Coin Collecting as an Investment

Coin collecting is a $10 Billion dollar a year industry in the United States alone, and the world wide figure is somewhere around $100 Billion dollars a year. It is one of those hobbies that does not immediately pay dividends, but whose value is paid out fully in decades to come. It's a way to store wealth, it's patriotic, it's a way for a 70 year old grandparent and a 7 year kid to relate. You see coins transcend decades, centuries, and of course generations. Sets can become family heirlooms, a roll of coins or proof set today may help pay for a family members college 100 years from now. Why leave your family "cash" that can easily be blown on a whim, when you could leave a collection you have built piece by piece. Something your family can cherish for generations, and if hard times come like they do so often the collection will provide a bit of security.

We wanted to look at Coin Collecting as an Investment. Investing time and money into a coin collection is not a short term way to "flip" some money. It's a long term thing. Old rare coins always bring many times there face value. Many financial advisors are suggesting that you store between 5-10% of your investments in rare coins and precious metals. Doing so will help give you and your family a bit more security, and a great foundation for wealth building. Even when the stock market tanks, your coins will hold there value and in many instances increase in value as investors rush towards commodities. It's a great hobby that pays dividends.

Where to Start?

If you are interested in coin collecting where do you start? We suggest you start by searching through your current coin stash. Check your piggy bank, the ash tray in your car, the cracks of the couch, the change that you receive while checking out at a store. This is passive, cost $0.00, and is a great way to test the water. You might find out you loathe looking over coins, but most likely you'll get excited about collecting. That's what you really need if you are looking at coin collecting as an investment, you need genuine interest.

Assuming you've looked through the free money laying around your general vicinity and you are still interested the next step may be to grab some coin rolls from your bank or a local store. We personally like penny rolls. For $25 you can get a box of pennies from your bank and you'll most likely find between 15-40 wheat pennies. Wheat pennies were minted between 1909–1958 and while they aren't worth much they are a great place to start if you are on a budget. It's such a rush finding a coin that is over 100 years old. In addition the copper value of a box of $25 dollar pennies is usually around $35-$40 as pennies older than 1983 are mostly copper. So they are worth around .03 in copper alone.

If you have a bit more money you may want to get rolls of quarters, dimes, nickels, and half dollars. You can check the Silver Content of US Coins by using the link just listed. The presence of silver in a coin raises the value immensely.

Those with Deep Pockets

If you are not limited by a budget or are just ready to dive right in you may want to sign up at the US Mint, and order a few proof sets. We suggest the silver proof sets for good reason, it opens up the coin to 2 markets. Precious metals and numismatics. The threat of inflation, rising metal prices, and such has brought many people into the coin collecting community.

Silver Spot Price Chart

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Buying Rare Coins and Sets

If you are interested in some real investing you may want to look into getting a few rare coins or sets of old us coins from a local coin shop, online shop, or coin show. Before you do however you need to inform yourself, if you don't your likely to pay way to much and then get frustrated and quit collecting altogether. Remember knowledge is power. We could suggest a few books but the one that stands out is A Guidebook of United States Coins 2024 That link goes to amazon and we don't get a kickback, it's just the book of choice. We'll update that link as the years go on so it shows the current year.

Sometimes you can get a good deal on ebay as well. It's worth having a look around, and seeing what you can find. The most important thing is to as we said before "be informed" and of course keep at it. Coin collecting can be a lifelong love that you can share with your friends and family, and also has the benefit of being worth "money". (they are coins after all)

Tools to Use

Use these tools on your mobile phone or wireless device to get current melt prices and check silver content of coins while you are out and about. Why carry a 3 pound book when you can just use your phone.

Silver Content US Coins-Get the silver value of most US coins
Silver Spot Price-Get the current silver spot price updated every 15 minutes.
Is my coin Silver?-Use our online handy dandy silver coin detector to see if the coin you are viewing contains silver or not.

*We are not financial advisors, please check with your personal advisor before re-allocating your current invetments and/or changing your future investment strategy. All invetments have some risk attached.