Rock Island Auctions sells guns. Other people’s guns. So you’d kinda expect them to recommend firearms as an investment. And so they do. But as you read this blog post remember that it’s entirely possible to lose money “investing” in guns. As it is in the stock market. All you have to do is buy the wrong gun or stock. Or buy at the top of the market. Or a dozen other variables beyond your control. As my father used to say, something is worth whatever someone will pay for it. Minus commission, of course . . .
Ask any firearms collector if guns are a good investment and you’re bound to receive a response in the affirmative. It’s not exactly an unbiased answer, but it is still drawn from sound personal experience. Besides, wasn’t the economy’s most recent low spot in 2008? Haven’t such indicators as the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 recovered nicely since then? What about gold? I keep hearing about its value skyrocketing.
These are reasonable questions from someone debating on whether or not to invest some money into firearms versus other more traditional investment vehicles. Of course, we’re not talking about the stocks of firearms companies as investments (although those are doing quite well for themselves currently), but the firearms themselves. Are guns a good investment? Aren’t all the “good ones” taken? Not so fast. Here’s some information that might make you think otherwise.
1. Values Are Up
Gun values are up and it’s not just some bubble in the market. Yes, modern sporting rifles (a.k.a. “assault rifles”) saw a recent price bubble, but over the last five years the vast majority of guns in their usable life have seen and maintained an increase in value. Guns past their “useful life” and in their “collectable life” have been largely gaining value for decades.
2. Increasing Gun Values Exceed Other Market Increases
The examples we list below are only the beginning. While their values have increased, and done so at a handsome percentage, other genres of collecting make these look like small gains. Through research and careful selection, one stands to outperform even such vaunted standards at the S&P 500 and even gold! Haven’t each of those investments vehicles been improving since 2008? Didn’t the S&P 500 just experience a new record high this week? The answer to both questions is “yes,” but the right guns readily show larger gains in leaps and bounds.
3. You Can’t Shoot Stocks
OK, so this may not be an apples to oranges comparison, but it’s a huge plus to investing in guns. Firearms are useful beyond their investment value. You can display them, you can clean them, you can take them to shows, you can take them hunting with your old man, you can teach a youngster about them, and they’re a lot easier to trade than stocks. Truth be told, you may not want to fire a high dollar firearm into which you’ve invested tens of thousands of dollars as you may harm the value, but many of the other activities still apply.
Guns can be enjoyed in ways other investments cannot. You may hear one collector excitedly telling another about a recent purchase that he has chased for years; you’ll never hear that from a day trader. You might hear the pride in a collectors voice as he describes his collection; the only time you’ll hear financial experts talk that way about a portfolio is if it makes money. In gun collecting, there’s so much more than money, like history and the pursuit. Not only is investing in guns worthwhile financially, you can use them as tools as well as for recreation.
4. Guns Are Tangible
This section isn’t meant to be some “the sky is falling” message about our government or the stability of the world economy, etc. However, there is a lot of risk present to investors today: the Eurozone, a government shutdown, debt ceilings, recessions, defaults, and so on. It is in unstable climates that investors seek stability. One only has to look at the popularity of precious metal commodities in the last several years to know that people want finances that aren’t just potentially vulnerable electronic numbers in a bank or on the stock market. People want things they can touch, things that they can hold on to and guarantee its security. Collecting firearms provides that opportunity. You can hold them, they’re worth an increasing amount of money, and you don’t have to worry about losing them if a bank or market collapses.
Examples
Now, we’re not licensed financial planners or sages of what the future may hold, but we can speak from the experience of selling over 22,000 firearms a year and evaluate some past information in an intelligent fashion. We are not licensed financial advisors. Please due your own due diligence or contact a professional before making any and all financial decision. We simply have the good fortune to possess loads of data and we’re not afraid to use it. All data that we used to derive the information below was obtained in the following way:
- We only used guns that are in 95-100% of their original condition
- We attempted to eliminate as many “special” guns as possible (unique history, one-of-a-kinds, etc) since they can cause larger swings in value.
- All dollar figures shown are a yearly average.
- Values for gold, S&P 500, and Dow Jones are year end figures, except for 2013, which uses October 16 as its final day.
Keep in mind, the amount that you bought/sold a gun for may not match the figures that we provide below. Our figures are averages. They take into account many different finishes, barrel lengths, grips, calibers, serial number ranges, boxes, letters, and so on. These numbers are not published to a pricing guide of any sort, merely to indicate a rising trend in value for several of the most popular firearms that we have sold in the last 5 years.
Last 3 years: 43.84%
Last 6 years: 52.78%
This classic piece of American firepower, called “the greatest battle implement ever devised,” has also enjoyed quite the rise in value over the last several years. Patton would be proud.
Last 3 years: 123.52%
Last 6 years: 107.93%
Colt 1911s have been a proven high riser for several years. The numbers on the left don’t even reflect the high dollar 1911s such as Singers, high condition first year production models, prototypes, and especially not the world record Singer than we sold in 2010 for $166,750.
