Wealth Distribution – How Much Do You Keep in Coins?
pcgsregistrycollector
Posts: 1,819 ✭✭✭✭✭
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we, as collectors, balance our overall assets with our coin collections. Some people treat coins primarily as a hobby, while others see them as part of their long-term investment or wealth preservation strategy.
I’m curious to hear from the community:
- Roughly what percentage of your total assets do you have tied up in coins?
- Do you view your collection more as an investment, a store of value, or just a passion project regardless of its financial weight?
- Has your approach changed over time (e.g., putting more or less into coins compared to other possessions like stocks, real estate, bullion, etc.)?
It would be interesting to see how different members think about wealth distribution and where coins fit into the bigger picture.
Looking forward to hearing your perspectives!
pcgsregistrycollector
God comes first in everything I do. I’m dedicated to serving Him with my whole life. Coin collecting is just a hobby—but even in that, I seek to honor Him. ✝️
2
Comments
I view my collection as worth $0 as I have no intention of selling it, and I only spend money on my collection (or other hobbies) that is entirely disposable income. I view $ spent on coins as the same as $ spent on a vacation, just instead of pictures to look at afterwards I have a coin to look at.
Too much, but it’s all for fun, and gold at least has a melt value.
If you count my net investment in home & 401K, < 2%. If liquid assets, currently 90%.
I do not track my coins as investments. It is a hobby.
Successful BST with drddm, BustDMs, Pnies20, lkeigwin, pursuitofliberty, Bullsitter, felinfoel, SPalladino
$5 Type Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/type-sets/half-eagle-type-set-circulation-strikes-1795-1929/album/344192
CBH Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/everyman-collections/everyman-half-dollars/everyman-capped-bust-half-dollars-1807-1839/album/345572
I do not consider coins an investment. In fact (this will not be popular) I think they are a very poor investment. But they sure are fun to collect.
That said, I think about the value of my collection, and how that would be as a percentage of my overall holdings in traditional investments (mutual funds, equities, bonds, CDs, etc.). This would not include real estate or other collectibles/property. I am probably between 2-3%. My intention is to always keep my coin collection under 5%. If I put more than 5% in, I would begin to worry about my collection... and that seems less than fun for me.
I am a newer collector (started April 2020), and I primarily focus on U.S. Half Cents and Type Coins. Early copper is my favorite.
Coins are strictly a hobby. Right now, the value of the collection only matters for selling/trading to get other coins.
I spend about 1% of my income on coins (obviously, on average since I don’t buy all that often). If my income goes up significantly, it would be cool to raise that percentage as more would be discretionary/disposable.
It's a low but a recently increasing percentage. I have not consciously increased the percentage. It's a function of either having to buy the coins I collect as it becomes available or missing out and potentially waiting a long time for a second opportunity.
I do track and assign an estimated value, but don't view it as investment. I liquidated most of my prior primary collection when this coinage (South Africa) increased above my comfort level to "cash out" to avoid being "overweight". I wasn't about to pass up a windfall. The value of my current primary collection has also increased somewhat recently. I don't plan to sell it. I only use discretionary income after I pay myself first.
The boss says too much and I say not enough. 🙂
I track the value for insurance purposes and net worth calculations because it is an asset. I view my collection the same way I view a speculative stock and it is a minority percentage. Note, unlike a speculative stock my collection gives me pleasure regardless if its value is going up or down.
Unless you're a dealer or professional numismatist, the words investments and coins probably shouldn't be used in the same sentence. If I had to use my coins as an investment or a living, I would have starved to death years ago! 🤣 It's play money, just a hobby.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I ascribe to the $0 theory. It's a hobby not a place to park assets. If you put a value on it, it's maybe 5% or so and I wouldn't want it to be more than that ever
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
It’s a hobby, but I do keep an eye on market values so that I or my heirs don’t get screwed when selling. And insurance. Comes to maybe 3-4% of assets. Im about done unless I make a final push to complete my type set for the very rarest types. Doubtful.
Coins are a hobby for me but I would say about 15% of my assets are tied up in numismatic gold and that has really done well for me in the past few years.
When I just read "market value" in your post, it reminded me I hadn't checked silver in the past week! WoW!! I guess our stacked melt silver could be considered an investment!
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
About 25% of my worth is in coins. I'm white knuckling it.
hobby. 0.02% of assets.
DOG acolyte
That's 18 cents for some people
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
It's a hobby and I do not plan to sell. That said, it is nice to have the liquidity if needed. Roughly 2% of total assets.
Interesting question. Tiny percentage but that’s all relative of course. But like others, it’s not a liquid asset to me.
Earlier this year I posted a poll and 76 forum members anonymously participated.
In that poll 94% of our members spend more than $1,000 per year on coins. Of that group, the majority, 59% spend over $5,000. And 36% spend more than $25,000.
Based on the above, I think the percentage of total assets tied up in coins is much higher than many posters want to publicly admit. Particularly when referring to it as only a hobby. Either that or those polled collect coins for only a few years and then move on to other interests.
