Are Antiques Dead to Millennials?

Are Antiques Dead to Millennials?

Are antiques dead to Millennials?  Do they prize the ephemera of yesterday or are they too busy chasing today’s once-in-a-lifetime adventures to care?

The common wisdom is that Millennials (loosely defined as the generation born between 1980 and 2000) do not value physical objects the same way older generations do.  Instead, the common wisdom is that Millennials pursue satisfaction through experiences – fine dining, exotic vacations and unique entertainment.

This bent towards a more spiritual and less material existence leads to real questions about the future viability of the antiques industry.  After all, if an entire generation has opted out of buying vintage items, it does not bode well for the average antique shop.

And yet everything is not as it might first appear in this story.  In order to truly figure out if antiques are dead, we must first understand one simple truth.

Millennials are broke.

Not just sort of broke.  Not just kind of broke.  Millennials as a generation are totally and completely flat broke, at least statistically speaking.

In 2016 (the most recent year that I could find data), the median net worth (including primary residence) of 30 to 34 year old households in the U.S. was a piddling $29,125.  Fully 66% of younger Millennials have absolutely no retirement savings whatsoever.  And like most Americans, Millennials’ wages have stayed stubbornly low for decades.

The big culprit here is student loans, with over $1.5 trillion worth outstanding at the end of 2018.  A massive chunk of this crushing debt is owed by Millennials.  Student loans act as an economic millstone, dragging the young into financial misery while denying them the ability to buy a house, start a family or effectively save money.

Unsurprisingly, Millennials’ lack of discretionary funds has naturally impacted the way they view physical stuff, including antiques.  If you can’t afford a house, a car or to save for retirement, then a Victorian mahogany secretary will not be high on your list of items to purchase.

Having been largely priced out of the American Dream, Millennials have been forced to sublimate their material desires into spiritual desires.  In other words, Millennials have made a virtue of necessity, substituting relatively cheap experiences in place of relatively expensive physical goods.

So are antiques dead?  In my opinion, the answer is no.  But they have been caught in the crossfire of a brutal economic war that has been waged against younger generations.

Allow me to explain.

Because the incomes of younger workers have been suppressed, they are often living in smaller spaces than they would otherwise.  For example, Millennials will often have roommates to save on costs, or they will sometimes move back in with their parents after college.  Even when they do get their own place, it is often a small apartment or condo.

None of these living arrangements is conducive to collecting antiques (or most other things, for that matter).  This is particularly the case with antique furniture, which is hopelessly oversized for most Millennial dwellings.  And when the time comes to move, no one wants to have to drag around hundreds of pounds of delicate antique furniture or vintage kitsch.

Another issue that handicaps Millennials’ relationship to antiques is the fact that so many young people are overworked these days.  It is common for fresh-faced college graduates to practically indenture themselves to large corporations for a modest salary of $30k, $40k or $50k a year.  This is usually enough to put food on the table and a roof other their heads, but rarely enough for much more.

More importantly, antiques require knowledge to be properly appreciated.  Sure, anyone can walk into an antique store and pick out a few things that they instinctively like.  But this does a great disservice to vintage items, which are far more valued and loved when their stories and history are known.

Unfortunately, learning about antiques takes time.  It is not a topic that can be mastered in an hour or two.  And this is time that the average Millennial simply does not have.  They are too busy working 10 to 12 hours a day, running somewhere to grab dinner, rushing to get chores done and then crashing exhausted into their bed in the hopes of squeezing out 6 or 7 hours of sleep.

Antiques, regardless of how intriguing they might be, simply do not factor into a work-life schedule as unbalanced as this.

Now this might sound like a pretty bleak scenario for the antiques trade, but there are a few mitigating factors.

As regular readers of the Antique Sage website already know, I concentrate exclusively on small antiques.  I advocate the purchase of high quality vintage wristwatches, rare coins, old jewelry and other compact antiques.  These investment grade antiques are not only valuable and desirable, but also exceedingly portable, an attribute that can’t be overlooked in our space-constrained modern world.

