Currencies are as strong as the consumer mentality. When crisis happens, we all talk about savings, which slows down the money-current, and when this current weakens, the currency weakens accordingly. Once a critical mass of people get into saving mode, the economy starts spiraling down. This is why in financial crisis governments spur huge infrastructure investments (think Hooever Dam during the Great Recession) so that it improves the cashflow.
So, when it comes to financial security and prosperity, it’s time to think outside the box.
Financial volatility is a result of tons of societal problems: lack of personal integrity of people in power, lack of work ethics in the financial sector, ambivalence of the voting body (you and me) to push for a real change… and so on. We can go on for days listing culprits. However, we’re not interested in making a global change. We’re interested in making a difference in our lives, and the lives of our loved ones.
We’re here to think of a way to first establish a certain financial security, and NO, I don’t mean having a big number of dollars/euros/pounds in your bank account. Remember, the real value of that number is directly tied to how strong the economy is. I’m talking about a security that is secure from market fluctuations.
Let’s walk through a story if you will. Imagine for a moment that an Egyptian official from the days of the pharaohs somehow he gets a hold of a time machine. Pharoh tells him, take a bag of barley, a bag of small sculptures, and a bag of gold, and go throughout history to see what makes sense as a payment system. In the first 3000 years, the servant finds out that the bag of barley can save a life at times of famine, the bag of gold can almost always get you killed, but the bag of small sculptures suddenly gets a spike in value after people discover the benefits of steam engines.
What does this mean in our terms? Well, it means that wealth is defined by the collectible value of your possessions. If you had a statue from the times of the pharaohs, you’d probably be sitting on a multi-million dollar item. But chances are slim we’d ever find such an item outside museum vaults. So, let’s see what collectibles we can get today, and see how they rank.
Old electronic devices: not too expensive, easy to store, but if they break it’s close to impossible to repair. And if they aren’t at least 60 years old, don’t bother. It’s not antique, it’s junk.
Old furniture: very valuable, but they demand plenty of storing space, and they’re expensive to keep in top shape. Once out of shape, these collectibles don’t really hold much intrinsic value.
Old vehicles: very valuable, not as demanding as furniture, but you need skilled people for maintenance. They do have intrinsic value however, even as spare parts for other vehicles.
Old stamps: the older they are the more valuable they become, you can stack them up by the thousands, but you’d have to be careful not to get them wet, or burn them. No intrinsic value.
Old coins: no maintenence, you can stack them up by the thousands in a drawer, the older they get the more value they have as collectables. Better yet, if they’re gold or silver, they always have the intrinsic value equal to their weight.
Again, we can go on for days listing collectible items, but my point is the following:
From all the collectible items out there, silver and gold coins are the best way to create a secure, yet increasing wealth for yourself, or for your children.
If you’re interested in building up a safe and increasing wealth as a retirement plan, or want to create an education fund for your children, you should seriously consider gold and silver coin collections.
The ideal way to build a valuable gold or silver coin collection is to do it intentionally, each month, for years.
I started out with my coins collection and I make a purchase of a collectible coin each month. It’s roughly a $100 monthly investment, but over say 20 years, I make a dollar-equivalent investment of $24.000, but the collection value of the coins are easily twice as much. It is extremely important to make your purchases from serious suppliers as there are tons (literally) fake gold and silver coins. I’ve done plenty of checking before I started working with my supplier, and once I bought the coins, I had them tested to double-check. All my coins are certified for validity, but I just had to test it myself. I didn’t want to spend years investing into a collection that would turn out fake when I’d need the money for my daughter’s education.
People aren’t doing this because we’ve been trained from cradle to demand instant gratification. Think about it: McDonalds serves you in less than a minute, entire industries sprang up around expedited delivery (DHL, UPS, TNT, to name a few). While the majority of people are being misled into thinking that quick turnover is the way to go, the rich and powerful invest in real estate or invest millions into collectible goods like exotic cars, watches, jewelry… and coin collections stacked in family vaults. They drive their cars, wear their watches and jewelry, but keep their bullion gold and silver coins far from the sight of “the masses”.
If you’re interested in starting your coin collection, feel free to contact me and I’ll share some more info with you. The way I have my setup is to get a coin delivered at my doorstep each month, so I’ve secured my collection from my forgetfulness.
