A popular coin in 2011 is the Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Bullion Coin, as this coin is legal tender all over the world and is known for its quality. The Canadian government guarantees that these coins are made from 99.99% pure gold, making them the first ever investment coins to reach this level of purity. This means that these coins will likely increase in value at a faster pace than many other coins, due to their higher gold content. In addition, these coins look great, as they have been masterfully designed and will make a great centerpiece to your investment portfolio.

Australia also has the 2011 Australian Kangaroo Gold Coin, which is a legal tender in Australia, despite being extremely limited in production. This means that this is an extremely valuable coin to have, especially when you factor in the fact that it changes in appearance every year. Since each year features a once in a lifetime coin, these coins hold a great deal of value. The Australian government guarantees that these coins are 99.99% pure gold, putting them on par with many other gold coins. What puts these coins on a different level is that each year is different and if you happen to resell to a collector who missed a year, you could be looking at a rather substantial resale value.

Silver coins are also very popular, starting with the 2011 Silver Maple Leaf coin. These coins are some of the more popular in the world and have increase in popularity as silver prices have gone up. All of these coins are crafted at the Royal Canadian Mint and are made from 99.9% pure silver. In addition, these coins are legal tender, so they are easy to trade anywhere in the world. These coins even have a higher face value than any other silver coins, as they are worth $5 guaranteed. Of course, the coin will end up being worth much more than that, but it is nice to know that its value can never drop below that level.

The 2011 Australian Silver Koala are made from 99.9%  pure silver and have a larger surface area than many silver coins. These coins are extremely high in quality and the mint has done a great job of putting a great deal of detail into the actual picture on the coin. These coins are redesigned very year, so you will find that the 2011 is unique.

Any of these coins would be a great gift for the coin collector in your family, as they will likely not depreciate in value and will give that person a solid investment in the future. Now is the time to invest in precious metals because they keep their value during economic downturns, since they are not linked to the face value on the coin.

I have personally bought some of these coins (Silver American Eagles and Canadian Maple Leaf Coins) from APMEX along with holiday season gift coin holders to use as stocking stuffers this Christmas.

Others collect coins as a means of investing into something that will bring a return on the investment. They might also enjoy coin collecting as a hobby, but their primary focus is to make money in the venture. Investment coin collectors purchase most coins with the intent to sell them at a future time.

These are both legitimate reasons for coin collecting, and both can have positive results. There is a story of a collector who kept his coins in a bank vault, and they remained there until he died. None of his family members had an interest in coin collecting, so they were unaware of his coin collection.

As it turned out, the collection was a rare and valuable one and it brought a great return when auctioned off, even though the family was not in dire need of the money it brought. This particular collector simply loved old coins and it was a hobby that also turned out to be a profitable one for this particular collector’s family.

The history of coin collecting over the past 25 years shows that a high return of investment is not typical as with other types of investments. Coins do increase in value, however, which means most wise coin purchases usually increase in worth as time goes by.

Rare coins held for a long time most always bring a premium price when sold. Some coinage might be traded more often to keep a collection more interesting for the hobby collector. A collection with no new coin additions can become a bit boring. If the collection was started without coins of much value, then coin additions are essential if you want the collection to increase in worth.

A knowledgeable coin trader will locate coins at places like estate sales, where the seller may have minor if any knowledge of what the coins may be worth. Many families put coins aside as collectibles and pass them down from generation to generation. Knowing which ones will bring a profitable return in the future increases the value of such a coin collection.

Some people who were not even coin collectors have lucked into rare and unusual coins that were worth a lot of money. It is a good idea to learn a little bit about coin trading so you can sort through the change you receive when you buy something with cash.

So, does coin collecting ever pay off? In some instances yes, and in others no. It depends on many different things. A person who starts a collection may never see it pay off, but as it is sold or handed down to another generation it might someday return a nice sized profit as has been evidenced in many coin collections. For any individual who loves collecting old coins, the hobby can be fun and also bring some return on investment at the same time.

Two publications that will provide you with some assistance in valuating your coin collection are:

   -The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins

   -The Standard Catalog of World Coins

Coin Collection Quotes from Auction Houses

You might want to let an auction house provide you with an estimate if you believe your collection is valued at more than $5,000. There is an auction fee which usually runs around 10% if you decide to let them auction your collection. The estimates are also usually on the conservative side, but the sale amount could end up being more than estimated.