More importantly, our financial system is hurtling towards a very ugly date with destiny.  We are in the early stages of a global monetary reset – a terrifyingly obvious fact when one examines the inexorable tide of historical U.S. dollar debasement.  Traditional financial assets like stocks, bonds and cash will perform very poorly in this scenario.  In contrast, fine art, antiques and bullion will be some of the only effective ways to preserve your wealth.

Finally, I don’t actually believe that Millennials collectively hate antiques or view them as anachronisms.  I simply think they are making do with what they were given by their elders, which wasn’t much.  Some Millennials really are interested in vintage things of all kinds, albeit different antiques than their grandparents liked.

Many young people frequent thrift shops, garage sales and secondhand stores in the hopes of finding a vintage bargain to brighten up their apartment, condo or townhouse.  Get some money into their hands and their love of sleek Art Deco lines, avant-garde Mid-Century Modern themes and elegant Edwardian whimsy will quickly bloom.

Now, this is where I’ve got some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that I think the U.S. Government/Federal Reserve will be forced to print money and hand it out to ordinary people during the next recession.  Think of this as a bail-out for the common people, unlike the bailout for the too-big-to-fail banks that we got last time around in 2008-2009.

If this comes to pass, even the hard-up Millennial Generation will get a sizable check from Uncle Sam.

The bad news is that everyone else will simultaneously get a government check too.  This means that the prices for most consumer goods (including antiques) will skyrocket in short order.  Given this probability, I contend that everyone – especially Millennials – should invest in some high quality antiques now, before prices spiral upwards.

Antiques aren’t dead; they’re just sleeping, waiting for the right moment to come back to life.

 

Read more thought-provoking Antique Sage trend articles here.

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1970s Baume & Mercier Watch in 18K Gold

1970s Baume & Mercier Watch in 18K Gold
Photo Credit: ChronoMate

1970s Baume & Mercier Watch in 18K Gold

Buy It Now Price: $1,399 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-A solid 18 karat gold case, synthetic sapphire crown and tonneau shape make this 1970s Baume & Mercier dress watch (reference 37095) a prime investment candidate.

-With a length of 37 mm (1.46 inches; including the lugs) and a width of 26 mm (1.02 inches; excluding the crown), this vintage Baume & Mercier has proportions that are very similar to that unisex 1980s icon, the Must de Cartier tank wristwatch.

-Originally founded in the Swiss Jura Mountains by the French brothers Louis-Victor and Célestin Baume in 1830, Baume & Mercier became an established international player in the watch industry by the late 19th century.  During the 20th century, the company developed a reputation for experimenting with unconventional styles that were both avant-garde and timeless.

-This 1970s Baume & Mercier watch is triple signed – a very desirable attribute for a vintage wristwatch.  The Baume & Mercier logo or name is present on the watch dial, case back and movement.

-1960s, 1970s and 1980s solid karat gold dress watches are an amazing bargain in today’s vintage watch market.  They can often be found for only $2,000 or $3,000 – less than the cost of many new mid-range luxury watches!

-This 1970s Baume & Mercier dress watch sports a 17 jewel, manual-wind caliber BM775.  Like many vintage luxury watch makers, Baume & Mercier did not produce their own movements, but instead outsourced that part of their business.  The BM775 movement is actually a rebranded 2512-1 from the Swiss watchmaking giant ETA.  These dependable movements had a long-running, 39-hour power reserve and were produced from 1975 to 1983.

-This vintage 1970s wristwatch is in beautiful original condition, with no evidence of a refinished dial, over-polished case, or other tampering.

-If I could, I would buy this watch in a heartbeat and dump it into my IRA or 401-k.  Although this investment strategy isn’t possible because the IRS forbids antiques in retirement accounts, this 1970s Baume & Mercier would still make a superb savings vehicle.

-The classic lines and minimalist design philosophy evident in this vintage Baume & Mercier dress watch is a refreshing change of pace from the excessively bold styling of many contemporary diver and chronograph watches.  Sometimes less is more.

-The fact that you can pick up a lovely 1970s Baume & Mercier wristwatch in solid 18 karat gold for only $1,400 is simply absurd – especially considering that the melt value of the piece is around $700 (with spot gold at $1,275 a troy ounce).  The asking price of this elegant watch is currently less than the cost of a single share of Amazon (AMZN: $1,887) or Booking Holdings (the parent company of Priceline – BKNG: $1,844)!

