A.C. Dwyer's Coin Stories

What you need to know before investing in rare coins via auctions

As I write this (Aug 25, 2008), the Dow is down close to another 250 points on Monday and is officially in a bear market. Oil and gold are both down 20% and natural gas is down over 40% from recent highs. Low interest rates on CDs don't even match inflation. Heck, if you had listened to the financial experts exactly eight years ago today and put all your money into a S&P500 index fund, you would actually be down 16% over that time. That's right - negative 16% over the past 8 years. That's one heckuva bear market! (It got much, much worse after writing this!)

So people have asked me, "Should I be investing in rare coins?" And they are looking at auctions to do it. Read more . . .

How do you calculate the content and value of gold or silver in a coin? 

One of the most common questions I'm asked is how you can determine the gold or silver value in a coin. A few years ago I tackled this question when I wrote the following article. Originally posted in September 2006, here it is again.

Read more . . . 

Mislabeled Certified Coins Could Cost You Thousands of Dollars

When the coins for the S.S. Republic came on the market, I acquired an 1854 $20 double eagle that was designated as a Large Date Doubled Date on the holder and cost a significant premium over a similar Small Date Doubled Date variety. I was excited because neither Walter Breen's Encyclopedia or the Red Book Guide mentioned this variety. But the old adage "buyer beware" was certainly true as the coin turned out not to be as advertised. A mistake by NGC and then overlooked by a well known and respected dealer almost cost me big.

Rare coins versus bullion coins

I want to define what I mean by rare coins. These would be coins whose price is determined by “numismatic value” rather than the price of their precious metal content. Bullion coins are those whose value is determined by their precious metal content, usually platinum, gold, or silver. Many countries, including the United States, sell bullion coins. These include the Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand, and U.S. American Eagle.

When I talk about rare coins, I am referring to coins with a large numismatic value. Many pre-1933 gold coins are so abundant they have very little numismatic value and are just another way to invest in gold bullion, but many others have large numismatic values that run into the thousands - even millions - of dollars above the value of their gold content. For example, a recent 1856-O $20 gold double eagle, with a little less than 1 ounce of gold content, was sold to a collector for $542,000. That is more than $541,000 above the current price of the gold content of that coin. Now that is a rare gold coin with a large numismatic value!

Other Articles of Interest

Presidential Dollar Rolls: Collection or Investment?

 Spot Price of Gold

Spot Price of Silver

Spot Price of Platinum