instead of direction, pretty much was just ridiculed.
As I said, silver comes to mind. The supply/demand fundamentals in silver seem to point up, longterm. If you want more specifics, I would recommend an initial position in a bag of circulated 90% silver bullion, preferably halves. A followup purchase (averaging in) would be a green monster box (or two) of 2007 BU American Silver Eagles.
Having taken those two positions, I would sit tight with the remainder of the $25,000 until I got a better bead on what the Mint has this year that makes sense in the longterm.
Short term - all bets are off. Long term - either the First Ladies Gold or the Fractional Gold Buffalos this year, but be prepared not to back down halfway through the program(s). Key an eye on the Platinum Anniversary Set, but wait until purchasing trends are clearer on all 3 of these possibilities.
If the Mint comes out with another Reverse Proof, whatever the denomination, give it a hard look.
If you don't consider this stuff "coins," then just talk to Legend. They might be arrogant, but they probably have stuff that has as decent a chance for appreciation as you could find without gaining alot of prerequisite expertise on the front end.
My fee for this advice is $0. It might be worth just as much.
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
<< <i> basically it looks like i outta stick to what i know. i am already heavy into real estate, stocks, antique cars and vintage sportscards. it gets boring the same old thing though, so i was interested in expanding into coins a little bit. but there it just alot of negativity i see. from the spirit of this thread, it certainly feels as though coins arent worth persuing. instead of direction, pretty much was just ridiculed. i thought i was clear regarding going forward, not mistakes made in the past, i.e. the early dollars. i didnt realize how few people here made mistakes. my bad. thanks to those who were helpful.
a courteous response would have been -- "looks like platinum 1/2 ounces may be ok or pcgs ms 65 saints look promissing." i wasnt looking for the old -- "you f'd up by buying raw 18 months ago, give it up." >>
The fact is, it takes knowledge to make money in rare coins, especially in today's market which is a bull market. Why are you drawn to coins - because you've seen other people making profits on them? What makes you think that you, as someone who doesn't know much about coins, is going to be able to make a big profit ahead of people with a thousand times more knowledge than you?
The answer all comes back to having specialized knowledge. There is no such thing as an obvious and easy way to make money in this industry or any other. Any free advice people will offer you is worthless. No one can really predict big trends like "key date Morgans will double in the next year." And to make money "small" by cherrypicking or the like, you'll need a lot of specialized knowledge which you don't have and which you don't seem to have the inclination to learn.
Anyway, if you're a smart investor you should realize that coins and precious metals are in a strong bull market - which is more reason for you to hold off on making any purchases until prices settle down. Ever heard the expression "buy low / sell high"? You are setting yourself up to do the opposite.
"Men who had never shown any ability to make or increase fortunes for themselves abounded in brilliant plans for creating and increasing wealth for the country at large." Fiat Money Inflation in France, Andrew Dickson White (1912)
basically it looks like i outta stick to what i know. i am already heavy into real estate, stocks, antique cars and vintage sportscards. it gets boring the same old thing though, so i was interested in expanding into coins a little bit. but there it just alot of negativity i see. from the spirit of this thread, it certainly feels as though coins arent worth persuing. instead of direction, pretty much was just ridiculed. i thought i was clear regarding going forward, not mistakes made in the past, i.e. the early dollars. i didnt realize how few people here made mistakes. my bad. thanks to those who were helpful.
a courteous response would have been -- "looks like platinum 1/2 ounces may be ok or pcgs ms 65 saints look promissing." i wasnt looking for the old -- "you f'd up by buying raw 18 months ago, give it up."
i was forthright with that fact and disclaimed as such. no need to drive the point home.
without a doubt, i someone came to me looking for advice for say 1952 topps baseball, which i know very well, i wouldnt drive home the point of his past mistakes which he clearly stated were mistakes as opposed to giving him forward looking advice. >>
All collectibles have the same weakness as an investment; you can't be sure what direction the market is headed and it's difficult to locate the items that are "sure things". Instead you'll tend to end up with what's available.
