Measuring Returns on Investments in Collectibles

This paper considers the question of how to measure and interpret the financial return to investing in collectibles. We review various methodologies for creating priced indexes and then discuss studies that explicitly calculate a rate of return to some set of collectibles. While most collectibles appear to yield positive real returns, the majority embody more risk and yield lower financial returns than stocks. Other characteristics of collectibles prices, such as covariance with other asset prices, are also examined.