What to invest? Investing in silver coins and numismatics

Wondering what to invest in? Many people who have savings want to put them in a safe and profitable place. The best known ways to invest are to buy real estate, shares, bonds or popular bullion (gold and silver). An alternative to these choices is to invest in numismatics. What does it mean? You will find out everything from the following article. We invite you to read it!

Buying coins and investing?

How can buying coins be profitable? Everything depends on our knowledge of numismatics and trends in the collector market. Why do some coins gain in value after a few years and others do not? There are many factors. First of all, we should mention here the type of coin. The bullion from which the coins were struck, the mintage (volume of issued coins). The state of preservation and the degree of rarity.

Where to buy coins to make shopping safe?

As we mentioned before, when investing in coins, we have to choose the right place to make a safe and secure transaction. In Poland you can find hundreds of smaller and bigger numismatic shops scattered all over the country. Thanks to the Internet, it is possible to browse their offers in one place.

Types of coins

As we have already mentioned, the type of coins purchased has a major impact on the success of the numismatic investment. The basic division is:

circulation coins – there are relatively many of them. Issued as a means of payment, in the past they minted from gold and silver. The most common coins can be bought for a penny, but numismatic price records are available for this type of coins.

The most expensive coin in the world is the one-dollar American coin from 1794. It sold for over 10 million dollars at auction in 2013. Circulation coins are also the most interesting way to invest. Because with the purchase of more coins, we learn about their history and the history of the country and the mint in which the disc was struck.

commemorative coins – are minted in order to commemorate a specific event, an important historical figure, building or place. They are easily recognizable, have a face value, which is usually equal to its real value (that is why they are in circulation).

collector coins – their definition is very similar to commemorative coins. The biggest difference is the fact that the denomination of a given collector coin is only symbolic. The actual value of collector coins is usually much higher.

Bullion coins – issued for investment purposes. Those minted from precious metals (mainly gold and silver) and their value determined almost exclusively on the basis of the content of a given metal. There are exceptions, however, to the effect that some vintages are more valuable than others (e.g. due to their rarity). Their circulation is practically unlimited and depends on demand. The most popular bouillon coins are: Krugerrands from South Africa, Maple leaves from Canada or Vienna Philharmonic from Austria.

Conservation status and return on investment

The state of preservation of the coins is also an important factor influencing the profitability of the purchase. The degree of preservation of coins is seven – the best preserved coins are those in the mint condition (I). They have practically no damage and look as if they were never in circulation. They do not show any scratches, upholstery, etc. Of course, if you are looking for old coins, you will almost certainly not find them in the mint condition. Specialists emphasize that it is not worth buying coins in a worse condition than III (unless we are dealing with a very rare coin).

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(Featured Image By Dmitry Demidko via Unsplash)

First published in zielonanews, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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