I suggest a truer reading of the amount of assets in coins could be obtained by creating an anonymous poll.
Well, there is more churn in this forum than I used to think was common. So even spending $25k per year doesn't mean they have mote than $100k total in coins.
More importantly, neither pool has a statistically significant sampling. They only represent the opinions of a small subset of the forum.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
No bueno
A comfortable fraction.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I would be curious to know how many of the people that voted in your poll were dealers and that's an annual business expenditure, not personal money.
Without also knowing the income of the non-dealer individuals who voted in the poll, trying to extrapolate anything meaningful with regards to a % of net worth from their spending amounts is impossible.
Lastly, if you're having trouble believing people can treat large amounts of money as a purely hobby expenditure, in essence lighting money on fire for fun, feel free to watch my youtube channel with another of my hobbies....
At one point I had about 10% of my net worth in coins, maybe even a bit more. That (and a bunch of other stuff) started bothering me. I sold almost the entire collection. On paper, I actually made a small profit, but nothing compared to what would have happened in other investments. I still have a few favorites, but it's probably 1-2% of my NW.
Whether or not you view collecting as an investment, it is. Accountants and the IRS certainly think so. It's certainly better than most other hobbies when it comes to the possibility of recouping at least a significant part of what was spent.
I'm going to put your first part last, but will try to offer my thoughts on all three.
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Do you view your collection more as an investment, a store of value, or just a passion project regardless of its financial weight?
I try to consider the collection somewhat as a store of value (albeit nothing is a given).
I feel relatively comfortable (today) that the money I have spent will be available in some reasonable percentage later when I decide to sell. However I do NOT consider my numismatic holdings an investment, per se. They do not pay dividends, royalties or rents, and they cost time and money to store, catalogue, insure, procure, display and study.
So in that respect, they are quite similar any other mainstream collectible or even to bullion. They have initial and ongoing costs, but these are costs that I hope to recover a good percentage of at some future point in time.
Whether that is more or less than I paid, all things considered, is yet to be seen. I have tried to be careful to acquire and keep coins and currency that have (at least currently) a reasonable collector following, and fairly established price supports.
That could change, of course. But I can assure you the amount of money I have spent on sport and fishing and wheeling has a much lower Return Of Investment than I suspect the coins and currency will have whenever I sell.
That's the ROI of "non Incoming Producing Assets". It's not Return ON Investment, it's Return OF investment. I just hope to get a good chunk of it back!
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Has your approach changed over time (e.g., putting more or less into coins compared to other possessions like stocks, real estate, bullion, etc.)?
In a nutshell, yes.
My income and financial planning has changed over the years, and continues to evolve. My investments (Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate) have taken up more or less of that income and growing wealth as a percentage due to life choices at the time.
I was very methodical about investing at least some of my income over a long period of time, and while I am not financially wealthy, I live a comfortable existence, and I don't want for my necessities, general wants and needs. I don't expect to run out, however I need to pay attention to what I spend.
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Roughly what percentage of your total assets do you have tied up in coins?
I understand why people don't want to disclose this or really discuss this too much.
Unless your real cost of the collection is less than say the 2 or 3% of your Net Worth (being discussed), participating in this hobby requires some intestinal fortitude. It might also expose our general insanity, and even parts of our current financial conditions that don't need to be public knowledge.
And frankly, what our limit is (if we are being honest and forthcoming with ourselves) really depends on our situation.
I'm not sure if he was being honest (I think he was based on what I know of him) but I commend @Barberian for offering his percentage.
That would be a little too high for me, but each person has different situations. I'll say mine isn't half of that, but it is FAR greater than any 2 or 3% number being tossed around.
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Also, just for context, if his 25% was a $125.k coin collection (so his total Net Worth was $500.k), and he wasn't a high earner in his younger years, I'd think he may have went way too far. The same could be true for a $25.k collection.
Maybe not though, as if his income covers everything else, and it's steady and secure and that's what keeps him happy ... I mean, frankly we can't really take it with us.
But if his Net Worth was $4.M, and he wanted to play with $1.M worth of coins, I wouldn't think that was AS out of line. Mainly because the other $3.M can represent a lot of things, and that might be enough to support a perfectly acceptable and sustainable lifestyle.
Of course the higher your Net Worth, the probability that you have a high percentage in coins probably diminishes. After all, I don't think anyone is really trying to be the next Eliasberg, even if a few people theoretically could.
And if you're underwater on your mortgage and without much savings, a few coins might be the ONLY positive thing going on your Asset line.
Finally, I know more than a few folks that have substantial portions of their Net Worth tied up in all kinds of "non Income Producing Assets". In fact, many times when they sell those cars, boats, art and whatnot (even coin collections!), they don't have a very good ROI (remember, "Return OF" not ON). In fact, some have incurred so many ongoing costs while they owned them that they may not even really have been an "asset" at all.
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my 2c ...