Coin Collection Quotes from Online Dealers

There are multiple sites online where you can obtain quotes on your collection if you wish to sell to a dealer. While selling to a dealer might get your collection sold faster, it most often does not bring the highest amount. Check the reputation of the dealer with other coin guilds, online coin trading forums, and anywhere else you can obtain information to make sure you are trading with a reputable dealer.

Coin Condition is Important

Before you attempt to market your coin collection, make sure it is in the best condition possible. It is also better if your coins are slabbed for the best return on investment. Any rare and unusual coins should be graded by a professional before you sell them so you know their true worth.

Marketing A Small Collection

Many dealers are interested only in certain coins and are not in the market for a small coin collection. If you do ship your collection to a dealer to obtain a price quote, be sure to insure the shipment adequately. You’ll only want to risk sending your collection to a dealer if you are certain you are working with a reputable one.

Selling a Coin Collection – Auction versus Dealer

While selling to a coin dealer does not usually bring the best price, you can’t be sure an auction will bring the price you seek either, and you still have the 10% auction fee that is deducted from the sale amount. If you don’t feel comfortable selling or auctioning off your coin collection, hold onto your coins for a while longer. They might even increase in value depending on how long you hold onto them.

You might consider showing your collection to four or more dealers to see what the best offer is. Should you decide to sell your coin collection to a dealer, make sure to get your money up front before releasing the coins to the buyer.

Coin Collecting as an Investment Opportunity and a Hobby

It is a sweet combination when a hobby provides not only enjoyment but a way to make investment income as well. That is precisely what often happens with coin collectors.

Just as with other investments, there are risks involved in coin collecting as a money making opportunity. The stock market fluctuations throughout history are proof that even what appear to be the best investments sometimes fail. Collectible coins don’t always provide the return on investment we expect, and some even lose money sometimes, but they are overall still considered one of the safer types of investments.

If you collect coins out of interest more so than for their potential gain in value, you are a coin collecting hobbyist and not an investor. Purchasing inexpensive coins worth maybe a scant more than face value won’t provide much return on investment, and it will also the limit the coins you could buy that stand to have an increase in their worth.

Focused Coin Trading versus Diversified Trading

An investment can be focused or diversified. As an example, one single rare and unusual coin can be worth so much that it’s worth paying a tidy sum for it because it is almost certain to bring a good return when you resell it in a year or two. This is known as a focused investment. An alternative is to purchase several coins that will bring smaller returns, which is diversified investing, but the coin purchases require less up front capital.

Some coin collectors focus primarily on diversified coin investments. Not every investment will bring a profit, but there is a reasonably good chance that many will be profitable sales. Diversified coin investments are usually for coins that are not the most expensive or sought after pieces. If a buyer makes a mistake in a coin purchase, it is often easier to sell it with a minor loss.

Successful coin collectors with many years of experience probably started out with diversified coin investments as they learned more about coin trading. The more experience a trader has in purchasing coins, the better results they have in pursuing the smaller available number of more profitable coins.

Coin collecting is an interesting hobby that brings history to life and provides a way of building a nice collection of rare and unusual currency, not to mention the fact it is an investment in the future.

What makes coin collecting a hobby, an investment, or both is based on the individual collector. A collector with a large supply of coins but not much return on their investment is a hobbyist, while a collector who follows market trends and coin trades is an investor.

An Estimate from a Coin Dealer

You can go to a coin dealer for an estimate on your coins, but that usually come with a fee, and how do you know if the information you receive is true? What is the best way to determine the worth of your old coins?

Using Photographs to Grade Coins

There are some appraisers that provide estimates based on photos you send of the coins. These photos should show the front, back, and side edges of the coin. The photos should be of high quality in order for you to receive the best quality estimate. If you have a good quality digital camera, you can make your own photos without the need of a professional photographer.

Online Coin Grading Sources

Another choice is to use online sources for determining the worth of your gold coins. You will need to educate yourself a bit on coin grading in order to determine the coin condition and its authenticity.

You can obtain information on the internet about how the system of coin grading works and you must be completely objective when assessing each individual coin.
It is easy to determine the value of coins that have not been circulated, but others must go through the grading process.

The fair market value is determined by coin value experts by researching collectible coin price trends. These advisors estimate coin values and create tables that make it easy to view the history of a coin and the trends that affect its worth. While the historical performance of a particular coin is not a guarantee of its value, coins reflecting steady gains over a long period are usually safe bets to increase in value in the future.