Last 3 years: 111.89%
Last 6 years: 79.95%<
There are over 15 different high end Model 12 shotguns to choose from in this auction! They include two engraved and gold inlaid by Master Engraver Angelo Bee, several trap and skeet grade models, and of course some of the ever popular trench shotguns.
Last 3 years: -9.39%
Last 6 years: 52.24%
Despite gold’s popularity and media coverage as a high performing investment, it still lacks the gain in value attached to many genres of firearms
Last 3 years: 36.89%
Last 6 years: 17.24%
The S&P is finally starting to look like its old self and is actually breaking some records as of late. However, even considering that record breaking performance the returns still pale to that of numerous genres of guns.
Last 3 years: 32.79%
Last 6 years: 17.75%
Even at its historic highs, the mighty Dow Jones fails to match the growth of collectable firearms.
We could list guns, pictures, and charts for numerous pages, we could also spend an entire month comprising values and breaking them down and making them as specific as possible, but this is not a pricing guide. What we are doing is drawing trends and averages by looking back at the data from hundreds of sales of the firearms selected.
As with any rise in value there may be a few segments left behind. Even in a bear market, not every stock gains money or even gains every year. However, by taking a step back and looking at those trends over a larger period, it becomes easy to see that guns have been a sound investment for quite some time. This financial benefit comes almost as an aside to most people who buy guns simply to enjoy them, use them, and be a part of that community. It’s yet another added perk to do what you love.
Best of luck in your collecting, investing, and of course, your shooting.
There is a difference between safety improvements in cars and mandating all vehicles be equipped with Breathalyzer ignition interlocks, should we do this because it will save lives?
A 120 year old $20,000 colt SAA has risen in value at a rate of about 7% a year (assuming an original price of $5?)
That’s fine but that is one of the BEST examples of a gun you wish you could go back in time to buy. The colt 1911 has only barley outpaced inflation at 6k.
I love my firearms as a hobby but as an investment I think they appeal to those who ignore the long term history of income producing assets.
If they want smart guns, fine. It should be an optional feature. I won’t have any smart guns in my home, as I have smart occupants.
Vintage American guitars, banjos, and mandolins make these increases look paltry. Back in the seventies I bought a 1934 Martin D-28 for $300.00. That guitar today is worth roughly $30,000.00.
I hear the world “could” a lot in this report.
Not to mention bloody shirt waving. With no mention that the Eddie Eagle program has probably saved more lives than smart guns ever will.
And to compare seat belts and airbags to “smart” guns is simply moronic. A more apt comparison would be to compare seatbelts and airbags to issuing everyone in high crime areas kevlar and bullet proof helmets.
“In Texas, if a restaurant makes more then 51% of its revenue from the sale of alcohol, it is a felony to carry a concealed handgun there.”
That sounds like an awfully silly law.
Is there also a law against drinking while carrying a concealed handgun? Not that that it would make the 51% law more reasonable. But if you could drink while carrying at a place that made 49% of their revenue from alcohol, that would make my head hurt.
Yeah, because we all know if the gun got through the TSA checkpoint and Bill remembered it was in his carry-on while the plane was in the air he would have an uncontrollable urge to start shooting up the plane.
Thank God they arrested him for being human.
Did they know he was a sports legend? Would we get off with a citation?
did the “over 90% support background checks” really appear in the question? If so, that’s going to lead many people to agree. Very poor survey design if so.
I blame the single mothers and the politicians who helped to create so many of them.
http://takimag.com/article/children_and_guns_the_hidden_dads_gavin_mcinnes/print
Something just occurred to me. I think everyone would agree that you cannot possibly be a policeman/woman if you are a hoplophobe. Does everyone remember the website that surveyed 15,000 retired and active duty policemen/women about their views on gun control? In case you do not remember or are not aware of it, something like 94% of respondents were completely okay with citizens having firearms, 30 round magazine, etc.
In other words there were almost no retired or active duty police officers that supported the vision of gun control coming from the various groups that we despise. Well that makes it pretty clear to me that most people who want gun control are hoplophobes. And then a few percent of people think that only the elite should have guns. Everyone else? They don’t care if a neighbor or co-worker owns or possesses a firearm.
we all must bear in mind that phobias, psychologically speaking, are *irrational* fears; although ‘irrational’ is very relative, and, in this case, subjective too.
let’s take “bugs” (arthropods for biology nerds) for example. fear of bugs is a perfectly normal, healthy and even necessary behavior; as bugs may be poisonous/venomous, disease/parasite vectors, or merely a indicator of uncleanliness. but– screaming, flailing of limbs, crying, and extreme anxiety is not healthy behavior. also, relativity must be taken into account; mild anxiety and uneasiness around bugs would be unhealthy for an insect farmer (yes that’s a real thing)- while still being completely normal and healthy for most.
as for subjectivity, there is no good analogy. you see, the patient must realize the irrationality of their phobia, at least on some level, for it to be a phobia and not a delusion. however, psychology is subjective in the extreme, therefore, marking a fine line on emotional charged subjects is simply impossible.
the real question is not whether irrational fear of weapons is present in the patient; but rather, if it is possible for anyone, at all.