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 Replies: 22 / Views: 3,029 |
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New Member
Australia
21 Posts |
Hey all :D Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I'm still new here and not quite sure where this should go :P. I just recently found our old coin collection, so decided to start collecting coins :D! So far it's great, but we only have a small collection (well, I think it's small :P. I have no idea how big 'big' coin collections are!) So here's my question. I was thinking of buying some coins, perhaps in bulk. Preferably foreign coins. Any tips on it? I've found a few on ebay for 25 pounds for $150 (they don't say they ship outside US, but hopefully they do :P). Do you guys think this is worth it? I'm not even sure what to look up to be entirely honest :P. If you have any advice on where to get good coins, I would appreciate it greatly! Also, I've found some bids for 250 foreign coins between 1800-1900. So far it's at $10, but I have no idea what to really look for :P Also, I read somewhere that a pound is about 100 coins. If so, and if I get the 25 pounds, I'll have an extra 2500 ish coins. So, how should I catalogue them? So far, I've got an Excel spreadsheet that seems to work, but I only have 200 coins, and quite a lot of repeats! Is there a nice Excel template that works better, or should I just stick to what I've got now :S? Lastly, how should I store the coins? I found them in a box in the cupboard :S. Should I a nice box to put them in? Though if I do that, they'll get mixed up and hard to find :(. Any tips on any of the above would be amazing :). I hope one day to be contributing to this forum as much as people have contributed to helping me these past 2-3ish days :P |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4337 Posts |
hey man, welcome. I'm pretty new here as well but here is what I can tell you from my own experience so far: do you want a massive collection because the idea of volume turns you on and do you want to just spend the next 5 years cataloging? Is it that you feel you only have $150 to work with and you want to get the most bang for your buck? Why foreign? Have you seen any older american coinage? Mercury dimes, Barber dimes, seated dimes/quarters? No, you're not getting anywhere near 2500 of those for $150, heck you would only wind up with just a handful or two but it could give you a direction to travel. Maybe you will want to get every Seated quarter from 1850 - 1860 than every Mercury dime from 1930 - 1940 etc..., just as an example. I catalog by hand in a ledger. I write down the coin type and year followed by the circulation of that particular coin/year. Than I spend countless hours grading by using photograde as well as scouring the internet for auctions and buys that occurred against that coin and getting as good of photos as I can of them and comparing to my coin to get as close as I can to grading it properly. Next I will record my cost/wholesale(grey sheet) and FMV. I store in 2x2s and than into a 2x2 box. I am thinking of going airtite on some of my premiums. There are plenty of websites to buy storage from as well as other supplies. Whichever direction you travel, good luck, have fun and for all that is holy, DON'T CLEAN ANYTHING YOU BUY |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
For getting them I only really know good US coin dealers But as far as how many coins in a pound it all depends on the coin. A pound of pennies will have a lot more than a pound of Ike dollars ect. Whatever coin youre looking for or thinking of buying I would do a google price search for their value to see if its a good deal or not. I know a good website for US coins is thats what youre looking for check out numismedia. As far as collecting how you want to collect is up to you. If youre just looking to fill dates ect the bulk version is good, if you want a high grade set I suspect those bulk lots have already been picked for really valuable coins and you would be better off looking for individual coins in acceptable grades. Hope that helps |
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New Member
 Australia
21 Posts |
Thanks for the advice! I guess foreign isn't hugely important, but I think the appeal of buying 2500 for $150 instead of say 3 or 4 is that in the bulk quantities, there might be that small chance that you could find something amazing worth a lot more than the $150 you paid for it :P. Though unless the coin sells for $50,000+, I'd rather keep it for the future :P. To be honest though, I think it's a bit early in my coin collecting career to tell if I want a massive volume or less quantity, but more valuable coins :P. Maybe I'll try both ways and see which way works better for me :P. And no, I haven't seen many old American coins except what comes up on ebay when I search for stuff. I'm not sure though why foreign. I guess it would just be cool to have coins from lots of countries first before spending lots of money for a few coins :P. Who knows, perhaps in a year I'll have 10,000 coins, get bored of it and start trying to get every single American coin pre 2000 :P. I would imagine that would cost a lot though :P Baseball: True about how many in a pound :P. Guess I forgot to think about that :P. The problem with doing a price search is that I have no idea what coins are in the bulk, since it's just a mix of 25 pounds of random world coins :P. And shame about most of the good coins being picked, wouldn't mind having some really good quality coins in my small collection :P Thanks guys for your help! |