I could name hundreds of coins that are dramatically underpriced relative to availability and probable future demand but most will be virtually unavailable on the market. Even where they can be found they'll often sell for far higher than catalog prices which will scare away everyone but collectors. Some of the coins are very inexpensive so filling a $20,000 order is out of the realm of poss- ibility.
No one wants you to give up on coins but most people here just don't want to see you lose the money and they certainly don't want to see you lose it by tak- ing their advice. The best bet is to learn more about coins and invest elsewhere until you don't really need the advice. Most are more likely to comment if you say what you've already decided rather than seeking input.
There are good opportunities for profit throughout the hobby but it is imperative that you know the coins and the market. Sell some coins once in a while and when you can break even or make a little profit then consider investing. By that time you will likely be more a collector than investor anyway.
<< <i>basically it looks like i outta stick to what i know. >>
If the remarks kept you from buying $20k of classic coins, then I think the board did you a big favor. If folks were rude or made fun of you, I apologize. However, if it kept you from losing 50% or your $20,000, a few jokes at your expense was a cheap price to pay.
A person that has no grading skill and no desire to learn is best off sticking to bullion related products. Buying classic collector coins without knowing how to grade or how to spot problem coins is a good way to lose money, and lots of it. A person could be given best three series for the next two years (and no one really knows, they just have opinions, often wrong ones), but if that person can't grade and doesn't have any dealer contacts, that person will probably lose money on the coins they chose to buy. Numismatics is a difficult hobby. There is a steep learning curve.
If you must have coins, I already wrote my advice in my previous post--buy bullion at the lowest mark up you can find. A person that doesn't know much about the hobby will do better with bullion than 90% of collector coins. I always look for the high percentage play, not the long shots.
You are late to the party, the bull market has been intact for many years now and there is fear out there that a retracement is overdue. This could mean that there is still going to be the massive bubble effect before a bull market implodes or it could just fizzle out. My advise would be to get into the bullion products ,especially the ones with "low" mintages and use them as part of your learning curve as to where value lies. It worries me that a lot of the smart money has been selling their coins over the last few months, registry sets retired and coins that have been held for 20 years suddenly on the market. These are folks that know their coins. Keep watching this forum because there is a lot of excellent advice here...even though some of it comes across as mean spirited
Comments
As I said, silver comes to mind. The supply/demand fundamentals in silver seem to point up, longterm. If you want more specifics, I would recommend an initial position in a bag of circulated 90% silver bullion, preferably halves. A followup purchase (averaging in) would be a green monster box (or two) of 2007 BU American Silver Eagles.
Having taken those two positions, I would sit tight with the remainder of the $25,000 until I got a better bead on what the Mint has this year that makes sense in the longterm.
Short term - all bets are off. Long term - either the First Ladies Gold or the Fractional Gold Buffalos this year, but be prepared not to back down halfway through the program(s). Key an eye on the Platinum Anniversary Set, but wait until purchasing trends are clearer on all 3 of these possibilities.
If the Mint comes out with another Reverse Proof, whatever the denomination, give it a hard look.
If you don't consider this stuff "coins," then just talk to Legend. They might be arrogant, but they probably have stuff that has as decent a chance for appreciation as you could find without gaining alot of prerequisite expertise on the front end.
My fee for this advice is $0. It might be worth just as much.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i> basically it looks like i outta stick to what i know. i am already heavy into real estate, stocks, antique cars and vintage sportscards. it gets boring the same old thing though, so i was interested in expanding into coins a little bit. but there it just alot of negativity i see. from the spirit of this thread, it certainly feels as though coins arent worth persuing. instead of direction, pretty much was just ridiculed. i thought i was clear regarding going forward, not mistakes made in the past, i.e. the early dollars. i didnt realize how few people here made mistakes. my bad. thanks to those who were helpful.
a courteous response would have been -- "looks like platinum 1/2 ounces may be ok or pcgs ms 65 saints look promissing."
i wasnt looking for the old -- "you f'd up by buying raw 18 months ago, give it up." >>
The fact is, it takes knowledge to make money in rare coins, especially in today's market which is a bull market. Why are you drawn to coins - because you've seen other people making profits on them? What makes you think that you, as someone who doesn't know much about coins, is going to be able to make a big profit ahead of people with a thousand times more knowledge than you?
