Why Invest in American Rare Coins?
Rare coins have always been associated with people of wealth, position, and power ... people who are patriotic and love America ... people who are proud of our nation's history.

U.S. Gold coins minted before 1933 and classic U.S. Silver Dollars are among the best known and most beloved collectibles in the world. Most importantly, rare coins have lasting worth that comes from their value as rare antiques and the intrinsic value of their gold or silver content. Many a collector has accumulated a few coins from time to time, put them away for a rainy day, and later discovered they were worth a small fortune.

Why Buy From RLH ENTERPRISES , Inc.?
Before you spend money on rare coins, it's important to establish a relationship with a dealer that is respected in the numismatic community … a firm you can trust. Robert Hughes, President of RLH ENTERPRISES, has been a leader in the numismatic market for a half century. His expertise is legendary and he is admired by collectors and professional numismatists alike. As president of RLH ENTERPRISES, Inc. he supports the Code of Ethics of the American Numismatic Association, where he is a lifetime member. He also holds memberships in Florida United Numismatics, Texas Numismatics Association, Blue Ridge Numismatics Association, Central State Numismatic Association, California State Numismatic Association, and many others. Robert Hughes won the prestigious 2004 Numismatic Literary Guild award for the Best U.S. Coin Book: “United States Pattern Coins.”

When you select Robert Hughes to handle your rare coin portfolio, you’ll join many satisfied customers. Ask for the best. Ask Robert Hughes to help you to achieve your goals through his dedication, honesty, hard work and impressive expertise.

How to Sell Your Rare Coins and Take Your Profits
We recommend a 3 to 5 year minimum holding period -- or longer -- for your rare coins. Whether you’re looking to build a portfolio of $5,000, a million dollars, or more, our expert advice is always available to you. Some of our our best clients started doing business buying a single silver dollar! Regardless of your expertise, your budget, or your goals we welcome the opportunity to serve your needs.

Rare Coin Collecting and Investing
Coins have been collected for their beauty, historic significance, and intrinsic worth for over 2,000 years. Prominent collectors have ranged from ancient Roman historians and European royalty to modern movie and sports stars.

Today, the U.S. Mint reports there are 125 million coin collectors in the United States. This number is up dramatically from 20 million a decade ago. In addition to U.S. coin collectors, there are millions of other coin collectors around the world. Coin collecting is widely recognized as one of the most rewarding hobbies. While it was once known exclusively as the "The hobby of kings," today coin collecting is for people of all ages … from the young collectors who save the new "Statehood Quarters" to precious metal investors who focus on rare gold coins.

From Coin Collecting to Coin Investing
Throughout history, many coin collections have produced substantial profits for their owners. This is particularly true for coin collectors of this century. Harold Bareford reportedly purchased a collection of U.S. gold coins for $13,832 in the early 1950s which was resold at auction in 1978 for $1.2 million. This is just one of many anecdotal examples of how profitable rare coin collecting has become.

Historically, the financial support for the U.S. rare coin market came from coin collectors who bought coins for their beauty and historical significance. However, substantial profits realized by owners of rare coin collections in the 1970s and 1980s moved coin collecting from being more than just a hobby, as many investors began collections targeted at generating long-term profits.

Some coin collections are built just for the fun of it like the new Statehood Quarters. Other collections are built with the goal of creating long-term profits. Keep in mind that past performance is no guarantee of future results and indices used in compiling profit statistics sometimes consist of a limited number of coins. For that reason, no representation can be made that one individual investor's rare coin portfolio will enjoy similar results as another.

Also, the market performance of different coins varies substantially. For example, those people putting away the Statehood Quarters are having a great time, but since the State Quarters are minted by the millions, and so many are saved in nearly perfect condition, it may be generations before they appreciate in value.

Six Major Categories of U.S. Coins
Older U.S. coins minted prior to 1965, and particularly coins minted prior to the 1933 ban on gold, have proven to be among the most popular and lucrative areas of all the rare coin categories available for collecting and investing. While it would, of course, be impossible to profile all of the U.S. coins most commonly acquired by collectors and investors, here are six key areas that are popular today among U.S. coin collectors:

	U.S. Gold Coins Coins minted before 1933, including Pre-Civil War and Civil War Era Gold Coins.			19th Century & Earlier Type Coins This would include coins minted from the late 1700s through 1899.
	Silver Dollars Morgan Silver Dollars minted from 1878-1921 and Peace Silver Dollars issued from 1921 to 1934.			Commemoratives Coins generally struck in low mintages to commemorate historic events.
	20th Century Type Coins Before 1965, this would include Silver Dimes, Silver Quarters, Nickels, Cents, etc.			Current Issues The Statehood Quarters, Sacagawea Golden Dollars, Lewis & Clark Nickles, and all circulating coins you can get at a local bank.

Why Are Some Coins "Rare"?
Most coins that are scarce today, started out as common issues struck in large quantities by the U.S. Mint. Even though thousands or even millions of copies of a particular coin were originally minted, after many decades, the vast majority were worn out in circulation, lost, or destroyed. As a result, these remaining coins in pristine condition have become rarer and harder to find over time.

Other coins were minted in very small quantities to begin with. This group of coins includes older proof issues, test strikes, pattern coinage, and error coins. However, rarity refers to more than just the number of coins in existence. It is also a function of investor/collector demand for the coin. If a coin is said to be rare or scarce, it implies that the available quantity is small relative to the current or expected demand for the coin in the marketplace.

How Rare Coins Are Classified
As with any investment or collectible, the value of a rare coin is established in a free marketplace by supply and demand. The size and intensity of demand is influenced by these criteria:

1. The value of the coin's precious metal content.
2. Its rarity, scarcity or collector value.
3. A coin's demand factor among collectors and investors.
4. Finally, there's each individual coin’s eye appeal and state of preservation (grade).

Eye appeal is affected by many things:
The beauty of a coin design.
The fullness and sharpness of the strike.
The brilliance of the luster.
The number of scratches or nicks on the coin's surface.
The amount of wear on the coin's raised areas.

Understanding Coin Grading
As far as quality is concerned, numismatic coins generally fall into one of two basic conditions. Either they are circulated - coins that exhibit wear - or they are uncirculated. The American Numismatic Association has endorsed a grading scale that divides circulated and uncirculated coins into 24 distinct coin grades. There are 13 circulated grades and 11 uncirculated grades.

The lowest uncirculated grade is MS-60, while the highest is MS-70. The "MS" stands for Mint State. In between, there are grades MS-61, MS-62, MS-63, and so on, all the way up to MS-70-a perfect coin. Each step up the grading scale indicates an improvement in quality, which usually means increasing rarity and dramatic differences in the coin's value.

Portfolios, Collections and Sets
Today, the distinction between collectors and investors has become blurred. This is because investors have learned that the qualities of outstanding coin collections also produce outstanding portfolios. Many kinds of collections offer the same range of diversification that would be provided in a pure investment portfolio. An investor should follow the same methods as a collector in formulating a strategy … buying coins carefully over a period of years, holding them for the long term, and then liquidating them when an appropriate opportunity presents itself -- when prices are high.

One the most popular and rewarding portfolio strategies, is “set building.” The two basic forms of collections are "type" and "series." A type set is made up of one of each coin sharing characteristics such as design, designer, or denomination. A series consists of one coin from each date and mint of a particular type. Other strategies include collecting by die variety, by historical period, by mint mark, by individual year, or first and last years of issue of a particular coin type.