Investment Coins

[Russ e]

low mintage pre decimal silver is what i hope to make the most return from in all my coins, as long as i buy close to or below spot i cant see how i can lose.
if i hade 5k to invest i would grab 2oz of gold and a few nice ( top grade ) coins if there is any change after that more silver low mintage coins.

[Cruzi]

low mintage pre decimal silver is what i hope to make the most return from in all my coins, as long as i buy close to or below spot i cant see how i can lose.
if i hade 5k to invest i would grab 2oz of gold and a few nice ( top grade ) coins if there is any change after that more silver low mintage coins.

Gold (ETA:and silver) bandwagon left station years ago, buy bullion as a hedge but downside is bigger than upside if investing.

Mintage is not everything, take the 1927 Florins,  plain and Canberra versions both had similar mintage, Canberra got hoarded and is cheap in high grades, plain one did not and is very hard and expensive to find in high grade.

Also be aware hoard discoveries can devalue your coin, 1927P sovs come to mind.

As always, not against investing, just ensuring you make informed choices.

[gnome]

Yeah a nice proof sov  probably couldn't hurt either, just as an after thought.

[MobOfRoos]

I guess the thing to remember with investing in coins is that they are definitely a [undefined=undefined]long term[/undefined] investment. I have seem many cases of a person buying a coin retail and then selling it a few years later at auction at a huge loss. There are costs involved with buying and selling coins whether it be the 16.5% buyers premium at auctions or the coin dealers retail margins.

My advice would be

- never buy an investment coin retail
- choose a key date coin in the highest grade you can afford
- make sure you wont be needing to sell that coin for at least 20 years

For me the long term question about the future of coin collecting is - will the next generation have the same passion for coin collecting given that they pay for everything with plastic cards now?

[keldaw]

I guess the thing to remember with investing in coins is that they are definitely a [undefined=undefined]long term[/undefined] investment. I have seem many cases of a person buying a coin retail and then selling it a few years later at auction at a huge loss. There are costs involved with buying and selling coins whether it be the 16.5% buyers premium at auctions or the coin dealers retail margins.

My advice would be

- never buy an investment coin retail
- choose a key date coin in the highest grade you can afford
- make sure you wont be needing to sell that coin for at least 20 years

For me the long term question about the future of coin collecting is - will the next generation have the same passion for coin collecting given that they pay for everything with plastic cards now?

mor , you have the word undefined twice in your post , every time i try to do a post on this forum that word is the only word that shows up ,. do you know what that means please ,...     ,, kel ,,

[Nevol]

[undefined=undefined]long term[/undefined]

mor , you have the word undefined twice in your post , every time i try to do a post on this forum that word is the only word that shows up ,. do you know what that means please ,...     ,, kel ,,[/quote]
This is what happens when someone tries to format part of their post, such as bold, underline, colour etc. The formatting of text doesn't work without a lot of input from the poster.

[keldaw]

[undefined=undefined]long term[/undefined]

mor , you have the word undefined twice in your post , every time i try to do a post on this forum that word is the only word that shows up ,. do you know what that means please ,...     ,, kel ,,

This is what happens when someone tries to format part of their post, such as bold, underline, colour etc. The formatting of text doesn't work without a lot of input from the poster.
[/quote]

thanks nancy , maybe it was me i must have hit the wrong button or something ..        ,, kel ,,

[drakesterling]

Like OzCoins said, knowledge will help improve the odds of making a dime in this game. To that end, I stumbled on an old grading guide that I had written in 2006! Follow the link and you can download it there:
http://www.drakesterling.com/coins-for-sale/news-feed/news-feed/free-download-of-my-sovereign-grading-guide

Money can certainly be made in the coin business - as it can be in the diamond, art, wine, and antiques businesses. It just boils down to knowledge and research. And sometimes the best knowledge comes from actually buying coins and asking fellow collectors what they think of them. You'll get burned every now and then, but it's all part of the education.

[trout]

Like OzCoins said, knowledge will help improve the odds of making a dime in this game. To that end, I stumbled on an old grading guide that I had written in 2006! Follow the link and you can download it there:
http://www.drakesterling.com/coins-for-sale/news-feed/news-feed/free-download-of-my-sovereign-grading-guide

Money can certainly be made in the coin business - as it can be in the diamond, art, wine, and antiques businesses. It just boils down to knowledge and research. And sometimes the best knowledge comes from actually buying coins and asking fellow collectors what they think of them. You'll get burned every now and then, but it's all part of the education.

