coins for $150?

Maybe you can help. I would like to purchase 2 coins in the $150 ea. range for my two 5-year-old nephew’s birthdays. A coin that may, over the next 15 years, appreciate well. Any suggestions and where I might purchase them? Thanks.

On Friday, January 4, 2013 10:14:05 PM UTC-6, Anthony E wrote:
Maybe you can help. I would like to purchase 2 coins in the $150 ea. range for my two 5-year-old nephew’s birthdays. A coin that may, over the next 15 years, appreciate well. Any suggestions and where I might purchase them? Thanks.

If price appreciation is your goal, well - they're not numismatic (rather bullion) but one (or more) of the America the Beautiful 5 ounce silver "coins" could probably be obtained for about $170 or $175. Or perhaps you could buy 5 one ounce Silver Eagles (perhaps you could buy their birth year) or "brand name" silver rounds or small bars for $150 to $175.

Silver is the great great speculation of 2013 (and yes, I know very well that silver bugs have proclaimed the same thing every year since the 1970s). There appears to be a lot of obvious price suppression and negative manipulation in silver commodity markets. Just as Market Price supports lead to price collapse, Market Price supression usually leads to some EVENTUAL price explosion.

Now note this is all speculative - five years from now silver might be $7 per one troy ounce or it might be $175 per one troy ounce. The timing of these things are dicey (actually, I think the primary upwards direction of the silver price is easy enough to predict, but the timing of much higher prices is highly uncertain). But, IMHO, if you want the chance for a real home run on your gift, pick something that has a high amount of silver relative to the cost of the gift.

oly

My great-uncle was a deeply passionate silver bug, almost insane really, but he made three or four times on his junk silver money over thirty years or so (he died in 1998). His daughter spent it all within five years of his death.

Oly,

Thanks for the great suggestion. That is the type of information I looking for in this forum. I went to the us mint.gov site and they're $230 ea. A bit more than I'm able to spend. I really need to cap it at $350-400 for both coins. However, if there are no other postings on this I will probably go ahead and order the 2 ATB 5oz coins.

On Jan 5, 10:35*am, Anthony E wrote:
Oly,

Thanks for the great suggestion. That is the type of information I looking for in this forum. I went to the us mint.gov site and they're $230 ea. A bit more than I'm able to spend. I really need to cap it at $350-400 for both coins. However, if there are no other postings on this I will probably go ahead and order the 2 ATB 5oz coins.

Here's the deal - I really meant 2010 or some of the early 2011 dated
ATB five ounce "coins". These earlier issues have the highest
mintages and minimal premium at this time. On the secondary market,
we can get these in Springpatch for melt plus three or four dollars
per ounce. That's about how I backed into the $170 or so. However,
Springpatch is most unusual in all this, because this city has a
sizable coin dealer who is a U.S. Mint Primary Buyer for ASE.

However, if you do have to order from the Mint website, the newer five
ouncer pieces that you will obtain will likely have lower final
mintages, so that might be worth the extra money.

The last 2013 ATB five ouncer will show Mt. Rushmore "Under
Construction" and I am pretty certain that that one will be special -
I anticipate springing for that one myself.

And there are lots of other things available at the $150 price level,
some much more numismatic than my suggestion. I am just hot about
silver right now (which means that it will probably head straight
towards $20 per troy ounce - next week!!!).

oly

In article ,
Anthony E wrote:

Oly,

Thanks for the great suggestion. That is the type of information I looking
for in this forum. I went to the us mint.gov site and they're $230 ea. A bit
more than I'm able to spend. I really need to cap it at $350-400 for both
coins. However, if there are no other postings on this I will probably go
ahead and order the 2 ATB 5oz coins.

Anthony:

As Oly said, while the USMint is selling them for $230/ea, you can find
them in virtually every gold/silver shop in the country for about $2-3
over spot/ounce. Friday's closing spot price (its market value) was
$30.39/ounce. So for a 5-oz coin, you could expect to spend $162.

Silver's been hovering at $30/oz for about 3 weeks now, so it shouldn't
be much more than that next week.

You can also buy 5oz bars, too.

If you just want to see what happens in the silver market, 5oz of silver
in ANY form will be enough.

But, if you're buying COINS, especially US coins, there's also the
numismatic value to consider - ie: coins that are flawless (and are kept
as such, whether or not you get them graded by a firm like NGC or PCGS)
can have ADDITIVE value simply as good/perfect examples of a particular
coin. So a coin that you buy for its silver content at, say $35, could
be worth $50-60 the moment you possess it simply because of the
numismatic value.

