Rare Coin Investing
There's some big news in rare coin investing this month. At the Heritage Auction Galleries' Central States Numismatic Convention Platinum Night Auction, an 1804 silver dollar from the Adams-Carter collection just went for two point three million to John Albanese, a collector from Bedminster, New Jersey. This wound up bringing the total of the auction up to about forty five million dollars. Not bad.
Heritage had been billing the piece as the "King of Coins", so it's certainly good news that the coin wound up at such a princely bid. It would have been a bit of a downer if the star of the auction had failed to top its previous selling price of two million.
Greg Roman, the president of Heritage Auction Galleries, had this to say: "There was never any question as to whether it would be the top lot of the auction. Whenever you have an example of the most famous coin in the world, it's going to be a big night. In this case, at two point three million, it set a new world record for its class. Thursday night's price made this particular 1804 dollar the seventh most valuable coin ever sold at an auction."
Unfortunately, most people don't have two point three million dollars to invest into a single coin, but this sort of news is still worth keeping up on as these sells help to set precedents for the values of several rare coins. Furthermore, even if you haven't the disposable income to place a bid on the main attractions at these auctions, they're still worth attending if you really want to learn about rare coin investing.
Of course, as long as your coins are certified and verified as being authentic, you can do your rare coin investing with any source and still make certain that you have a solid investment in your hands. The golden rule of rare coin prices is that they tend only to go up, as a coin can never become somehow less rare and less valuable. You don't need to make the Forbes List of Billionaires to get into rare coin investing. More modest rare coin investing is an option that remains open to literally anyone. Even if all you have is ten dollars, you can still browse the miscellany boxes at these auctions in the hopes of finding a diamond in the rough.
And of course, you can simply honor the gorgeous Saint Gaudens and Lady Liberty coins by investing in the 22-karat bullion reissues. While they're not exactly scarcities, they could be a solid investment, nonetheless.
If you want to bid but can't make it to these conventions, Internet bidding is usually an option, but it never quite matches the fun of attending in person. In that you can't simply hop on a plane to Texas or Ohio to attend every convention in the US, internet bidding and buying certified coins through trusted dealers remains the most sensible way of investing in scarcities, but if you do get the chance, no coin collector should go their entire life without bidding in a live auction, whether you're capable of pitching the 2.3 million dollar bids or not.
Arthur McGuire
July 1, 2009