When to Sell Your Coins

Some coins bring a better return if sold quickly and others will increase if you hold them longer. Research and grade your coins properly and you will find many ways to get the best return on your coin investments.

After you evaluate your coins, you might seek out coin dealers online interested in making an offer on your coins. You might not get as much as you hoped for in the transaction, but if you’ve graded and valued your coins properly, the offer should be in line with or at least close to the coins’ worth.

A coin is not always valuable just because it is old. It is better to determine the true worth of your coins so that you don’t end up holding onto coins that may never be worth more than their face value. Then again, you might find you have some rare and valuable coins on your hands that will sell for a tidy sum.

Here are some tips to help you spot fake bullion coins and not come up on the short side of a coin trade.

#1 – A Trustworthy Seller – You might save a few dollars shopping around for a deal, but you might also lose just as easily. While you may spend a few dollars more trading with a reputable coin dealer you know you can trust, that is still a lot better than losing money on a fake coin purchase from someone you do not know.

#2 – Too Good to be True - Everyone wants to come out on the winning end of a coin sale. Don’t be too quick to let a coin dealer or trader know if you do not know a coin’s true value. Also remember always that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is exactly that.

A buyer will usually go ahead and purchase a coin before having it appraised because they fear the seller will go up on price. That is okay if the seller will be easily located after the coin sale and allow a refund if the coin turns out to be a fake, but if he/she knows it is fake, it is not likely they will want to deal with you after the sale.

#3 – Digital Scales - It is not unusual for experienced coin traders to carry a digital scale with them to coin shows so the weight of the coins can be easily determined. Most knowledgeable coin dealers know what the weight of certain coins should be. There are some sellers who buy counterfeit coin copies from eastern countries such as China and try to sell them as bullion gold coins, and after the sale they are nowhere to be found.

Do your homework and know how much coins should weigh. This is not a foolproof way to identify fake coins, but gold and silver do weigh differently than other metals. Having something to measure the coins with is also a good idea, because dimensions of coins are also published for rare and unusual coins.

#4 – Portable Information - Purchase a pocket sized coin reference guide you can carry with you and refer to when shopping for coins. No matter how good your memory is, it is just not likely you will be able to memorize the details of every rare coin. Even one small detail can make a difference when determining if a coin is authentic or a fake.

Don’t let yourself get taken in by a fake coin salesman. Educate yourself about coins and coin trading. Carry a reference guide with you when coin shopping. If there is any doubt about a coin’s authenticity, have it appraised prior to purchase. Just these few small precautions can prevent you from losing money on a fake bullion coin trade, so shop wisely for your coin investments.

The first rule of being a collector is realizing that not all acquisitions provide a good return on investment. Coins are considered a wise investment compared to many others because they generally increase in value as they age. Fluctuations in the coin market can sometimes bring a higher return on investment faster than expected. Coin market changes can occur for many reasons, including the death of an important political figure or the overthrow of an existing government.

Coin market fluctuations are hard to predict, and it is also hard to determine just exactly how they will affect prices. A recommended coin collecting strategy is to seek coins with historically elevated ROIs.

So what causes a coin to be valuable in the first place? The following four criteria have much to do with the return to be expected on collectible coins.

1- Coin Condition

A coin that is in mint or quality condition is naturally going to receive more investment return than a coin that is bent and has excessive wear. A coin in bad condition won’t be of much value unless it is extremely rare.

2 – Coin Quality

It is not a simple task to set a value on coin quality, but it does have an affect on the final value of the coin. A good number of very old coins were not of very good quality when they were minted. Some of these are often the only survivors of their kind, so quality is not the foremost concern because there are so few of them. So some coins may have qualities of luster, shading, and symmetry, while others are lacking in these areas. Another thing that makes a big difference in how a silver or silver plated coin looks is the amount of copper it contains.

3 – Coin Scarcity

If you have possession of a one of a kind coin, it should be no surprise that it is most likely worth some money. Even if a coin is one of a few others of its kind, you still stand to make a good profit in the right coin market. The NGC can be of great assistance in determining just how rare and valuable a coin is. The best bets for a good return on investment include gold and silver coins of a limited number.