To get this numismatic "plussing", you have to have a great exemplar
(one typically never touched by bare hands, probably never out of its
mint plastic container, etc). And, of course, any coin is only worth
what someone will actually pay for them. Hence why the US Mint is
charging a premium for the latest 5oz quarter replicas. They're selling
them as numismatic specimens, not just as hunks of silver.

You should feel very free to call the silver/gold dealers in your town
before going to one and simply asking them what their sale price over
spot is for silver. Find the dealer who has the lowest markup.

Good luck!

~J

Jeffrey,

In the event I don't find them locally can you recommend a reputable on-line dealer? Thanks.

In article ,
Anthony E wrote:

Jeffrey,

In the event I don't find them locally can you recommend a reputable on-line
dealer? Thanks.

Anthony:

There are several - but you pay a premium for buying online and you pay
a premium for the use of a credit card (most purchases are done in cash
- and since you're "buying" another form of money, paying 2-3% to a
credit card company isn't typical).

Here are a few (pick the state you like best):

http://www.apmex.com/Product/61837/2...ettysburg_Nati
onal_Military_Park_PA.aspx

http://www.apmex.com/Product/68005/2...enali_National
_Park_Alaska.aspx

http://www.apmex.com/Product/68002/2...awaii_Volcanoe
s_National_Park_Hawaii.aspx

http://www.apmex.com/Product/67997/2...cadia_National
_Park_Maine.aspx

http://www.apmex.com/Product/67994/2...haco_Culture_N
ational_Park_NM.aspx

http://www.apmex.com/Product/67056/2...l_Yunque_Natio
nal_Park_Puerto_Rico.aspx

or, there's even a graded one for not too much mo

http://www.apmex.com/Product/72197/2...l_Yunque_MS_69
_PL_ER_NGC.aspx

APMEX is well-known. Of course, do your own Google search to feel
secure, but as with any other purchase via credit card, there's a good
chance your credit card company covers the purchase just like any other,
which cuts your risk down.

Today's Silver price is pretty good (and has been down, relatively
speaking, for the last few weeks).

This is a very nice gift. Get a set of Air-Tite plastic capsules to
allow them to be "held" without getting fingerprints on them:

http://www.apmex.com/Product/60196/P..._5_oz_Silver_A
merica_the_Beautiful_Coins.aspx



~J

Jeffrey,

Good advice. Before I committed to purchasing online I went to a coin store about 2 miles from here. They had a bunch of the ATB 5oz coins. I bought 2 at $170 ea. The mint wanted $220 for the same coin.

I bought a couple capsules from Air-Tite and the gifts are complete. I may buy a couple a year for myself.

Thank you again.

In article ,
Anthony E wrote:

Jeffrey,

Good advice. Before I committed to purchasing online I went to a coin store
about 2 miles from here. They had a bunch of the ATB 5oz coins. I bought 2 at
$170 ea. The mint wanted $220 for the same coin.

I bought a couple capsules from Air-Tite and the gifts are complete. I may
buy a couple a year for myself.

Thank you again.

You're welcome! It sounds like you got a good price - they'll be great
gifts!

"Anthony E" wrote in message
...

Maybe you can help. I would like to purchase 2 coins in the $150 ea. range
for my two 5-year-old nephew’s birthdays. A coin that may, over the next 15
years, appreciate well. Any suggestions and where I might purchase them?
Thanks.
------

If it were only that easy. First you should decide what to purchase, then
decide where. Whatever two coins you do choose, they may hold their value
or may not. Some modern Mint-issued coins may retreat from their original
selling price or not even keep up with inflation. What is your expectation
by the coins appreciating "well"? Do you presume that your nephews will
sell them after 15 years? You realize that you're likely to pay retail
price for the coins and unless you're familiar with the hobby, you or the
kids will not receive the going retail price when they sell.

Most older key date coins will probably hold their value and likely
appreciate some over 15 years. How much appreciation is anybody's guess.
There are hundreds of types and dates in that category to choose from-- both
US and world coins. Uncirculated US Mint-issued silver bullion coins
should appreciate as well. But by focusing on only one coin in the $150
range for each nephew, you would eliminate say a group of 4 Silver American
Eagle 1oz (birth year maybe?) coins costing a total of about $150.

Others may post some better specific ideas of candidates. Personally
though, if I were in your position, I would try to pick something that each
kid might enjoy and NOT want to sell after 15 years, regardless of it's
worth at that time.