June 2011 - GOLD IS KING - COINS ARE
A GREAT WAY TO INVEST.
May 2011 -SILVER COINS, PARTICULARLY FROM THE RAM ARE SEEING SIGNIFICANT SALES
THROUGH 3 SOLID MONTHS OF GAINS IN THE SPOT PRICE OF THE PRECIOUS METAL. THE $10 STATE SERIES COINS, MASTERPIECES IN SILVER
SETS, KOOKABURRA OZ'S etc etc - ALL SEEM TO BE SELLING LIKE HOTCAKES AT THE MOMENT. AT A LATE APRIL PRICE OF $42-46 PER
OZ IT DOESN'T SEEM UNREASONABLE THAT FURTHER GAINS ARE POSSIBLE, AT WORST MANY IN THE KNOW THINK SILVER WILL NEVER RETURN
TO 2010 PRICES. Many Royal Australian Mint Sets can still be found selling for under the melt price of Silver! Happy Hunting
and selling whilst it lasts! AND THE SILVER BALLOON BURSTS ACROSS THE 5TH - 7TH OF MAY
WITH A PRICE CORRECTION DOWN TO $34 PER oz.
MARCH 2011 - YOU JUST CAN'T GO PAST 1966 "CHANGEOVER"
SETS FOR PROOF THE DECIMAL MARKET IS MOVING AND READY TO TAKE OFF - (they contain the last Australian Pre-decimal
coins with a full set of the new Decimals) - THEY HAVE MOTORED PAST OTHER ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT
SETS AND REGULARLY MAKE AROUND $180 ONLINE. THEY HAVE LOW MINTAGE, EXCELLENT PEDIGREE, LINEAGE &
BREEDING! Considering they were easily bought for $$50 - 65 only two years ago and Dollarmule scored one for $35 (perfect
UNC) last year -2010 - they are achieving 50 -200% gains in a short time. Beware ...coins must be UNC and in authentic
pvc lovin jacket. Get em while they are hot as they are seriously undervalued compared to Banknote sets of the same era!
Anyone interested in investing in Australian Decimal Coins should have at least, an awareness
of the major Numismatic Guides on offer. It is essential you acquire a current guide by authorities
such as Greg McDonald or Renniks before you make a purchase without guided and / or expert advice. Online
study of a coin on your wish-list is also most helpful.
Published in 1990.
McDonalds First Edition.
Acquire old Numismatic Guides to look for market trends and to help track
coin performance. The guides from earlier years, if kept in good condition, are also excellent investments.
Take for example Greg McDonalds 1990 First Edition Hardback copy of "Collecting and Investing
in Australian Coins and Banknotes". Amazon lists it as unavailable - it's a rare treasure that's gaining value
along with the coins depicted inside. You can still purchase the book through coin dealers or hope for a rare
find at the local Flea Market! It is fascinating reading - a complete guide to
fact and opinion about Pre-Decimals and Decimal coins written in the late eighties. Lessons are assured
for the reader. Have a look at the 1990 value of 1966 Reserve Bank Unc Wallets compared to today - you will
be in for a surprise as they were worth more back then- (However, they are now surging again - a minute mintage
and packaging that encouraged toning in most is seeing lovely examples gaining in value). The 1930 Proof Penny
was at $150,000 and is now worth in excess of $2 000 000! There are also interesting sidebar
stories like the obvious rise in banknote values from 1990 until the current day. E.G - IF YOU HAVE FIRST OR LAST PREFIXES
OF EARLY POLYMER NOTES E.G VG 95 $50 - INDICATIONS ARE THAT THEY WILL RISE....HOLD! Also interesting is the inflated then
deflated silver coin prices due to the 80's Silver boom. It also has an outstanding description
of counterfeit and fake coins.
October 2010. Here is another wise coin profit being made from an Australian Decimal
Coin. Mary McKillop became Australia's first Catholic Saint and immediately helped those carrying 2008 UNC examples
of her RAM $1 coin up to average sales of about $60 online. Gold coins featuring Saint Mary are selling way over coins with
the same weight but with less appealing themes e.g Perth Mint's Year of the Cat.
Many thanks: www.newcastlecoins.com.au
Baby Sets :One of Shane's Top Picks.
A huge Dollarmule recommendation for Shane McCulloch from
Newcastle Coins for his synopsis on decimal coin investment. Shane is always there to give you advice on your next
coin investment, visit his site - you'll find the link below Shane's article:
So You Want To Invest In Decimals - Shane McCulloch.
I often get asked by
customers what is a good investment with $100 to spend. The answer to that is "number 5 at tonights dish lickers."
