Coin values

[Heyman_526]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, i was wondering if I can get some help please?

I am looking at expanding my coin collection again soon. I don't really know what I'm after or what would be a reasonable price to pay?

So what I'm looking for is essentially something uncirculated that I can purchase, hold for a while and then in 5 or maybe 10 years down the track they would have gained some value, And I could potentially sell and make some money.

I was wondering what coins or notes you would suggest i buy now for their appreciation potential? As well as what I should pay for them? I'd also consider buying coins for their metal value whether it be gold or silver.

Thank you very much for your time I look forward to hearing from you soon. Cheers ?

[Basilstate]

Hi H,you can't go wrong with Gold/Silver in the long run but often appreciates in the medium term as well.
There is an old saying in the antiques/2nd hand trade,if it was manufactured/minted to be a collectible then it never will be,or something like that.Perth Mint springs to mind.
No rocket science with pre-dec Coins,scarce/rare coins are the ones to chase...good luck.

[JeffH]

A lot of people have come unstuck "collecting" coins purely as an investment.
My advice is to adopt a theme for collection; country, particular types of coins or specific designs and features. Something you think will be interesting. That way you will become knowledgeable in that field and will gain better insight into values.

Go for the best grade coins you can afford as the better examples tend to appreciate in value more than lesser condition ones.

Uncirculated coins can be variable for future value. Very hard to anticipate. Scarcer mintage circulated coins might be a better bet.

Basil is right; silver or gold and go for bullion value rather than paying a premium for better condition.

Worth studying the market for error and variety coins too. Some of the Australian ones have gone up in value a lot and some haven't. But generally small numbers means long term there should be reasonable appreciation in value.

Best of luck,
Jeff

[ausproofs]

Hey Heyman, Welcome to the forum. I agree with the other folks who have commented before me. I will share my experience with you so you can see what I went through in my journey. I am an accidental collector. Long story short I stayed collecting when I was very sick for a period of time just to take my mind off pain and suffering. But then I got hooked on it and bought everything that was on eBay. That was a huge mistake as I bought a lot of junk and wasted a lot of money. My advice is if you to think what you can afford without breaking the bank. Sometimes the most expensive item doesn't become the most valuable in the long run. I exclusively collect Australian pre decimal coins now. Learn how to grade coins, when you learn that, you find hidden gems. As an example, I bought a coin for about $500 that then become a $4500 to $5000 coin .. this doesn't happen everyday but if you know what you are looking for, it can happen. On the flip side , I have bought coins for few grand and they are now worth a few hundred. I now collect for fun, if I make a good investment, so be it. Also from an investment perspective, I try to buy the best I can buy than trying to buy 100s of coins. As an example, I would get something like a 1942 Threepence in high grade than getting a lot of lower grade coins. The harder for others to find the same, price tend to go up. (Simple supply and demand) .. Good luck with it all and keep us posted ..

If you are interested, have a read here to understand about pre decimal coin values 
https://www.australian-coins.net/showthread.php?tid=4525&highlight=Predecimal

[stevo1962]

I generally just collect high grade KGV predecimal and have a good unc collection of these and some selected rare decimal.The difference
with the way I collect is that I buy raw and send to PCGS for grading.If you are a good grader this can be quite profitable and with trial and error
you can get better at grading thereby getting better value raw coins which grade higher at PCGS.Best to become a specialist at something and you'll
do well eventually

[gweidion]

If you are going to buy gold and/or silver and you have the money buy directly from a mint (for silver coins in 20 or 25 coin tubes) or a bullion dealer for gold in bars. Coins carry too much premium to make them worth buying unless you know there is a huge shift up in the gold price or a huge shift down in the Aussie dollar.
Buying silver 1 oz bullion coins from eBag is ridiculous at present.

[Heyman_526]

Thank you all for your help and input. I was thinking about getting some uncirculated Red Poppys but I'm not really sure what would be a good price to pay for them?

[Pedro]

Hi Heyman_526.

The simplest advice I can give: don't dive straight in, particularly if you are looking at pricier purchases.

Suggest you get a feel for the market by looking at Ebay over a period of time. The current average price for an uncirculated 2012 red poppy is about $180 (unslabbed).

Trying to grade coins or notes on Ebay photos is a dubious task so if you do decide to go down that path it would be wiser to go with vendors who have strong track records. You should also check out coin dealer offerings for any coins you are looking at to consider comparative pricing.

Not on Facebook myself but that is also an option but care needs to be taken there as well.

The more information you can gather the better on any target coins that you may want and you should at least gain as strong an appreciation of coin grading as possible. Buying slabbed coins could diminish that need but generally a more expensive route. Where you want to land in the market is up to you, the time you have available and your budget.  

Given that the final mintages of decimal coins come out after the fact (and that can be over say two years) trying to pick winners based on low mintage coins is a fraught process.

