Hi, I’m
Tom Pilitowski, coin dealer and owner of US
Rare Coin Investments. I have been in what
is known as the retail end of the coin business
for many years. What that means is that I
deal directly with the public. In the 30 or
so years I have been engaged fulltime in the
coin business with positions ranging from
buying scrap precious metals and coins from
dealers and precious metals buyers in NJ in
the late 70’s, sole proprietor of small
shop on main street in Belmar NJ scratching
to make a living in 81 to a top producer at
the world’s largest rare coin firms
then on to building a successful open to the
public business in 1991. Probably 75% of that
time has been spent dealing directly with
the public. Whether they are collectors, investors.
or those who consider themselves a combination
of both, these are the people who make up
the largest part of my business. I couldn’t
imagine being in the coin business wearing
any other hat.
Over the years
what became apparent to me was what I considered
the relatively small percentage of collectors/investors/
that seemed to have any real plan as to what
they were doing with coins and seemed to be
sort of wandering all over the place without
any real set plans or direction. Now this
is to be expected somewhat in the beginning
but at some point it’s a good idea to
follow a plan or strategy which includes having
at least a basic idea of what that plan is
going to eventually cost, the approximate
time for acquisition (or liquidation but that’s
for another time) and the sooner the collector
or investor has that understanding the better
in my opinion. I don’t think you can
have too much information.
For years,
I also have maintained and expanded a very
large website with millions of dollars in
ever changing and diverse inventory of some
of the best coins in the world while also
supplying a considerable amount of information
including one of the most targeted and informative
archives in the business. I’ve met many
nice people via this website who I may have
never met via more conventional ways and I’ve
helped assemble collections ranging from a
few single coins to multi million dollars
collections of proof gold, early and better
date coins of all kinds and I’be been
called upon to help liquidate millions of
dollars in rare coins ranging from single
gold coins to million dollar collections of
US gold.
Something
that I never understood was how people could
spend huge amounts of money, sometime big
percentages of their retirement capital on
coins and fail to ever develop a clear, concise,
cohesive strategy or plan for buying or selling
rare coins. I take great pride in working
with those people in developing a direction
and sound footing with something they can
see the completion of and enjoy the benefits
of owning. I have also helped many collectors,
as well as investors develop a plan even helping
one of the more famous ones think about a
pedigree for his collection which has become
quite important numismatically speaking. One
doesn’t need to put a complete set of
US Quarter Eagles from 1796 – 1929 to
have fun or put away for the future and it
may even be somewhat counterproductive for
a new collector or investor to take on anything
so complex until he’s gained some experience
and is working with a specialist or two. There’s
a multitude of mini sets or mini missions
undertaken that can be assembled that are
fun and exciting and can range from the affordable
to quite exotic and expensive and everything
in between and can help quench the thirst
for history, adventure, art, commerce, trade,
finance and all the things that numismatics
is about.
A story I
was told long ago regards to finance and saving,
right from a man of the cloth’s mouth.
Fill the Barrel and Live off the overflow.
Wise words of sound advice for long term retirement
planning. One can look similarly to their
coin collections or nest egg of gold and silver
coins. Strive to get the better coins, the
rarities, the tougher to aquire coins of the
series first, and then the commons. Once you’ve
got the hard part down the rest is easy. Think
of it as filling the barrel.
Planning
can also help with intelligently timing the
purchases of coins for financial gains and
these coins aren’t always rare but scarce
with something else going in the coins favor….history.
.In recent years for example we’ve witnessed
price increases for those common 1861 double
eagles which have been quite significant and
far above and beyond the price of gold. Collectors
who purchased these coins in the past few
years have seen rather nice returns on their
investments while having fun too. Interestingly
at the same time there has been a steady flow
of people acquiring these coins, assembling
1861 Gold sets which are are a pretty neat
set of American Civil War gold coins to own
and in the midst of the 150th anniversary
of the Civil War. CAC’d specimens of
this common date double eagle are not so common
with only 98 specimens being approved by CAC
as of 12/2013 out of thousands graded.A CAC’d
specimen of this first year Civil War gold
seems like a fun coin to own .Some ideas for
smaller affordable sets could be mint state
indian quarter and half eagle sets, a single
specimen or example of the type I, II, and
III Double Eagles purchasing high grade and/or
better date examples for each specimen, type
sets of all kinds from early gold and civil
war to Proof gold in singles type sets and
collections. There are multitudes of ways
to enjoy both the collecting and investing
aspects of coins and planning and developing
a plan are just the beginning.
With CAC we
are witnessing huge differences of opinion
in populations of solid for the grade coins.
While there will always be disagreements of
some kind, one thing we are in agreement with
is the overall consistentcy of CAC’d
quality coins and it shows in the premiums
paid for many of these coins which can run
into the double digits. In the cases of early
coins CAC’d specimens account for only
10% or less of the populations of the 2 major
grading services. Some of these differences
particularly in the realm of early coins have
been well known to early coin specialists
for a long time and the fact that CAC is uncovering
these facts is surely great news for the buyer
of real quality. While surely these numbers
will change in the future they are telling
for the present and good planning for the
future will include these coins in a sound
collection or diversification in an investment
portfolio. David Hall developed the famous
”Box of Twenty” and certainly
this could be a fun and challenging investment,
a Box of Twenty CAC’d coins. Now that
could be a good investment too!
In conclusion,
develop a plan of action and stick to it.
Find and work with a dealer who has extensive
experience with the types of coins that interest
you. Educate yourself with the investment
of information. There’s a whole world
wide web out there to be explored, great books
that include specialized references for just
about any series of coin that interests you,
and there are great book dealers and other
great numismatic reference sources. There’s
auction prices realized and various price
lists to use in pricing coins. In short there
are plenty of good reasons for you to have
a sound plan of action which can lead to more
than just returns on investment over the years
ahead.
Numismatically
Yours, Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
There’s no better time
that right now to get started on a plan of
your own if you don’t already have a
solid foundation for either your coin collection
or portfolio.
Tom has worked
with many Collectors and Investors over the
years in forming plans resulting in real profitably
if you’re the investor, and the successful
acquisition of true quality for the collector
and connoisseur of rarity.
With the world
largest coin show only a month away, with
tens of thousands of coin collectors descending
on the Florida United Numismatic convention,
we will have an excellent opportunity to sell
some of your coins, or acquire some as we
literally cherry pick thru millions of dollars
in rare coins sometimes in pursuit of only
one special rarity that meets our criteria
for acquisition.
Tom will be
at the show personally doing that cherry picking
so please email or call us now so we can coordinate
our efforts to your best advantage.
Lastly, with
government out of control spending and debts
continue, 2013 could be one of the best years
ever in numismatics. Are you prepared?
