[OESY]

SEEKING COINS

Below are key resources, including two well-regarded coin graders, to help investors interested in rare coins .

Web Sites What They Offer

www.pcgs.com Home of the CU3000 coin index. Provides an online price guide and an overview of each coin series. Also has a coin look-up service.

www.ngccoin.com A population report for coins graded by NGC, which gives a sense of how rare a particular coin is in its mint state.

www.money.org Web site for the American Numismatic Association. Provides educational materials and classes on grading coins and counterfeit detection.

www.coinmag.com Offers a beginner's guide to collecting, along with a 12-point checklist for rare-coin bidding on eBay.

[Jaysun]

A $400,000 Penny

That's absurd.

[NautiNurse]

Been dabbling in coin collecting for several years. Checked the selling prices for some of the coins last week--WOWSER!

[dennisw]

bttttttttt

[NonValueAdded]

So tell us about the penny ... no fair putting that in the title and then failing to excerpt the corresponding paragraph from a pay-for-view article! I want my penny back.

[DoctorMichael]

I don't know if this is fad or 'bubble', but...............

I had a paper-route as a kid (1960's) and had quite a collection at one time. I've still got my Morgan Silver Dollar collection (MS-63 or above, only) that I continued to collect into my 30's. I had thoughts at one time of trying to get a complete set of all of these (*LOL*). I bought a few MS-63 Gold Double Eagles from the early 1900's 5 years back for ~$450-500 when gold was $275/ounce from some of the on-line auctions. They've appreciated nicely.

You can still get a nice common-date MS-63 Morgan dollar at gun shows for $30-35.

[meyer]

Add www.tulving.com to the list.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Thanks for the links. Have some silver halves (good ones) I was thinking about moving. Problem is, if you want to buy, the price is high. If you want to sell, the price is low. Not worth the hassle.

[martin_fierro]

[XRdsRev]

I have invested in early American bottles and pre 1872 American militaria for years. I also have investments in the stock market.

While I don't have millions of dollars stashed away in any of them, it is an amount that is significant to me and my lifestyle.

Given the choice now, I put my investment money into glass, militaria and decent antiques. The return on my $$$ in those fields have far surpassed than my returns from the stock market. The key is to learn your field, shop around, buy smart, purchase the best quality you can and stick with moderately priced items for investment (they draw a greater pool of potential buyers and are much easier to liquidate quickly).

One personal benefit of investing in these tangible items is that I actually have something to look at and enjoy. Of course there are drawbacks to owning them but every investment has pros and cons.

[snowman1]

A great place to look is teletrade.com which is an online auction house that deals in some very good coins from individuals.

[BigDaddyTX]

Ping for later

[Fatalis]

I wonder how much an aluminum penny would fetch?

Coin Questions and Answers
Ed Reiter - January 5, 2000

In 1973, the price of copper rose to the point where the cost of producing Lincoln cents, then composed of brass, came dangerously close to one cent apiece. Faced with the prospect of losing money on the coin, plus increased demand for cents and an attendant cent shortage, the U.S. Mint sought authorization from Congress to change the composition of the coin. A resolution was introduced on Dec. 7, 1973, giving the Secretary of the Treasury power to change the alloy, and the Mint took immediate steps to switch from brass to aluminum starting with the cents of 1974.

In fact, it went so far as to actually produce more than 1.5 million aluminum cents during the closing weeks of 1973. These were dated 1974 and apparently were intended for issuance after the start of the new year. But strenuous opposition arose from the vending-machine industry, which claimed the lighter-weight coins would jam its equipment, and also from the medical profession, which said they would pose a health threat if swallowed. In the midst of all this controversy, the price of copper receded -- so the Mint threw in the towel and continued making cents from brass until 1982, when it changed their composition to the present content, which is predominantly zinc with a copper barrel plating. All but a handful of those 1.5 million aluminum cents were melted. At least a few are known to be in private hands, however, since very small numbers were loaned to members of Congress and their staffs during legislative discussions on the proposed change and some -- perhaps a dozen or so -- never were returned, despite the Mint's vigorous efforts to recover them. Columnist Jack Anderson brought this to light in a memorable article in which he castigated the culprits as having "sticky fingers."

One Congressional staffer returned an aluminum cent not to the Mint but to the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains as part of the National Numismatic Collection. I can vouch for the existence of at least one other specimen a few years after the episode, for a Mint official pulled it out of his drawer in the middle of an interview and let me hold and examine it. As you might expect, it was much more sharply struck than other Lincoln cents because aluminum is so malleable. Hobby periodicals covered the story extensively in 1973 and 1974, and you can get more extensive details by seeking back issues of those, or copies of the articles, from the publishers or perhaps from the American Numismatic Association library if you are an ANA member.

Here's a replica:

[Jim Noble]

I have collected for years.

Coins are a terrible investment, for several reasons.

The most important is that selling prices vary widely over a minute range of conditions which cannot be verified either by the buyer or by an independent appraiser.

People who buy high-condition (MS 62+) coins are not buying rarity, they are buying an appraiser's certificate, which often does not hold up when they try to sell.

Real rarities, like colonial or pre-1800 coins are what they are.

A chain cent will always have value.

But a "rare" coin which is rare only because of an appraiser's opinion of its condition may very well be a pig in a poke.

Caveat emptor.

[staytrue]

Novice collectors often get burned

True of almost any investment class, stocks, real estate, commodities, paintings, etc.

[BIGLOOK]

$400,000 for a penny. After the tax bite ??????

I wonder if the mint operators are finagling double stamps or two faced coins (a few) for future revenue gains.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Any hope for my stamp collection?