Last week, I did something unexpected. I bought some coins. And I am not talking about bitcoins or other cryptocurrency. I actually bought some physical coins that were issued by Bank of Lithuania. It’s a set of 4 coins (3 silver and 1 golden) with nominal value of €5, €10, €20 and €50 and each of them is dedicated to something:
In total, I spent €544 to purchase the coins. The mintage of the coins is 4000 pcs each so once all of them are bought, no new ones will be released. Usually I am not that interested in numismatic investments but this one caught my eye. The coins look interesting and I like what they represent. The 100th Anniversary of the Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence is quite a big event here and I am hoping that the value of the coins will grow in the future.
This is how they look like in real life:
I had a discussion with a guy who is collecting all Lithuanian coins, starting from ~year 1991. He thinks that the coins I purchased should start increasing in value after ~5 years. I will see how good his predictions are after a few years. Hopefully, I will still be running this blog and will have a chance to look back at this prediction 😀
Even if this turns out not to be a successful investment, I will gain some experience from it. I always had doubts about investments that have more of a sentimental value. In case I want to sell them, I will see how hard it is to find a buyer for such an asset. It is very different to my usual investments in stocks which you can sell anytime you want as there will always be some buyers. I imagine that it will be a different situation here.
What do you think about this purchase? Have you ever thought about investing/invested to numismatics? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
Interesting buy! I do however have some reservations regarding the sentimental side of this.
Why not buy standard silver or gold pieces? Or can these also be classified as such…
Hi Mr.Robot,
Thanks for your opinion! Well, they are actually made of high quality silver (Ag 925) and gold (Au 999). I think the potential for coins is bigger in the long run, but as I mentioned I have no experience in this field so I will only be able to tell for sure after a few years 🙂
-BI
I do collect coins. This is more of a passion and less of investment. On occasions I have been tempted to buy collectibles … but stayed away. Like you mentioned stocks tend to be more liquid and they pay dividends!
Hi DividendGeek,
Good point, maybe I should also not consider it as an investment but more as a start of a collection… I was always sceptical about the fact that they don’t generate a steady cash income, so I also prefer stocks investments.
-BI
Hi, I also have some coins issued by the Central Bank of Ireland for the 100 year anniversary, and like you will hold them for future growth
Best of luck
Bigbren
HI Bigbren,
Nice to hear that! When was the anniversary for Ireland? 🙂
-BI
2016, more than likely will pass them on to my daughters in years to come !
Those look quite nice, BI. I have some coins that I’ve purchased from the U.S. Mint over the years. They were not purchased as an investment, but just as a small “nice to have”. If it turns out that they become more valuable over time, then that’s great, but I won’t be disappointed if they only hold their value (or even decrease), as I’ll still have them for my viewing pleasure, which was the intent all along.
Thanks ED!
I guess I should have the same attitude. It definitely looks nice to look at when walking by them at home 😀