Are Gold And Silver Coins A Scam Or One Of The Best Home Businesses?
A new home business has shown up involving gold and silver coins. This business is known as Numismatics (new miss MA ticks) and was once the hobby of kings and the very wealthy. A specialist in this field is known as a Numismatist (new MIZ ma tist). Home businesses range from buying low and selling high to network marketing top-graded gold and silver collectible coins.
What is the value of gold and silver coins? Everywhere you look these days there are signs and ads for buying gold and silver. Some say it is a sign of a shaky world economy. Some say it is simply due to the value of gold and silver being on a constant rise over a long period of time. To an entrepreneur, it is enticing. However, if you do not know the value of the gold and silver you have, you could lose money rather than gain.
People who make a home business from gold and silver coins need to know the difference between the value of the metal and the value of a coin. Art value, limited editions, uniqueness, etc., all increase the value over the mere weight of the silver and gold. Otherwise, the gold or silver buyer is gambling that the price of the metal alone will rise.
With coins, one type of coin can have three or more values. The American Eagle silver dollar is a great example of how this can be. A cashier will only see a dollar, a silver dealer will see $18 worth of silver. If you have it graded by a reputable company such as ANACS and it is graded MS70 and encapsulated, the value is $125. How can knowing this help the consumer?
The difference in value is so much that one concerned eBay member issued a warning (see report) http://reviews.ebay.com/The-best-coin-graders-NGC-ANACS-and-the-worst_W0QQugidZ10000000003785971 and provided a review of reputable grading companies, naming the two best as NGC and ANACS. Should this article no longer be available, it said, in summary that “slab” coins do not have the same value as collector’s coins.
Bullion coins are often sold in rolls straight from the mint. They are known as “slab” or “mint” coins. Some sellers will tell you that this ensures they have never been touched. They arrive in a stiff clear plastic but are not graded. The cost is usually just above the current value in silver. You need an expert to determine the value of the coin and still it will need to be encapsulated. If there are any MS70 coins in there, you got a good deal. Even “straight off the press,” coins may not be MS70 or even MS69.
The value of the coins change with passing years as well as grading. There can also be a huge difference in the value between MS69 and MS70. There are many factors such as how popular the artist is who designed the coin, the coin’s rarity, or even just one person’s desire to have it to complete a collection.
A home business in Numismatics is very lucrative but you do need to learn about the above so you do not get ripped off. There are counterfeits out there. Knowledge is power and this subject is not well known. It is not hard to learn what to buy and where but learning it is vital.
For example, take the 2010 American Eagle silver dollar. If you did some research on the internet, you would find that a roll of these silver dollars sells for around $460 which is about $23 a coin. The same coin, certified (graded), would sell at about $30 if it is MS69 and $125 if it is MS70. Here is a dealer site to check: http://www.austincoins.com. Obviously the MS70 is valued more as a collector’s item.
Supply and demand plays the biggest part in dealing with collector items. You may have an antique that is very special but needs to be restored. In that case, it may not have the aesthetic appeal to sell. Restored and valued by an antique dealer, you can get a much better price. What you want in a coin is graded and encapsulated by a reputable company. See the illustration at http://www.cherylcurrie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/American-Liberty.jpg).
Another question is whether there is a guarantee that your MS70 coin is going to increase in value over time. Numismatics is NOT an investment activity. The only way to estimate the increase in value of these coins is to look to the past.
To see the change in value over time for a coin, you have to look at the past and see how much a coin from five years ago sold for in the present. You get this information from auctioneers such as the ones shown in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QKoU0q6Jvk, or eBay or on individual sites. Here is an example of such a report: http://www.cherylcurrie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Numis-What-It-Sells-For-Now.jpg
Basically, if you know what coins are valuable, you will not get ripped off and could even build your own lucrative home business with numismatics gold and silver coin collecting.
Find the best deal on gold and silver coins, then get the best advice on home business for a prosperous at-home business.
