What to buy next

OK so I have purchased many coins in the past spending maybe 15 dollars at the most on a single coin, the rest of my coins i searched for good deals on cheap coins. Now I don't really collect anything specific but I have always liked the bargains, such as an indian head penny for a dollar for example. However, I think i want to take the next step and purchase a decent coin in the 20-40 dollar range or so. I was thinking of the Large Cent Coronet Head or Flying Eagle maybe. I'm probably a collector/investor at the same time so I would be looking for something with great potential in terms of value. The 3 cent nickels look pretty cheap according to the PCGS price guide only 22 dollars in fair condition (which means I could buy it for much less than that). Any advice or suggestions on what I may want to get.

 

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What percent gains upon your $40 investment would you consider worthwhile?

 

Well for example, maybe about 20 years ago my dad got a morgan dollar in good condition for 2 dollars, today it would be worth 11-12. So I'm figuring if the coin I would be buying would increase in value fivefold or sixfold in 20 years, it would be a good investment. I'm liking that 3 cent nickel (edit) for such a low price maybe i'll pick one of those up if i can. I don't know though, info would be helpful thanks

Wow i just looked only 162,000 minted of the 3 cents in 1876 and it's the same price as the other ones.

 

I, like many others, believe that the Standing Liberty Quarter coins are a good investment. Generally I don't go for old coins (usually modern errors for me), but that is my absolute favorite design for a U.S. coin is history. Many of them can be had in nice shape for your price, and nothing looks better than soaring eagle in gleaming AU or MS silver!

EDIT: I checked, and 1926D seems like a good price for moderately scarce coin in the early MS grades. Probably would be about half the price raw as the PCGS prices?

 

My opinion are the wheats, alot of the dates have a lot of potential. Take the 09 VDB for example. Look how that has gone up, true to many others. But that is just my opinion. Buy what you like is my best acvice for you.

Phoenix

 

You might want to collect a specific design of coin that you find that you like. Maybe the mercury dimes, or wheat pennies. Find them in good condition, and fill up a book. That would bring in some profit.

 

Ah yes i had forgotten about the 09 VDB. About 6 months back i got one in AU for 8 dollars. I think maybe I should try to get more of these.

 

I would say buy a nice, original F-12 or so Barber Half if you can find one. Mid grade Barber Halves are really tough.

 

For $40, it can be pretty tough. That is where you have to max out your knowledge on the field that you know of as well as some luck for sellers who don't know what they are selling. Personally though, with $40, if you are going mainstream and go with the coins that everyone recognizes, you just get back what others do unless you are extremely lucky that the market demands what you got there.

I have been lucky though that for some bargains that I got are through hard search and have went easily 20 times of what I paid for. (except that if you can see, I don't collect US coins)

 

When it comes to investment, key dates are the way to go. At least semi-keys. That may be hard to do with 40 bucks though. If your really wanting to invest I would suggest spending more money per coin. I think saving up for quality and/or rarity would be a better investment than getting alot of coins for 10, 20 or 40 bucks each.

 

Large Cents and Flying Eagle Cents can be had in G-VG condiiton for under $20 if you shop around. If you're looking for something you don't have that starts around $40 in Good condition you might want to consider a Half Cent. However, if your looking for a coin in fine+ condiiton then half cents would probably be out of your price range.

 

I fully agree with that statement.

However, don't buy for investment, buy for your collection and enjoy yourself.
If there is any appreciation, then you are ahead.

 

get yourself some semi-key date lincolns,1924d 1922d 1911s etc. I forsee them going up up up. Also the 1913 barber quarter in vg is quite the bargain at present.

 

The early Lincolns are HOT!
(Also, stay away from those 1913 Barber quarters, they are common as all heck -- besides I am trying to accumulate them.-- just kidding, yes they are great.
Add in the 1915 S quarter.).

 

Bought one in good condition for 8 dollars. I figure that all silver coins will continue to rise in value.

 

You can find a lot of good looking peace dollars in that range. Since your time horizon is about 20 years, the silver content alone will probably melt for more than you pay for the coins by then.

 

Something polish, not american. More investment potiental.

 

$40 is hobby money, not investment money. I think coins in that price range are so common that they would lag behind more desirable coins. Plus, if you're investing you need to account for all related costs in your basis, s&h charges could represent an excessively high % of your investment. And then there's the value of your time.

So buy something pretty, and start this thread again when you've got at least 10x this amount to spend.

 

???????

The thread is about suggestions for a coin in the $40 range with potential as an investment, not in the $400 dollar range. Since when does something have to be $400 to be an investment? I'm sure there were people who bought baseball cards for a nickel back in the day hoping that one day in the future it would be worth something. Look at all the people picking up silver for $13-14 an ounce, hoping that it will hit $50 by 2010. Something doesn't have to be expensive to have potential.

 

I think invictus was trying to say the same thing I was saying. Common date coins aren't increasing in value as fast as key dates and coins graded really high, etc. I agree though, you don't have to have $400. Especially considering that we're talking about a 20 year period. I would encourage you to spend a bit more that $40 though. Just do your research first.