When you spend $100 on a collectible of any sort you are not buying anything of particular rarity. The area of numismatics
where there is little gamble is the high end market. Items that generally sell in the $1000+ range, over the long term, will
make money. The more you spend and the rarer the item the more you will make.
When in comes to investing
in decimals you generally are taking a gamble. You are buying something generally of less than $150 that is not particularly
rare. Even if over a 5 year period it doubles in value you have made say $100 on your $100 investment. In the scheme of things
it is a return but in reality it is pocket change.
Now at this point I should explain what I mean by a gamble.
With predecimal material I can look back at catalogues for the last 30 years and see how most predecimalitems have performed.
I can tell the average percentage per annum a Fine grade 1925 penny has made over the last 10 years. I can also do this with
1933 Shillings, 1932 florins and the like. With modern decimal material you have not got this hindsight. Because of this it
is hit and miss as to which items will make you money. Generally all the money is made soon after release and is evidenced
by a quick sellout. Unless you buy before sellout you you will pay a premium therefore missing out on most of the rewards.
The problem is therefore picking the item that is hot before a sellout. I can almost guarantee you that you will not be able
to and in picking that one item you will also purchase a fair share of duds along the way negating the returns out of you
"good investment".
So how do you take some of the hit and miss out of all of this. From my experience,
anything that looks like what you received out of change has wider appeal to collectors and the general public. To add to
this $1 coins and 50c pieces are the most widely collected coins. So common sense says that items like mint mark $1, mint
set and baby sets. Which leads me to baby sets. Out of all the decimal coins produced in the last 10 years baby sets have
out performed most other coins with regularity. In order to get into the investment scene with these items the key is buying
quantities and waiting for the returns to release. Upon sale however they must be leaked onto the market slowly in order not
to flood the market and decrease the earning potential.
No corporation, individual, group or company controls the rare coins market.
There are hundreds of coins dealers in Australia and more collectors and investors everyday. The price of rare
coins is ruled solely by the laws of supply and demand and remains virtually free of any government interference. It's
a free market! Viva Coins!
Extracts from "Investment in Rare Coins - Is it a Dirty Word?
"For many collectors, the term “Investment” is something
of a dirty word - the very thought of their passion for history, art or self-expression being commercialized hits them in
the gut as being revolting. How can a price be put on good taste? How can we even contemplate a personal memory as being more
or less valuable than another? Although these sentiments are indeed understandable and perhaps even honourable, the fact remains
that money does indeed make the world go round, or at least it plays a fundamental role in life in an advanced Western society
in the 21st century.”
"For many collectors, the
term “Investment” is something of a dirty word - the very thought of their passion for history, art or self-expression
being commercialized hits them in the gut as being revolting. How can a price be put on good taste? How can we even contemplate
a personal memory as being more or less valuable than another? Although these sentiments are indeed understandable and perhaps
even honourable, the fact remains that money does indeed make the world go round, or at least it plays a fundamental role
in life in an advanced Western society in the 21st century.”
Why Rare Coins and or Notes?
Although a wide range of tangible assets and collectibles are traded and invested
in (fine art, sportscars, wine, antique clocks and furniture, comics, stamps, porcelain, silverware to name just a few), I
strongly believe that coins are far more frequently acquired for reasons relating
to profit, value and resale than any other tangible asset.
The purposes for which coins are produced are as a medium of exchange and as a store of value, and these functions
are the very reason why collecting coins is popular across cultures, generations and societies. It is in fact impossible to
think of or relate to a coin or note without these concepts being present in one way or another!
These facts alone go a long way to explaining how notions relating to trade and investment can
be foremost in the mind of a collector when they acquire a rare coin or note. Other characteristics inherent in both coins
and notes also contribute to them being easily traded:
Far more than any other tangible asset, coins and notes are extremely portable. In this day and age of electronic
business and the global economy, coins and notes are just easily transferred between continents as they are between the home
and the office. This simplicity in transportation is just one more reason why so many buyers and sellers find it convenient
to sell their coins directly via the internet. A great deal of value can be sent through the post or via a courier service
without drawing unwanted attention – try doing that with some fine china or a large artwork!
Coins also offer little in the way of storage issues - large
amounts of wealth can be easily stored in a discreet safe at the home or office. Other tangible assets such as fine wine or
antique furniture can pose far greater challenges when it comes to safekeeping and security.
Historic, beautiful and rare coins can still be extremely affordable relative
to other collectibles or tangible assets – no other area offers the same opportunity for profit with such little expenditure.
Less than $100 is required to get started in several areas that offer the keen student the potential to make meaningful profits
right from the outset of their trading career.
