Hey alls I want to start collecting as an investment. Nothing like a retirement or anything but in the future where money is tight, I have something to fall back on. Any suggestions where to start?
It is difficult to predict what will make a good investment. My opinion is that silver is grossly undervalued compared to where it is likely to be in the future, so silver bullion coins such as the American eagles or Canadian maple leafs are probably suitable if the goal is pure investment and the chosen vehicle is coin. The maple leafs have a nice added feature in that they are also $5 legal tender in Canada, so this puts a floor under the investment and limits what you can lose. But neither of these coins is likely to have much numismatic value for a long time.
Don't invest...collect....and collect what you like...if they go up in value...GREAT...if they fall a little bit...you will still have face value and most of the time more ;--) If you search this forum for INVESTING...I think you will see A LOT about it. Speedy
One other thing. As you search this site and others, you'll probably notice that the numismatic world is fairly complicated, and populated by very intelligent people who have been at it a long time. So you must be either willing to put in quite a bit of time yourself to get up to speed [and Speedy ], or keep things simple. The simple way is with bullion coins purchased near intrinsic value, which is why I recommended it based on your comments. If you want to dive more deeply into the hobby aspect of it in addition to the investment aspect, that's great! It's a great hobby. Just keep in mind that coins might not be the best investment vehicle in the world, then again, they might. Nobody knows for sure. In my opinion [not to be confused with fact], coins are a better investment than some hobbyists realize as long as they are collected and held for the long term, not traded. It's sort of a being too close to the forest to see the trees sort of thing I guess.
Save up and buy key coins. A collection of low grade problem-free cert. key coins (a key coin type set) is as close as you can get to a sure thing with coins. If you can get high grade keys that would be even better. If you like to speculate try to guess which US mint items will go up in value. This year they have that satin finish special mint set.
I do NOT recommend investing in coins and I am NOT an investment advisor (nor am I qualified to be), but if you are intent on investing in coins and I can't dissuade you then you might try this link. Good luck!
I know little about investing but comparing my coin collections growth over the last 10years to my other forms of retirement investments (401k, IRA) they don’t measure up. Granted I’m not stacked with high-grade key dated ether. If you do invest in coins don’t let it be the your only investments. On the other hand buying coins is non-taxably (I think, in most states) so your can invest without the eyes of the IRS. If you stick to high grades and key dates they’ll be easy enough to sell the same way. You can also amass and hide un-taxed wealth easily, passing it on to your children after your gone. I’m no sure how selling coins and turning a profit is taxed. I’ve sold few coins.
I'm not a tax advisor, but I thought gains from coin sales were taxed at regular income rates, not capital gains rates because they are considered personal property. I have been a buyer of coins, but not a seller, so it's best to check with your tax advisor.
This continued to bother me so I checked it out for anyone who is interested. While gains from the sale of coins are considered "capital gains," they are not taxed like the capital gains from stocks or mutual funds. Since they are considered collectibles, they are taxed at 28% [instead of the regular 15% LTCG rate] if the gain is long term, and up to 35% if the gain is short term. Keep in mind that I am not a qualified tax advisor so this shouldn't be considered tax advice. Just passing on information for you to discuss with your tax advisor.
I do realize this is not my thread-so please forgive me for asking a second question...please. I have been looking into mapleafs for some time now-but I'm not sure what a good price is to buy them. When I saw cloudsweeper's post...I thought I better ask. So.....how much would be a fair price do you think? Or should I just go to Canada and buy some there and forget the hassle of buying them here? Bill
cherrypicker, I think I bought every one of my maple leafs from Ebay. The simple rule I used was that I would pay no more than $2.50 per coin [including shipping costs] over the spot price of silver for each one. This was a maximum price, not a target price. I also only bought coins still in the original mint packaging. I think I probably paid an average of about $8.00 per coin total cost including shipping. But if silver goes to $15 per ounce the exact entry price won't matter. I haven't purchased one in over a year so I don't know what the current Ebay market conditions are like. I think I probably could have paid less from some internet dealers, but I was doing this with my son and we had a pretty good time searching Ebay for the "best" deal we could find. So in my case, the time we spent together outweighed the pure economics of the purchases.
