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Question about Commemorative coins
Jimnight
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I know Commemorative coins have a real historical significance....but my question is... Do Commemorative coins have a numismatic value ?
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All generalizations are false, to borrow a phrase...
Classic commems never did perform well and took a real nosedive when I got into them. Actually, they took a nosedive AFTER I completed my set at the peak.
Numismatic value = Sales price - bullion value.
So.... in almost all cases, yes.
Do they maintain their numismatic value? Depends on when you bought them and how pretty they are. In many cases, no. Are they a widely recommended investment vehicle? Formerly yes, currently, no so much, although there's no telling what will happen. We may be in the midst of an unrecognized "buying opportunity." We may also be somewhere in the middle of a permanent slide to obscurity and disinterest.
Do Modern Commems and Classic Commems behave identically in the market? Usually no. If I live long enough, it will be interesting to see if today's modern commems ever become classics, or if anyone will ever care about them. The prevailing opinion is no, and people might be right, but the classics we consider as gorgeous treasures now originally sold for $1.00 not all that long ago.
About how long ago was that?
Edit: ah - I see the 'originally' now.
Some commemoratives are still relatively high priced.... most of this segment is in the doldrums right now...
To answer your question, yes, they do have numismatic value.... they vary by individual coin and market trend. Cheers, RickO
Not all commemorative coins "have a real historical significance." In the U.S. it depends on who has the political clout to the authorizing bill through Congress. Some of the old commemoratives (1892 - 1954) were issued for the sake of GREED only. The Cincinnati commemorative half dollar didn't commemorative much of anything except fund raising. Many were issued for years, like the Oregon Trail, Texas, Boone, Washington-Carver and Booker T. Washington, for no reason other than making money.
As to value, all of the U.S. commemoratives sell for more than their face value, but they are generally been poor investments in recent years. Some of the modern issues have been sold for melt. The mintages were too high, and the current interest is low.
IMO, only the classic commemoratives and the occasional modern, which depend not so much on mintage, but perceived upward trends.
It depends upon what you paid for the coins. If you bought them when I did back in 1996 they were about the same price as they are now. If I would have sold them at their peak in 2007 it would have been a good investment. Now they are back at the prices I paid for them back in 1996. Since I was 10 years old back in 1965 I wanted a collection of those neat coins at the back of the Redbook. But then they were way out of reach for a ten year old and I had to stick to Lincoln Cents and Jefferson Nickels that I could find in circulation. Things changed back in 1990's when I had enough income to assemble a set. Since I live in Overland, Mo, I dubbed the name of the collection the "Overland Trail Collection". It was the first commemorative set in the PCGS Registry back in 1998 when it was published in book format. It has been updated from time to time and carries the pedigree "Overland Trail". I really don't or every did consider it an investment, I just wanted those neat coins at the end of the Redbook that I could only dream about in 1965.
Overland Trail Collection Showcase
Dahlonega Type Set-2008 PCGS Best Exhibited Set
If you enjoy collecting them, then by definition, they do......