It's something of a contradiction that most rare coins are in fact relatively
interchangeable or homogenous. Although some of our most historic coins are either completely unique or there is only one
example available to the collector market, when it comes to the market values of most rare coins, collectors accept that one
example of a rare coin in a certain degree of preservation is reasonably equivalent to another example of the same coin in
comparable condition. This homogeneity means that rare coins are relatively easily traded when compared to other collectibles
that have a higher number of unique characteristics.
On a Budget? Dollarmule recommends the following Australian
decimal coins / sets due to their low mintage and proven market gain:
RAM Uncirculated Mint Sets and Cards from
1966 & 1969, 1971 until 1974. Avoid toned coppers! + RAM Coin Rolls - e.g 1973/74 50c Rolls, 2001 Federation
20c Series Coin Rolls - lots of value for later here if you get them at the right price. Basically find a decimal that sells
well as a single coin - then buy 20 UNC for a massively reduced rate in a roll - tuck away!
A coin set that has
seen great gains recently is the 1966 Change-over Mint Wallet. It contains all examples of the "defunct" pre-decimals
and the new decimals. It has seen sales well over $150 in 2010 and has become a Cinderella story amongst the 1966 mint sets.
Well worth investment.
"Let us introduce decimals into the southern colony
in 1966, if all goes well with the general riff-raff we'll share a Sherry in 1971".
Who says coins are slow to appreciate - record U.S coin sale - click on the link
below.
Tired of waiting for that bulk coin lot to value? Put them to good use.......
Sterling & Currency: Andrew's Top Picks:
If I work with the premise that you're asking me which are the 5 best decimal coins to buy now, hold for the long
term and sell at some indeterminate date in the future (a strategy most people would regard as "investing"), then
I'd probably come up with the following list. The reasons I've selected these items above all others is because they
share a few characteristics - key among them is timeless appeal. Second is impeccable quality, third is rarity. The fact that
they're all reasonably valuable already is an acknowledgement of their track record to date!
Decimal Coin
#1. 1966 "Wavy Baseline" Twenty Cent. This coin is pretty much unknown to most decimal coin collectors,
and for that reason is a real connoisseur's coin. It is the result of a slightly different reverse die being deployed
for a very short portion of the overall production run, and as a result it's extremely rare. I've seen numerous forged
(ie mechanically altered) 1966 20¢ coins that have been crudely created in order to deceive novice collectors, so if
you're on the lookout for one you should certainly pay careful attention to the technical characteristics of the coin
to ensure that it is in fact genuine. And as always, buy the best quality your budget will allow, a mint state example being
the best choice.
Decimal Coin #2. Double Sided Coins. Most decimal coin collectors would not be aware
that there are a number of genuine double-sided decimal coins available. Yes - these coins feature either two heads or two
tails! Some cynically say they are the result of RAM staff entering into extra-curricular production outside the gaze of their
supervisors, however there is a chance that at least some of these coins are be the result of genuine errors in production.
They're not to be purchased lightly, some due diligence is required regarding authenticity and market value, but due to
their timeless (albeit somewhat titillating!) appeal, I believe they're well worth picking up, particularly when in mint
state condition.
October 2010 - A 2007 5c double sided coin appears on eBay for $2000.
Both sides feature the Queen's effigy. Check your change for rare examples of Australian Decimal Coins - Dollarmule.
Decimal Coin #3. 2001 Centenary of Federation Gold Proof Set. This product was one of the most exclusive
and keenly sought releases in recent years. It has a tiny mintage, and was allocated to only a very small number of collectors.
It has magnificent presentation, a solid intrinsic value and is linked to an important event in our national history, so all
of the boxes are ticked. A fantastic buy at the right price!
Decimal Coin #4. 1966 Proof Set.
The release of this product was keenly anticipated for some time by the collector community back at the switch to decimal
currency - sales were brisk from the outset. The way in which these coins were packaged means they often deteriorate in condition
over time - spots, marks and disparate tone preclude most sets from the consideration of any discerning collector. A set with
an attractive case and unmarked coins is well worth putting away however, I have a hunch they'll be appreciated even more
in years to come.
Decimal Coin #5. 2001 Centenary of Federation 20 Coin Sets. The commemorative coin
program undertaken by the RAM for the Centenary of Federation in 2001 was undoubtedly the biggest stimulus to Australian numismatics
in decades. It's my humble opinion that the RAM botched the way the program was released (overseas experience shows that
the stimulus to demand could have been increased exponentially had their strategy been executed in a slightly different way),
however despite that the 20-coin sets remain a snapshot of the day and will undoubtedly have appeal to collectors for decades
to come. The UNC set remains very affordable - perfect for the collector working with a limited budget.
