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Hypothetical gold dollar collecting.
tjc2120
Posts: 714 ✭
I am thinking about some long term collecting projects and would like to hear some input from others.
Let's say you have a 30K budget over 15 years - how would you go about building a gold dollar collection? What would be your ideal set or collection?
First priority is aesthetics, second is investment.
Or, if you don't have any interest in the gold dollar, what would you collect and how with that budget.
Let's say you have a 30K budget over 15 years - how would you go about building a gold dollar collection? What would be your ideal set or collection?
First priority is aesthetics, second is investment.
Or, if you don't have any interest in the gold dollar, what would you collect and how with that budget.
"spot on my UHR, nevermind, I wiped it off"
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Comments
<< <i>Well, I would start with the Sac's and work my way up to the Presidential series. With 30k to play with I might as well get the Proofs too. >>
<< <i>Well, I would start with the Sac's and work my way up to the Presidential series. With 30k to play with I might as well get the Proofs too. >>
Sorry for the confusion, I refer to gold dollar ie Coronet, Indian Head of the 1800s
<< <i>
<< <i>Well, I would start with the Sac's and work my way up to the Presidential series. With 30k to play with I might as well get the Proofs too. >>
Sorry for the confusion, I refer to gold dollar ie Coronet, Indian Head of the 1800s >>
Oh, sorry, I don't collect that classics crap.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Well, I would start with the Sac's and work my way up to the Presidential series. With 30k to play with I might as well get the Proofs too. >>
Sorry for the confusion, I refer to gold dollar ie Coronet, Indian Head of the 1800s >>
Oh, sorry, I don't collect that classics crap.
Holy cow, I'm so tired I actually thought you believed I was planning to invest in the pres dollar series! (no offense to anyone who is of course)
RUINED
Thirty Seconds.
tjc,,Post your question again in a new thread....
it's not a bad question and I really am interested in what gold dollar collectors think
For seconds (I dont collect these nor do I know them well) realize that these are and have been heavily counterfeited. Buy from trustworthy dealers or buy them slabbed. Buying them raw off eBay is none too wise.
<< <i>never mind, I just ordered QDBs book on amazon >>
That's the best idea so far.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
stoppers in the series before considering collecting the set.
if the answer is yes.. what grade can you afford the key dates and
do you wish to match the easier dates to them?
or you could just do what i think is fun now days.. just go out
and buy the 3-4 keys in the highest grade possible and call the set
complete!
(i cannot afford the above idea but it sounds fun).
Perhaps a 7070 wouldn't get filled but you could be more selective of the age/era of the coins.
Choosing to assemble a mint set for a transitional year or "key" year would also be fun and worthwhile.
-D
-Aristotle
Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
-Horace
Lance.
1854 Libery Gold Dollar, Type 2
PCGS AU50
1873 Gold Dollar, Closed 3
PCGS AU58
There are also three or more levels of collecting, with the budget you want to stay in, you can make a nice year set, and probably to get most coins in XF to MS61. Id say you stand a good shot at completing it, maybe when you come into some money along the way....buy that ultra rare 1875, make it your trophy!.
Collecting the whole entire set of 80 coins (without proofs) is world class but I think it could be done but the money and time horizons would be much greater. Some coins, like the Confederate coined 1861 D may not come up for sale but once a years, and then the bidding must be fierce. Right now though on ebay is a AU50 1860D for 6400, this is a rarity in the series...and a nice catch for someone building up a set.
Ive found that AU58 coins are a nice blend of price availability and eye appeal, in hand the luster is a huge factor with these coins but at least there is no ugly toning situation (unlike silver or copper).
After you start reading the book you learn the rare dates and when one of these pops up its worth consideration. Ive bought from dealers, ebay and from collectors corner links on this site. ebay has maybe 300-400 coins at an time, the CC link 400+ these are mostly all certified. Youll see hundreds of common dates, and then an 1860 pops up, at about the same price but with only a few hundred surviving coins as opposed to tens of thousands. So there are nice buys to be made on the rare dates, almost low level semi keys, for easy money.
Some things Ive learned....there are supposed to be LOTS of 1880s coins surviving...but very few are ever listed for sale (hmmmmm) The branch mint coins are almost all rare, but some New Orleans dates are easliy bought. Getting a C or a D is a nice little trophy, but that steps up the $ about 5X or more.
Lots of slabbed type 2's exist, thousands...but they bring premier money since they are always in demand for type sets.....which brings up another point. Rarity vs. supply: The type 1 coronet coin was melted en masse by the government prior to 1861. To the tune of over 3,600 pounds of them... can you imagine?? so these were gone from the collecting supply, but milliions were coined of some of the Phila. dates. There were many more gold dollar collectors during the last part of the 19th and early 20th century than there are now....and a great number of collectors sucked in these surviving population coins out of the supply.....therefore driving auction prices and descriptions of the rarity to almost a (now) humorous fever pitch.
now...those collectors are dead, the coins dispersed....not too many collectors...but still the same number of coins (Probably many less since only certified coins may be considered today).
One good influx of collectors into this series....these survivors get sucked back into collections and values will go up.
actually, even right now the OP is adding to the influx. I got intetested a few months ago...I added to the influx. I think high quality digital photography will do as much for gold dollars as it has done for any series of coin (Lincolns?) in that the nature of the coin can be more easily studied by us old farts looking at our monitors. I really like the reverse of the coin, there are so many ways it differs, according to the coin. From horrible scraggly relapped cracked rusted dies from a southern mint to a cameo frost and longacre doubling and a strong strike with the tops of the wreath joined.
