The Dow Jones for coin coll--investors

[chrisild]

There are of course different reasons for collecting coins – and some people primarily do that as an investment. These people now have their own DJ ... or rather Eurostoxx.   The idea behind this "Numismatic Market Index" (Numindex) is that it reflects the investment market, based on auction and dealer prices for 30 specified European coins. See them here.

Well, a collector will often be after a specific coin that is missing in his or her collection. Somebody who considers coins to be an investment, however, may find such a tool useful. The initial issue of the Numindex bulletin can be found here (PDF, English). Further info in German and Italian there.

[Figleaf]

I am highly suspicious of these people. They seem to be ignorant of both investing and numismatics. To give you some examples:

"To dispel the myth, that collecting coins (numismatics) is a hobby for elderly and wealthy people with plenty of time & know-how." The nature of buyers and sellers is irrelevant to an investor. It becomes relevant only when the market is too shallow to be indexed.

Indexing coins "in good condition" is the vocabulary of eBay ignoramuses.

The pictures of the coins are out of focus, but it looks like there are significant incompatibilities (like circulating coins, correlated with collector demand and non-circulating pieces, correlated with metal price) as well as duplications like coins of the Latin Monetary Union from several LMU members.

The graph on development of the index in the past couple of years is analysed only for return, not for risk. This alone is a clear giveaway of glaring amateurism.

My advice is to stay away from this club.

Peter