4 – Coin Popularity

Just because a coin is rare does not make it a good investment; it must also be popular and in demand by collectors. Even if a coin is scarce, old, and in mint condition, it still won’t bring the best price if it isn’t popular.

Keep in mind these four conditions when purchasing coins for your collection for the best ROI (return on investment) for your coins. Try to always purchase at the lowest possible price, and be cautious shopping with dealers and traders as some will attempt to sell a coin for more than it is worth.

One way to obtain insightful information regarding selling your rare coins for profit is by consulting with a coin dealer who deals regularly in unusual and collectible coins. An experienced dealer can steer you toward the better and safer coin investments. It is also advised to read as much as you can about the coins you are considering as additions to your collection.

Rare Coin Purchases – Graded versus Ungraded

There are two ways to go about making your rare coin purchases.

#1 – One of the surest ways to know exactly what you are buying is to purchase coins graded by the NGC (Numismatics Guaranty Corporation) or another well-known and reputable coin grading agency. These coin purchases don’t typically offer the same investment potential as ungraded coins because the coin value is set when you buy and not likely to change in the near future.

#2 – A second way to purchase coins for your collection is by finding coins that are ungraded. A trader in unusual and rare coins can make a good return on investment if they are wise in their coin purchases.

Coin Trading Economics

As precious metal prices fluctuate up and down, so does the value of gold and silver coinage. Similar to trading in the stock market, you want to buy when the coin value is low and sell when it is high. This makes when you buy just as important as what you buy. A few coins have more value when melted down for the metal than as coins, however this is a rare occurrence with unusual coins.

If you are considering acquiring coins from someone who has held them for some time, you need to have enough knowledge to assess the condition of the coins and determine if improvements are necessary and/or possible. The closer a coin is to mint condition, the more valuable it is. All coin collectors should attempt to advance their skills on the protection and restoration of rare and unusual coins.

The Best Rare Coin Selling Venues

In order to have the most success in coin trading, you must know the best selling venues for rare coins. EBay is one popular choice with many regular shoppers searching for coins for their collections. There’s always the chance of a bidding war and selling a coin for more than it is worth. Then again, you might not even receive a bid on your auction, resulting in no sale even though you still incur the listing fee for the auction.

Another good place for selling coins is at coin shows, which are held in many locations across the country. You can find out about upcoming coin shows in many online sources and printed coin collecting publications.

Trading in rare coins requires patience and knowledge, and the realization you may have to hold a coin for some time before it will trade for profit. You never know when you will find a great deal on a coin, so you must be constantly opportunistic if you want to make the most profit in your coin investments.

This means a little forethought must go into the selection of the coin grading service. The way to achieve this is through applying proper criteria to the selection of a particular coin grading service. What criteria one should apply to these services? An overview of the criteria is presented:

One of the most important criteria to apply to the service would be an estimation as to the number of coins it has graded over the years. Now, some may wonder what this has to do with the viability of the coin service. After all, are it not quality that is most important and not the quantity of orders that have been undertaken? Actually, the two go together in this particular scenario. When a company has graded scores upon scores of coins over the years, this would indicate a reliable and reputable company. When there are a significant number of repeat customers that are serious coin collectors and traders, it would seem fairly certain that the service is an excellent one.

Similarly, it is necessary to learn if the coin grading services are provided value estimations that are in concert with the prices the coins go for at auctions. At an auction, the opening minimum bid should be reasonably close to the initial grading value of the coin. This is why it is critical to have accuracy in grading or the auction can prove to be disastrous. Even those that do not wish to put their coins up for auction will need to have an accurate estimation of the coin’s value. If not, then what would be the purpose of having the coins graded in the first place? You want to know what they are really worth, correct?

It is also helpful when a coin grading service offers a reasonable turnaround time. A serious coin collector trader should not have to wait an extended period of time for grading results. Of course, one should also not impose ridiculous standards for turnaround time either. Rather, it is best that the service deliver an acceptable amount of time that delivers accurate coin grading. You do not necessarily need expediency but proper timeliness should be part of the equation.

A sliding price scale that offers fair fees is a sure sign of a reliable service. Professionals and collectors both have different reasons for having their coins graded and that means it is helpful that different grading processes deliver different fee scales. This allows greater accessibility for all from the various services. And fairness and accessibility are certainly admirable attributes that solid coin grading services should possess.

Just getting started in coin collecting? I recommend this complete guide.

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