Collector vs. investor?
coinguy1
Posts: 13,484 ✭✭✭
I'd be interested in hearing from the non-dealers out there - do you consider yourself to be
1) a collector?
2) an investor?
3) a hybrid/combination of the two?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
1) a collector?
2) an investor?
3) a hybrid/combination of the two?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
0
Comments
selling coins by family after one's death makes coin collecting for the most part a lousy investment. If the family is naive or ignorant of the collections value, someone else will reap the profits. If the collector is astute, loves the hobby and sells his own coins before his death, then the collection becomes an investment.
Tyler
Cameron Kiefer
As for investing, do that with the stock market, real estate
or open up a business.
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For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.
-Laura Swenson
In memory of BL, SM, and KG. 16 and forever young, rest in peace.
BTW - Mark, when you get a minute, look at this thread and tell me what you think about the coin and grade. My thread.
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
- Charlie B -
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I purchase a few sets each year, I plan to collect a set and sell other sets to continue the hobby going. I have not sold too much with exception to the State Quarter First Day Coin Covers. That helped to purchase proof sets/silver proof sets and a gold eagle.
-David
The Best Investment Is A Nice Collection
I am a collector, but got pulled into the regrade game in 89-90 after some big, lucky hits upgrading morgan dollars. Made some good dough. But, like any good casino patron can tell you, what luck gives, luck also taketh away. After I bought my clothes back from the local coin dealer, I resolved not to play the game for money. And I have been a happy, humble collector since then.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
Camelot
For the Morgan collectors - The Morgan and Peace encyclopedia by Van Allen and Mallis
What would your slabbed coins be worth if the grading services went out of business? What would your coins be worth if the Internet was taken offline for good?
To everyone who has responded to my "Collector vs. investor?" question - I very much appreciate your responses.
I have my own two cents worth (or worthless) on the subject but want to give people plenty of time to respond before I comment.
Proud of America!
I Have NO PCGS Registry Sets!
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
karlgoetzmedals.com
1) Transaction costs are far too high. Look at Real Estate for example. Agents get 6% (in CA) to sell a house. Heritage gets 15% to sell a coin. And don't forget the grading fees.
2) Coins don't pay dividends they only have the "potential" to appreciate (capital appreciation). Sure, coins go up in value but most of the time that has to do with re-grading more than it does anything else.
Yep. Collector all the way. And damn proud of it!
jom
Although I want my collection to steadily grow in value over time, or at least hold its value. I don't want to buy a coin for $200 today and five years later find the same coin for $50. It may be tough to invest in coins and earn the 5-10% a year that one can find on other investments.
Proof Dime Registry Set
Coins have lots of investment benefits, even if they don't offer dividends as we think of them. For example, there's the privacy issue; you don't have that with real estate or stocks. And what about portability? How can you pick up your house and carry it across a border without anyone noticing? Or at all? Coins are also small, so they can be physically transported and hidden, and they can pack a huge amount of wealth in an extremely small package. Coins, too, are a way to preserve wealth over the long term. Are these not investment characteristics?
Happy collecting!
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
I laugh about the Krugeran my Dad bought for my Mom back in the early 80s.Its now worth $300 - $400
less than he paid for it back then.Also about that piece.My Mom,bless her heart,had it mounted in a necklace.
Last time I saw it it had lost a hellavalot of detail.It might grade a VG08 I,m thinking,Oh well...I didnt know back then to tell her not to have it mounted for jewelry.
indicative of future results, and coins are not the best investment vehicle.
That does not mean that I don't shop price. I shop price to get good value for my money not because of some future hope of making money.
If I upgrade certain coins, I sell off my duplicates and I am not that concerned if I turn a profit . I buy well enough to usually get about what I paid for most of my duplicates.
By the way, it is hard for me to get really hurt because I only purchase circulated coins. I am confident in my ability to accurately grade circulated coins.
I cannot always tell the difference between MS62,63,64,65,66 so I don't bother with them.
The way I collect is very enjoyable to me. I don't worry about getting "taken" because I don't get involved where I don't feel qualified.
Joe.
But I consider it an investment that I hope my children will appreciate. Not the value of my collection, the memories it may bring to them about me and my love of collecting.
I know that is a selfish attitude, but it is true of my feelings.
1-Dammit Boy Oct 14,2003
International Coins
"A work in progress"
Wayne
eBay registered name:
Hard_ Search (buyer/bidder, a small time seller)
e-mail: wayne.whatley@gmail.com
All the while that I thought I had spotted a group that was undervalued and HAD to rise, what was really happening was that the activities of a couple of large promoters was driving the prices up. I only learned of this when I decided to liquidate. What an ego deflation that was! I still think that my coins would have risen due to market factors. But, not nearly as high nor as fast.
So, I'm considering my remaining holdings and future purchases as a "collection." Its a good thing that not only was I buying coins that I felt had appreciation potential, but coins that I liked as well.
Veep
my hotels
I believe that virtually everyone falls into the hybrid/combination category, though in varying degrees.
Many years ago, someone much smarter than me explained it to me (mostly) as follows:
Some buyers start out as investors and some start out as collectors. Over time, most of those investors begin to form some appreciation for the widgets they have been buying, for a number of reasons. Perhaps childhood memories are rekindled; maybe some of those (hopefully) round things look pretty or lead to or awaken an appreciation of history or art; maybe those investors come into contact with other investors or collectors and form friendships; maybe they start reading about what they have been buying and start forming preferences about what they spend their funds on, etc. At some point, I would bet most (though certainly not all) of these investors inevitably form some attachment to and appreciation for coins and, if they aren't careful, turn into collectors.
On the other hand, for those who start out as collectors - Once someone is spending a certain amount of money or a certain percentage of their (hopefully) discretionary income on coins, they must consider the financial consequences, whether they choose to label themeselves investors(hybrid or otherwise) or not. The vast majority of coin buyers are not in a position where they can buy without limits - at some point it might come down to a choice between a coin or a vacation or a coin or something nice for the wife (or husband, for all of you female coin collectors out there!). Many "collectors" do need to consider the tax and eventual estate consequences of their rare coin holdings, as well. And, lets' face it, most collectors want to know what their coins are worth and how they have performed, price-wise, even if that is not THE most important consideration in their collecting.
That said, I still believe all of you who label yourselves collectors - I am a collector myself, so I have a pretty good idea as to how you feel. But, I think almost all of us are at least a little bit collector and a little bit investor, some of us 90%/10% and others 10%/90% (with the vast majority of us falling somewhere in between).
Thanks again for all of your rsponses.
Like all items of value, one must usually hold coins thru several cycles to maximize gain. The really big money has always been made on quality coins held for the long haul. A good test of value is to always sell a few items every year. This helps you to gauge the market, test your eye for selecting quality coins, and generally test the integrety of the person or persons you buy your coins from.
I did not start collecting to make money, but after 20 years, I sure expect to make some money in my old age on my old coins. Bear
Camelot
Proof Dime Registry Set