I've been collecting ancient coins for decades. I also like the appearance of gold and silver coins, particularly in proof sets (Australian and South African florins are beautiful coins). However I would never buy ancient or modern coins as an investment. The Hunt brothers lost hundreds of millions of dollars doing that. Years ago I bought some Canadian Maple Leaves as an investment and lost money (a couple hundred bucks). At the time I was an expatriate and having portable property seemed like a good idea. If one anticipated a complete breakdown of society (global EMP attack, killer flu pandemic, world wide depression, etc.) then owning lots of gold coins would make sense. However the concept of "portable property" is now obsolete. I know from experience that my grocery store ATM card works fine in Johannesburg (South Africa), Auckland (New Zealand) and London. For the same reason, travellers cheques are also obsolete.

I do like the St. Gaudens $20 gold piece (the original one with the beautiful flying eagle on the back). IMHO, the St. Gaudens $20 gold piece maybe the prettiest coin ever made. I'd like to own a cheap one (1911-D) for my collection. I'm waiting for the price of gold to plunge before I make that purchase.

Gary

p.s. On the subject of hording cash: be careful about counterfeit American paper money. As a form of economic warfare, the Iranians are flooding the world with good quality counterfeit American paper money. Supposably their counterfeits are made from engraved plates. I like to keep a few hundred dollars in twenties as emergency money for an earthquake or terrorist action (the ATM machines would be down then). Whenever the US Treasury changes the design of the $20 bill, I replace my emergency money with the latest design.