Numismatics is a field that has always fascinated me. I'm a big history buff, and coins tell many tales about the history of their owners. I even considered getting into the numismatic racket for awhile, but it was such a sleazy business for so many years that I never pulled the trigger. That's not to say it's a sleazy business in general, but it does seem to attract a lot of disreputable dealers.
Be that as it may, one Orlando man is sitting pretty after selling his uncirculated 1793 "Chain Cent" this past weekend for $1.38 million. According to reports, the coin is in perfect condition after more than 230 years. The sale set a record for the highest amount ever paid for a U.S. copper coin.
Numismatics has exploded in popularity as an investment vehicle over the past couple years as the price of gold and silver has skyrocketed. Many coin dealers do a brisk business today just selling bags of random silver coins by weight. And we all know about Kyle Bass buying a truckload of nickels because the base metals in them are worth 7 cents.
I collected coins as a kid starting with this very album. Kinda funny to see that it's still available, and probably for roughly the same cost I paid for it back in 1975. It might be a fun thing to get my kids started on if we ever get back to the States. Come to think of it, maybe I should get them collecting Euro coins because they probably won't be around much longer.
My dad collected Kennedy half-dollars until the day he died and he left me hundreds of them. You never know how many big money coins have passed through your fingers over the course of your life. Apparently there are hundreds of 1793 Chain Cents still floating around.
Do any of you guys collect coins? Or have you been buying them for the silver (or gold) content over the past couple years?
Thats crazy, my father has been collecting coins since I was a boy as well.
A penny saved is $1.38 million earned.
Over this past summer I was gutting houses (Summer Internship?) and stumbled upon a briefcase full of silver coins and old rare notes. It was all Buffalo Nickels and some other coins, but they were all silver, and there were so many that I ended up walking away with four grand.
I didn't really think to keep them and start a collection, I wanted to see if they were even worth anything beyond face value. Once the guy started adding it all up I decided to take the money haha. I bought a couple of other coins for cheap because they were cool - an early 1900s NYC subway token and some coins from the 1800s from Italy.
The notes kind of pissed me off. There was a special edition 1967 5 dollar bill printed in red with different seals that was printed the day of Kennedy's assassination, and a "chinese gold unit" from 1947 that the Chinese govt gave to American soldiers for shooting down Flying Tigers, or some shit like that. I was told they could have been worth alot of money, but they were not in good condition, and were therefor worth nothing, Now I keep them in my wallet for luck,.
The moral of the story? Work hard and network hard so you aren't gutting houses over the summer when you should be doing a crucial internship...
I have a complete set of Washington quarters starting in 1932 (yes, including 1932-S and 1932-D)...also have a couple pounds of gold coins and over 30 pounds of silver coins, but just for the melt value. I also collected all the state quarters, both Philly and Denver...no real value, just interesting to look at.
My grandfather was a master collector before he passed, and he left me with a decent collection. I pretty much keep them for the metal value now. I think some of the most interesting coins are those made during wartime or other periods of strife and a new/unique way of coining is needed.
The last coins I've bought are a few of the state quarter proof sets (nice to look at) and 1oz golden eagles.
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