If you are considering buying silver as an investment, you are certainly not alone. For several years the economy has been shaky, and the current banking crisis is making people nervous. The stock market is always a bit of a roller coaster ride, uncomfortable for people who dislike uncertainty and risk. Like any other investment option, silver has advantages, but there are a number of things you should know before you buy. We will cover all of these in this blog. 

Reasons to Buy Silver as an Investment

First, why exactly is silver intrinsically valuable? Silver has a number of practical uses besides tableware or jewelry. Because silver is reflective and conducts both heat and electricity, it’s used to make electronics, solar panels, and medical equipment - all of which are in high demand and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. This means the price of silver is also likely to remain stable or increase over time. 

Previously we have discussed buying gold as part of your investment portfolio. Today we will talk about the benefits of buying platinum as an investment and how to purchase it. All precious metals have their advantages and disadvantages, but platinum is underrated as a precious metal - or at least overlooked when compared to gold (and silver). 

Buying Platinum as an Investment

Why should you buy platinum as an investment? There are several very good reasons. 

One of the questions coin dealers are frequently asked is: “How do you tell if a coin is real?” Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous people who will take advantage of inexperienced coin collectors, and counterfeiting is a real problem in this industry. In this blog we will give you some tips for determining if a coin is real or counterfeit. 

Ways to Determine If a Coin Is Real

In order to detect a fake, you must have a detailed description of a coin’s real specifications, including size, diameter, thickness, weight, and metal composition. You can find these specifications online. Our recommended websites would be NGC or PCGS.  Once you know what you’re looking for, you can determine if the coins match their specifications. 

For coin enthusiasts and our customers on the north end of Grand Rapids, we have very good news: Grand Rapids Coins has just opened a retail coin shop in Rockford, Michigan. We’d love for you to come out and browse our inventory of coins and currency. Our new Rockford location is at 2745 10 Mile Rd., Suite J. We are open on weekdays from 10 AM to 6 PM and on Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM. 

Our Mission and Commitment to You 

Grand Rapids Coins is in business to help coin owners and collectors realize a fair value when they buy and sell coins and currency. We buy U.S. coins, world coins, U.S. currency, full collections, bullion coins, and Mint and proof sets. We also buy gold and silver jewelry, other sterling, and antique collectibles.

Coin lovers know that collecting paper currency can also be enjoyable and rewarding. Currency is more fragile than metal coins are, of course, but they also preserve history. A period of time in American history that seems never to fully fade in the American imagination is the Civil War. During these four years American money changed because of the disruptions caused by the war. Some of this money is valuable, even very valuable. How much is Confederate currency worth?

The Story of Confederate Money

In 1861, when eleven southern states seceded from the Union, the Civil War began. The Confederacy was immediately confronted with several challenges. Its people were still trading in the coin of the enemy now invading them, and wars are very expensive. The economy of the South was agrarian. It had neither the infrastructure nor the manufacturing capacity of the North, and it still had to purchase military equipment and pay its bills. The Confederacy decided to print paper money as a fundraising strategy. 

At Grand Rapids Coins we love coins. We love helping people collect coins with numismatic value, and we also enjoy finding investment coins for our clients. In this business, much of the focus is on rare coins or gold or silver coins and bullion. However, we are also excited about platinum coins as an investment opportunity. Why platinum coins? Keep reading to learn why you may want to invest in platinum now. 

Platinum, a Rare Earth Metal 

Precious metal investors are drawn to platinum coins as well as platinum bars because platinum is a very rare substance. This silver-white metal, found deeper in the earth’s crust, is much rarer than gold or silver. It’s usually in short supply because the demand for this metal is high and only a few tons of platinum are mined every year. 

Who doesn’t like a good treasure hunt? Many favorite movies and books, including Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hobbit, and Romancing the Stone, are about finding lost treasure in unexpected places. Here at Grand Rapids Coins we also hear stories about hidden treasure - but these stories are real. Let’s talk about a few of our customers’ more interesting finds. 

Hidden Treasure in Expected Places

There are many news stories about coins hoards that people, often with a metal detector, find buried in an English field or in the basement of an old theater. Some coin finds help historians to date or place certain events, the details of which were previously unknown. While there have been some incredible finds of coins buried underground, nature isn’t really the best place for stashing something if you want it to remain in good condition. Water is quite corrosive to metal, especially over time. 

If there’s anything most customers want to avoid, it’s paying sales tax. That’s why buying online had such an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores for so long. Did you know that Grand Rapids Coins charges no sales tax on purchases of coins bought in Michigan? There is no sales tax at all on coins or bullion in Michigan so all transactions that we make with our customers - either sales or purchases - are tax free as long as they’re purchased in the state. 