 

Cons:

-Although perhaps lacking the cachet of some luxury watch brands (Rolex, Omega, Audemar Piguet, etc.), Baume & Mercier is still a desirable (and largely underappreciated!) watchmaker.

 

Read more fascinating Antique Sage vintage watch spotlight posts here.

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What Makes a Good Numismatic Investment?

What Makes a Good Numismatic Investment?
Photo Credit: Tom Woodward

What makes a good numismatic investment?  What makes one collectible coin steadily increase in value year after year, while another languishes in price for decades at a time?  It is a deceptively simple question.  But the correct answer could ensure windfall profits for the savvy hard asset investor.

In order to properly explore this question, we first need to define what makes a coin desirable.  In reality, coins are miniature works of art struck on tiny metal blanks.  And like any other artwork, the best coins are impressive, imparting a deep sense of beauty and gravitas to the viewer.

Although there are a number of subjective features that can endow a coin with eye appeal, there are also some that are thankfully objective in nature.  The quintessential numismatic investment will tend to share these desirable objective traits.

First on the list is size.  The diameter of a coin is analogous to the size of an artist’s blank canvas.  It is hard for a painter to produce a masterpiece on canvas that is 6 inches by 6 inches.  Likewise, it is difficult for a die engraver to cram a compelling design onto a coin that is only the size of a U.S. dime – 17.9 mm across.

It is the behemoths of the coin world that really wow us.  People are absolutely smitten with large coins, like old silver dollars and pre-1933 gold double eagles.  And it is easy to see why.  These remarkable coins are not only dripping with history, but also luxuriously massive.

And this trend holds true if we examine ancient coins, too.  It is the chunky Athenian tetradrachms and substantial Roman sestertii that fire the imagination of Classical numismatic enthusiasts.

Of course, size isn’t everything.

The metal that a coin is struck from is every bit as important as its size – perhaps even more so.  The rule of thumb is very simple here: the more valuable the metal, the more desirable the coin.  So gold, the king of metals, sits atop our numismatic investment hierarchy, followed by the other metals.

All else being equal, a coin struck in gold is more valuable than the same coin minted in silver.  And the same holds true for silver versus bronze.  This is because precious metals hold an eternal charm that transcends time and culture.

In addition, coins struck in gold and silver are higher denomination pieces that were more likely to have circulated among important people and institutions.  For instance, a medieval British gold noble coin of King Edward III, might actually have been held by Edward III!  And although there is no way to know for certain who might have touched which coin, a good numismatic investment always has a bit of whimsy or fairy tale in it.

Speaking of ancient and medieval coins, age is also a factor in numismatic desirability.  A very old coin allows the viewer to cross a metaphorical sea of time and connect emotionally with a past culture.  In my opinion, however, age usually has a relatively modest impact on a coin’s desirability, especially compared to size or composition.

So when we put all of these attributes together, what do we get?  What kind of coins are a good numismatic investment?

Simply put, you want to buy relatively large coins that are made out of silver or almost any size coin that is made out of gold.  Lastly, older is better than newer, although only marginally.

We can check our thesis by examining the U.S. rare coin market.  Which types of coins are most popular with collectors and command the highest prices.  If we ignore ultra-rarities and key dates, we find that pre-1933 gold coins, old silver dollars and many varieties of silver half dollars stand above other types of U.S. coins in terms of desirability.  In addition, older pieces, such as late 18th and very early 19 century coins from the early years of the U.S. Republic, have an added dimension of desirability.

So if you are looking to make a numismatic investment, large coins struck from precious metal are the way to go from a big picture point of view.

I do understand that there are very dedicated niche collector groups for Indian Head pennies, Mercury dimes, Buffalo nickels and many other smaller U.S. coin series.  But personally, as an investor, I would leave these coins to the collectors.  They lack the necessary “wow” factor for investment purposes.

