No, Numismatics is NOT the Worst Investment You Can Make There has been some harsh press lately on numismatics. Some of the stuff being said makes sense, but there are things that are flat out wrong due to a stereotype or because someone had a bad experience and thinks that is reality. When I first rode a motorcycle in Thailand, I had a bad experience by falling off my ass and getting a nice bloody experience, but I got back on that bike and had an unforgetabble blast. Welcome to the world of numismatics, because many of us fell off from our bike or bicycle when we first rode it but we learned and got better from the better experience. Before I go on, I dont want to make this article sound like I am pro-numismatics all the way. Im just not anti-numismatics as I think investing in this sub-category can have its place in the silver world. Like most things in general, I usually tend to fit in the middle. Same with silver. Before getting into numismatics, Im sure you probably know the basic drill. Get your foundation set up by having a certain amount of ounces (which Ill write about in another article) and then you can have some fun with numismatics. For some that may be getting around 500 oz of 1 oz government minted back coins closest to spot like Eagles, Maples, Phillies or even the newest Kooks if you took time to reasearch it. For others maybe starting with 1000 ozs of a mix of .999 generic coins mixed with eagles and some 'junk silver'. If you are young college student eating peanut butter sandwhices, perhaps getting a roll of silver eagles with some junk silver coins is your foundation. Everyone is different with different goals. I prefer a blend as my foundation. Some eagles, some maples, and some healthy sexy kooks. Yes I did say 'sexy'. Just imagine a pyramid, like the kind you see for food requirements. On the bottom you have your carbs, followed by proteins and fats towards the top. The same should be with silver. Foundation at the bottom and towards the top can be your numismatics. Personally on the top of my silver pyramid I have some junior mining stocks with some numismatics. ((( What the Hardcore Investors Dont Know About The Mindset of Numismatic Types )) I know Im going to get criticized for this but not all of us are constantly on our calculators counting are gains or losses with several mint sealed boxes of eagles stored in an overseas vault. Some of us actually like to take out the silver, fondle it, spin it, and whatever else you can think of. We also like to appreciate a really nice design, artwork or craftmanship on a silver coin. Some of us, and yes, no joke...we even begin to fall in love with our coins (now I know why our girlfriends or wives hate us silver types). From there spawns a hobby and not just any ordinary hobby, but a hobby where we might even have a chance to make a profit or two. This is numismatics. One of my mining stocks moved up a penny and I made $500. My gilded 2008 Kookaburra moved up a mere $20 and yet I get 10 x more excited for the silver kookaburra than I did my junior mining stock. Its almost as if our kid was it in the field and he just scored a goal on the field, or hitting the game winning 3 point shot on the court. Now I got that out of the way, lets get more about the investment part of numismatics. Please realize that for many that get into numismatics, its not purely for investment like many think. Many times its a mixture of a hobby with our investment put together. I dont know too many exciting hobbies derived from investment banks but Im guessing they are out there. And yes, money can be made in this sub sector part of silver. Stay Tuned for Part 2 in the Next Few Days. Ill get more into the nitty gritty of this mainly on how one can profit. How numismatic coins can be sleeper for several years and one day go for 5 to 10 times the spot price overnight. ANd yes, I too bought that $200 coin that didnt increase much in value when I coulda bought 10 silver eagles for $20 a peice. But guess what, I dont regret it one bit it and was a great learning experience. Stay tuned... By the way, Im not an expert on this.Far from it. Just a bit of experience and learning at a fast pace.
Hope you enjoyed it as Im a crappy writer with grammar that would make an English teacher send me to the firing squad on instant. Did this on the fly last night on notepad. Just some general stuff but will get to the meat in next article. Just tired of all the crap against people like us who spend a few bucks more on lunars, kooks, and pandas.
Thanks for the post. I look forward to what you look for in numi coins etc and whether you invest in it for appreciation in value or for just its look etc. anyway.. waiting for the next installment. ppss
I'm drawn toward numismatics and have indulged a tiny bit but I have enough obsessions I think without starting another one.
