and generally searching the market for coins are available at negotiable rates. Collection Builder Plus: $100,000/Year To discuss a mentoring program that’s right for you, email Mark Ferguson to arrange a call: mark@RareCoinMentor.com Any suckers out there?
Eight hours of his time for $12,500? Well, I'll give him this: he has, in fact, found a fool-proof way to make money in coins. In fact, I might go so far as to say it's a fool-dependent way.
He makes it clear that he's not looking for seasoned collectors. He's looking for marks, erm, people who realize that they could benefit from the advice of someone with more experience.
Truth be told, if he didn't charge so much, like maybe a small fraction of what he charges, he does offer something people want help with. A few weeks ago I posted asking for advice on what to buy with $10k that I wanted to invest in coins. Everyone warned me that I can't make money on coins and it's only a hobby and I should invest in mutual funds instead. But I like coins. I don't know why. I just do. I'm busy with my small little collections and enjoy it a lot. And I want to invest in coins. But I need help doing that. I would like a mentor but don't really feel that I should be spending money to pay one. If I had more discretionary funds I would hire someone to help me. He has loads of credentials. Why wouldn't someone hire him if his fees were reasonable?
Because unless you have lots of money (More than $10k) to invest in coins, 9/10 you aren't going to make money on that investment.
Oh. Okay. I am taking your word for it and the word of everyone else who said that in my post a few weeks ago. But can I respectfully ask why a $50k or $100k or $300k investment in coins makes money but not a $10k ?
$10k will buy you a few nice pieces that will perhaps remain about the same value after factoring in inflation, or maybe some bullion. Those will basically remain stagnate or fluctuate with the price of PMs. You need a lot more money to get "valuable" coins in order to make a decent "investment". You would make more money in the long run if you put that $10k in mutual funds like others have said.
Wonder if he has a "dollar deal" like McDonalds,...you know, for $1 he'll tell you to look at Vcoins….
I hear you. Though I've been burned by mutual funds. And I want to "diversify" and have something I can hold, not something just on paper. And even Index Funds if bought at the "wrong time" can take many years to recover.