Michigan’s Sales Tax Law 

Prior to 1999 Michigan did charge a sales tax on transactions of coins, and it meant that there were fewer coin dealers and almost $2 million dollars fewer coin sales per year. That’s because rare coins and precious metals bullion are largely fungible products. If a buyer couldn’t find the coins he wanted in Michigan or didn’t want to pay sales tax, with the exception of very rare coins, it was possible to buy a similar coin from a buyer in a state with no sales tax. Many people who live in states with a sales tax on coins, like Ohio, will now travel to states like Michigan in order to avoid paying taxes of 6-8% of the sale price. 

When someone requests an evaluation of his or her rare coins, it is usually for a specific reason – an insurance appraisal, a division of assets, or to learn the value for the purchase or sale of a collection. It’s important to understand the basics of how coin evaluations work to make sure you get a fair valuation and – if you’re planning to sell your coin collection – a fair price.

How do you choose a coin evaluator/appraiser?

Many people who live near a trusted and reputable coin dealer prefer to visit the dealer in person. It is best to arrange your meeting ahead of time so that neither of you is rushed. You’ll want to make sure the dealer handles the type of coins you have, and whether they may be interested in buying your coins.

Grand Rapids Coins operates our business by appointment only. We do this to ensure the safety and security of our customers. You may wonder why we do not operate a retail showroom or have hours in which we are open to the public. Let’s talk about the advantages of meeting by private appointment only. 

Meeting By Appointment Is More Secure

Could you imagine meeting your financial advisor, accountant, or banker to obtain a home mortgage in a room full of strangers hanging around you? Most of us have an expectation of privacy when it comes to our finances. In addition to being a fun hobby, coin collecting is also an investment. When it comes time to make a purchase or dispose of a collection, the last thing anyone wants is to feel rushed or uncomfortable.

When Minnesota governor signed H1A into law, it was great news for Minnesotans who want to invest in bullion. This is because the bill contained a sales-tax exemption on precious-metals bullion, ushering Minnesota into a group of 35 states that have a full or partial sales and use tax exemption on precious-metals bullion and coins.  

While it may seem against Minnesota’s best interest to collect less in revenues from businesses selling bullion, studies done in other states show that the sales tax revenues from other sources are increased by these kinds of exemptions. Because some states do not charge sales tax, buyers from other states will purchase bullion or collectible coins in those states rather than pay taxes in their own state. This is terrible for local coin dealers in states that border states with exemptions, as was previously the case with Minnesota. The competitive disadvantage for them translates into fewer sales, fewer employees, and less money in payroll and income taxes collected.

People who have grown up using a universal United States currency are often surprised to learn how diverse historical American coinage and currency is. Local and state banks issued their own money, backed by reserve currency, and did business for hundreds of years this way. It wasn’t until 1863 that President Lincoln signed the National Bank Act into law. This created the United States National Banking System, a prototype of what we use today:

“The National Banking Act (ch. 58, 12 Stat. 665; February 25, 1863), originally known as the National Currency Act, and was passed in the Senate by a narrow 23–21 vote. The main goal of this act was to create a single national currency and to eradicate the problem of notes from multiple banks circulating all at once. The Act established national banks that could issue notes which were backed by the United States Treasury and printed by the government itself. The quantity of notes that a bank was allowed to issue was proportional to the bank's level of capital deposited with the Comptroller of the Currency at the Treasury. To further control the currency, the Act taxed notes issued by state and local banks, essentially pushing non-federally issued paper out of circulation.”

As a Grand Rapids coin dealer, we at Mullen Coins have an especially strong interest in the detection of counterfeit and altered coins. In point of fact, anyone who deals with rare coins will develop a basic understanding of how to detect counterfeits, whether out of interest or necessity. If you are considering purchasing a rare date coin, or if you are looking to sell your coins, you may need to pay special attention to authenticity.

I urge you to occasionally sell some of your coins—you will become a wiser, more educated collector. [You may also avoid unpleasant surprises when you do decide to sell some or all of your collection.]

Learn from my own story…I started collecting coins as a child.  Like most new collectors, my method was a trip to the bank to get rolls of Lincoln cents to search for better dates to put in my Whitman blue book.   It was a really fun treasure hunt.  I was buying valuable coins at face value!  But I did not sell any.

When it comes to rare coins Grand Rapids (as well as other places across the country) Mullen Coins has many collectors who specialize in early American commemoratives. Indeed, commemoratives have been popular with collectors and history buffs ever since their inception, as we describe in our recent post about “Why Collectors Enjoy Commemoratives.” As an example of what makes commemoratives an interesting specialty, we can take the mystery of the 1922 Grant with Star commemorative silver half.

