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Pros and cons of bullion coin collecting...

Pro:
Tied to the metal market.

Con:
Tied to the metal market.

Pro:
All of them are going to look nice.

Con:
All of them are going to look the same.

Pro:
Every once in a while, a low mintage coin will hit pay dirt.

Con:
The rest of the time, it's buying metal at a premium.

Others?

-David

Comments

  • That pretty much sums it up.
  • Pro - If civilization falls they will still be worth something

    Con - If civilization falls they will still be worth something and someone will try to kill you for them
  • No forgeries. No AT. Perfect coins. Don't need TPG. Don't need dealers.
    "Truth is a torch but a tremendous one. That is why we hurry past it, shielding our eyes, indeed, for fear of getting burned." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • Grading is not an issue with bullion.

    Grading is, and always will be subjective. Coins are not fungible. Two coins with the same date and grade are not worth the same amount of money, but to distinguish you have to have seen a lot of coins. My dealer and I spyed a very nice coin in a recent auction. It was a $2,000 coin and we didn't think it would upgrade and even if it did it was not a huge increment. We bid $4,000 and still were outbid.

    Most people who buy bullion have different motivations than people who collect numismatic coins although many do both for different reasons.
    I'd rather be lucky than good.
  • storm888storm888 Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭
    Con:
    The rest of the time, it's buying metal at a premium.

    //////////////////////////////////////////////

    That is pretty true.

    But, many ordinary folks who want to enter the physical metal
    market are likely to start with those coins. That means there
    are lots of buyers, and the premium usually sticks on (retail)
    resale.

    storm
    Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 24,391 ✭✭✭✭✭
    In the long run, many bullion coins will be melted. Therefore, wisely selected "bullion coins" have the potential to become truly desirable rarities.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • BlindedByEgoBlindedByEgo Posts: 10,754 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Pro - If civilization falls they will still be worth something

    Con - If civilization falls they will still be worth something and someone will try to kill you for them >>



    image
  • BigAlBigAl Posts: 1,217 ✭✭✭
    pro - bullion prices go up

    con - bullion prices go down
  • No forgeries. No AT. Perfect coins. Don't need TPG. Don't need dealers
    slickpick you got it right!
    I don't want to spend my money on coins doctored up by shady collectors/scammers either. Sadly this hobby is a dangerous game for a fool and his money.
    I just want to buy the coin I like and know I got screwed for the same price as the rest for the same slim shot at a perfect coin. Strictly mint purchases for me and my bullion choices.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,706 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Bullion has a very tight buy - sell spread while most collector coins do not.

    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

  • BochimanBochiman Posts: 25,556 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Con:
    Idiotic modern/bullion bashers

    Pro:
    Laughing at idiotic modern/bullion bashers as you flip a new issue for 2x-40x cost immediately and can buy more of other coins you want....and watch as they whine again.

    I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment

  • trozautrozau Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭
    Pro:
    a) best value for coin collections because of the intrinsic metal value.
    b) besides satisfying your collection thirst, it acts as a hedge.

    Con:
    None, for me.

    image
    trozau (troy ounce gold)
  • trozautrozau Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Pro - If civilization falls they will still be worth something

    Con - If civilization falls they will still be worth something and someone will try to kill you for them >>



    Let them try. image
    trozau (troy ounce gold)
  • StorkStork Posts: 5,206 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If you expand your bullion collecting to the entire world you can buy coins that look like Trozau's flipping icon (Britannia and Sovereign), plus the Libertads, Pandas, Aussie Kangaroos and Lunars, plus all the little ones like the Swiss Helvetia and French Rooster. There are tons of modern issues that sell for very little over melt (even coins with a Stork on it imageimageimage).

  • pf70collectorpf70collector Posts: 6,721 ✭✭✭
    If civilization falls you think the bullion will be worth anything? Its a rare metal granted, but it just a metal. I think when civilization falls so does commerce and our system of doing transactions and it may be more of a bartering system. Food, fuel, services, the essentials for survival. Now if civiliztion should rise again then it would be worth something......depends what your defintiion of a failing civilization is? Just a thought.


  • << <i>Con:
    Idiotic modern/bullion bashers

    Pro:
    Laughing at idiotic modern/bullion bashers as you flip a new issue for 2x-40x cost immediately and can buy more of other coins you want....and watch as they whine again. >>



    imageimage
    “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” — Benjamin Franklin


    My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.


  • << <i>Bullion has a very tight buy - sell spread while most collector coins do not. >>



    This is the biggest reason to buy bullion coins, the narrower spread vs. collector coins.

    Another good reason is that grading is not that important, and a person can buy without having to learn how to grade. Try that with classic collector coins, even certified ones, and a person is going to get hurt in the long run. Ending up with overgraded raw coins, or low end certified dogs.


  • << <i>In the long run, many bullion coins will be melted. Therefore, wisely selected "bullion coins" have the potential to become truly desirable rarities. >>



    Isn't unc. w-mint platinum in this catagory?
  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 24,391 ✭✭✭✭✭
    << In the long run, many bullion coins will be melted. Therefore, wisely selected "bullion coins" have the potential to become truly desirable rarities. >>

    Isn't unc. w-mint platinum in this catagory?



    No. They are unlikely to ever be melted. For a better example, consider the US Mint Gold Medallions. These may one day prove quite scarce and worth big premiums.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • I don't know much about medals, but I think this year's all unc. w-mint marked bullions will be winners.
  • robertprrobertpr Posts: 6,862 ✭✭✭


    << <i>If civilization falls you think the bullion will be worth anything? Its a rare metal granted, but it just a metal. I think when civilization falls so does commerce and our system of doing transactions and it may be more of a bartering system. Food, fuel, services, the essentials for survival. Now if civiliztion should rise again then it would be worth something......depends what your defintiion of a failing civilization is? Just a thought. >>



    Think back to when the Soviet Union failed.


  • << <i>Pro - If civilization falls they will still be worth something

    Con - If civilization falls they will still be worth something and someone will try to kill you for them >>



    Silver, Gold, and Platinum aren't going to grow food for you, or cook food for you, or act as shelter. If it gets to the point where "civilization falls", precious metals will become absolutely useless. I won't kill you for your silver or gold. I'll kill you for your iron, your steel, your concrete, your fertilizers, your plant seeds, etc. I'd laugh in the face of anyone who tried to give me useless metals such as gold and silver. (And in day to day survival living, they are completely useless).

    This is why I always get a kick out of people who say "hoard gold and silver and platinum in case a worldwide catastrophe hits". As long as they are doing that, I know that the actual things you need to stay alive won't be hoarded and I'll have plenty of access to them. image
    I collect the elements on the periodic table, and some coins. I have a complete Roosevelt set, and am putting together a set of coins from 1880.
  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,785 ✭✭✭✭



    << <i>Pro - If civilization falls they will still be worth something

    Con - If civilization falls they will still be worth something and someone will try to kill you for them >>


    If civilization really did fall, I don't think people are going to kill over some piece of metal. Maybe for a loaf of bread, a pound of meat, a gallon of clean water, but not for bullion.


    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • Aegis3Aegis3 Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Pro - If civilization falls they will still be worth something >>



    Only if farmers want them.
    --

    Ed. S.

    (EJS)

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