It’s no secret that the hottest part of the antiques market in recent years has been Mid-Century Modern, with its sleek lines and uncluttered decoration. And this trend got me thinking. Are vintage 1980s collectibles – complete with angular aesthetics and luscious neon colors – investable yet?
It is a loaded question. The 1980s is only about 30 to 40 years ago at this point, so it doesn’t quite reach my personal definition of antique yet. But although such labels used to be vitally important distinctions in the antiques trade in times past, they hardly matter anymore in the modern era. What sells, sells, and what doesn’t sell, doesn’t.
I understand and embrace this philosophical flexibility. I’m interested in identifying items that are destined to reliably appreciate in value in the future, regardless of when they were produced. In fact, I’m not above recommending contemporary pieces of art or jewelry as investments, provided they are well-executed and priced right. I call these modern tangible assets “future antiques” because I strongly believe they are destined to age into desirable antiques after a few decades have passed.
But where does this leave vintage 1980s collectibles? They are on the cusp of becoming antique (just another 10 to 20 years to go), but aren’t quite there yet. In the end, however, it doesn’t matter. Regardless of their age, they are on the verge of a massive breakout, both in terms of popularity and price.
Now I want to make it clear that I’m only talking about very select vintage 1980s collectibles, not all of them. For example, vintage 1980s pop culture items like your Care Bear lunch box or your G.I. Joe motorized battle tank might hold a special place in your heart, but they are highly unlikely to ever be investment grade pieces. The same goes for 1980s comic books, baseball cards and Alf memorabilia.
This is where the Antique Sage’s 5 rules of investment grade antiques come in handy. These rules allow the layman to quickly separate common collectibles from high end antiques that will have superior future appreciation potential.
Vintage items that are portable, durable, scarce and high quality inevitably become more desirable over time. The 5th and final attribute on this list is zeitgeist, or how well an item reflects the stylistic sensibilities of its era.
Because of these requirements, certain types of items – notably those made from precious metals, gemstones and exotic woods – consistently take center stage. And this rule of thumb holds true when examining vintage 1980s collectibles as well.
For instance, vintage mechanical wristwatches have become increasingly popular over the past 20 years. But 1980s mechanical wristwatches are still largely overshadowed by their more well-known 1940s, 50s and 60s predecessors.
In the late 1970s to early 1980s, the Swiss-dominated mechanical watch industry suffered a near-death experience. The volume of mechanical wristwatches sold plummeted worldwide, almost driving the entire industry into bankruptcy. This event, known as the Quartz Crisis, was due to the introduction of cheap and reliable quartz watches in the mid-to-late 1970s.
One of the little-appreciated side effects of the Quartz Crisis is that high quality (read: non-Swatch) 1980s mechanical watches were produced in much smaller quantities than mechanical wristwatches in earlier decades. This increased scarcity isn’t readily apparent in the vintage watch marketplace yet, but is bound to reveal itself sooner or later, thus driving up prices.
In addition to increased scarcity, some vintage 1980s wristwatches practically define their era, exuding tremendous zeitgeist. Two underrated examples are the classic Must De Cartier tank dress watch and the rugged Seiko 6309 diver’s watch. Better yet, many fine 1980s era mechanical wristwatches are still relatively affordable, with prices of often just a few hundred dollars each.
Vintage 1980s bullion coins are another category of collectible that is rapidly coming into its own. After a massive run-up in the price of gold and silver during the 1970s, national governments (which had previously shunned the precious metals markets) decided that it was better to profit from widespread public interest in precious metals by striking bullion coins.
The Royal Canadian Mint got things started in 1979 when they first struck the 1 troy ounce gold Maple Leaf coin. The United States followed a few years later in 1986 with the American Gold Eagle series of bullion coins and its twin, the American Silver Eagle bullion coin.
Great Britain followed up with its Britannia gold bullion coins in 1987, as did Australia with its Gold Nugget series in the same year. Mexico, a prolific silver producer, minted silver Libertad bullion coins from 1982. Even China joined the club with its iconic gold Panda coins in 1982.
Now, under most circumstances bullion coins should trade like…well…bullion. But special proof versions of these vintage 1980s bullion coins are becoming increasingly popular with farsighted collectors because of their beautiful designs, near-perfect execution and substantial intrinsic value. As an added bonus, proof versions of these vintage bullion coins were never over-issued, unlike 1980s commemorative coins.
I’ve already featured a couple fine vintage 1980s gold coin proof sets in the Spotlight section of my site over the past few months. One is a 1985 British gold sovereign proof set and the other is a 1987 Australian Gold Nugget proof set. Although the $3,000 price tag for each set might seem like a deal-breaker at first, it becomes much more palatable when you understand that they each contain around 2 troy ounces of pure gold. In effect, you are only paying between 10% and 20% over the spot price of gold for these magnificent 1980s coins.
I’ve only covered a couple vintage 1980s investment grade collectibles categories here. There are many that I’ve omitted due to space and time constraints, such as vintage 1980s fountain pens, jewelry, hand-poured silver bars and art prints, just to name a few. There is an investment grade 1980s collecting niche for everyone.
Let’s face it. Vintage 1980s collectibles are on the cusp of being discovered. Prices for these under-appreciated, retro-chic investments are low today, but I don’t expect this state of affairs to last for long. Don’t say no one warned you.
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