Customer Reviews

Mercenary's Guide to the Rare Coin Market

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This is one of my favorite coin books on a number of different levels. First off because it is first hand knowledge and opinion from a coin expert with years of experience. The author makes no bones about the fact that his intention is to write a book that gives his audience the information it needs to go out and cherry pick coins that will greatly appreciate in value in a short period of time. He doesn't spend much time trying to teach one how to grade coins or spot ringers; that this infomation is already possessed by his reader is assumed. What he does instead is give cautionary advice on how to go about getting the best coins for the best prices available at the time without being cheated along the way. He also, and this is what makes me love this book, compiles lists of all the major type coins and series that he believes should be collected with an eye to profit and then breaks down the rarities and desirables within each niche and warns the reader off those he believes won't make good 'investments.' What gives his observations weight is that he is drawing on something like twenty years of his coin buying and selling experience and so can state with authority that he sees a certain coin once a year or once a month, etc. Equally as interesting to me is that he gives lists of then current prices (circa 1982), of course with the admonishment that the listed prices are only indicative of relative values and can change up or down with alacrity and for no apparent reason. Still, he uses past and then current pricing to demonstrate what a great investment coins have been and to bolster his view that there is a coming explosion in the price of gold. Why is this interesting? Why because the prices are, for the most part, so much higher than coin prices today (circa 2004), or at least little lower. Not everything, obviously, for in an ironic twist the ultrararities which he steers the reader away from are today, unbelievably more expensive today than they were then. This is not to disparage the author's views for, as he is quick to point out, nobody can foretell the future and he is only going on what he had seen to the point of his putting pen to paper. There is some really weird political stuff in the book that veers toward the fringe but fits with the author's expectations of the national economy and the price of gold and coins but the reader can skim over or ignore that stuff. Really, what this book is good for is to sober one up when he begins to delude himself into thinking that he's going to make millions in just a few short years after spending only thousands. It also gives him an excellent referential database upon which to base his coin buying decisions and finally, gives one an excellent perspective upon vagaries, fads and fetishes within the world of coin trading and investing. I think that anyone would do well buying this book, especially because there are presently many copies for very little money here on amazon.