Books

Books of rare first editions are the ones of the highest value, rising around a 398pc in a decade or 8.8pc a year according to a new index. The American Library Association has a rare books section where one can find the list of some of the rarest books or one can check the AbeBooks – the marketplace for booksellers and buyers. Such books have some rare identification marks which can be searched on Google as identify edition where the features, marks and errors in the editions can be found. Some books can be expensive but it is, basically, a passion investment. Some of these are not high margin editions can be worth investing. The most expensive books are first editions of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ which was worth around £18,056 in 1996, since then it has increased in price 13 times to £246,636 in 2015. The next most valuable book is J R R Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ being valued at around £5,420 which is roughly twice the price 2 years ago. 

Stanley Gibbons Investments specialise in tangible assets such as rare stamps and coins. They used past auction data to gather a list of books which includes first edition books like George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Files’ and James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’. Investors can also seek out new and upcoming authors. A clean and pristine copy of the book is now valued at around £15,000 to £20,000 at auction. 

It is advised for young adults and professionals to start investing early. One of the main reasons for doing this is to attain the power of the compound interests, by holding long-term investments, this allows for one to generate more returns on their assets. By investing a few years earlier it could increase the yield on your returns by tens of thousands or just add more value and funds for your retirement nest egg. These books should be stored correctly to avoid damage before resale. Except for some old books, buyers seek only the ones which are in good conditions can get buyers.