COINS As an INVESTMENT

A Complete Guide to Coins to Collect That Should Endure

- SCOTT A. TRAVERS

Rare coins as an investment have not been so widely pursued until recently. Unlike other collectibles, which have seen price bubbles enlarge and burst, coins have endured for generations because of their precious metal content. The likelihood of the value of a gold or silver coin going down in value to zero is, quite frankly, zero. That’s because gold and silver as precious metals will always be worth something. In fact, gold is a universal currency with more respect than any cryptocurrency by hordes of smart investors.

BITCOIN, STAMPS, SPORTS CARDS OR GOLD COINS?

Bought some Bitcoin at $68,789.63 per coin in November 2021? When Bitcoin was at its high, gold was $1,808.96 per ounce. Bitcoin is down 60%, but gold held its own and is now hovering around $2,000 per ounce.

The likelihood at some time in the future of a collectible stamp or a collectible doll or a collectible antique table or any of the other non-precious-metal-containing collectibles offered by the millions on eBay going to zero or near zero is a real possibility. If the collectors for those collectibles disappear, the items have no intrinsic value and could become unsaleable.

Modern sports cards, as popular as they are now, could easily see a major downward price correction. They’re not made of gold; they’re made from cardboard, and their high values seem like a product of hot air.

Over the last 20 years, the collectible postage stamp market has virtually evaporated. That’s because stamps are made from paper, and collectors’ interest in stamps is waning. Only in the last few years during the pandemic has stamp collecting seen some signs of life.