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
Im fairly certain I probably hold the record on the forum percentage wise. Coins are everything, they are a store of value, they are my business inventory, my hobby, my passion, and my most fun investment. My angle is very unconventional, and I wouldn't recommend it for most
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I am far from an being expert on coin collecting nor do I have the commitment for such so mine is pure fun 🥰
Percentage is very relative right?
1/5 % of my worth for PURE FUN?
I am not expecting any ReturnOnInvestment since that would be too stressful 🤔
Most are in real estate and the SP500
SHOULD’Ve snatch those 55/55 and 3 legged then 😖
<10%
Mr_Spud
A quotation from the poll
"Because this is a PCGS Forum. I've often thought of this as being the BIG BOYS table. Of course, with the newer CAC Forum, that's a whole another level of sophistication. Anyway, I know dealers spend huge amounts of money so I'm not asking them except if they do spend money on their own collections. I'm not trying to be nosy; but, I think it would be helpful for everyone here to have a better understanding of our fellow board members. "
I like to use revenue from my real investments to buy coins (as opposed to income from my job/business).
Coins are pure joy to me. Some appreciate nicely and others do not. Regardless, they are not financial instruments I’d ever want my family to rely on.
Nice.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
5% of assets total in coins, with 1/3 of that consisting of bullion gold/silver
Commems and Early Type
Approximately 3 to 5%
Coins are zero percent of my total investments and income. I earn my living. I have the assets I have aquired and been fortunate enough to put aside. My coin collection is my passion and a big part of my will to live. I have coins I have owned since I was 7. I have a coin (apparently lost in the mail) but hopefully on it's way. In either case, I have done what I have always done. Put all my discrestionary funds into buying coins because that is what I love. I have a fiduciary responsibility to my family which means I often times have to look on in envy at coins outside my budget. Many a day and or year I have had to go without new coins because there are no funds. Several times in my life having coins turned out to be a tremendous advantage when the unexpected happened (see covid). In the end though, I have never bought a coin as an "investment", and when I die my heirs have specific instructions on the disposal of my collection. james
PS for the guy obsessed with taxes. I let my accountant Jenny deal with that.
Spending does not necessarily equate to adding assets or increasing the percentage of assets tied up in coins. I spend a significant amount but I also sell a significant amount. Some coins I enjoy for only 1-3 years and then move on. I lose money on many of those coins, but it’s not an investment - it’s a hobby and I enjoy them while I own them. People trade in and out of all kinds of assets because they enjoy it.
Maybe 10%, but I started late in life with the majority of my collection (after 50) so I’ve played ‘catch up’ for the last 15 years or so. Bought way too many ASE’s when I geared up so now I’m unloading a lot of my duplicates and buying rarer coins….with only two or three more “I’d really love to have that in my collection” coins….and hopefully I can find them in the next year or two. A nice 1907$20 St. Guadens high relief, and a nice respectable 1916 Standing Liberty quarter with a FH (full head) designation are in my sights! 😉
You're also half the age of most of the people here and building assets, an inventory, and a business. If the world/economy/etc go sideways, you can recover. A collector in their 70s probably cannot.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
I am in complete agreement with you. Just a hobby with value but not really something I could use for retirement.
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
Successful BST transactions with: Namvet Justindan Mattniss RWW olah_in_MA
Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan MWallace logger7
Relatively speaking, I’m just a small-time collector. For a long time I was firmly in the 0% camp, since I’ve always treated coins as a hobby — they even get a line under “Entertainment” in my budget. When I started collecting, I never expected to get anything back out of it.
That said, my perspective shifted a bit once gold crossed the $2,500 mark and the inherent value of the PMs in my collection nearly doubled. It hasn’t changed my approach (it’s still a hobby first), but it has changed how I view the collection as a whole. As I finish up my Box of 20 and some album sets, I’ve realized that some coins will do quite well, others maybe not so much — and I’m fine with that. It’s part of the journey.
To the OP’s question: since a significant part of my retirement income will come from a pension and Social Security, it’s tricky to pin down the collection as a percentage of total net worth. But if I focus only on tangible, more liquid assets, then coins probably make up about 10–15%.
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
I'm going to give a curmudgeonly response: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
That was my first thought.
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
to further explain my reaction above regarding this thread:
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Numismatic coins? Less than 1%
Add in bullion gold and gutter metal currently about 16%.
RGDS!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
Based on my estimates, you really can’t value stuff unless you sell it, I may or may not have 6 figures in coins and currency (since I haven’t sold anything). Of the total assets that comes out to a low % but honestly it’s a hobby hence I really don’t value anything other then bullion coins as they have a set value.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
Less than 10% but more than 5%.
"Bongo hurtles along the rain soaked highway of life on underinflated bald retread tires."
~Wayne
I've always thought it's a good idea to stay below 10%, and I do.
Deleted.
4% and its just a hobby 😜
I wonder if @winesteven keeps track of his melt value?
I seem to have offended people with my thread. That was not my intention. I was just simply curious as to the opinions of others.
God comes first in everything I do. I’m dedicated to serving Him with my whole life. Coin collecting is just a hobby—but even in that, I seek to honor Him. ✝️