How Do You Go About Buying A Coin?

Since I collect very different coins to the majority of people here, this may be of little interest to anyone else. But .. you never know until you try my Mum used to say .. so here goes!

Now it might be best to tell you what I collect first of all, and that's hammered (hand produced and struck) shillings from the reign of Charles I of England (1625-1649) A shilling is 1/5th of a crown, which is our equivalent of a dollar, so 20c or so. Or for those into early colonial coinage, you have your own shillings from places like Massachusetts.

Now, in the UK we have our own equivalent to the Red Book, published each year by the auction house Spink. However, for specialised areas, Spink doesn't recognise all the different varieties of coin that exist. Plus the pricing data is generally based on auction sales, so for rarer coins that don't turn up for sale very often, they can be unrealistic.

Hence I have to rely on my own records of sales and purchases I've compiled off the internet. Plus old auction sale catalogues and a handful of specialist publications. Still the most useful of these to me is a photographic record of a collection of over 1350 coins of Charles I which were bought between the 1940s and 1980s.

The latter acts both as a guide to what's available (particularly during my early collecting days) and record of what, in many cases, were the 'best examples' of the time.

So when looking for a coin to fill a gap, or spotting one that catches my eye, I refer back to my records and books and compare what's on offer with what's 'gone before'.

Is it as good or better than other examples? What price did others fetch in similar condition?

Of course, being individually made, I'm looking for coins that appeal to me. Sometimes a slightly worn example that's not missing any bits and has no weaknesses may appeal more than what is technically a better grade coin.

Plus I find it useful to remember a quote Richard Lobel, the complier of the UK Coincraft catalogue printed in his introduction to that book. He recalls an early mentor of his who saying "when you go to value a coin it is what you have not seen rather than what you have seen that matters" [my emphasis]

And that's as true today as it was then. Some coins are nearly impossible to find. Others can be obtained easily in lower grades. But anything a (British) VF or better can be as rare as (as we say) hen's teeth!

Sounds complicated? Well, I have a good memory for images and my records are fairly well organised, so often it doesn't take that long to check them. And the internet is an invaluable resource too. As are other collectors with whom one can share notes and experiences.

So what usually takes longest is making that decision, once I've uploaded an image of the potential purchase onto my laptop desktop to glance at occasionally! If it's a particularly nice coin or I'm flush with funds, it's usually shorter. And if I have to work too hard to try to 'persuade' myself it's a nice coin, then I start to wonder if it's really for me. But generally, that's how I approach it all.

You?