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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 59821, member: 112&quot;]If you gathered all of the most respected experts there are in the numismatic field together into one place and asked them the question - &quot; if I wanted to invest in coins, which ones should I buy ? &quot; - the consensus answer would always be the same two comments and in the same order - </p><p><br /></p><p>1 - Investing in coins is extremely risky and not advisable.</p><p><br /></p><p>2 - Buy the key dates of every series in the highest possible grade you can find - preferably slabbed by PCGS or NGC.</p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s it - just that simple. But you should take note - the warning to NOT invest in coins will <u>always</u> be the first response.</p><p><br /></p><p>But then there are the things that they won&#039;t tell you - and they are perhaps even more important than what they do tell you. First of all - the coin market is like any other market, it has ups and downs. And based on past performance, the down periods usually last twice as long, sometimes more, than the up periods do. They also won&#039;t tell you that we are now, today, in the beginning of a down period.</p><p><br /></p><p>They also won&#039;t tell you that the coin market, again like any other market, has a spread. The spread is the difference between buy and sell prices. But there is more to it than that - when selling a coin to a collector a dealer typically sells at retail. Which can be anywhere from 10 to 20% over wholesale. But when buying from a collector, a dealer typically pays 10 to 20% under wholesale. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now - that being said - that means that if you buy a given coin today and the price just stays the same, for a year let&#039;s say. And at the end of that year you wish to sell - you will take anywhere from a 20% to a 40% <u>loss</u> on your investment. Or - if you wish to look at it another way - the price of the coin will have to increase a minimum of 20% to 40% - for you&nbsp; just to break even. Now imagine what it would be like if the market went down.</p><p><br /></p><p>That pretty well explains #1 above. It also explains why most experienced collectors will simply tell you to collect what you like and don&#039;t worry about how much the coin is worth or is going to be worth. For if the time ever comes when you need or want to sell - it will be less painful.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now I have tried to answer the original question as honestly, simply and completely as I could. And if it sounds like I am suggesting that collectors do not treat or think of their collections as investments - but rather that they treat them as collections, something that is fun to do and that they do for the simple joy of doing it - well, that&#039;s because I am. </p><p><br /></p><p>Please see comment #1 - </p><p><br /></p><p>1 - Investing in coins is extremely risky and not advisable ![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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