In today’s shaky economy we can no longer depend on the government or our place of employment to take care of us when we retire. Many folks, who had invested in the stock market, found the 2008 recession had eaten away their investments. Pension plans are thing of the past, and nobody really knows whether [...]
According to a recent report by Bloomberg News, the recent gold and silver rally is expected to continue for quite some time and portfolio manager John Stephenson says now is the time to purchase silver and gold coins. If you are someone that studies numismatics, then you know just how right Stephenson truly is. The [...]
People collect many things; stamps, postcards, butterflies, and the list goes on. Often, one of the things that many kids begin collecting, only to abandon with the onset of adolescence, are coins. As children, of course, coin collecting is a simple affair governed more by pure aesthetics, rather than practical concerns about value and rarity. Only when people return to coin collecting as adults do they see it as a thing to study, and to know intimately. The serious, dedicated study of coins and currency is called numismatics, and it has a large, growing community of practitioners.
There are many different types of rare silver coins from which to choose when you are starting a silver coin collection. One of the most popular options is the 1895 Morgan dollar. This coin is frequently referred to as the King of the Morgan dollars due to the fact that it is the most valuable and the rarest of all of the Morgan dollar silver coin series. These coins are so valuable and rare that some specimens have sold at auction for some $120,000.
What makes a collection of rare coins valuable? The first and foremost quality is marketability. We say this is the most important quality for a very simple reason: if nobody knows what the coin is, nobody cares, and nobody pays for it. So while you could theoretically find an ancient coin from the B.C. era, if it has no precedent, or no expert can verify its history, it’s fairly useless.
When choosing a coin dealer to help you build a profitable collection, take into account his/her knowledge and experience in the numismatics industry. A dealer should have a thorough understanding of principles that dictate bullion and collectable price (namely purity and physical condition for bullion, rarity and popularity for coinage) as well as an understanding of the current market. The dealer is usually the first person to advise you of a new promising coin, warn you of a coin that’s sure to sink in value, and help get you started on building the collection you long for.
What do you see in a coin collection? A coin collection is a collection of coins (usually made of precious metal bullion) that are organized by theme. For example, a collector may assemble a collection of coins by subject (eagles, Indians) or periods (such as the 1800s or 1900s). Others may keep a collection of printed value coins (hundreds of variations on the “dollar coin” or may simply keep a collection of silver coins from a variety of countries. Why, some collectors even collect counterfeit coins!
Global concerns about the future of the stock market have investors looking for new ways to round out their portfolio. The old method – investing in mostly stocks and a few bonds – has proven to be downright frightening. It used to be that investments in commodities and hard assets were boring, but they added stability, so investors would devote just a small fraction of their wealth to them. However, if you were one of the few who were well diversified in precious metals and hard assets like certified coins in the first decade of the new millenium, you were one of the few to not come out hurting.