The answer all comes back to having specialized knowledge. There is no such thing as an obvious and easy way to make money in this industry or any other. Any free advice people will offer you is worthless. No one can really predict big trends like "key date Morgans will double in the next year." And to make money "small" by cherrypicking or the like, you'll need a lot of specialized knowledge which you don't have and which you don't seem to have the inclination to learn.
Anyway, if you're a smart investor you should realize that coins and precious metals are in a strong bull market - which is more reason for you to hold off on making any purchases until prices settle down. Ever heard the expression "buy low / sell high"? You are setting yourself up to do the opposite.
<< <i>Jcarney- i appreciate the info. thanks.
basically it looks like i outta stick to what i know. i am already heavy into real estate, stocks, antique cars and vintage sportscards. it gets boring the same old thing though, so i was interested in expanding into coins a little bit. but there it just alot of negativity i see. from the spirit of this thread, it certainly feels as though coins arent worth persuing. instead of direction, pretty much was just ridiculed. i thought i was clear regarding going forward, not mistakes made in the past, i.e. the early dollars. i didnt realize how few people here made mistakes. my bad. thanks to those who were helpful.
a courteous response would have been -- "looks like platinum 1/2 ounces may be ok or pcgs ms 65 saints look promissing."
i wasnt looking for the old -- "you f'd up by buying raw 18 months ago, give it up."
i was forthright with that fact and disclaimed as such. no need to drive the point home.
without a doubt, i someone came to me looking for advice for say 1952 topps baseball, which i know very well, i wouldnt drive home the point of his past mistakes which he clearly stated were mistakes as opposed to giving him forward looking advice. >>
All collectibles have the same weakness as an investment; you can't be sure
what direction the market is headed and it's difficult to locate the items that
are "sure things". Instead you'll tend to end up with what's available.
I could name hundreds of coins that are dramatically underpriced relative to
availability and probable future demand but most will be virtually unavailable
on the market. Even where they can be found they'll often sell for far higher
than catalog prices which will scare away everyone but collectors. Some of the
coins are very inexpensive so filling a $20,000 order is out of the realm of poss-
ibility.
No one wants you to give up on coins but most people here just don't want to
see you lose the money and they certainly don't want to see you lose it by tak-
ing their advice. The best bet is to learn more about coins and invest elsewhere
until you don't really need the advice. Most are more likely to comment if you say
what you've already decided rather than seeking input.
There are good opportunities for profit throughout the hobby but it is imperative
that you know the coins and the market. Sell some coins once in a while and when
you can break even or make a little profit then consider investing. By that time you
will likely be more a collector than investor anyway.
<< <i>basically it looks like i outta stick to what i know. >>
If the remarks kept you from buying $20k of classic coins, then I think the board did you a big favor. If folks were rude or made fun of you, I apologize. However, if it kept you from losing 50% or your $20,000, a few jokes at your expense was a cheap price to pay.
A person that has no grading skill and no desire to learn is best off sticking to bullion related products. Buying classic collector coins without knowing how to grade or how to spot problem coins is a good way to lose money, and lots of it. A person could be given best three series for the next two years (and no one really knows, they just have opinions, often wrong ones), but if that person can't grade and doesn't have any dealer contacts, that person will probably lose money on the coins they chose to buy. Numismatics is a difficult hobby. There is a steep learning curve.
If you must have coins, I already wrote my advice in my previous post--buy bullion at the lowest mark up you can find. A person that doesn't know much about the hobby will do better with bullion than 90% of collector coins. I always look for the high percentage play, not the long shots.
It worries me that a lot of the smart money has been selling their coins over the last few months, registry sets retired and coins that have been held for 20 years suddenly on the market. These are folks that know their coins.
Keep watching this forum because there is a lot of excellent advice here...even though some of it comes across as mean spirited