collecting a folly?
Onedollarnohollar
Posts: 2,035 ✭✭✭✭
Is it an investment or a folly? Too late (and expensive) for me to collect classic or rare key coins. Hoarding coins that I thought would become keys (moderns) have slowly shown my investments to be a folly.
Now scrambling to recoup some of my "investments" in a re-sale bonanza. I think for the average wage earner, unless they inherit a nice collection, collecting today is a pure wishful thinking folly. Thoughts?
Now scrambling to recoup some of my "investments" in a re-sale bonanza. I think for the average wage earner, unless they inherit a nice collection, collecting today is a pure wishful thinking folly. Thoughts?
0
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some don't even sell a coin and great collections are slowly assembled
are you collecting or investing???
ask any roll searcher how rewarding it can be...
type2,CCHunter.
As always, the three skills that financially successful collectors tend to have are:
* superior grading skill
* superior access to coins
* superior market knowledge
I may be wrong, but it sounds like the op might be zero-for-three. If that is the case, losing money is the expected outcome. Folks interested in financial return need to make an honest assessment of where they stand in terms of skills, access and knowledge. The average collector is average in the three skill areas and will tend to be at about break even after five or ten years. This is for average folks, buying at retail or auction, and selling at wholesale or at auction.
<< <i>Sounds like the op made some bad decisions. Some coins have done well. Others have not.
As always, the three skills that financially successful collectors tend to have are:
* superior grading skill
* superior access to coins
* superior market knowledge
I may be wrong, but it sounds like the op might be zero-for-three. If that is the case, losing money is the expected outcome. Folks interested in financial return need to make an honest assessment of where they stand in terms of skills, access and knowledge. The average collector is average in the three skill areas and will tend to be at about break even after five or ten years. This is for average folks, buying at retail or auction, and selling at wholesale or at auction. >>
Going by that i'm also 0/3 , i began seriously collecting in 2007 and i know as a fact my original investment has at least tripled on the whole and then some.Was it all blind luck or is there more to it ? With a little research anyone can make money , its having the time and patience is the thing.
I would highly suggest you either get it from your library or other place, and read it.
I'm in the same boat as you, in the US military enlisted, and I don't make much, but I have been able to come across some nice coins. Maybe not the ones I specifically want to collect, but coins I can indeed trade or sell to get money to purchase other coins.
A big part of this expertise is being able to identify the coins worth decent money that people are selling at say, silver bullion value, and turn them around. This is what I have done, and I'm very happy with my collection at this point.
Steve
Investing in Modern Keys is though, especially for those that do not know what they are doing.
Today's modern key is tomorrow's wannabee!
Here;s a tip: If you're going to dabble in modern coin investing, you'll need to flip them as soon as possible because once everybody has them, nobody will want them and if nobody wants them.................your investment goes underwater (along with your funds)!
The name is LEE!
WS
Just a little wisdom (if it can be called that) from an average collector: learn a series...stick with it, understand it, STUDY it. There is opportunity and money to be made in any series. What I do is begin by collecting coins that are lower-end or mid-level coins in the series. I buy them at bargain prices, mostly on ebay, and I send them in for certification. This helps me learn the series, the grading and the nuances of the series. (I make sure that with the certification fees I should be able to resale it at a break-even price...or better.) Slowly I upgrade my coins, making small amounts of money as I go.
This gives me an advantage and education that many people miss out on. Sure the initial return is minimal...but it grows, in the end the education you earn is respectable. And as they say, education is king!
<< <i>
<< <i>Sounds like the op made some bad decisions. Some coins have done well. Others have not.
