Why You Need To Buy and Sell Gold Coins (Part 4)

Top Investment Performance

Throughout history, many coin collections have produced substantial long-term profits for their owners. This is particularly true for coin collectors of this century. Indeed, Harold Bareford reportedly purchased a collection of U.S. gold coins for $13,832 in the early 1950s which was resold at auction in 1978 for $1.2 million. A more substantial collector, Louis Eliasberg, built a collection that cost about $300,000. In 1982, it brought $12.4 million at auction.

This investment performance has been well documented by sources as diverse as The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports and a host of industry periodicals and guidesheets. What these reports have shown is that carefully selected portfolios of rare coins have had a high rate of long-term appreciation.

Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future results and investments in rare coins do involve risk. While the market performance of different coins varies substantially and no representation can be made that an individual investor's portfolio will enjoy results similar to those that have been documented in the various independent reports and surveys, those reports and surveys illustrate the impressive returns that carefully selected rare U.S. coins can produce.

Tax Benefits

Capital gains on coins can only be taxed at liquidation, when the profits are actually realized. There is no taxation on phantom or undistributed profits as there are with some investments. And unlike most other investments, there is no federal income tax liability on so-called "wash sales" or like-kind exchanges which enable investors to trade their rare coins for other rare coins of equal or greater value

Intrinsic Value

Unlike paper investments, rare U.S. coins have real tangible value you can feel each time you hold one in your hand. Therefore, they offer two ways to build wealth. Carefully selected coins truly offer the best of bullion and numismatics in one investment. They contain the intrinsic security of bullion and can also offer extraordinary profit potential regardless of what precious metal spot prices do. Still, precious metal content is only a relatively small factor in determining the value of many rare U.S. coins whose value is almost solely based on condition, demand and rarity

Historically Significant Beauty

Rare U.S. co