Best long term investment coin - $50K, $100K
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If you had to pick one coin (not bullion) that you expect would appreciate in value the most over a 10 year time horizon starting today, which coin would you pick in the $50K price range? And which one would you pick in the $100K range? Does your answer change if you're restricted to circulation coins (no proofs or patterns)?
Would you lean towards scarce dates or scarce condition?
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1795 cac gold best condition in price range
IMO the best returns are going to be for the guys who play in the really deep end of the pool for the rarest of rarities. Look at what a gem 1848 $2.50 cal was worth 10 years ago and look at what it's worth now, but 50-100k isn't going to get you far with those anymore. I think some of the other pioneer gold issues have enormous potential, and I feel the same about almost all early gold with original surfaces and top tier eye appeal. Proof $10 and $20 libs are always a great option but again you're not going to get much with 50 or 100k.
Ok, here are my answers within the budget
50k- The nicest AU Early eagle you can find, preferably a 17 date with original skin and nice color.
Reasoning- They appeal to everyone, and I see the demand increasing. They're very big, super old, and scarce with the right "look". They haven't seen major price appreciations like some other series in recent years. Might not be a lottery ticket but also very unlikely to lose money.
100k- Im going to say a Humbert or US Assay $50 slug in high AU, emphasis on original with nice color, again. These have seen steady price appreciation, they're big, heavy, incredible pieces of history and the design is iconic. Again, may not be a huge win, but I think it's a relatively safe buy if you know what you're doing.
The other strategy is to go with a non rarity in top pop condition. Example 1858 $20 in 64. Pop 1/0 and the last sale was 23 years ago for $8,600, the price guide is 100k today. The gap between the ultra wealthy and the average Joe is going to continue to widen, and theres always going to be a bigger bear in the woods that wants to own the FINEST coin, not the second finest, or tied for finest, THE finest. The downside to this strategy is that you'd be subject to the woes of dilution, whether it would be loosening grading standards, shipwrecks or other hoards. I feel that early gold prior to 1834 is better insulated from some of those scenarios.
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No such animal, sorry. Coins are NOT investments.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
I fully agree !
Those who collected nice coins for their collection tend to do better than those trying to invest !
If someone invests in a coin, it's an investment. Whether or not it's a good investment is a completely different question.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Here's one I bought in that price range that has a chance for some major appreciation. It's one of four known, with one of them impounded at the British Museum. The quality is superb. And it's historically important. The only thing holding it back is that wealthy Indian collectors aren't used to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on individual coins. But that's the type of thing that can easily change over time.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
If you still own any mortgage on your home I would pay that when the chance comes. If it is paid in full then go after the rarest coin you can locate that is in a popular series. The coin may or may not increase in value no one knows that answer.
If you mean US coins my choices would something like 1793 cent (the chain variety would be my top choice), 1796 dime or something like that. I don't see how buying 1st year issues can be a bad buy.
As for highest graded coins then maybe the best 1893-S Morgan dollar.
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Rare coins with excellent eye appeal that are off most everyones radar
I refinanced my house at 2.5% and bought more coins. Still feeling pretty good about it.
As for the coins you’re recommending, I like them as collectibles and as solid stores of value, but I don’t see any dramatic upside.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
A 1 trillion platinum coin.
Ok all joking aside. Definitely go for the top pop 1 of a kind gold.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
Depending on one’s mortgage rate this could be horrible advice. Lots of people have mortgages that cost less than the risk free rate today. That’s just free money. Almost everyone who preaches paying off mortgages lived through the 70s and 80s when rates were in the double digits. It’s not nearly as onerous now and as mentioned above many mortgages issued in the past 15 years are likely at very low rates.
Also, you didn’t say this but to the posters who always reply to such threads and say that coins are not investments: Can we retire this trope? Of course they can be. Many people invest in coins. If you buy it with the intention of it increasing in value (whether or not you also derive pleasure from owning it) then it’s an investment, full stop. Obviously people who are knowledgeable will make for better investors even if they aren’t trying than someone who is only pursuing that angle, so the adages “you’ll be better off if you don’t think of coins as investments” or “coins aren’t a great investment” are certainly reasonable.
As for the best coins at $50K or $100K I agree with the early gold in top condition answers above. I would think great type coins like a chain cent or 1796 quarter or Small Eagle Half Dollar would always be highly desirable too.
