What should I buy?

[apush]

I am a newby and just received my first metal detector for Christmas. Been out short periods cause its so darn cold in Texas (well for Texans anyway).

Starting to save my clad and my goal is to save my clad until next Christmas. If I do indeed accumulate, say $200 or more in clad, I would like to purchase some coins to begin a novice collection. Course I would love to have small gold coins, but, my intuition says it can't be done because of the gold prices. Any suggestions on what my first purchase or goals should be? I would like something I can pass down to my grandkids. I am humble and can start at the low end

apush

 

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[dunc]

go to a coin shop and just get a feel for what you like. Buffalo nickels are fairly cheap and are probably my favorite coin outside of Morgans. Silver dollars are definitely the best coins to have imo.

 

[Diver_Down]

I would focus on completing a set of Peace dollars. You get the big silver with a limited date run so it is attainable. Also, the latter years in the series were minted in low numbers. A lot of attention is given to Morgan dollars, and consequently, Peace dollars enjoy a bit of anonymity keeping their prices low. You will get more bang for your buck while accumulating a nice pile of silver with a beautiful design.

 

[mark v]

If you can wait until you can save a little more money but something desirable like a 1977, 1908s, or a 1909s Indian Head penny or a 1932 high grade Washington quarters, a D or S. Gold is always nice...any gold. Buy something that will always be in demand.
The general opinion is to but the best coin that you can.
Let us know what you decide to get.

 

[fistfulladirt]

I like the Barber silvers....but that 1977 indian cent has to be worth a small fortune!

ffd

 

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

Try Coin Roll Hunting, you can get oldies for face value if you are lucky. Check the Coin Roll Hunting section here on T-Net.

 

[dfx willy]

what are you guys talking about? not 1977 its 1877 willy

 

[twinsrule]

Try Coin Roll Hunting, you can get oldies for face value if you are lucky. Check the Coin Roll Hunting section here on T-Net.

Yes, coin roll hunting is very fun. Also, wheat pennies don't have a great profit, but they are really fun for a beginning coin collector! They're my favorite coin ever!

 

[waseeker]

If you can wait and save up the money once you decide on a series to collect then buy the key and semi key dates first. They aren't making any more and they continue to increase in value at a much higher rate that the common dates of any particular series. Examples would include 1909 S VDB Lincoln Cent; 1877 Indian Head Cent; 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter; 1856 Flying Eagle Cent; 1901 S Barber Quarter. When buying these types of coins only buy from reputable dealers and only by coins that have been slabbed and certified genuine by one of the big 3 grading firms.

 

[twinsrule]

waseeker, how much pennies do you go through in a year? Those are some pretty impressive totals!!!

 

[waseeker]

waseeker, how much pennies do you go through in a year? Those are some pretty impressive totals!!!

For 2009 I searched some 2.68 million cents and 1,010,000 dimes.

2010 is off to a good start. In the first week I got a bag of dimes with 189 Silver dimes. This week I got some cent bags that look like there will be about 1,500 wheats.

 

[Iron Patch]

Have you considered foreign? You can buy a load of semi old interesting coins for $200.

When I was about 11 I was visiting my aunt who had a boyfriend in the military. He had collected various coins for many years and from all over the world. He spread them out on the kitchen table and there was hundreds and hundreds, and it was the coolest thing I ever seen, all this different type of money. Seeing my interest my father put together a large group for me (which I stlll have) and that is a good part of the reason I use a detector today. The other variable came when I seen a friend's father digging coins in the park.

$200 goes way too quick for nice American coins, and a little handful low grade US common stuff I think would be pretty boring to a kid. Anyway, that's how I see it being someone that was there once. My detecting finds is now my passion but my old foreign coins are very cool and I'd never sell them.

 

[mts]

My neighbor brought down an old box of coins that his 90 year old grandmother had been collecting over the years. Typical stuff: IH, wheats, memorials, kennedy halves, rosies, buffalos, liberty nickels, and mercs. All heavily circulated and not really worth much at all. But the kids and I had a blast looking through them. She had also bought quite a few foreign coins and tokens over the years and those were even more fun.

