"In a word, sensational. Everything's feeding into this, sovereign debt, weak dollar, inflation" - Jonathan Barratt, from Commodity Broking Services
Are you looking for safe haven from the economic recession? If you've come to this website, then there's a good chance that you are.
Many of Paul Fraser Collectibles' readers are investors - some entry-level, some high-level - who have turned to collectibles in their hunt for tangible and trustworthy assets.
But how do they know that collectibles are safe? Well, let me show you the evidence.
Believe it or not, autographs alone have gone up in value by 335.9% over the past decade. This beats property values (which rose by 187%) and certainly shares (with saw an average rise of 18%) according to research by the Halifax.
Which brings me to my main point. According to the news, spot gold prices have breached $1,500 for the first time. And silver hit a 31-year high of $44.34 an ounce last Wednesday (April 13).
Gold has never risen above $1,500 an ounce before - so why now?
Buyers want a safe haven
The answer lies in lofty oil prices, inflation concerns, worries over the euro zone sovereign debt crisis as well as political tensions in places like the Middle East.
Asia is also involved. Gold hit a record $1,500.70 an ounce in Hong Kong which, reports the BBC, traders said was mainly a response to Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of US debt (it changed its outlook from "stable" to "negative").
Such factors are driving investors towards gold as a safe haven. And, in this sense, gold has many things in common with collectibles.
 Read on to find out how this 1963 AC Cobra onshone gold... |
As I said, collectibles are tangible assets. Whether its autographs, fine wines or classic cars, their values have historically performed - and risen - regardless of what's happening in the mainstream financial markets.
Yet here's the important thing: collectibles are outperforming gold.Just look at the Halifax's research. They found that precious metal rose in value by 242% over the last decade. Among those, gold went up 277%, silver 227% and platinum 230%.
I've mentioned that autographs have outperformed this - with a 335.9% average value increase over the decade - but these trends aren't limited to autographs. Take classic cars for instance...
Gold vs classic cars
Back in 1981, a collector purchased an unrestored, barn-found 289 Cobra classic car manufactured by AC Cars. It was only fifth of example of its kind produced and he became its second owner. Here's the thing: he bought it for $30,000 in gold coins.
Fast-forward to today's markets and those gold coins would be worth $93,730 - triple their original value. But what about the 289 AC Cobra?
It was sold in a Fort Lauderdale, US, auction last month. It eventually went for $467,500 - and in doing so outperformed the gold market by five times.
Choose collectibles to avoid fickle markets
Collectibles could also be a safer bet then gold looking ahead. This is because analysts are divided over whether the price can go much higher in the near term.
Churchill’s glasses: historic, one-of-a-kind, and probably sure to rise in value (find our more here)
Some predict that gold will consolidate at its current value until there's a good reason for values to go up higher (like the eurozone sovereign debt, for instance).Consequently, many experts are expecting a big sell-off of gold.
The fact is, the markets are fickle - and gold isn't entirely immune to these trends. But this is where another strength of rare collectibles comes into play.
Rare and one-of-a-kind collectibles (like a pair of Sir Winston Churchill's reading glasses, for example) are almost sure to continue going up in value. Wealthy buyers - and even museums - will always be interested in owning them.
Do you want proof of how other collectibles have consistently risen in value over the long-term? Just look at these indices...
So, the above is great news for gold. Yet, by choosing to invest in collectibles, you could have even more of an upper hand.
For more information and advice on investing in collectibles, please feel free to contact Paul Fraser Collectibles at:
+44 (0) 117 933 9500
info@paulfrasercollectibles.com
All the best, until next week
Paul