I am also drawn into numismatics - but a lot more into old circulated coinage and not as much into limited sets current issues by Perth Mint or some other mint. I am into the old stuff - with a story behind the coin, ruler, empire, age, or anything.
I was involved in numismatics for three years before I bought my first numismatic investment. In that time, I joined a club, talked with all the members, read all the books I could get, went along to another couple of clubs, researched and wrote articles for the newsletter. The coins I was interested in at the time had a great story behind them but were poor as investments, the ones that were making all the money I was completely disinterested in. It is only by immersing yourself in the field that you can call yourself a numismatist, everyone else is a coin collector. Once you know everything, then you can start using the knowledge to make a few investment purchases, I actually spend less on numismatic coins than I do on silver, the silver buys are more obvious than the numismatic ones. I have pretty much specialised in hyperinflation banknotes and community currencies, I think everyone starts out trying to get every coin ever made, and then a slightly less unrealistic goal of one from each country (I know people who have mint sets from each country that has ever produced them). After that you tend to find the area you are really interested in and then dump your world coin collection, which is probably only worth scrap anyway! The newer coins from the mints are branded as numismatics but are really nothing more than expensive tokens for collectors, little study is required and there is little to be learned from them, that's not to say that they are worthless though. As THUCYDIDES79 says, the old stuff is the most interesting, somethng that has actually been used as money or something that has an interesting story behnd it. I have two numismatic collections, the stuff I am interested in, and the stuff that will make me some money when I sell it on. The biggest drawback to numismatics is the cost of storage. Say you buy a decent coin for $20, you are not just ging to throw it in a draw, first you have to protect it, a capsule for $1 or a cardboard and mylar holder, 30 cents. Then you have to put the cardboard holder in a plastc page that is acid free with no PVC and archival, $1.50. This then has to be put in an album, anywhere from $5 to $50. Then you have to have some shelving (reinforced) to hold the album. And goves to hold it so in the process it doesn't get damaged. I have around 20 albums and 40 to 50 tupperware boxes filled with coins that I will one day get around to sorting out, they are not even good coins, just an accumulation that I am no longer specifically interested in. Great hobby though
wow 20 albums - i dont even have that many for photos * it would be 'foolish' to have a stack that is more than 30% in value in the form of numismatics ( lets just define that as PREMIUM TO SPOT of 40% and more ) in my opinion. and if someone does have, id suggest selling part and converting for silver or gold ( bullion price ) dyod
Cheap albums can't take many coins because of the weight and have to be stacked laying down anyway. I think that numismatics and stacking should be considered as two different entities that occassionally overlap. None of my numismatic investments have any intrinsic value, they aren't even silver, cupronickel or aluminium brass in the most part. It is counterintuitive to think that a coin with no precious metal could be worth more than a solid silver coin but that is the hurdle you have to get over in order to make numismatic investments. I won't know if I made the right decision until it comes time to sell of course but as far as the catalogue values go, I am winning. And the catalogues don't update constantly, it could be a year before I find out that I have lost 10% of my investment, it only takes minutes with silver!
During one of my earlier Numi forays I purchased 5kg of mixed World coins. I guess they came from bank sorting or something. Anyway when I sifted through them I was pleasantly surprised. For my original $50 investment I got around $200 in mixed silver coins without looking to hard. Then I found about $20 worth of dimes, around $30 of Commonweath dec. & loads of other older coins including Aust pennies, Kiwi Pennies etc etc. I'd recommend this style of collecting for any newbie. Heaps of fun if your supplier is genuine and hasn't already taken the cream out of it.
During the Football world cup i bought on eBay.com.au a collection of world coins about 22 coins from memory for around $70 and subsequently i sold them off for around $200 on eBay ( there were around 5 silver coins ) and all had the football theme on the coins.
hey guys thx for the replies. i dabble on old numis stuff as well but focus is on newer stuff. will come out with second article soon
