Are coins a good investment?
November 18, 2010 by
Filed under Silver Investment FAQ
Im only 17 and have very little capital. Only about a thousand dollars, not enough to enter the stock market seriously or buy gold. So, would old coins be a solid investment for me? Morgan silver dollars ect.? Im not looking to get huge returns or anything, just to get a portion of my savings in something besides american dollars.
In the past some coins have been reasonably good investments. Not a lot of them though. Ebay has sort of leveled the playing field when it comes to buying and selling. Unfortunately, some of the coins that have been the best investments are out of your price range–1909 svdb penny, 1877 penny, 1932 d quarter, 1923 s quarter. Some Morgan dollars have been good. Others are worth just a little more than the price of silver. My favorite coins, the Indian head nickles are reasonably priced in uncirulated condition still. Back in the mid 1970s you could buy a common date for about $6.00. Today they will cost you about $35. 6x increase in about 35 years. I will tell you that I think you would be far better off buying stock in a mutual fund. I think over 35 years you actually have a chance to obtain about a 15x increase. That is 2.5 times better. You will need to have one of your parents open the account for you since your are under 18. Two mutual funds that have a good track record and are within your price range are Amana Trust Income and Amana Trust Growth. You can buy either through an on line broker without a fee for the purchase, I believe. You can set up an account at Scottrade, TD Ameritrade, or Fidelity and they will handle your purchase. I am not sure what the minimum is for opening an account with each but I believe with either Scottrade or Ameritrade you would satisfy the minimum. I think you would be rewarded much better taking this route.