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Numismatists Article Of The Day

Hoarding Silver Kookaburras

By Duncan Rosslair

Collecting silver coins can be an enjoyable, affordable and lucrative pastime. You do not need a fortune to get started yet you can build a hobby into a respectable, profitable business if you avoid the potential pitfalls and stick to some basic valuation rules.

I wrote this article when my personal collection of silver coins started to build. Although there are a plethora of numismatic books covering all manner of specialty subjects I have yet to locate one that deals with the collection of all coins with a high silver content for pleasure and profit. Hopefully that imbalance is at now redressed.

For our definition average 'silver bullion dollars' consists of 1 troy ounce of pure (.999) silver. Unlike other coins, which may contain silver in part, the fact that these coins are, effectively, solid silver gives them a unique investment advantage. We can instantly obtain the base metal value of the coin simply by checking the world's spot silver price at any time on a website such as Kitco.com.

Silver bullion coins make a great investment and many have beautiful and unique designs. Some - such as the Australian Kookaburra - are also legal tender. Popular examples of recent silver bullion coins include the Somalian African Monkey, The Canadian Maple, The Mexican Libertad, The Australian Kookaburra, the Chinese Panda and the American Silver Dollar Eagle (and variants of all these, including special editions and collector's sets). The British Britannia bullion coin contains marginally less silver, at 95.8%.

Gold bullion coin collecting offers even greater opportunity for profit, and exactly the same principles apply.

The ownership of gold is proving a popular and lucrative investment proposition. With world currencies in a state of flux, gold is also seen as the perfect hedge against inflation. Whilst the prices of any precious metal can go down, a cursory glance over a gold chart will show an inexorable rise over the years. This trend is likely to continue, possibly even escalate due to the current currency weakness created by the global 'credit crunch'.

One option to obtain maximum exposure to gold value is to own an EFT (Exchange Traded Fund). One such vehicle which tracks the actual price of physical gold (as opposed to owning a gold mining stock, for instance) is PHAU. Many share dealers will allow you to trade this ETF which you can buy and sell online like any share. Check with the broker for terms and conditions.

In a nutshell it has never been easier (or more affordable) to own gold without having to have a kings ransom worth of bullion (and the associated security risks) lying around your house.

About The Author

Duncan Rosslair makes a living trading precious metals. For further free tips, free gold, and collecting strategies visit http://www.TheProspector.co.uk

Additional Numismatists Information

As a general rule, the more common a gold coin is, and the lower grade the coin is, the higher the profit margin (expressed as a percentage of the selling price) for the dealer must be. The reason for this is that low-grade, common coins are harder to sell. Another reason for this difference is dollar value. If a dealer buys a common date, heavily circulated 1940 Wheat Cent from you, he might pay you 2 cents for the coin and sell it for 5 cents, making a greater than 100% profit (but still only 3 cents!) But if he buys a key date, heavily circulated coin, such as a 1931-S Wheat Cent in Good (G-4 grade), he might be able to pay you $50 for it, even though he will make only a 20% profit when he sells it for $60. The difference here is that the 1931-S is likely to sell much faster than the 1940 Cent, plus the dollar value involved in measurable.
Buy gold coins.

An old practice to test whether a gold coin was counterfeit was to bite down on it. Since pure gold is relatively soft any base metals mixed with the gold to lessen its value will also harden the coin, and so make it harder to bite on. The majority of bullion counterfeits (of all types) are rare, and fairly easy to detect when comparing their weights, colors and sizes to authentic pieces. This is because the cost of reproducing any given coin precisely can easily exceed the market value of the originals.
Buy commemorative un gold coins in our store.

South Africa: Krugerrand gold coin. The very first gold bullion coins produced in sizes of exactly one ounce.
You can buy world gold bullion coins in our store.

One of the reasons there is such a disparity between what the average consumer expects, and what the coin dealer actually delivers when it comes to buying coins from the public is that coin dealers see vast amounts of common "junk." By "junk" I mean common date wheat pennies, circulated Buffalo Nickels and Mercury Dimes, worn Washington Quarters and circulated Franklin and Kennedy Halves. Coin dealers are offered so much of this type of material that many of them get tired of seeing it. They give such material the cursory once-over and offer low-ball prices for it based on long experience. Usually people have already pulled out the more valuable coins, leaving the "junk," (or at least the the dealer must assume so.)
Buy gold coins.

Buy the scarcest coin in the best condition that you can afford. Many collectible gold coins sell near the melt price of gold because there are more than enough around to cover demand. When gold increases or decreases in value, these coins will follow. But the higher the grade, the lower the population and demand will push up the price rather than just following the price of gold.
Buy gold coins.

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