From my perspective coin collecting is a hobby. If I come out ahead: good, but I'm not banking on it.  
 
Pedro

[Mister T]

Agreed - keep an eye on sold coins on ebay to get a feel for a reasonable price.

[JeffH]

Some dodgy coin selling on Facebook but I can recommend this one. Has tight protocols to ensure genuine, honest sellers and an administrator is a coin dealer member of this very forum.
Coins Notes Accessories Australia

[Greg McDonald]

I agree with the general comments already made about collecting coins that were meant to circulate rather than produced for collectors [NCLT}.  Barring a bushfire, a proof coin will always be a proof coin. Look at areas that are scarce but overlooked due to a lack of promotion.  I am probably showing my age here but why not look at a set of Queen Elizabeth 2 pre-decimal coins from 1953 to 1963/64 in Inc or better condition.  There are no super-rare dates in the series and many coins can be purchased for less than a mint set produced last Tuesday.  Some of these coins are now 70 years of with most coins having been heavily circulated [worn] before being replaced by decimal coins in 1966.  Most of these coins were melted down. The silver from the Threepence to Florin issues went to pay back the USA mints for their wartime issues of Australian denominations.  Loads of pennies and halfpennies were melted down to recycle back as one and two-cent coins. In short, a coin struck during the QE2 predecimal era in blazing Inc condition is a genuine rarity - yet they are soooo cheap compared with more recent issues that are 'flavour of the month.'  You will get a better idea of just how rare these coins are when you start trying to put a collection together.  It's not easy if you are looking for top-grade coins, yet when you find them, they will cost you less than lunch.  It's a great series for collectors who loves the hunt to track down a coin that was never intended to end up in a coin album. No fancy packaging or certificates of authenticity.  Will they be worth more in the future - they should be, but no area of collecting offers any certainties.  What you could say is there is very little chance of them going down in value.  If you are a true collector, you'll soon be overtaken by something else rather than working to make a quick buck.  The buzz of tracking down a particular date or denomination that has eluded you for months or years is priceless. Just the ramblings of someone who remembers hot chips wrapped in newspaper the size of a football being a shilling!

[gweidion]

Greg is right about trying to complete a good quality pre-decimal set. For many years I've been trying to put together an MS65 set (or better) for 1961 and 1962 (years of birth for my wife and I). I'm mostly there, some are easy, many are not. Of course you have to be prepared to pay good money to get there. The worst of it is my kids won't understand the value or probably care. Gotta train the grand-kids.

These days I would barely even look at a new release coin graded MS65 as too low a quality to consider collecting. You look at the figures on PCGS's website and find they are below the curve. More graded higher than graded lower. That makes them a poor buy in my eyes.

Pre-decimal ones there simply wasn't the understanding or facilities to keep coins in good nick unless you can find someone who (or their parents) had the foresight to put a new roll of coins unopened from the bank away, and most people couldn't afford that anyway. There would be more people now who could afford to put away a block of unopened $100 bills than could have afforded to put away a roll of sixpences in the 50s or 60s, let alone florins, or earlier years.

[nealeffendi]

Hi gweidion, oftentimes the rolls put away back then were the stuff banks had stockpiled in case they had to meet a surge in demand at some point. Easy for a branch to have a few hundred rolls stored for decades. Then come the mid 60s those rolls would have both been sort after by collectors and needed to be cleaned out of the back of the safe to make room for the decimals.
Some years and denominations are easy to find rolls of and some years must not have been stored. Besides banks some of the big companies probably also kept plenty of rolls of change ready in their safes. Last thing a department store would want is to run out of change in the Christmas rush or have the staff complain when the payroll office couldn't make up paypackets.
I wonder if young workers who get their wages by direct deposit even understand the pleasure of lining up to get a special envelope containing your pay (or of the regular news on TV of armed payroll robberies).

[Basilstate]

Some years and denominations are easy to find rolls of and some years must not have been stored. Besides banks some of the big companies probably also kept plenty of rolls of change ready in their safes. Last thing a department store would want is to run out of change in the Christmas rush or have the staff complain when the payroll office couldn't make up paypackets.
I wonder if young workers who get their wages by direct deposit even understand the pleasure of lining up to get a special envelope containing your pay (or of the regular news on TV of armed payroll robberies).

Yes Neale,up until the late 1970's,probably longer with some,large Dept. Stores had Coin rolling machines,GF worked for Farmers & DJ's in Sydney back then and both back offices had staff that operated Coin rolling machines,bagged coin was considered a temptation for staff in those days.
They were slowly phased out as Credit Cards took over and the need for large  stocks of coins dwindlered.

As an aside,when i worked for BP Aust. back in the 1970's we were paid by envelope every week,a security Co. was contracted to make up the pays and distribute them to Staff,complete with side holstered gun.
The costs for this service were mind blowing but apparently it was a Union requirement for all BP Staff to be paid every week by cash,no wonder Fuel prices were always high in Oz.