Recently in Investing in Coins Category

If you've spent any time at all on one of the many internet coin forums then you'll almost certainly have seen the question 'I am a new coin collector, where should I start?'. There's dozens of tips that people give those new to the hobby, and you're probably well aware of most of them. So, just to change things up a little we thought we'd list off some things that the new coin coin collector shouldn't do when they are just entering the hobby. We'd love to say that we didn't do any of the things we're about to talk about but to be honest, we did most of them, and it's from this basis of hard experience that we speak.

1) Not spending the time learning to grade. Grading is without doubt the single most important skill a coin collector can possess.

2) Buying coins before the books or not spending sufficient time learning the hobby before handing over your money.

3) Diving in an buying a lot of low grade coins without any understanding of grading or what collecting theme the new collector is following.

4) Buying coins off of the internet or from dealers and blindly trusting the seller's grading.

5) Knowingly buying problem coins without realising the ongoing problems these will cause your collection.

6) Unknowingly buying problem coins.

7) Expecting to make money from the hobby immediately, lots of new collectors think it is a money making game rather than a hobby.

8) Improperly storing or handling a new collection. This can wipe much of the value of your collection off in just a few minutes.

9) Spending up big on mint issued NCLT and expecting it to increase in value in the short term. If you enjoy it, collect it, but making making money from NCLT is a tricky business.

All of the above points can impair the profits you'll make from collecting or put a dampener on your thrills in collecting. We get a lot of questions from novice or beginner collectors and even those who have simply found an interesting coin and want to know more about it. If we can set just one person on the right path or give them the tools to make the right choices then we've done a good deed in numismatics today :)

I've always been told that if I wanted to sell my collection at any time the best way to sell would be to use one of the big auction houses and consign my collection for sale at their next public auction. This sounds like the best way to go as buyers can freely view the items at pre-sale viewings and you are selling to a specific customer base brought in by the reputation of the auction house.

Did you ever think how much this was going to cost and how much the auction houses were actually going to take out of my pocket and the buyers??

To list your items in a public auction here's what you'll pay:

• A fixed listing fee for each lot submitted


• A percentage rate of the final sale price

Here's what the customer will pay:

• A buyers premium (commission charge) which is a % on top of the sale price


• Payment by credit card will incur a fee


• Shipping and handling charges


• A service charge on any overdue accounts

The auction houses do have their marketing costs such as the costs printing of the catalogues to take into account but think about how much they will make out of the sale of your collection.
At the very minimum they will make:

1. $7 per lot listed from you AND


2. 15-20% sellers charge on sale price AND


3. 15-20% buyers fee

Just out of interest the buyers premium for a public auction sale back in 1999 was as low as 5%! It's crazy how much these costs have increased.

Of course if you have a high ticket item for sale the auction houses can be open to negotiation on their fees.

There are always positive and negative scenarios for each methods of selling buy it's no wonder people are steering towards sites such as eBay to sell their items, even with their fees it seems it's still cheaper than selling at an auction house.

Panama 1976 Proof 20 Balboa

Shown above is a 1976 Panamanian 20 balboa coin struck to proof standard. It was minted from 129.6 grams of 0.925 fine silver (sterling silver) which converts to 3.85 ounces of silver. At the time of writing the silver content of this coin was worth about US$52. The obverse of the coin depicts Simon Bolivar, who was a leading figure in the struggle for independence of Spanish America. The country of Bolivia is named after him. The reverse depicts the great seal of Panama . The first thing to note about these coins is the sheer size. The coin is 61mm in diameter, compare this with 32mm for the Australian 50c and 30.6mm for the US Half Dollar. It is simply massive, among the bigger coins minted in history. The coins were minted from 1971 through to 1985. However from 1980 they were minted from 0.500 fine silver rather than the sterling standard and the weight dropped to just under 120 grams.

I have a couple of these coins. The proof one shown above, and a regular circulation coin. The circulation coins dont have the normal polished appearance that most coins do, but instead have an all matte appearance. I cannot emphasize exactly how big these things are, each coin is a handful by itself. Consequently they are impossible to put in a holder and mine reside in paper envelopes where, sadly, they are hardly ever looked at. Mintages are small for almost every issue, ranging from just 500 for the 1984 unc issue (celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bolivar) up to 161,000 for the 1974 proof issue. The higher issue coins are usually available at little more than the value of the silver they contain. The smaller mintages do have a numismatic premium, but given the low mintages and how infrequently they appear on the market I believe they are undervalued. Great coins, the 20 balboa's, massive discs of silver, everyone should have one. And given their low cost there's no reason not to.

Gold Australia $200 - Koala Reverse

Shown above is the 1980 $200 coin from Australia, struck to proof standard. It was minted from 10.0 grams of 0.9167 fine gold (22 carat) which converts to 0.2948 ounces of gold. At the time of writing the gold content of this coin was worth about US$274. The obverse of the coin depicts the Arnold Machin portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the head of the British Commonwealth. The reverse depicts an Australian Koala sitting in a eucalyptus tree. The $200 gold coin with the koala reverse was minted in 1980, 83, and 84 with Machin obverse and in 1985-86 with the Raphael Maklouf portrait of the Queen. It was struck in both uncirculated and proof versions each year. Mintages started at a high of over 200,000 uncirculated coins and 50,000 proof coins in 1980 slowly dwindling to 15,298 / 16,654 in 1986.