So much fun that the kids are hooked. Adding it up it's easy to see that I could go buy a few circulated common date coins of each type for around $30. The idea would be to get a representative sampling of different coins from the past so that the kids could really get a feel for what our coins used to be like. They literally had no idea that coins used to look different from what they look today.

My point is that sometimes it's better to have a wide variety of so-so coins than to have just a few higher quality coins. But it really all depends on what you intend to do with them. I want my kids to be able to hold them in their hands and play with them without the quality or price being drastically hurt. It's true that coins like this will never really be worth anything. But I'm not looking at them as an investment. It's just $30 that you spend to give them something to look at and to think that they are really into a cool hobby. Heck, I will spend $30 buying them dinner tonight at a low end restaurant. Why not spend that same money to give them something that will last a lifetime? Some day they will pass them down to their own grandkids and will be able to enjoy reliving the time they have spent collecting them. So in my particular situation I'm going to stay away from proof and better quality coins for now and instead concentrate on buying quantity over quality. Once the kids have one of just about every type of coin (within reason), then we can start looking at buying better stuff.

As for investing, I'm somewhat torn. I've been looking to spend some money to buy some gold and silver to have as a possible investment and to hedge against the falling dollar (and for emergency type situations). But I'm not sure what to buy. On one hand, buying culled or polished silver halfs seems to be about the cheapest way to accumuately junk silver. They will always follow close to the spot price and even make a nice coin to look at now and then. The kids can even lightly pollish them if they want to without hurting the value significantly. However, from a collecting and beauty standpoint, the silver eagle coins are where I'd love to be. But you really pay a premium for them (as much as 20%!). I would need to keep them in good shape and out of the hands of my kids if I want them to retain value. They are indeed beautiful coins, but that beauty comes at a fairly stiff price. Finally, there is the option of silver rounds which are about the best price point you can get. But beyond the melt value they have no collectible value whatsoever. And then of course there's gold...

So I'm curious to hear what others have to say on investing in silver. Building a small collection for yourself or your kids is one thing. But buying something that you use as a long term investment is quite another. Junk coins seem to be the best bang for the buck. But they are just that, junk silver. They can be fun to look at though. Silver eagles are wonderful coins but cost so darn much that I'm tempted to stay away from them. But in the end I will probably diversify and get a some of each type.

Thoughts?

 

[Diver_Down]

Finally, there is the option of silver rounds which are about the best price point you can get. But beyond the melt value they have no collectible value whatsoever.

Thoughts?

Not true. Most mass market silver rounds/bars follow the spot price, but there are quite a few collectible silver bars/rounds. Certain mints that existed during the 70's and are no longer around had produced bars that are highly collectible. These bars were minted in limited quantities and many were melted in the silver spike in the 80's. Now, to secure a specimen of some of these bars, buyers will pay upwards of 100 - 200% of spot. Hamilton Mint bars enjoy such a collector premium. I have sold some bars for nearly $70 when silver was at $15 last year.

 

[mts]

Finally, there is the option of silver rounds which are about the best price point you can get. But beyond the melt value they have no collectible value whatsoever.

Thoughts?

Not true. Most mass market silver rounds/bars follow the spot price, but there are quite a few collectible silver bars/rounds. Certain mints that existed during the 70's and are no longer around had produced bars that are highly collectible. These bars were minted in limited quantities and many were melted in the silver spike in the 80's. Now, to secure a specimen of some of these bars, buyers will pay upwards of 100 - 200% of spot. Hamilton Mint bars enjoy such a collector premium. I have sold some bars for nearly $70 when silver was at $15 last year.

Thanks Diver, that is good information to know. I had no idea that some of these rounds could be worth so much money. I guess I should have known though. There is always someone out there who is willing to pay top dollar for scarce items.