Investment Coins

sirfry · November 14, 2012, 09:10:11 PM

Hi all. I was interested if anyone has had any good stories or advice about coins as an investment. I have considered buying some sort of decent coin to hang on to for some years but I'm a bit hesitant to part with the cash before I get a bit more experience. Having an 'investment' seems like a good way to justify having really nice (expensive) coins

I would definitely like to hear from you pros out there that have had any good or bad experiences.

There are some nice Sovereigns that I've around that aren't priced too crazy that I've looked at.

gnome · November 14, 2012, 09:16:46 PM

I've been contemplating the same thing for awhile myself, and have been hesitant for exactly the same reason, not wanting to part with alot of my hard earned.
My thoughts have been towards a nice 23 1/2d or a predecimal proof set.

sirfry · November 14, 2012, 09:37:19 PM

Yeh they look pretty sweet as well. A decent condition 1923 half penny seems to be quite a step up price wise though right?

trout · November 14, 2012, 09:50:38 PM

As a rule of thumb "Investing" in coins is not the best use of your investment funds.
At the moment I would consider investing it "Physical" gold or silver a wise investment.
The biggest return you will get for investing in coins is personal satisfaction and enjoyment that in itself is a fantastic return in my books.
If you buy wisely you won't loose any money but you wonâ€™t become a millionaire overnight either.
Coins are only worth what people are prepared to pay for them and if the economy turns bad nobody will be able to afford the luxury of collecting coins.

Having said all this in "The long run" coins WILL appreciate in value and the enjoyment you will get out of them is priceless

AaronG · November 14, 2012, 10:31:15 PM

I would say physical gold or silver as trout stated. This is because I see coins as more of a hobby. How about trying pre decimal florins or shillings? Even round 50 cent pieces. That's for silver. For gold i'd look into sovereigns! Then of course there is the option to buy bars.

enworb · November 14, 2012, 11:42:58 PM

I like the predecimal proofs not that i own any at the moment. There are so few of them and if you can get nice ones that arent marked or tonedi would expect them to appreciate over time. They arent particularly expensive either.

My collection is for fun rather than investment though. Like trout said ive gained much more enjoyment from coins that i ever could monetary reward. You would have to pay me a lot of money to get me to give up collecting.

markn · November 15, 2012, 07:27:48 AM

I think you need to learn to love coins and collecting them before you can even think about investing in them. But if you do insist on trying to buy for investment the old adage is to buy the absolute best you can afford in the best grade you can afford. Even then you'll probably still lose money.

Ozcoins · November 15, 2012, 07:52:53 AM

I think investing in coins is a lot like investing in shares.
It is a gamble that can be helped by knowledge.

sirfry · November 15, 2012, 08:32:00 AM

Quote from: 'markn' pid='3155' dateline='1352926668'I think you need to learn to love coins and collecting them before you can even think about investing in them. But if you do insist on trying to buy for investment the old adage is to buy the absolute best you can afford in the best grade you can afford. Even then you'll probably still lose money.

Don't get me wrong. I do love collecting coins, I just feel that if I bought an expensive coin now even if I loved the coin itself, I would still feel kinda bad if its value plunged dramatically. Obviously there are factors like the economy and demand and so forth that I could never really predict but it would be nice to have a little assurance that over the long term that it wasn't going to become worthless (although possible

)

keldaw · November 15, 2012, 08:38:22 AM

:yahoo:

look for enjoyment in coins ,, not profits ,..

only a few coins make it in todays market ..

good advice .. ,, kel ,,

markn · November 15, 2012, 08:41:19 AM

Quote from: 'sirfry' pid='3162' dateline='1352930520'Don't get me wrong. I do love collecting coins, I just feel that if I bought an expensive coin now even if I loved the coin itself, I would still feel kinda bad if its value plunged dramatically. Obviously there are factors like the economy and demand and so forth that I could never really predict but it would be nice to have a little assurance that over the long term that it wasn't going to become worthless (although possible )

If you love collecting coins then you're probably like me and research the heck out of a coin / series before you put any money into it. You'll probably know important things like:

[list=1]

How scarce a coin is in a given grade
What the accurate grade of your coin is
How the quality of your coin compares with others available
What the similar grade coins have been selling for recently
What similar coins have been selling for in the last few years

If you can answer all of these questions then you'll know whether you're likely to be making a good buy or not. If you can't answer them then it's a crapshoot and you're just buying a coin because you like it.

sirfry · November 15, 2012, 08:56:03 AM

Thanks markn

Good advice

AaronG · November 15, 2012, 09:00:29 AM

Great advice Markn, I like that method

trout · November 15, 2012, 09:19:21 AM

When I see a coin I will look into all those points.
But in reality I will ignore them if I want a particular coin for my collection
I have often paid more than market value for a coin I want, So that would make me a lousy investor.
Sometimes I buy bulk lots of pre decimal silver and "noodle" them with some success.
In another few decades my collection WILL be worth more than I paid for it, At the moment NOT A CHANCE.
I really don't care; I collect purely for my own pleasure.
Anyway whatâ€™s wrong with a good old crap shoot :dance2:

wwwww · November 15, 2012, 10:50:02 AM

Quote from: 'Ozcoins' pid='3157' dateline='1352928173'I think investing in coins is a lot like investing in shares.
It is a gamble that can be helped by knowledge.

I agree, if you take the time to learn about coins and to understand the market, there certainly is a money to be made investing in coins. If you just throw money at the market and hope for the best, you will more than likely lose.