U.S. Coins Market: Historical Performance and Anomalies

Abstract

In this paper, we document the historical performance of collectable coins from 1967 to 2015. Collectable coins have a 9.7% annualized nominal return and a 5.5% real return over this period. We show collectable coins provide large diversification benefits based on their Sharpe ratios and are effective at countering both anticipated and unanticipated inflation. Lastly, we document cross-sectional and time series momentum and newly issued coin underpricing, anomalies in the market for collectable coins that are typically associated with stocks.

Keywords: Alternative investments, Long-term returns, Numismatics, Coins, Anomalies, Information diffusion

JEL Classification: G11, G12, Z11