Word on the street is that coins under $5000 are doing great. Avoid "medals" that have no face value most of the time. The only exceptions that I have seen are some key date medals, which I will mention later. Gold has usually performed better than silver, but interest in silver seems to be increasing, especially outside China. For now, I suggest sticking with gold. Palladium has become very popular in China, but I don't know how long that will last. Gold is always popular.

The top key coins seem to have slowed down now that they're all in the 5 figure range of $10000 or more. Few people can afford to drive prices up further on those coins at that price level, so while they're still a great investment, they haven't been performing as well as coins under $5000 in the short term. Over the long term, the rarest coins are the safest investment bet because, even though they may have slowed down lately, they are still steady gainers with ready buyers at all times.

Here's some specific suggestions to get you started, with mintages and estimated prices for NGC PF69 specimens:

1995 1 oz gold proof panda (mintage: 555, price: $9000)
1995 1 oz gold unicorn (mintage: 504, price: $8000)
1993 1 oz gold fu, lu, shu (mintage: 303, price: $13000)
1993 1 oz gold peacock (mintage: 1200, price: $8000)
2000 1/2 oz gold scallop dragon (mintage: 2300, price: $2800)
1988 1 oz gold "AU" non-error basel panda medal (mintage: 400, price: $3000)
1988 1 oz gold "PT" error basel panda medal (mintage: 600, price: $2500)
1985 1 oz silver 94th ANA Convention "GREAT WALL OF CHINA" backwards error medal (mintage: 500, price: $1000+?)
1995 or earlier NGC PF70 or PCGS PR70 popular key gold coins

Always buy coins that have been authenticated and graded by NGC or PCGS, with a grade of at least 69 (out of 70). Resist the temptation to buy ungraded "bargain" coins. The best investment coins will probably cost you the highest price ever paid for the coin, but don't worry about it. Just get it for whatever the best price is that you have to pay, and enjoy the onslaught of buyers begging you to sell it to them! Make sure you buy from a reputable seller, and avoid buying on ebay if you can buy direct from the dealer instead.

That last one about the PF70 and PR70 coins is my latest secret trick, but I think it's OK for me to share it since those coins are so incredibly rare. There's probably only around 20 to 50 of them TOTAL, in all dates and all types, from 1995 and earlier. You can expect to pay truly ridiculous prices for those coins when you buy, and you can also expect to be paid truly ridiculous prices when you sell.

There are several other great investment coins that I could recommend, but I'd like to keep them secret until I'm able to find specimens for myself. I wouldn't want to have to bid against my own proteges.

That is thoroughly impressive. What's your net dollar profit after brokerage fees and taxes?

Well my paper gold position is closed, but I still have my physical silver.  I have a great deal of psychological trouble bung in the middle of an up move.  That is probably to my detriment.

Well the position is still open, so these aren't final numbers, but i bought 5 contracts of the 1850 calls for 19.10 and sold 3 contracts for 37.20.  My remaining 2 are at 43.50 right now, but that will change ove time of course.

So far, that nets out as -9550 +11160 and +8700 for a total of 10310 or 108%

Nice to see you posting new stuff to your blog, badon. I did well with your precious metals tips, and I'm doing well with my first experiments in Chinese coins. It looks like you were right about this one too. The only complaint I have is that you're pretty vague about exactly WHICH coins to invest in. I believe you that coins can be a good invest, which it looks like is the point you are making here, but it would be nice if you spelled out exactly which coins I should be buying.

I bought a few already, but I haven't put serious money into it yet because I don't know what I'm doing. Most of the coins I bought have been shooting up in little spurts lately, but some have stayed close to the same. That's enough to satisfy me that I'm on the right track, but I want to move to the next level. Do you have any secrets to share?

31% profit is pretty good, but I hope you didn't withdraw from the gold market. All the precious metals are doing very well. Silver and palladium are standouts. I am fortunate to have stumbled upon this forum, I have done well also. I may be a fool myself, but I know good advice when I see it.

What's your percentage gain?

As some of you may know, I'm in the private education field.  For years, I've had this idea to change the business model of tutoring.  So I finally started a blog that will transition to a stand-alone business.  You can see it at http://www.flatratetutors.com

At the moment, it's not that great.  It runs on a wordpress platform, which I will have to learn more about as time goes on.  I know next to nothing about SEO, link building, and all the other stuff that goes into making a high ranking blog, so it'll be more learn as I go.

If anyone has suggestions for learning resources or tips/tricks, feel free to comment!

Wow, congratulations! Looks like you made a good call. It's always wise to stick with what works, even if it doesn't make sense sometimes.

The options I bought just about doubled, so I sold half this morning.