So where do I see value in U.S. coins right now?  Well, I very much like AU-58 NGC and PCGS certified pre-1933 U.S. gold coins that possess good eye appeal.  AU-58 coins are usually significantly less expensive than MS-60 to MS-62 examples, but typically look much better than them.  This makes many series of AU-58 coins potentially good investments.  I would, however, avoid gold dollar coins as I think these are far too small with a diameter of only 13 mm (0.51 inches) to 15 mm (0.59 inches).

In addition, I think that slabbed Morgan silver dollars in MS-63 or better condition are finally poised to ascend in value after moving sideways for the last 25 years.  Morgan silver dollars have everything going for them.  They are large, photogenic coins with a stellar design that really encapsulates the romance of the American Old West.  And with the exception of the anomalous 1921 date, they are all well over 100 years old at this point.

I also have a surprise sleeper hit: proof American gold and silver eagle bullion coins.  50 years in the future, no one will want to own most U.S. coinage from the 1970s or later.  This is because silver was removed from circulating U.S. coins in the 1960s, leaving us with a miserable base-metal token coinage.  Instead, American gold and silver eagle bullion coins issued from the 1980s onwards will be seen as the only convincing numismatic investment of the period.

American eagle bullion coins are struck by the U.S. Mint from pure, .999 fine silver and 22 karat, .917 fine gold.  The collector’s proof versions are not only struck multiple times to ensure a crisp, frosted finish, but are also much scarcer than the run-of-the-mill uncirculated bullion variety.  They are appropriately massive as well; a 1 troy ounce American silver eagle coin is both heavier and larger than a Morgan silver dollar.

What makes a good numismatic investment?  It is a question well worth asking – and one that I hope I’ve helped you answer.

 

Read more thought-provoking Antique Sage coin articles here.

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French Pre-WWI 18K Gold Mesh Purse

French Pre-WWI 18K Gold Mesh Purse
Photo Credit: jewelry-halfprice

French Pre-WWI 18K Gold Mesh Purse

Buy It Now Price: $2,067.06 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This opulent solid 18 karat gold mesh purse is from the French Belle Époque, a period of European culture and artistic dominance between 1870 and 1914.

-This pre-World War I French gold mesh purse measures 3 inches (7.6 cm) long by 2 inches (5.1 cm) wide.  Even though it is fairly compact, the purse weighs a heavy 35.8 grams (1.15 troy ounces) due to its solid 18 karat gold composition.

-This French gold mesh purse is in the Louis XV style, which was characterized by elegant ribbonwork, garland and fluting.  The Louis XV style first gained popularity during the late 18th century, but then experienced a revival during the late 19th century.  For those who are interested, I recently featured a charming set of Louis XV style French silver liquor cups that have many features in common with this mesh purse.

-This elegant French antique has period appropriate hallmarks.  It has been stamped (twice) with the Mercury head hallmark, indicating it was made in France, but then exported abroad.  This hallmark also guarantees a gold purity of at least .750 fine, or 18 karats.

-Dating a piece like this can be a bit tricky due to its use of a revival style, but I believe this gold mesh purse is from the late 19th or early 20th century.  In any case, I am certain we are dealing with a pre-World War I antique.

-The delicate ribbon and fluting decorative motif covers not only the outside of the rim, where it is easily visible, but also the inside of the rim, where it is less visible.  This is a sure sign of quality.

-With a current gold spot price of $1,290, this antique French purse has a melt value of just over $1,100.  This means the purse’s asking price is only 85% over its bullion value, which is quite reasonable in light of the item’s superb craftsmanship and age.

-This French gold mesh purse is in perfect condition, with no damage or visible wear!  Antique metal mesh purses are prone to developing snags and holes over the decades, so finding a pristine example is always exciting.

-$2,000+ might seem like a lot of money, but I assure you this sublime treasure is a worthy investment.  I would not be surprised if in future decades people talked wistfully about the days when you could own such a superlative piece for less than $10,000!

 

Cons:

-This gold mesh purse has a maker’s mark (initials: R.G.), but I have been unable to identify this goldsmith yet.  Determining the artist who created this masterpiece would increase its desirability.

 

Read more fascinating Antique Sage miscellaneous spotlight posts here.

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