It will take a few hours to read this text, and it will take several hundred dollars to build a basic numismatic library, to subscribe to numismatic periodicals, and to gain additional information. Knowledge is king, and the more you learn, the more enjoyment and profit you will realize. This fact is immutable. Anyone who tells you that you do not have to learn about coins wants to keep you uninformed so he can either sell you common coins or charge high prices or both. An investment of two or three hours of your time each week will make you a knowledgeable coin buyer, and within a year or two you will know more than 90% of the people in the field! I have seen it happen. You can become an astute buyer if you try.
Since the first edition of A Buyer's Guide to the Rare Coin Market, which is the text upon which this guide is based, was published in 1990, I have received quite a few letters from readers, several of whom have said that the advice in these pages is the best they have ever encountered. One reader told me that he had been in numismatics since the 1960s, and if this text had been published 30 years ago it would have saved him tens of thousands of dollars in buying errors!
Today's collector-investor has many exciting opportunities, probably more than anyone has had in the past quarter century. These include the following:
- You can buy rare coins for reasonable prices: In some series the opportunity exists to acquire many scarce and rare coins for little more than the price of common coins. This is because many buyers make purchases strictly for investment purposes and are satisfied with common coins. As they do not seek rarities, coins which are hard to find are often priced for less than they should be. Most buyers are not connoisseurs, which means that there are many opportunities for buyers who are. I am reminded of a French restaurant which priced a rather average quality wine at a high price, and bottles from a select vintage at a lower level. "My patrons who don't know any better will buy the average quality wine, and those who are connoisseurs will have the chance to buy the superb vintage wine for a very reasonable price," the owner told a magazine reporter. Market conditions in 1992 favor the buyer, in that many popular series are trading for sharp discounts from their levels at the height of the market in 1988-9. For some areas of numismatics, $1,000 or $1,250 will buy what would have cost $2,000 or more three years ago! I have always believed in market cycles (and wrote about them extensively in my High Profits From Rare Coin Investment Book), and have always felt that the best time to buy is when the market is quiet. Of course, it takes a degree of courage to do this. However, this is how the insiders make most of their money.
PCGS Coin Guide Table Of Contents
