Remember Me
forgot your password?

Coin Collecting Introduction - What's the Best Way to Get Started?

Buy the book before you buy the coin is frequently offered and sage advice.

If you make the effort to study the hobby and the market you will be rewarded. Someone who does not make that effort is more likely to waste money on overgraded, problem or counterfeit coins. Before spending a lot of money on coins, you should invest in your knowledge of the hobby. For your own protection you should have at least one reference book covering your area(s) of interest. Reading a few issues of periodicals is another good idea.

A great place to start collecting coins is from circulation. The risk is negligible (you can always spend the coins), examining your coins carefully and see what your reference book says about them, will teach you a lot.

Join a club!

Local coin clubs are usually great for learning more about the hobby, getting material for your collection, and you just might make some good friends, too.

Often new collectors aren't sure where to begin, and they may have many questions. Do I start with one type of coin, or should I collect a variety? Should I stick to easy-to-find coins, or should I try to collect rarer ones? How much money do I want to spend? Coin collecting doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. In fact, it is probably one of the easiest objects to collect. You also don't have to be very knowledgeable to start a coin collection.

If you are considering beginning a coin collection, you have probably asked yourself one or more of these questions. The answers really depend on your own personal preferences, and you may not discover what those preferences are until you begin. The most important step you can take when beginning, however, is to invest in a good coin collecting book. Once you've bought the book, take some time to read at least excerpts from it concerning different coins. You may discover that certain coins interest you more than others.

Sort your coin collection!

The next step you might take is to buy a few coin folders. You can buy coin folders that have dates under each slot, or you can buy folders that are blank. The coin folders that have dates will help you determine what coins you need to complete your collection. Often these folders will cover a specific number of years and will be designed for specific coins.

Keep in mind, however, it is not easy to completely fill up a folder. If the folder covers older coins, many of those coins are considered quite valuable. You will have to be willing to invest a significant amount of money to complete a folder for older coins. If you are not trying to complete a set, but you do want to keep up with the dates that you find, you might enjoy using a blank coin folder. This way you don't have to leave any of the slots empty.

Internet provides many opportunities!

The Internet provides many opportunities for coin collectors to enlarge their collections, once they have decided what type of coin or coins they want to collect. Of course, you may be able to get some of your coins simply by checking your spare change. If you are going to build your collection, however, you will need to expand your search. There are online auction sites that give collectors just like you an opportunity to buy and sell. Most neophyte coin collectors begin collecting coins that are already in circulation, and usually these coins that are in circulation are more likely to get damaged, and only would be worth whenever you hold onto them for a long period of time. Once you go up the coin-collecting ladder, you move on by collecting coins from other sources, such as antique coin shops, coin shows, internet auctions, flea markets, and from other collectors as well. The art of coin collecting can also be seen as an investment, as the prices of the coins you store and preserve may rise should they become rare, or drop when these coins are in surplus supply.

You will need to consult your coin collecting book to understand the different values and grades of coins. Once you have become more familiar with the specific terms, you will probably want to start off buying inexpensive coins. As you become more experienced in judging the value of coins yourself, you can start to purchase more expensive coins.

Save money, buy sets!

As you continue to buy coins, you may find that you get more for your money if you buy sets of coins. This doesn't mean the sets will be complete. You would likely spend an exorbitant amount of money for a complete set. Instead, the sets you buy will probably be close to complete, but they won't have the most expensive and rarer coins. As you buy sets, you can keep the coins you need, and then you can put duplicates back up for auction. This is an excellent way to build your collections.

Coin collectors have different themes and goals in mind, with some trying to obtain generally rare coins, whilst others seek samples of coins that were issued from every country or 'world coins.' Some collectors also opt to collect coins that were only issued from one country, most likely their own. There are other coin collectors who also store coins that were issued during historically-important periods, such as the Roman, Greek, and Byzantine or the Middle Ages as well as of the Indian, Celtic and Persian empires, and the 18th or 19th centuries. The purpose of collecting coins from different periods may vary, depending on whether the collector wants these coins to serve as a mirror or reflection of the events that happened during the era in which they were produced, or for some other purpose as well.

How much you money and time you spend on your coin collections is completely up to you. The beauty of collecting coins, however, is that you are also investing your money. Coin collecting is a great hobby for any age, and the art of coin collecting will never die.

Herman Klein is a coin collecting expert. For more great information on collecting coins be sure to visit http://www.coincollectingstartshere.com.

Borge Nielsen

 

Rate this Article: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s)
Print Email Re-Publish


  • Latest Collecting Articles
  • More from Borge Nielsen

Filling Your Gun Cabinets On The Cheap

By: James Dulas | 12/11/2009
You have some nice gun cabinets at home, but there's one problem: they need to be filled and guns are expensive. Every gun collector and hunter has had a similar experience.