So yes start by reading qdbs book, get a few common date certified coins, maybe 1853 1852 1851 1853O 1862 1874...they are all in the 300$ range, you can run along at that level picking up nice coins for at least 15 coins into the series.
Like Davey Hall says...."You'all have fun with yer coins, ya heah!"
For 30K, you're looking at an XF-AU set. Not a bad project, but it will probably not keep you busy for 15 years. In other words, for at least the first 12 years of the project, you'll be turning down a lot of coins that you would like to buy. I'd rather see you take on a project where finding the coins will be more of a challenge than finding the cash with which to pay for them.
For what it's worth, I'd suggest Mexican one escudos, 1825-1870. Building a complete set (of something like 100 coins) will be a great challenge, you won't have to compromise as much on quality, and you'll have trouble spending your money after the first 5 years.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
thank you for you time, your considered response and your willingness to share information
I'll read through QDBs book, get together a game plan and post it here for other to comment on.
Some sort of limited but interesting representation of the series, as others have suggested, may work out.
Keep an eye on the spot price of gold, the overall economy, and the gold content of the coin relative to the rarity of the coin's value.
Things fluctuate, prices could go way up but presuming the recession ends, logically the US dollar and other world currencies should go up in value… it follows suit that the price of gold would then start to fall.
When and if that happens, preset a price mark for you to sell your gold (so that later you can purchase more at a lower price).
For example, the economy starts getting better, gold starts a downward trend from $900 down a few weeks later to $800, then $750… you should set your sell mark, say at $800 an ounce.
Then, in theory, if the price evens out around $400 an ounce a year or so later, you could buy more gold at the $400 mark which you sold months earlier at $800.
Of course, you could sell your gold at $800 an ounce, then there’s an earth quake in China, Iran invades Israel, a meteor hits Saudi Arabia, whatever, gold could skyrocket to $1500 or more and you got stuck selling at $800… that is always a possibility.
<< <i>Oh, sorry, I don't collect that classics crap. >>
<< <i>One suggestion I would make is, especially with a volatile commodity such as gold, is to not get emotionally involve with the coins.
Keep an eye on the spot price of gold, the overall economy, and the gold content of the coin relative to the rarity of the coin's value.
Things fluctuate, prices could go way up but presuming the recession ends, logically the US dollar and other world currencies should go up in value… it follows suit that the price of gold would then start to fall.
When and if that happens, preset a price mark for you to sell your gold (so that later you can purchase more at a lower price).
For example, the economy starts getting better, gold starts a downward trend from $900 down a few weeks later to $800, then $750… you should set your sell mark, say at $800 an ounce.
Then, in theory, if the price evens out around $400 an ounce a year or so later, you could buy more gold at the $400 mark which you sold months earlier at $800.
Of course, you could sell your gold at $800 an ounce, then there’s an earth quake in China, Iran invades Israel, a meteor hits Saudi Arabia, whatever, gold could skyrocket to $1500 or more and you got stuck selling at $800… that is always a possibility. >>
I am one who believes gold is comming back down - and then it will go back up and then etc etc. I am considering selling some bullion i picked in 2002 to kick start the funds for this collection. I am hoping the coins hold value above and beyond the fluxuation in gold's spot. I want to convert the bullion value into part of a valuable collection I can enjoy more.
All a matter of if you want to collect coins, or you want to collect gold.
I think the collecting of gold dollars by date/mm is much more a pure coin collecting experience, and you would be best to leave the investment and value potential as secondary. This is a series to collect for fun until you get over the 33% complete mark...then your into it for money (and keeps).
<< <i>One suggestion I would make is, especially with a volatile commodity such as gold, is to not get emotionally involve with the coins.
Keep an eye on the spot price of gold, the overall economy, and the gold content of the coin relative to the rarity of the coin's value.
Things fluctuate, prices could go way up but presuming the recession ends, logically the US dollar and other world currencies should go up in value… it follows suit that the price of gold would then start to fall.
When and if that happens, preset a price mark for you to sell your gold (so that later you can purchase more at a lower price).
For example, the economy starts getting better, gold starts a downward trend from $900 down a few weeks later to $800, then $750… you should set your sell mark, say at $800 an ounce.
Then, in theory, if the price evens out around $400 an ounce a year or so later, you could buy more gold at the $400 mark which you sold months earlier at $800.
Of course, you could sell your gold at $800 an ounce, then there’s an earth quake in China, Iran invades Israel, a meteor hits Saudi Arabia, whatever, gold could skyrocket to $1500 or more and you got stuck selling at $800… that is always a possibility. >>
Considering how little gold there is in a gold dollar (~20 coins in an ounce) I wouldn't be too concerned with the price of gold. If you plan on buying many very common gold dollars it might be worth watching, but gold makes up only a percent or two of any tough date.
<< <i>With only 1.5 grams of gold per coin, I think the gold dollar is much more numismatically valued than bullion coin valued. By the same token, if gold doubles, I dont think the values on gold dollars will double, as the value on st. gaudens double eagles will.
All a matter of if you want to collect coins, or you want to collect gold.
I think the collecting of gold dollars by date/mm is much more a pure coin collecting experience, and you would be best to leave the investment and value potential as secondary. This is a series to collect for fun until you get over the 33% complete mark...then your into it for money (and keeps). >>
Right, I agree. I think my post was confusiing - by investment I mean in the coins value independant of its gold content. I do want, and hope, the collection to hold is value against inflation over time.
I have some bullion that I want to sell so I can use that $ to start to build an enjoyable collection.
who can tell the future after all.... I just want to collect an interesting series, Ill let the coin market take care of itself.