The Coin Cabinet
The Coin Cabinet’s investment portfolio service offers clients access to tax-efficient gold investing without participation in our monthly auctions.
We offer the portfolio service alongside our trading platform to provide clients who are not traditional collectors exposure to gold as an alternative asset. Coin trading is a very sophisticated modern market. It’s large and liquid, but also a niche, knowledge-driven field with relatively low competition among the established dealers and auction houses. We help investment clients to navigate this through planning, management and risk mitigation.
Coins purchased for portfolios are obtained according to the specific requirements of each client. Typically they are sovereigns — semi-numismatic coins that are relatively low risk and linked to the gold price with a collectible premium — and somewhat riskier, but more rewarding coins such as limited mintage modern proofs from the Royal Mint. Historical rare coins, whose precious metal content bear no relation to their value, provide long-term value due to scarcity — their rarity insulates the value of the asset.
We value investment portfolio coins using past sales data from our archive of auction results, which are also available online. Coins are priced by averaging an equivalently graded example over the last three sales plus a 3% discount. Only third-party graded coins are used, which means they have been certified by an independent company (PCGS or NGC) to certify their authenticity and condition. This ‘commoditisation’ of coins allows us to accurately track a coin’s value over time. In addition to regular portfolio statements, investors have the benefit of following the market for their coins through The Coin Cabinet’s monthly auctions.
The cornerstone of our service is the ability to track market price data across our comprehensive auction results. This information is available online, and as part of our mission to create an open and transparent selling platform, is available to both clients and the public. Our coin price data is becoming the benchmark that collectors and professional dealers use for identifying trends and valuing modern proofs, bolstering the liquidity of particular coins and broadening awareness of the direction of the market. Our large, competitive and globally-attended auctions offer strong price signals across British and Commonwealth, rare, modern proofs and world coins.
2020 The Three Graces £200 pound 2 ounce gold proof coin
We take a longer-term view because the advantage of understanding the market is that there is only a finite supply of coins in certain grades and mintages. Modern proofs are produced by the Royal Mint in limited quantities, ranging from 200-300 to 2,000-3,000 depending on rarity and quality. The Great Engravers series, and particularly its showcase The Three Graces 2 ounce gold proof (mintage 335) is a great example of a modern proof in high demand. With the release of sought-after modern proofs there is an initial period of exuberance surrounding their retail sale and subsequent resale on the secondary market. We wait for the market to establish a price once the coins have undergone third-party grading.
As part of our remit of trust, frank advice and transparency, The Coin Cabinet puts great care and expertise into steering clients through the investment planning, management and ultimate liquidation of a collection, ensuring that they are able to make informed decisions throughout the process.
For more information about building a portfolio with The Coin Cabinet, go to our investment page and book an appointment with an advisor, or contact us directly on +44 (0)20 3808 5855, or at [email protected].
Photo: The Royal Mint, 2017