I consider that learning how to accurately grade a coin is by far the most important step if you want to invest and make a few quid out of coins.
If you haven't got the skill to grade a coin then you are in the dark when it comes to investing in them.
The rule of thumb is the higher the grade the more investment potential the coin has.
The easiest way to get this education is to get some coins in various grades from highly reputable dealers (if you can't do this PCGS will do) and look at them long and hard to work out "Why" they are assigned a certain grade.
You can then use these coins and knowlage as a point of reference when deciding what to pay for your "investment coin" That way you should KNOW what you are buying.

This is only step 1 there are other factors that make a coin "special" and a worthwhile investment.
There is collect ability, rarity and that X Factor some coins have.

Personally I would hate to make my living out of dealing in coins because it would break my heart to sell the nice ones.

[Cruzi]

Yeah a nice proof sov  probably couldn't hurt either, just as an after thought.

*Waves Hand*

Those are not the sovereigns you are looking for.

[stevo1962]

I consider that learning how to accurately grade a coin is by far the most important step if you want to invest and make a few quid out of coins.
If you haven't got the skill to grade a coin then you are in the dark when it comes to investing in them.
The rule of thumb is the higher the grade the more investment potential the coin has.
The easiest way to get this education is to get some coins in various grades from highly reputable dealers (if you can't do this PCGS will do) and look at them long and hard to work out "Why" they are assigned a certain grade.
You can then use these coins and knowlage as a point of reference when deciding what to pay for your "investment coin" That way you should KNOW what you are buying.

This is only step 1 there are other factors that make a coin "special" and a worthwhile investment.
There is collect ability, rarity and that X Factor some coins have.

Personally I would hate to make my living out of dealing in coins because it would break my heart to sell the nice ones.
 

 Excellent advice trout  -  I couldn't have said it better myself

[AaronG]

Trout what other steps do you believe you need to look at?

[Australian coin]

I always go by what appeals to me, but I ask myself about the mintage and price of a coin too, before forking out the $$$

There are two types of coin categories, coins that I will probably flip fast and the keepers that will be around for a few years.

You can always ask people here first about a coin, others opinions can help make the right decision for you, at lest you can weigh up the good and bad.

Although I am happy as a pig in muck to stay with collecting circulation coins, after all they only cost you face value, and if you don’t like it you can just spend it.

With investing in coins, to make money is always going to be hit and miss as you can never tell if the coin you are going to buy is going to worth more when the time comes to let it go.

Although some coins are yearly profit makers but it is a case of you have to get in fast and have the money to spend at the time, these coins are certain, silver / gold coins. And they normally require knowing coin dealers to get them as numbers are extremely limited.

An example is the 1kg coins from PM
I held one once a coin show, that’s the closest ill ever get to one!

[JeffH]

I think the golden rule with buying a coin is only buy a coin you like and want to have.
By all means consider investment possibility. But, to buy only as possible investment is a good way to get burnt.

Go for the best condition, scarce coins you can find if considering possible, future value. They are likely to appreciate faster than poorer grade, more common coins.

It is important you know about the coins you buy; hence my golden rule -you are more likely to learn more about the coins that you fancy than coins that are purely investments.

[Hindsight is a wonderful tool for assessing investment possibility. But, you then also need a time machine to profitably put it into practice. :dontknow:]

A good suggestion for any speculative investment (not just coins) is only invest as much as you can afford to lose.

Jeff

[MobOfRoos]

The way I see it there are also different types of investments you can do, and just like any other investment, higher returns mean higher risk.

1) You could buy a nice solid 1930 Penny (or 1923 Half Penny or 1932 Florin) at auction and you would be pretty much guaranteed to make a reasonable investment return.

2) you could do the highly speculative Perth Mint "pass the hand grenade". Where you buy a low mintage Perth Mint release and sell it on the secondary market almost immediately. Members on the CCF forum have been spruiking this method of investment. To me it is just like a pyramid scheme and eventually someone is going to be caught holding a coin which is worth nothing more than bullion.

3) Buy a high grade raw coin, get it slabbed, and sell it at a huge mark up. In the current market this is a sure fire way to make a profit and it carries very little risk.

4) Gold and Silver coins. Unless you buy these coins on the secondary market for bullion value you will be paying the various Mints such a huge premium that they will be useless as an investment. In the end they are mostly affected by the gold and silver price so arn't really a numismatic investment.

It is also important to remember that a coin's value is not just a function of its scarcity. It is also a function of its desirability. So the perfect investment coin would be one that is scarce and would become more desirable as time goes on.

These are just my thoughts on the subject anyway