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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
First off,  to CCF. All good tips so far. I would add buy yourself a 10x loupe, and only handle coins by the edge and don't clean them. Good luck in your new hobby.
John1 
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Valued Member
 United States
50 Posts |
Thanks for all the great suggestions! I will take them all into consideration. Also, thanks for the welcome!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1599 Posts |
Spend as much time here at CCF as you can. That is how I have learned what I know about the hobby. I tried to concentrate on a single set to start with ( Franklin halves). Pursuit of that set helped me greatly. I quickly learned some good lessons (and still do). Ask questions, the members here are very knowledgeable and always willing to help. Oh yea, from one Alabamian to another-War Eagle! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1534 Posts |
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I have been reading and learning as much as I can and am really excited about this new hobby. That's probably the best advice a new collector can get. Keep doing it and hold off purchasing until you are confident in your grading abilities and have somewhat of a sense as to when a coin is counterfeit. |
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Valued Member
United States
270 Posts |
Learn how to grade..When coin pic are on here try to guess the grade before scrolling down and seeing what it was. it is cheap practice make the mistake here and not on a 1000.00 coin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
672 Posts |
Collect What makes you happy!...nothing else matters this is a hobby not a job... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
613 Posts |
Welcome, a Red Book is a very good starter. Identity is a good start. Lets say small cents, Flying Eagle, Indian Head, Wheatie, Memorial, and now Shield Cents. Learn to identify each coin and where it was made. P D S... The main part of coin collecting is to have fun. |
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Valued Member
United States
476 Posts |
Roll searching has done a lot for my grading/evaluation abilities over the past 10 months that I've been in the hobby. It's a very cheap way to look at a lot of coins with little to no cost. I've recently been working on weeding out my hoard of "keepers" from my 8 months of nickel roll searching. I'm amazed to see what I kept in the early days of roll searching. I bet I'm throwing back least 80% of what I kept back then. I actually read an online book http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html at that site that was extremely helpful in picking up on some finer points of grading. (Hope that link is allowed...if not I'm sure it won't last long.) Above all, regardless of your budget, whether high-end coins or low-end coins, the best advice I've seen for beginning collectors is "Collect what you like." No other advice really has much bearing IMHO. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
781 Posts |
a RedBook is a great place to start. I picked up 2008 at the end of the year on the bargain rack for $6.00 or you can pick up the most current one for $12 or so. I still reference my book almost everytime I roll search. which leads to the idea of roll searching... This is a great way to start adding to your hoard. a box of cents will cost $25.00, a box of nickels $100.00, dimes $250.00, halves $500.00 This is the perfect way to get coins you want/need for face value. the best part is, you can take back the ones you don't want and get your money back. Read through some of the roll hunting threads here. the popular ones are Cents, Nickels, Dimes, and Halves. Not many people are searching quarter rolls. You'll see different ways people go about cashing in their reject coins. Some use coin counting machines in their bank. others roll them up and deposit them. I use a coin deposit bag provided from my bank and take back a big ol' sack of coins at a time. The best thing you can probably do is just browse through this whole forum, reading threads on topics that catch your eye. you'll learn more than you though was possible. |
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Pillar of the Community
555 Posts |
Go to a coin show, so you can see in person what type of coin may hold interest for you.
You are over 30 so if you have money you may decide to buy only PCGS or NGC slabbed material (makes you safer from buying wrongly graded or counterfeit coins).
If you don't have alot of disposable income you need to buy raw coins from some of the reputable sellers mentioned elsewhere in this blog.
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Valued Member
United States
487 Posts |
, perhunt. Look up a person on this forum know as Superdave he has a world of knowledge. I read as many of his postings as I can, his knowledge of Morgans is unbelievable! I believe to build a strong collection takes time and patience. Find something that interests you and stick to it. Enjoy! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19964 Posts |
Welcome to CC!  * Another vote about picking a series that is of interest to you. Study that series and become an expert. Know the key and semi-key dates/mints. If you try too many series to start, you'll be confused and make mistakes with your money. * Stay away from ebay! Until you know EXACTLY what you're doing, chances are you'll end up getting ripped-off. * Learn to spot cleaned, damaged and altered coins in your series. This is VERY important because there's a ton of junk out there just waiting for the novice collector. * Ask a lot of questions on this forum. You'll get a lot of help. * Find a Guru! Visit local coin shops and make friends with the owner(s). Use them to learn! Buy a few coins from the ones you'd like to cement a relationship with. Any good owner enjoys making customers their friends so they come back. I've learned most of what I know from Guru owners! It's not uncommon for me to hang out for an hour or more shooting the breeze and learning. The best shops have comfortable seats just for that purpose. Sit down, look at some coins and talk. My favorite shop owner tosses me coins worth thousands so I can see them. He trusts me 100%, which is very important....build trust so he understands your not a thief! Any dealer HATES thieves more than anything because coins are pretty easy to steal. Make sure you keep any coins on the counter in plain sight, don't reach in your pockets while looking or do anything suspicious....this builds trust. My guys trusts me so much now he sometimes leaves me watch things for a minute while he goes to the bathroom or whatever. Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1547 Posts |
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I am new to the world of coin collecting, but I need guidance. I have been reading and learning as much as I can and am really excited about this new hobby. Any tips about getting started would be greatly appreciated! As a child I acquired a fair amount of coins from my mom who worked as a bank teller, but I am just now picking up the hobby twenty years later. I am trying to keep from just going out and buying stuff. Any suggestions? Thanks! Hi perhunt29. I just caught your thread and I only got a minute. My advice is, I'd start with roll-searching. Besides it being a blast, it's the best way one can learn to appreciate coins, as it's your hands right there on that steering wheel (OK, in a manner of speaking). That's my opinion, anyway. Get in that driver's seat and take her out for a spin (OK, ditto). And, get this, you can't lose money, you can only win! And that makes it the best game in town. Look, good luck to you, and ask questions, we'll find the answers!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3283 Posts |
Great advice from BADTHAD  |
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New Member
United States
6 Posts |
Red Book prices are what we all wish we could sell our coins for!! A more real price that we can sell our coins for is The Blue Book. My self I don't collect coins for profit.However my wife just might be looking a big payout for the coins.She keeps telling me she is going to bury me in the the backyard. I'm not full of wisdom in the coin collecting field,but one thing you should look into is coins from US Mint.They do sell coins at the best price when they are released.Later in the secondary market, you might find them less costly.Good luck in your collecting. rickP
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Posted 06/14/2010 1:35 pm
