Oligarchs buying rare coins?
Gazes
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Reading about Russian oligarchs attempting to hide their assets through real estate (with ownership hidden), art, jewelry, etc made me think if coins will be on their radar? Yes, there are difficulties including supply, limits to how much can be bought, etc. But there a major advatages---coins are small, easily moved, easily stored, and can be purchased secretly. I know someone could not suddenly decide to store a billion dollars in rare coins but certainly could purchase 20 million dollars plus. If they are buying art, jewelry and other asset classes I would not be surprised if some money went into coins. Just a thought.
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If they are time to do some selling.
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
If they do buy them, how would they get them shipped?
Positive BST as a seller: Namvet69, Lordmarcovan, Bigjpst, Soldi, mustanggt, CoinHoader, moursund, SufinxHi, al410, JWP
As an aside, here is the definition of 'oligarch': a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence
It's not just a Russian thing. You could almost say....(I'll stop right there)
www.brunkauctions.com
Much easier to just buy bullion which is much more liquid.
Easier to store one $100,000 coin than $100,000 in bullion.
Applies to drug dealers too.
Was the argument for rare stamps, especially during WWII.
There were a handful of very well-heeled Russian oligarchs buying up any ancient Roman gold coins they could a few years back, paying 5-10x estimated prices in some cases.
They've been out of the market for a while now and the coins haven't resurfaced but I wouldn't be surprised if they sold soon.
Agree. Portable wealth. Diamonds, too.
Rare and valuable coins can be a safe harbor for money.... Just need to be sure the purchase is not one of the 'hot for the moment' type coins.... I am sure the wealthy have a few 'safe' places for their money, and have likely planned for such moments years ago. Cheers, RickO
I read recently that someone supposedly said that his watch could be quickly and silently converted to an airline ticket anywhere in the world if all hell broke loose.
With Bitcoin having gone up 20% in the last few weeks I suspect oligarchs might be responsible.
Harder to sell... or hide
$100,000 in gold is 50 Troy ounces...a little more than 3 pounds.
And you can hide $100 million in gold in a day. Try to find $100 million in coins to buy.
I don't know what is going on. I cannot win a lot on a nice MS 65 Morgan any more without bidding way up. Not a good time to buy Morgan and Peace dollars I guess.
I do not know what is going on, either, but I would not attribute this to the Oligarchs. I doubt that they are playing in this pool.
Its not Either/or. They could buy gold and rare coins----and art, jewelry, diamonds, etc.
I’m guessing most billionaires have their own transportation at the ready, and don’t need to rely on bartering for a ticket on a commercial airline. But perhaps this fellow is more frugal 😉
Probably. But if you are trying to hide large amounts of money, it is going to be in high value items and common liquid assets. You aren't going to try and buy 200 $100k coins which would take weeks or months. You can buy one $20 million painting or $20 million in gold with a phone call
You would be FAR more likely to buy bitcoins than rare coins.
Coins could be good place to put your money when you are a pariah. They are small, easily transported, and you can have a front man sell them for you.
Does anyone remember the old the Audrey Hepburn – Cary Grant movie, “Charade”? In that case it was a stamp, not a coin. It's quite good if you have not seen it.
Again, it would make sense to spread the money in asset classes. Bitcoin has proven to not be a secure and anonymous as people have thought. We have seen it seized by the govt. Rare coins are not as liquid but certainly more liquid then a mega yacht. What they are getting with rare coins in exchange for giving up some liquidity is in a box of 20 they could have 10 million dollars worth of coins. It's small, easy to move, private, and hard to seize. Compared to overall wealth it's a drop in the bucket but 10 or 20 million dollars is still 10 or 20 million dollars.
Went to a bday party at a resturaunt a few years ago. The party involved a sit down 5 course dinner that was served while they showed Charade. I thought I would be bored by the movie---it was a great! I highly recommend it (especially if your glass is being filled continuously with wine!)
It's would be native to think they are just now exhibiting this behaviour
8 Reales Madness Collection
Cool thread.
Keep it coming. Bullion away!
Right now they are literally looking for a safe harbor...for the Megayacht.
I would be shocked if they are not well diversified in portable hard assets including bullion and collectibles. Whether that includes jewelry and coins would depend on personal interest.
Sounds like a worthwhile movie to catch. Thanks for the recommendation.The full movie is available for free on YouTube.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
You don't get to be a billionaire by being late to the party.
I.e., you're overseas and over time you assemble a fine collection in the USA. You are still overseas and your collection is still in the USA. IMHO fairly easy to get that out of this country but why would you want to?
I have some rare errors I will sell them. Let me go grab them from the parking lot...
Long history of common folks salting away gold coins for just a crisis as is happenning in the Ukraine.
I bet many of those families went under their matresses so to speak and left with gold in their pockets. To pay their way to safety and a new life. As hitler was rampaging across Europe In the late 1930's many Jewish folks escaped by ship paying in gold, All these were the smart ones.
It is a puzzling question....
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"