Collectable ideas

My DS godmother started a 'vintage wine' collection which has been much appreciated!

Excellent idea grannylyn

Matchbox vehicles are going up in value all the time. Especially if they are boxed and the boxes are in good condition.

What about gold or silver coins?

www.royalmintbullion.com/Products/Britannia/Silver

They aren't as expensive as you might think. They can hold their value and have value even if sold later just for the precious metal .

Why not buy a sovereign or half sovereign every birthday? Their high gold content should mean they have some investment value. Krugerrands are better but you would have to dig deeper into your pocket! I would stay away from stamps. You have to really know what you're doing to collect them as an investment.

Thanks all, especially like the idea of matchbox vehicles.

There's a guide on eBay called Your Guide to Vintage Matchbox Vehicles, which gives a bit of advice on collecting them. I noticed there's a toy auction at our local auction house which has a couple of good specimens the estimate for which is thirty to fifty pounds. I'll watch what they go for on Saturday - they always put the hammer prices online afterwards.

I would go with the gold coins myself. My father acquired several, starting a collection in the 1970s, which I have inherited. Not only are they very interesting from a historical point of view, they have also substantially increased in value and have turned into a wonderful hobby as well as a lucrative investment for me.

I wouldn't collect anything for him. The present generation of parents is already on the way to an uncluttered lifestyle and, in view of the amount of clutter we, the next generation above them, have accumulated, quite right, too.

You don't know what he will be interested in later in life, or if he will appreciate it.

However, if you only put a certain amount of money aside every month or so, it's hard to find a scheme which will bring any dividends and it's also not easy to find a system which will allow you to save/invest in your GS's name. (At least, here in Germany that is the situation)

I am seriously considering stuffing a 20 Euro note into a piggy bank every month until the economic situation improves, then investing it in the GS/GD's names at a later date.

I'm with Older. Gold coins are highly tradeable and if they are British, they are exempt from CGT. And they don't take up a lot of space!
Some years ago, I started collecting hallmarked silver vesta and calling card cases. I have some nice examples, but now I have completely run out of space to display them. I will probably send them to auction eventually, as I doubt the children will be the least bit interested in them.
We put a sum away each month for our GS in a building society account; by the time he is eighteen, hopefully it should be a tidy sum.

Far better to start a fund for his future education, assuming that he may well want to go to University. A far better investment than 'things'.

Jean9, you are collecting for yourself and not for your grandson. Your grandson may have no interest in any kind of collection and when he gets it may well turn it into cash or give it away or leave it lying around to get damaged and worthless, which is disappointing to say the least.

I have not collected for my DGC but I passed on a really lovely 22 carat gold cross and chain that has been passed down several generations in my family. When I was small I wore it and when I grew out of it, it went into a box to be carefully kept for when I had children. I did the same with my daughter. I gave it to DS for DGD. I even bought DGD a little jewellry box to keep it in. Where is it now? I haven't a clue, possibly in the dressing up box where the jewellry box lives, or lost, or stolen or strayed. It certainly isn't tucked away safely in a box ready for the next generation. What to me was a treasured heirloom is of no value to them.

If you collect anything for him, collect money. It will always be appreciated and is more likely to be remembered.

Sorry, the above sounds a bit bitter, it isn't meant to be. It is just a statement of the facts of what happened.

China figurines for a baby? No way! What could the child get out of matchbox toys that he cannot play with in case he spoils the precious boxes.
I agree with those who say dont waste mony on collecting anything on someone elses behalf withoiut knowing what they might like.

Apart from this you hear on all the Flog it type of programs that the sort of collectaible items that were "selling well" a few years ago will be out of fashion a few years on.

Gold coins which might increase in value maybe. Or investments which might just rise in value.

How about books? A nice age appropriate hardback for each birthday. We did this with friends' children, they are now reading them to their own children! We are trying to do this with our own grandkids, though it can be a bit difficult to find something they will like! For a newborn I really recommend the Baby See books, eg Baby Sees Spots and Dots. Very simple patterns in a tough board book, designed to be suitable for very small babies.

Perhaps I should admit that I've always been a bookaholic, and also ran a school bookshop in my daughters' infant school for a number of years!

I wouldn't bother with a "collection" as tastes change and may not hold their value. Gold coins may be a better bet. Ours just have some money and a little present each birthday as they already have far too many toys. Our birth gift to them was a Stieff Teddy and hopefully they may increase in value in years to come. They have them in their bedrooms and have been taught to treat them carefully, not throw around. One is a wind up musical one and the other is a growler.

For a while DGS2 collected rocks, fossils and minerals, which I bought for him. He still displays them in his room but no longer collects them.