when gold goes up, new collectors find rare coins

Gazes

i just read this again somewhere. The idea is when gold goes up significantly, people stumble onto rare coins whether it be in coin shops, magazines, internet, etc and become collectors. I am wondering how many people on this forum started this way? Back in the 1980s i was interested in gold and that is how i stumbled onto numismatics so it was true with me.

jmlanzaf

There is some effect there. I'm not sure how big it is. Most all of the members of my club started as children and restarted as adults. Most of the new collectors that I see in the local BM were usually brought there by either a coin find, an inheritance, or sometimes a TV or print ad. Every now and then, someone looking for bullion does seem to look at the collector coins, so there is an effect. I'm just not sure how big it is.

BillDugan1959

I would bet that well over fifty percent of all coin collectors NEVER own a gold coin.

So I find the proposition that rising gold prices spur coin collecting to be very doubtful.

On the other hand, rising silver prices are most certainly a huge huge shot of adrenaline to this scarce and rare coin hobby. I've seen that many times.

Winchester1873

I was already slowly buying gold bullion as a store of value (not tied to the price of the time) when I visited the Dahlonega Gold Museum. I became instantly obsessed. It started with collecting D-Mint Half Eagles but grew to Dollars, Quarter Eagles and the Three. These little pieces of history are much more fun to pull out the safe and look at than RCM bars or Maples.

Cougar1978

Interest in gold in 1986 pulled me into USGTC and then many Early 20th century gold issues. In 1988 I read Akers Book cover to cover and imagined Dr Ducor going around the bourse of shows decades earlier picking up quality better dates. Wish I had a time machine

AlexinPA

I buy pre-1933 gold coins. I usually purchase Carson City but will by Charlotte or Dahlonega. When the price of gold goes down I buy. I've watched the dealers I buy from and, true to form, their prices drop with a lowering price of gold. When the price of gold goes up I stop buying. Just my way of doing things after years of buying.

The absolute best time to buy pre 1933 gold is when a dealer gets a glut of gold coins and the price of gold drops radically at the same time. Just my observations on this matter.

Yorkshireman

@stevenwalden said:
I was already slowly buying gold bullion as a store of value (not tied to the price of the time) when I visited the Dahlonega Gold Museum. I became instantly obsessed. It started with collecting D-Mint Half Eagles but grew to Dollars, Quarter Eagles and the Three. These little pieces of history are much more fun to pull out the safe and look at than RCM bars or Maples.

That is certainly true.
I would rather look at a cool piece of history than a hunk of gold bullion.

topstuf

Disregard.

SmEagle1795

I reconnected with collecting in part because of gold running up in 2010 - not specifically because of the gold value but because I was fortunate to be able to afford coins I had dreamed of as a child. I first bought an 8 escudo gold coin, then a 12 piece gold set, then early gold for a while, colonials, and now ancients for the last several years.

I've never been focused on the bullion value but it did help rekindle my interest disease passion.

jkrk

I'm the gold buyer ($20 gold pieces). rare Coins... not so much interest.

I value all my coins at melt (despite owning a few CC $20 golds, a SS Central America coin $20 gold, and various Civil war double eagles, etc.

Thus the value rises and falls depending on the gold price. In reality I do have a call on a rising interest in gold through the potential premium rise should speculators decide they need to own the metal.

Swampboy

Gold got me back into numismatics.
First a Pamp Suisse bar on eBay then bullion gold eagles.
A few months of that behavior and I stumbled through the doorway here.

ricko

I was a coin collector long before I began acquiring gold coins.... A large portion of my gold acquisitions took place in the nineties... at much better prices... long before the major run up. I cannot say I had any fore knowledge that inspired my purchases... If I had, I would have purchased more... However, I am quite happy with my investments in gold at this time... Cheers, RickO

Indulger

I started off with Morgan’s as a kid. As a young adult I acquired a worn $5 liberty gold and was hooked for life. The gold price didn’t affect my decision to buy, but I bought lots back when gold was much lower...and I still do.

ReadyFireAim

Here Kitty-Kitty

RogerB

Not convinced there's a causal relationship ---- Where would one find the "coin finding" data?

WCC

@RogerB said:
Not convinced there's a causal relationship ---- Where would one find the "coin finding" data?

Maybe by asking the customers of world mints and bullion dealers. There seems to be a correlation where a meaningful number of these buyers switch to numismatic coins, though based upon what I have read not as much leading up to the 2012 peak.