Swords as an investment
 

Since this economic mess is now worldwide I would like to hear other opinions on swords as investments. Will they go up or down in value? Personally I think in general they are good, with the downside being they are not liquid.

cheers
bbjw

Actually they do go through phases and ups and downs. US Civil war for example has been down for a few years. Same with Japanese and Nazi has leveled out.

As pure investment, not a good idea, but at the same time high quality pieces do hold their value........

S'cuse me I was out burying cash in the back yard . :cool:



Now what were we talking about ...... ? :D

Generally when times are good nice swords hold or appreciate in value but when times are bad they drop because people have more important things to spend their money on. So I would not buy swords as an investment. If your going to buy do it for the love of collecting and not for investment. ;) :)

Best Arms
 

The most important arms are always purchased because of their historical interest, and cost , though important, is a secondary concern.

Applying the same logic to you collection is not a bad idea.....

rand

What makes this even more unpredictable...and interesting...is that the antique arms market is now more of a global market than ever before.

I wonder if, or indeed, how, that will affect the high prices we have seen develop over the last 5 years??

I do know that my collection has taken less of a hit than my 401K! Things will get better slowly. Like people getting fat....it didn't happen overnight.

Cheers
bbjw

During the 1970's and 1980's in Australia, a well known dealer in Japanese swords used to promote his wares with the line:- "---better than superannuation---"

Well, when some people tried to cash in what they had invested in as "better than superannuation" they found that it was not quite so.

One of these people had connections with a world-wide business conglomerate that has its roots in rural Sicily.

The dealer in Japanese swords left Australia, and has not been heard of since.


I've been involved with keris and other eastern edged weapons for most of my life. Relative prices over the last five to ten years have, in general, fallen for keris and Indo-Persian weaponry. However, in the absolute top percentile of the market, prices have steadily risen, and continue to rise. Proof of this can be demonstrated by examination of the catalogs published by (especially) UK dealers dating from the 1950's through the 1970's.

Yes, the world is currently going through some economic turmoil, but quality items will continue to sell and if the past is any guide, will continue to rise in value. However, realising that value is not always easy, and in my opinion nobody should collect for any reason other than the pure joy of collecting.

Invest in mattresses.

Just make a hole in the mattress and deposit your investment cash.... ;)

Given the price of copper these days, I'd suggest investing in brand new, bronze weapons. Think of it as investing in a commodity metal whose value is enhanced by its artistry.

Gold swords work even better for this purpose. :D :D :D

F

DON'T FORGET EXCHANGE RATES
 

For those of us who live outside Europe and the USA, we are generally faced with the exchange rate ruling at time of buying. This can HUGELY affect the amount we pay for our collectibles. At present, as an example, the NZ$ buys 59cUS and dropping, whereas before this financial mess occured it was sitting around 79cUS. On a purchase of only a $100 or 2 it makes a considerable difference to the buying price for us,so...............it is less likely that I for one will be buying much from those currency areas until things improve considerably!
As far as buying for investment is concerned, I think it would be fair to say that we all do this to some extent, and buy at a price we feel we can reasonably get back if we needed (or chose) to resell.
I do also notice that the Swap Forum is not getting (in my opinion) as many "buys" as it has up until recently. :(

I totally agree that the joy of collecting must be in the first place.
About the value I think there a big difference in what really scarce and "what people think its was scarce" The simple fact thats whats scarce ( and wanted) will rise in value, is still unbeaten I think. Japanese swords for example where quite high many years ago, but nowadays you see that more an more people are selling their stuff on Ebay etc. Of course there where a lot captured during the war and the come now more easy for sale than before.I wonder what will happen when whole India has his own laptop :)