# How to Invest in Gold Coins By Donald J. Hoppe **URL:** **By** Oakley R. Bramble **Published:** May 1, 1974 --- “The beginning coin collector will find his book a treasure of helpful information, perhaps the best obtainable.” _How To Invest In Gold Coins_ is an excellent primer for the amateur and a good review for the established professional among the gold coin collectors. In addition, author Donald J. Hoppe has provided a sound course in economics, interspersed with his expertise on coin collecting. “The hoarding (a hoarder is a person who acts in accordance with Gresham’s Law) of precious metals, both in bullion form and in the form of coins with high intrinsic value, has again reached one of its recurrent peaks in economic history. And the reason is the same as of old; another ballooning fiat money, fiat credit scheme is trembling on the point of collapse. The ‘New Economics’ is in reality just another treatment of the old inflation. The record of monetary instability and banking folly that has been written in the 20th century makes any further justification of precious metals hoarding unnecessary,” Hoppe says. “...the collection of rare, beautiful and historic coins is a permanent part of the Western cultural tradition,” the author contends. He estimates that there are now more than eight million collectors in the United States. Gold is the most-stable and least chemically active of all the metals; it is literally imperishable—“the most permanent of all man’s material possessions.” From gold coinage’s crude beginning... “money, man and gold have been inseparable.” Up to this date in recorded history “every attempt to eradicate the ties that have bound men to gold has ended in disaster.” “Reading and study are one of the requirements of successful gold-coin investing,” Hoppe warns the tyro. He recommends that beginners read the numismatic press, read the financial press, become familiar with the basic outlines of economic and monetary history, read and collect books on numismatics and coin catalogues. Hoppe is a hard taskmaster. He makes a number of assumptions to justify gold coin collecting: (1) inflation is permanent; (2) devaluation of the dollar is inevitable; (3) gold and gold-related investments offer protection; (4) gold coins offer certain definite advantages over other types of gold investment; (5) gold is depression-proof; and (6) it is worthwhile to try to preserve capital. Hoppe gives some definite advice concerning speculation and investment: “...leave speculation in coins to dealers and other specialists. Do not buy gold coins merely as a short term speculation during some gold panic. Do not buy them in the hopes of making a quick early rise in the price of gold. Do not consider buying gold unless you are prepared to hold them as part of your long-term store of value.” In building a coin collection, the author advises, the beginner should consider buying between coins holding a high numismatic value and those holding a high intrinsic value. “If gold coins are a hedge against currency devaluation because of their intrinsic value (which they are) and if gold coins have numismatic value that derives from their scarcity, history and beauty (which they have), then an ideal approach to collecting would be one that combines these values.” Part 1 of the Hoppe book, _History, Gold Coins And the Investor_ is a general review of the subject; Part 2, _“Building Your Gold Coin Collection”_ is full of specifics. In addition, Hoppe has included four appendices, 40 tables, 20 charts, a helpful glossary, a bibliography and 20 photographs. Most of the specifics of the book concern American gold coins, but there is a chapter on the coins of Mexico and another on European and other foreign gold coins. Donald Hoppe has excellent credentials as a “gold bug,” including a stint prospecting in the rugged mountains of Arizona. He left that self-imposed assignment at the end of a year because of an aversion to rattlesnakes. But he remains an unreconstructed goldphile. He writes well, clearly and concisely. The beginning coin collector will find his book a treasure of helpful information, perhaps the best obtainable. _Reviewed by OAKLEY R. BRAMBLE / Economics (298 Pages, Indexed) / BFL Price $2.95_