These are an interesting coin because it wasn't that long ago that the best thing to do with them was to take them to a bank and redeem them for face value. The high issue price in 1980 ($420 for the UNC version) and the relatively large mintage for such an expensive coin means that the opportunity for capital growth isn't really there. It has only been in the last 18 months of high gold prices that the coins started fetching amounts well above the face value of the coin. Even now, 29 years later the coins are only just reaching the issue prices again. I know of people who bought 10 or 20 of these coins in 1980 because they were promoted heavily and it is sad to think that they are only just now looking like recouping their initial investment. Hardly the way to get rich! Still they are beautiful coins and lovely to look at in proof form. And barely cost a premium above their gold value. Certainly a fun way of holding the yellow metal!

Gold Panama 1988 50 Balboas

Minted from 8.5 grams of 0.999 fine gold the 1988 50 balboa coin from Panama commemorates the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The obverse depicts the great seal of Panama while the reverse shows a freestyle gymnast performing the ribbon disclipline. The 8.5 grams of 0.999 pure gold amounts 0.2733oz which at time of writing was worth US$256. The coin above resides in a plastic capsule and is struck to proof quality, the coin does have some hazing though which explains the murkiness of the fields in the image above.

It's an interesting coin I picked up mainly for it's gold content. The first thing to note about it is that it is NOT listed in the Krause Standard Catalogue of world coins. Well not mine anyway and mine is a few years old. The second thing to note about it is that there is almost no information concerning this coin available on the internet. Upon doing some more research I believe this 'coin' might actually be a pattern rather than an actual legal tender coin. There is a similar pattern commemorating the Winter Olympics from the same year. This coin is the same but depicts a figure skater on the reverse rather than the gymnast. I do suspect the coin was minted by the Franklin Mint, as they struck almost all of the Panamanian collector coins in the late 1970's and 1980's.

That's about all I know about it. If you know anything about this coin please email me and let me know!

Panama 1976 20 Balboa Proof

Panama had circulating silver coinage from 1904 up until 1966, and also produced non circulating legal tender coins in the 1970's. The silver dollar sized 1 balboa coins and the very large 20 balboa coins of 1972-1976 are often available in good condition at little more than the value of their silver content. The availability of these coins as bullion and the availability of the lower denominations in worn condition at melt value can make them an ideal way of accumulating silver. To help you with this I've just created a new silver coin calculator specifically for Panamanian coins. Please take a look at the Panama Silver Coin Calculator and let me know if you want some coins added or if I've made an error.

A PNC is a shortened term for a postal and numismatic cover. This is generally a first day cover type of envelope with stamps and a postmark and then a coin inserted into the cover. Ordinarily in Australia these PNC's are issued by the Royal Australian Mint or Perth Mint in conjunction with Australia Post. Sometimes they have limited edition numbers or special limited stamps but quite often they are freely available as unlimited issues.

My concern to those not familiar with PNC's is that just recently in the last couple of years it has become "fashionable" to buy and onsell these pnc's for profit. This has brought rise to backyard operators creating their own pnc's from first day covers or simply envelopes with stamps maybe postmarked at a post office with crude holes cut for the coins.

My advice here is to research what you are buying before jumping in and bidding on items such as those on eBay. Check the mintage / issue numbers for what you are buying and check if these are in fact official releases. Don't be caught out. History has shown that in reality only one Australian private release PNC has brought profit for buyers. This is the 1969 Yarralumla PNC I have previously written about. One of the the latest releases onto the Australian market is an interesting issue from Downie's. It celebrates Australia's relationship with Denmark because of Princess Mary and contains a 2007 20c. Personally I dont see how this all fits together as a PNC and obviously it is not an official issue by any means, don't get caught out here.

Silver bullion is traded 24 hours day around the world and the price fluctuates constantly. The silver bullion investors amongst us like to know what the current price is and how it is varying over time. Personally, I use Kitco for this. The prices are live, you can look at past data in numerical or graphical format, and you can view it across pretty much any time frame you like.

For those of you who dont want to look there the current silver bullion price is US$19.65 per troy ounce (Last updated on 2 September 2010 at 17:15). This price is taken directly from Kitco and is updated every hour of every day.

As a follow on to my posts about the United States, Australian, and Canadian silver coin value calculators I've expanded the system to calculate bullion values for New Zealand silver coins. Following on with my unique naming scheme I've called it the New Zealand Silver Coin Value Calculator! It works exactly the same as the other calculators but works out values for New Zealand silver coins instead.

As a follow on to my posts about the United States and Australian silver coin value calculators I've expanded the system to calculate bullion values for Canadian coins. Again I've named it imaginatively the Canadian Silver Coin Value Calculator! It works exactly the same as the other calculators but works out values for Canadian silver coins instead.