As always, the three skills that financially successful collectors tend to have are:
* superior grading skill
* superior access to coins
* superior market knowledge
I may be wrong, but it sounds like the op might be zero-for-three. If that is the case, losing money is the expected outcome. Folks interested in financial return need to make an honest assessment of where they stand in terms of skills, access and knowledge. The average collector is average in the three skill areas and will tend to be at about break even after five or ten years. This is for average folks, buying at retail or auction, and selling at wholesale or at auction. >>
Going by that i'm also 0/3 , i began seriously collecting in 2007 and i know as a fact my original investment has at least tripled on the whole and then some.Was it all blind luck or is there more to it ? With a little research anyone can make money , its having the time and patience is the thing. >>
Hard to say without more details. It may have been luck. What kind of coins did you buy? It doesn't sound like it was numismatic collector coins bought from dealers or at auction. Maybe 0.1% of numismatic collector coins have tripled during the past 5 years. If it was modern mint flipper coins, then you are on this forum, which is one of the very best places to get information for flipping. If it was bullion related coins, that is a separate animal from numismatic coins.
If you can triple your money every five years, you'll soon own an island of your own, and you are much smarter than you give yourself credit for. For the readers, the dangerous phrase is "with a little research anyone can make money." It is not true. The winners tend to report, the losers tend to slink away quietly. Most collectors of numismatic coins, will never see a triple in five years, or might see it on one percent of their buys. Most average collectors are doing well to break even. Cherrypicking rare varieties and other expert techniques are the exceptions, but again that falls back to the three attributes.
<< <i> I think for the average wage earner, unless they inherit a nice collection, collecting today is a pure wishful thinking folly. Thoughts? >>
Not at all, but we do need to stay focused, have patience, and buy wisely. It also depends on how you look at it. Owning a handful of coins you truly love can be just as rewarding as having boxes of ones you like. I've long accepted that there are some coins I will never have the privilege of owning, so I've moved my focus to ones that I can.
<< <i>The most frustrating "can't miss" coins for me were the 2009p double die Lincoln formative cents and the silver state proof sets. Those just haven't done anything. I don't know if I am a collector now (I thought I was, certainly enjoy looking for varieties and vams with Morgans) but more and more, partly due to a personal financial crunch, I find myself buying and flipping instead of gathering that precious box of 20. I'm slightly ahead of break-even thankfully. As I said in my opening statement, as an investment in this wacky up and down economy, at least in the short term collecting as an investment for the limited budget set seems a folly. >>
The 09 Lincolns were great.... back in 2009. Just as 19Lyds said, the key is liquidating when still hot.
<< <i>Sounds like the op made some bad decisions. Some coins have done well. Others have not.
As always, the three skills that financially successful collectors tend to have are:
* superior grading skill
* superior access to coins
* superior market knowledge
I may be wrong, but it sounds like the op might be zero-for-three. If that is the case, losing money is the expected outcome. Folks interested in financial return need to make an honest assessment of where they stand in terms of skills, access and knowledge. The average collector is average in the three skill areas and will tend to be at about break even after five or ten years. This is for average folks, buying at retail or auction, and selling at wholesale or at auction. >>
This is a good list. A number of coins I've purchased have gone up 10x to 20x in 5-7 years time based on this list. Other coins have also gone up but less so. I'm sure some have gone down as well but those were more for collecting than investing.
Here's my take. If you are dealing in moderns (post 1965) then you need to buy only top pops.
If you are buying older silver/gold then you need to look at the best value for your buck. For instance,
lets say you want a silver dollar or two as investments. You could, with your budget, get two 1885-cc
dollars in MS64 or you could get one Morgan in MS67. What should you do? We know that 85cc's will
always be in demand but we also know that they are common in MS. The MS67 Morgan is certainly, in
my mind, the better investment as there are so few of them and the demand might not be quite as high
but it certainly is a marketable coin.
Conditional rarity for investments. Everything else is a hobby.
Truly rare coins, under 50 examples, are of course a great investment. However, the cost is usually out
of most folks budgets.
I do not deal or collect modern coins so there are some here that may have a different perspective and
different advise. Just my take.
bob
<< <i>If you can triple your money every five years, you'll soon own an island of your own >>
This sounds appealing to me.
If that's folly, collecting is one of the least expensive hobbies around.
I would modify that advise some. I would suggest flip SOME when they are hot but keep some for your collection. If you get ahead (profit) on some then that will hedge against possilbe losses on the coins you keep. I think some moderns will have staying power and will be winners over the long haul but to know which ones do is not an easy task. Sometimes it takes generations to see the ultimate value of a modern collectible so patience is required.