Hello all, anyone have knowledge of investment grade coins?
It goes beyond my expertise and I don’t know where to begin.
I’d like to own a few ancient gold coins for the sheer awe of owning a piece of history, and for longterm investment potential.
If anyone could point me to the right place where I can educate myself and become familiar with values/historical significance/scarcity, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks Al
Hey @algo ,
My original collecting nature developed early in life collecting coins with my dad. I’ve made the transition to focus more on pokemon collecting recently but coins still hold a special place to me. It is fascinating to own history and coins 100+ years old and just reflect on what was going on in the world at the time.
I don’t know much about ancient gold coins but I can maybe help a little. Coin grading is massive and it is well known that PCGS and NGC are the top two names in the business. (Actually I think PCGS and PSA are owned by the same company). I would recommend starting off learning a bit about the coin grading scale and the different pieces in your target goals.
Coins are a massive world, much bigger than Pokemon, with infinite amount of knowledge to acquire. Gold is always a strong investment coin to go for as it will always hold value due to the price of gold. Then comes premium on rarities and grades. Again, I’d recommend purchasing something graded first as they are professionals and basically ensures no counterfeits.
First place to go would be here, Coin Talk Forum, very similar to this forum full of wonderful helpful people to help get you started with advice and books and a nice direction. Everyone there is very nice and I’ve always enjoyed some my interactions.
Then I’d check out PCGS and NGC websites as well as look on amazon for the best rated book on ancient coins. Tons and tons of coin books exist from experts so the knowledge to consume seems limitless.
Hope this helps get you started and best of luck on your adventure. Would love to see any purchases when you do make them!
Awesome thanks man, I don’t plan to immerse myself too much into the coin hobby as it will be far too time consuming and i’ll be way out of my depth in a market I don’t know about.
Saying that, I might pick up a few graded pieces in future.
Thanks for all the info, I will look into it for sure!
I dont collect coins myself or know anything about them, but just wanted to give a shoutout to @firebirder31 for all that information and a great little helpful jump start for all interested. Might dive into it a little myself, but thank you greatly for that input.
No problem you two. Coins can be a fun collectible but like with all collectibles, it does require a certain level of time and knowledge to find the correct deals. Tough to have that time for multiple hobbies and a job, family, etc.
I just want to make sure anyone thinking about coins (especially gold which can get pricey) is armed with some proper knowledge ahead of time before diving in and potentially getting burned. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth and happens across all collectible hobbies. Knowledge is key.
I will say, I focus on US stuff when I collect and it has been fascinating just reading about different coins, their history, why certain coins and years have fewer minted, problems with grading, etc. Boring to most but can be neat to those who like a little history.
@firebirder31 , Thanks for the info! What US coins/sets are you focused on by the way?
I would agree finding the right price on gold coins can be tough, I recently got a 09’s gold high relief of the 20 dollar double eagle and NCG values my coin at 3500 but the market had the coin selling for around 2500 maybe less depending on grade. I really like all the pre-33 gold for the history and aesthetics. My favorite designs are 10 dollar indian head and the 20 dollar st gaudens.
Would like to get some Civil War era stuff next. Do you also buy regular bullion or strictly numimastic?
Mercury Dimes are probably my favorite set but like with Pokemon, I have trouble staying focused on just one thing cause so many sets and types are cool and attractive to me.
I don’t really do a lot of collecting these as I’ve switched my main focus to pokemon collecting but I would like to go back and complete my Mercury Dime collection someday and maybe some others.
I think using the NGC and PCGS “price guides” is not very advisable haha. It is similar to using the values PSA lists for pokemon cards. They tend to not be very accurate either in one direction or another. Using a price guide that dealers call the “grey sheet” can help combined with magazines and eBay sold listings is probably the way to go for accurate pricing.
I do buy bullion occasionally. I think silver and gold are pretty smart buys, especially silver, so I like to have some of that stocked up. It is kind of boring just buying silver for the metal value though, similar to buying stocks. There are collectible silver and gold coins though but of course these come with a collectible premium so they often extend beyond the value of an ounce of silver or gold.
St. Gaudens are absolute stellar pieces though. Very nice taste my friend.