platinum eagles.. is now a good time?

[McKinley-migration]

so i'm thinking about putting a little cash into platinum.. i like the eagles, i may even take the proof route for an added premium. it seems like the $1000/oz is just around the corner.. but what do you think the 'long' term (1-5 years) outlook is? any predictions.. can anyone see the future

 

who's into the eh, "bling"

[michael]

well i do not know but it is a possible plan for you

 

i hope you make a good choice for yourself and it works out well for you!!

 

myself if it was me advising you i would suggest

 

a really nice original ms65 gem 1879 one dollar gold piece with great eye appeal and a strong ms65 coin to boot now with 1879 being my frist choice as it is low mintage then i would do any date after 1879 1880-89 early 1880's would be the second choice

 

another coin would be a really choice xf 45 or choice au55 58 three dollar gold and a slightly better date in other words no 1854 74 78 any other dates would be great but the coin has to have great eye appeal and nice sweet surfaces if not totally original then just lightly soap and watered now a cool civil war or pre civil war dates like 1860-1865 would be great!!!!!!! also any of the really low mintage early to middle 1880's dates would be cool

 

also for larger stomachs a nice piece of proof gold nicely cameoed either the rarest gold demon. in proof the ten dollar liberty a nice proof 64

or a piece of proof civil war gold 1861-65

or a piece of pre civil war proof gold!!!

and do not forget a super piece of proof three dollar gold any date!! a little better date say the 1889 would also be a better value play ++

 

or a really nice hi end two color totally original common date ms 65 saint BUT IT HAS TO BE REALLY HI END MS65 AND WITH FANTASTIC EYE APPEAL AND LUSTRE!!!!!!

 

or even some really nice choice hand selected true ms 63 and 64 common date saints but with also great eye appeal

 

another intereting coin is the type two twenty dollar lib last minted in 1876 quite an historical really SCARCE piece of usa gold not fully apprecaited as of yet in this market a nice au58 and find one with PL surfaces some come pl and they look great!! also the 1876 date would be great for the centennial year!!

 

if you can get one reasonable would be a nice original choice vf -xf 1877 three dollar gold but i am sure it does exist but i have not seen or heard of such an animal

 

good luck and whatever you do i hope you choice wisely for yourself and your future goals with as such the coins you eventually buy

[EZ_E]

I would avoid it. Even though I made money on my 2002 Platinum proof set, I did so since platinum was so low when I bought it from the mint. Now that platinum is near $1000/oz, I don't see how you could come out ahead.

 

True, mintages are low but so are the 19th century proof coins and they are usually much cheaper than their ms counterparts.

 

I just can't see how you could win on this unless you have the extra money and just love the designs.

[McKinley-migration]

well i picked up a 1oz koala for $950, gonna hang onto it for a few months and see what happens.. not exactly the hottest design, but i wanted an ounce so that spot price meant something to me.

from where i sit, it looks like it's just going up n up.. it was $850 this summer, it's $972 now, i wouldn't be suprised if we hit 1k by december...

 

the question is do key dates move faster than the metal market..... i suppose it depends

[Count_Erfit]

A note of caution. I once asked my bullion guy who in the heck was buying platinum eagles as I ended up selling him every single one due to NO interest from the public.

He said he sold his to industrial users as there was no investor market.

 

disclaimer: This was before I retired in 2003.

[cybersharque-migration]

Bingo. Here's an interesting little trivia point. The Internal Revenue Code allows investors to unload appreciated assets and not pay tax IF they are doing a "like-kind exchange." For example, when trading a four-family apartment house for a six-unit apartment house, neither party has to recognize the gain in market value when they do the exchange (assuming they are both rentals) while trading a McMansion for a large rental building is fully and currently taxable. Likewise, if I trade my 1999-2005 silver proof sets for a couple of nice Morgans, I don't have to declare income to the extent that the market for the proof sets is over the price I paid the mint for them, because both of these are numismatic collectibles.

 

Now bullion is weirder. If I trade any number of ASEs for any number of ASEs (all business strike) it is of course like-kind, regardless of dates and mint marks. However, trading business strike ASEs for Proofs is not like-kind, because the proofs are considered collectible and the business strikes are considered bullion.

 

Curiouser and curiouser: trading ASEs for silver ingots is a like-kind exchange. Trading gold american eagles for 3-dollar gold coins is asking for trouble because gold american eagles is bullion and 3-dollar coins is numismatic.

 

Now cross through the looking glass: trading silver eagles for gold eagles is not a like-kind exchange, and if silver is up since you bought, then you must recognize the gain. Why? Because silver is an industrial metal and gold is for jewelry. Yes, it says this in the Treasury Regulations. (If you think the Internal Revenue Code is complicated, then you just have never delved into the really weird stuff in the Treasury Regulations.) Never mind that the #1 use for silver--photography--is becoming extinct thanks to Canon and HP and other inkjet and laser printers plus digital cameras. The Treasury Department says gold and silver bullion are not like the other, even though the primary consumption of both these days is in jewelry.

 

Which is platinum? It's industrial. (It's a wonderful catalyst for a mind-boggling array of chemical reactions.) So when you exchange silver bullion for platinum, it's like-kind and you don't recognize income. At least it will be until the IRS realizes that silver's not such an industrial metal any longer.

 

Now for the crystal ball question: where is platinum headed? The #1 demand for platinum is the manufacture of catalytic converters. Now ask yourself whether the extension of California emission standards (going to require much stronger catalytic converters = much more demand for platinum) will outweigh the growth of hybrids (alternative fuels reduce the amount of platinum needed because a smaller catalytic converter will meet the emissions standards).

 

My own guess: for the next two years at least, platinum demand will be flat because W is not going to do anything that impedes demands for big cars and gasoline to be refined in Halliburton's refineries. Thereafter, it depends on whether the House of Bush continues to hold the White House. That outcome would be very good for platinum. A [embarrassing lack of self control] in the White House will almost certainly push gas consumption down, which is bad for platinum. So I'm long on platinum and I am going to move to silver in 2008 (no recognition of gains) unless there is a fundamental shift in metals, barring, of course, a coup d'arbusto before then (in which case all bets are off).

[astrostu]

I just started to buy platinum proofs, but I decided to do it because I just entered graduate school and I wanted to commemorate it by starting a new collection. So it sounds like, based upon what other people are saying, you should only buy the platinum now if you have a reason other than investment, such as I do.