Just my opinion. If I was able to get my mortgage paid off then life would be that mush easier. But I imagine if he has that kind of cash flow his property would most likely be paid off anyways. I agree with the 1796 quarter and also would add the 1794 half dollar. Could he afford a low grade 1794 dollar or has that ship sailed long ago? I ask since I don't follow US coins much.
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Opinion and I believe it was referenced above...
With the asset class appreciating to such a level in the last 5 years it is hard to anticipate similar appreciation when you take into account the current credit environment (interest rates).
If you want to stash 50 to 100k off the books there are cleaner and safer ways than buying into this environment with any zeal.
Be safe
I see a 1794 dollar sold this year over at HA for 102k. I mean that would be my choice. How cool to own the 1st US dollar.
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As mentioned just my opinion not dogma.
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It always comes down to demand/supply. If you can spot a trend in increasing demand for a very limited supply coin, barring a sudden discovery of an old hoard of them, it is a good direction.
An example in the stock market might be watching the S&P500 for a company that will lose qualification for inclusion (private buy out, foreign company acquisition target, ...) and predicting which will replace it. All the fund managers will need to load up on the latter the day of the change. If bought in advance of the incredible demand, you benefit greatly. Likewise, if you can predict the next big thing in coins (good luck) or one to be added to a registry set, getting the best example will have buyers banging on your door later.
You might be able to get a 1794 Dollar for $100K in the G6-VG range but probably not one for $50K (the lowest graded one in AG3 sold for $52K 4 years ago). You could get a nice (XF45) 1794 Half Dollar for $50K though.
There’s good debt and bad debt and it always depends on the relative interest rates. Paying off your home means no monthly bill but it means tying up money in a house/apt that could be invested in something else. You always own the upside of your house even if you haven’t paid for it in full (as long as you can make the monthly payments so the bank doesn’t foreclose). Many (most?) very rich people routinely borrow money (either through mortgages or against other assets, whatever gives them the lowest rate) even if they could pay for everything in cash because their cost of capital is less than what they can earn on it.
I would hit "Like" and "agree" 1000x if I could, especially to the bold statement. I had a response typed out earlier when I thought this thread was going to turn into a lecture about how "coins aren't investments" but thankfully it didn't go that direction.
As a collector, I like to pick the nicest, highest grade coins with the best eye appeal I can find within my budget. I also hope that their value appreciates over time (and i'm sure i'm not alone), but I would be just fine if they didn't. That doesn't make me any less of a "collector" than the next guy, and personally I don't think the terms "collector" and "investor" must be mutually exclusive. Blue chip art has outperformed the S&P over the past two decades by about 250%, and though most coins are very different than one of a kind artwork, I consider them to have more similarities to art than they do to stamps or baseball cards. I see no issue with coins as a "quasi-investment", "alternative investment" or a "long term store of value" (whatever we want to call it), provided that one is well diversified with other asset classes as well. Also, speculation is fun! 😅
Edit- Multiple typos
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You mine as well go with the 1794 dollar if you can locate one.
NFL: Buffalo Bills & Green Bay Packers
This coin should do it!
A bar tender in Denver says someone used this coin to pay for a beer… ??!!??
It's fun trying to guess what's going to become popular in the future. Coin pops are not likely to change very much as someone else pointed out.
I see there's a lot of love for gold coins. I prefer the capped bust $5 series (1807-1834). Lower pops compared to the earlier gold, but then again you can own a one of a kind piece that doesn't even get a bid at auction.
HR Saints are always going to be liquid.
For the coins I know (including all of virtually all US), preferences haven't changed much (hardly at all) in the aggregate in the almost 50 years I've been a collector.
This thread is getting at something entirely different, how one or a very low number of buyers might significantly impact the prices mostly of individual coins in a specific grade or with a specific eye appeal.
As to your original question, I'd agree with the poster who used the non-US coin as an example, though I have no idea which ones. Around 20 years ago, I recall an 1839 UK proof 5S (Una & the Lion) selling for about $25K. It's at least a $250K coin now and unlike these other examples, someone could have bought multiples because the price isn't for a specific grade or eye appeal. It's a coin with probably the highest buyer preference in the world in its price range for the supply. Other UK gold proofs have also done very well, even common ones like the 1937s.
I agree that there may be more upside potential with some world coins, since the US market is rather mature and efficient. That said, I don’t have enough knowledge about world coins to make any recommendations, but I will say that an overwhelming amount of YNs and young dealers I see active on social media have taken interest in world. It will be interesting to see what materializes over the years if/when these guys start spending enough money to make a real impact.