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Valued Member
United States
309 Posts |
You'll see a saying on this site quite often: "buy the book before you buy the coin". It basically means take the time to learn about coins as much as you can before purchasing coins. Both so that you are educated about what you are purchasing and to discover what you really like. I would think you should start there.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1411 Posts |
 Also,  to CCF! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1088 Posts |
Also, I would reccommend trying to find a local coin shop. it is a good resource to have. get yourself some standard catalog of world coin books, a collectors best friend
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Valued Member
Canada
370 Posts |
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New Member
Australia
21 Posts |
Thanks guys for all the advice and welcomes! Looked up local dealers, hopefully they have lots of good stuff :P!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
If I were you I'd start by just asking all my relatives, friends, neighbors if they have any old coins they want to part with. In many instances doing this gets you a lot of coins free. Look for and purchase a few books on coins to see what you may be interested in also. Don't know if you have flea markets there like we do in the USA and/or coin shows but try those too. Same with garage/yard/estate sales. Make places like ebay the 1,000th on your list of places to try for coins. Get a lot of posts on this forum and ask members for coins too. |
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New Member
Australia
21 Posts |
Thanks Carl! I don't think we have flea markets or coin shows, but we'd probably have garage/yard/estate sales :D! No idea how I'd find them, but I'll look around :P. The problem with trading is that I don't think my collection is very big/impressive in any way, so there's no real way for me to start trading yet :P. Though who knows, maybe in 6 months I'll have a very nice collection and be trading all day :P
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2605 Posts |
Quote:
... and do you want to just spend the next 5 years cataloging? No, I would like to be cataloging my coins for the rest of my collecting life. You make it sound like a bad thing. Different people may have different objectives of collecting, some just increase the stash, some keep turning them over (hopefully for a profit), and some to learn and enjoy - of course those are not necessarily disjoint. I always return to my coins, either "in flesh", or their images, or their descriptions (in my catalog). And once in a while I add a thing or two about a coin. Cataloging is a big part of my collecting. Quote:Why foreign? Have you seen any older american coinage? Mercury dimes, Barber dimes, seated dimes/quarters? To start, American coins would be foreign for Opaquer. And yes, I have see Mercury and Barber dimes, etc, and I have one of each, and that is plenty enough for me. I personally prefer a variety, only one coin of each type, and a single country, be it US or something else, cannot provide enough of a variety. That's why I enjoy collecting from the whole world. Opaquer, If you are at all attracted to foreign coins, I'd say go for it! See what kind of goodies you can get. Keep the ones you like (in your hand), and trade/sell/give away the others. And it's not like you're making a final decision, you can change the direction at any point if you think you want something else. Quote:
Lastly, how should I store the coins? It's better to separate coins from each other. A box is fine, but put coins in 2x2's, those could be purchased for a reasonable price. And then it would be easier to organize your coins within the box. Happy collecting! |
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New Member
Australia
21 Posts |
Well, so far, the cataloguing has been quite fun! I'm not behind or anything! Although I do need a new method to catalogue them. My current method is probably not very good :P. And good point about American coins being foreign! I didn't even think of that :P! That said though, I'm not against having non foreign coins. For example, how I would love a 1930 Australian Penny. I'd sell it, pay off some bills, and probably buy more coins :P. Or keep it and add it to the other 4 Australian Pennies I have :P (unfortunately nothing of a rare date for my pennies!). I just don't want to end up with 50,000 of the same American coins :P. And I saw a few things about 2x2's. Box of 50 for like $15 or something if I remember correctly :). Not a bad price, and that way everything will be safe :P!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2605 Posts |
My American coins are part of my "World Collection", because I do consider the US a part of the world. Quote:
And I saw a few things about 2x2's. Box of 50 for like $15 or something if I remember correctly :). Not a bad price ... That is a terrible price! Most expensive ones would be self-adhesive kind, and they could be found for under $10 for a box of 50. The regular, staple ones, go for about $2-3 for a bundle of 100. |
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New Member
Australia
21 Posts |
Oh, seriously! Wow, lucky I didn't buy them! Where would these pack of 100 be for $2-3 :P?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2605 Posts |
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Replies: 22 / Views: 3,029 |
Posted 06/14/2012 10:31 am