Are You a Collector Collecting Collectibles?

By: James E Mizzell | 12/11/2009
Anything that exists is fair game for collectors. It seems everyone collects something. For some of us that is debt. The best known items for collecting are stamps and coins. Both are interesting and readily available to all, but the really great stuff is too expensive for us worker bees.

Buying Your First Sword

By: Kasan Groupe | 11/11/2009
Whether you’re looking for an interesting decoration to hang above your fireplace or you love the idea of staging authentic battle reenactments, choosing the perfect sword isn’t always easy. There are many different types of swords and if you really want to narrow down your options and get the most out of your purchase, you’ll need to consider several important elements. Function, cost and style should all factor into your final decision, especially if this is your first time buying a sword.

Casino Guide - How To Choose The Best Online Casinos

By: Gen Wright | 11/11/2009
A good online casino can offer you hours of fun and entertainment. But if you choose the wrong casino to join, you may end up having to spend time sorting out some unwanted issues.

Black Forest Cuckoo Clock History

By: Mark Gettman | 11/11/2009
History of the German Black Forest Cuckoo Clock industry.

Free Online Multiplayer Games For Your Enjoyment

By: Gen Wright | 07/11/2009
Multi-player games have been experiencing strong growth in recent years. It doesn't matter what age group you belong to - players from all ages join these virtual worlds to have fun.

Online Casinos Sponsor Tournaments With Top Prizes

By: Gen Wright | 07/11/2009
If you are an online casino player and haven't tried a tournament you are missing out! This is the best part of online gaming.

Casinos Online- Calling All Women

By: Gen Wright | 07/11/2009
When most people think about online gaming they usually imagine an older male figure. That might have been the case a decade ago but times have changed.

How To Clean a Bathroom Step-by-Step

By: Borge Nielsen | 09/04/2009 | Home Improvement
Bathrooms are supposed to be the cleanest room in the house but, it’s the most deplorable one to clean. Unfortunately, it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it. Gather your cleaning supplies together and get to work. When it is time for the general house cleaning, it is a good idea to gather your cleaning supplies in a bin that you can carry around from place to place. But, bathrooms can use as many different products as the whole house uses if not more...

Essential Cleaning Supplies

By: Borge Nielsen | 06/04/2009 | Home Improvement
Using the correct cleaning supplies is important when the task of household cleaning rears its ugly head. This is vitally important so the surfaces you are cleaning do not get damaged. It also will elevate the overall time it takes to clean and the cleaning is usually finished with less effort on the part of the cleaner...

Coin Collecting Software

By: Borge Nielsen | 06/04/2009 | Collecting
Collecting coins is a pleasurable, as well as a profitable hobby. However, most novice collectors encounter problems with having too many coins, and not having adequate information on what kinds of coins to collect, and how to organize or properly sort a dysfunctional coin collection. The good news is that new technologies are now available, which have provided Coin collecting hobbyists with software and devices to help professionally sort and organize their repository...

Complete Carpet Care

By: Borge Nielsen | 02/04/2009 | Home Improvement
After the expense of putting a carpet into your home, it is a worthwhile to take care of it. Keeping a clean carpet also assures a healthy living environment. Even regular vacuuming alone does not always ensure that your carpet is clean. There are several different ways to care for your carpet...

Collecting World Coins

By: Borge Nielsen | 02/04/2009 | Collecting
Apart from the need to engage in trading coins and working eagerly to obtain rare coins, some people have a natural desire for collecting world coins. Often this interest is sparked when one encounters foreign currency; these coin collectors begin to look at the currency in terms of its aesthetics, culture or history rather than simply its monetary value...

How To Organize Clutter

By: Borge Nielsen | 01/04/2009 | Home Improvement
Clutter is a major stumbling block to someone who desires a clean organized home but lacks the knowledge of how to do it. Once someone allows their house to get too cluttered, real cleaning like dusting and vacuuming takes a back seat. The homeowner will now have to spend so much time de-cluttering before the real cleaning, that by the time they get around to cleaning the counter they just de-cluttered, they are too tired to keep cleaning or there’s no more time to finish cleaning...

The Thrills of Rare Coin Collecting

By: Borge Nielsen | 01/04/2009 | Collecting
“In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation.” Alan Greenspan, 1966. One of the things every investor quickly discovers is that there are no sure deals or “can’t lose” investments in this wild and wooly world. There is always risk in the marketplace. Always. The key to success is to weigh the pros and cons of every investment, and determine the prospects of success...

Submit Your Articles Free: Signup
Article Categories




Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (0.05, 1, w1)