This article is based on my opinions and as such does not constitute financial advice.

Coin collecting is fun, a hobby you can enjoy. If you have any thoughts of profit or kids inheritance - you should read this and ask yourself, when is the right time to cash in my collection?

Put yourself in the position of a relative

Try to sell your collection today.

Take photos of everything you have and ask for the "going rate" based on the total value shown in your coin app.

It will not sell as there are only a handful of coins in demand right now and no dealer really wants the rest.

As we all know, dealers work on profit margins, so perhaps you can sell for 70% of "book" value?

Perhaps, but in the case of a collection of decimal circulation, packaged / loose BU and silver - probably not.

At this stage, you're not happy with dealers trying to take everything for next to nothing or cherry pick the few in demand items and leave you with a pile of metal that car booters would walk past.

You know your coins and would probably look to sell as individual items to maximise return on the time and money you have invested - but most people who inherit a collection do not have the knowledge or time to do this.

So today, with your coin knowledge, you would find it very hard to sell a collection for anywhere near the sum of current values - even if selling over a number of months.

Now fast forward x years - selling is now someone else's problem.

Your partner, son or daughter now take on the task of cashing in your collection, but they don't have the knowledge and time you had.

Many of us assume that the passage of time equates to increase in value.

We have all seen over produced BU packs and silver proofs being "given away" recently - so we must not bank on the passage of time.

Instead look to supply and demand.

Many of us are a similar age, so it stands to reason that future years will see abundant supply of decimal coins like the ones in your collection.

Whilst future demand is an unknown, from pre decimal and other demonetised coins like the large 50p's and round pounds - we can draw on clues about what is likely to happen to values.

Interest falls away as coins leave circulation, remember the Edinburgh £1 coin? Interest is demand which with supply drives values.

Every circulation coin in your collection is about to begin the long process of being withdrawn from circulation - as a new monarch is a short term inevitability.

If you collect for your own enjoyment, carry on as you are, but if you collect for financial gain, look to the past to make a choice about what new items you add to your collection and consider your exit strategy - as with many financial considerations, timing will be important.