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Draw circles for each important numismatic customer.
Collector, speculator, popular/iconic series, rare or scarce, varieties etc...
Where does a series or niche intersect?
Then you have an answer or at least a possibility of not losing your shirt.
I know nothing about gold.
For me it would probably be targeting the finest 1878 8TF VAM's in the rarer 14 dot whatever's
Then add Peace VAM's and other Morgan VAM's
Until the money ran out... which would not take long.
Guessing my advice would cost close to $1M for a diverse and complete collection.
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Study the better known art collectors.
Alot of success comes in who you know and the connections they can bring to the table.
Are you speculating or is it a passion?
Both approaches can work, but it takes a team effort IMHO
I have a small collection of boxing related art, prints, postcards, drawings etc that is most important to my overall collecting interests.
Turn of the 20th century boxing has intrigued me since my childhood.
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My criteria would something along the following:
1. Better if it's gold
2. Better if it's a large coin
3. Better if it's legitimately scarce or rare, though US definitions (which aren't a real scarcity) can also work
4. Better if it's from a US series or world coin market with an existing high preference.
One example is AG and G 16-D Mercury dimes. A G-4 or G-6 sells for $1000 to $1200 versus $600+ 5+ several years earlier. It's a very common (and IMO, very unappealing) coin which can be bought in volume to make "real money". It's a coin I never would have expected to perform as it did, but it did anyway.
All 1913 V nickels
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I do not play in the deep end of the coin pool. That being said, from my perspective (around 70 years of collecting), I would stick with old gold mainly, with rarity and condition as the guiding points. Cheers, RickO
Where can you find one for $100,000 considering each one is worth about $5 million?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I think i meant to put this in the "if you won the powerball, what coin would you buy" lmao
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If I knew I’d give up my day job.
A group of MS65 popular gold pieces that are cac approved as well if you can buy them reasonably enough. I'd want to do a lot of technical/historical analysis if I were looking to invest that much.
Wearing my RCI Consultant hat my suggestions:
Always been a fan of Early 20th Century US Gold.
1911-D $2.50 Indian (Stong D) PCGS 65 CPG MV $66,000 or one in MS66 CPG MV $222,000.
$10 Indians - take your pick ones in 65&66 over $50 k CPG MV.
1927-D Saint PCGS MS65 CPG $2,880,000
1909-O $5 Indian in grades PCGS 64-66. Maybe stack a few for fun.
1929 $5 Indian in grades PCGS 64-65.
Or Just put together a box of 20 of different Saints PCGS MS64 and greater, $50k and above.
You will need a stilt house in LA Hollywood hills w pool / deck overlooking LA w 10 car garage (your nice cars). 1st floor w living, kitchen area. 2nd floor going down bedrooms, 3rd floor (underground) an office safe, gun cabinet, computer and study. With the big money you have for coins should be no problem.
Nice PR64 $20 gold-especially the low mintage issues of 1875-1878. Not sure if these would squeeze in under the six figure mark today, though. Dropped out one bid shy on one about five years ago at 70K that I am still kicking myself for.
$50,000 coin is cause I want it. If it goes up from there I'm still happy, fwiw
Not gonna touch coin like that with 70k now...
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1875-1878 PR64, PR64C, PR64DC probably $300K-$500K.
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Recently saw an 1877 DE PF65UC offered @ $525K.
End Systemic Elitism - It Takes All Of Us
Any early $10 gold from Carson in AU or higher. Branch mint rarities.
bob
So collect the key dates.
I like it, and imagine in tough times the floor will almost always been higher than the ceiling vs commons.
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Off the top of my head, I’d consider a Satin Finish 1909 or 1910 Proof gold coin.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
No, I think this key date and others like it are absolutely terrible values, among the most overpriced coins in the world.
I'd never recommend anyone buy a coin like that for potential appreciation. It's an example of where an overpriced coin (based upon the coin's attributes) became more overpriced anyway. It's a very common eye unappealing coin selling at a very inflated price.
I wouldn't buy the common dates in these series for appreciation either. I don't see it as one or the other, but neither. Still, common (1940')s dates in MS-66 have also gone up since pre-pandemic.
Alibaba
Outstanding coin MrE
I agree with everything you wrote but would easily expand the scope of interest well beyond India.
Congrats
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