As the story goes, the Grant commemorative was originally requested by the Ulysses S. Grant Centenary Memorial Association, with the idea of raising funds to erect monuments and coordinate special observances in Ohio for the 100^th anniversary of Grant’s birth. Originally, a bill was approved by Congress in 1922 to mint 10,000 gold dollars and up to 250,000 silver half dollars.

Would you love to own a treasure chest? Filled with coins and other treasures?

For Christmas, two of my Grand Rapids clients displayed a true creative streak! They gifted each of their four adult children with a full treasure chest--loaded with his divided coin collection and other little beads and chocolate gold coins. You could pull this idea off for Valentine’s Day or other celebration.

Depending on how you become interested in coin collecting, and where your interest leads you, you may someday find yourself talking to a Grand Rapids coin dealer about U.S. commemoratives. For those not familiar with the term, commemorative coins in the United States are issued to honor people, events, institutions, or places. Commemoratives have developed into a separate class of coins, intended as collector’s items or as an economic investment. They can be either circulating or non-circulating.

• Circulating: Technically, there are a few examples of circulating commemoratives that are intended to be used for commerce, and the U.S. Bicentennial Quarter (1975-1976) and the 50 State Quarter (1999-2009) programs serve as prime examples. For these programs, the designs were only issued for a limited time, and were intended to draw some attention to a specific event or person.
• Non-circulating: In most cases, commemoratives are non-circulating legal tender (NCLT), and are often produced in gold or silver.  The funds raised by the sale of commemoratives have been used to pay for monuments or fund a specific project, as an alternative to raising taxes. For example, the 1925 California Diamond Jubilee half dollar was issued to help fund the state’s celebration, and the famous 1893 Isabella Quarter was issued to help raise funds for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

One question I am sometimes asked (by people who know that I am a Grand Rapids coin dealer) is, “What are the trends in rare coin values?”

In general, over long periods of time, rare coin values tend to increase.  This has certainly been the case for rare coins over the past two years… but the key word is “rare.”   When a coin’s value is largely determined by rarity (along with condition and desirability) vs. bullion content, values tend to rise over time.  However, when a coin’s value is largely tied to the spot price of silver and gold, its value will rise and fall with the value of the metal.  Gold and silver prices have declined in the past two years; hence, bullion coin values have also declined.  

Whether you’re an avid rare coin collector or a Grand Rapids coin dealer, insuring your coin collection can be one of the best ways to protect your investment and give you peace of mind. With an annual cost that is often around 1% of the value of your collection, it may be worth considering for any collector. For professional collectors and dealers, the cost is even a deductible expense. 

Many beginning collectors assume that their homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy covers their rare coin collection. It’s true that some homeowners’ policies will cover small coin theft, but many policies have exclusion clauses. Read your insurance policy carefully to find out what it does and doesn’t cover.

For most people, an inherited rare coin collection is a part of a larger estate, which may also include property, IRAs, investment assets, cars, or land. Since the coin collection is usually a smaller part of the inheritance, the inheritors often would like to liquidate the collection. As a Grand Rapids coin dealer, we have had many opportunities to assist with estate coin collections, and can offer few suggestions for how to proceed (although please understand that I am not an estate attorney):

1. Resist any temptation to clean the coins. Again, do not clean the coins, because much of the value of coins is their “original” condition. You will devalue the coins if you clean them.
2. Look for any written directives about how to divide the collection, or documentation of the collection. If everyone involved decides to sell the collection and share the proceeds, in most cases it’s necessary to determine the value of the collection as a part of the total estate.
3. Get a general sense of the value of the collection. In the absence of an inventory, you can do a little sorting and value estimation on your own, with the help of coin books and websites, depending on the time and interest you have. For non-experts, the main issue with selling an estate coin collection is to determine whether you have a collection or an accumulation. An accumulation may be either pocket change, or a group of coins that interested the owner but has no real numismatic value. It can be helpful if you can find some indication of where the coins were originally purchased and what was paid. This information could come from an inventory, or original flips (the old coin holders), or receipts and notes.
4. Seek the help of a reputable coin dealer for a valuation of the collection.   Check to see if dealer is a member of the local Better Business Bureau, the local Chamber of Commerce, and state and national coin organizations such as the American Numismatic Association.   If you would like to work with a Grand Rapids coin dealer, contact Mullen Coins for a free coin valuation.
5. Decide whether you’d like to keep any part of the rare coin collections as a memento. How do you decide which coin(s) are representative of the collection? You can always choose a rare coin that has most interested you over the years, or one that you know was the collector’s favorite. If you’re not sure which coin reflects the collection, you can always ask when you have the collection evaluated. One of the things we find most fascinating at Mullen Coins, when evaluating a coin collection, is that we get a real sense of the interests and workings of the collector.
6. Sell the collection. The way you sell your coins most profitably will depend on their value. Several of the avenues for selling your coins follow: