Every so often the topic of coin collecting software surfaces and generates a fair amount of interest, debate, or info sharing. Being an avid Microsoft Excel user I always scratched my noggin wondering what all the commotion was about.
To answer my own curiosity I decided to hunker down for the weekend and with a full pot of coffee began the arduous task of reviewing any and all software packages my PC seemed capable of consuming. Little did I know that this little task would consume the ENTIRE weekend and leave my hard drive smoking from the heat generated from loading and unloading demos all weekend.
After acquiring a severe addiction to caffeine, reviewing 13 titles and test driving 12 demos, I emerged from my den of darkness with a new revelation to the attraction of such software packages ready to reveal what I believe are the better solutions.
Note: You can view a table summary of the titles at http://typesets.wikidot.com/local--...Coin_Inv.xls and yes it is in excel.Best Choice for the Casual or Budget Collector
Coin Collector V3.0 - Simplicity and ease of use is the message of the day here and with a price of only $14.95 it's the best out of the low budget programs. It only took about 10 minutes to figure out navigation, customization, and data entry. Yet the most amazing feature at this price is the ability to load images (even if its only one per record).
Best Choices for the Experienced CollectorCoinmanage - An incredible set of features and content rich with coin information make it a tough one to beat. Though the user interface was a little tricky, once you get the hang of it its not too complicated.
The database of information contains 459 images and information on 750 types of coins from 12 countries. Another feature is its focus on coin research via web links they associate with each coin in their library. Unfortunately, web links are mainly provided for U.S. coin types only.
In regards to photos it can handle 4 images for each coin, but the best feature for photos is the ability to view your collection in an album.
Categories and want lists are a breeze. Keeping the value of these collections current is a snap as the software receives pricing updates twice a year and automatically applies the values.
A unique feature is the ability to link with e-bay. As interesting as this sounds it doesn't quite work as advertised,when I choose a 1911 Barber Half to research on e-bay it returned results for anything and everything from 1911 (anyone interested in buying a 1911 New Jersey fish & game regulations guide?). This is the one feature that needs to be improved. Of course this was a demo version so it may work better on the full version.
Pro-coin - Though not as content rich as Coinmange, it's user interface is much easier as is navigation. I was up and running creating records, categories, and want lists in a matter of minutes.
The database of information is limited to U.S. Coins. This is not saying you cannot add foreign coins it just that no info is readily available to pre-populate a record or want list.
Photo's, photos, and photos. There seemed to be no limit as to how many photos I could attach to a coin record. This is a really nice feature if you need something for insurance companies as you could scan in your receipts in addition to coins.
From a pricing perspective updates are received monthly and are based on PCGS pricing for U.S. coins.
Pro-coins unique feature is its portability. You can upload your collection to the web so that you can work on it anywhere you have internet access and when you return you simply download it back into your home PC. I'm sure this is desirable for some but it's not my cup of tea. If you pass on this feature it will reduce the cost of the software from $59.99 to $34.99 which at this price seems like a nice balance between cost & features.
Best Choice for the World Coin CollectorExact Change - If you have a large world coin inventory with a vast variety of countries then you'll love this one. The database has coin information from 240 countries and 18,000 images. It was like having a Krause World Coins Catalog always at my fingertips.
I realize the $99 price tag seems high but if you do the math for other programs you'll discover that by the time you buy the "add-on" databases you'll easily exceed the $99 mark and probably not have anywhere the same capabilities.
Entering and changing data is easier than coin manage but slightly more difficult than Pro-coin.
Beyond the standard obverse/reverse thumbnail or small images you can actually view coin images at full screen without ratty resolution loss. Especially nice if you have errors/varieties.
One feature I accidentally stumbled upon was a date converter. This was so cool as I didn't have to dig out my Krause catalog in an attempt to decipher an Arab coin for the date.
One final neat thing has nothing to do with features but more on learning. Besides providing the standard manuals you can go to their website and actually load training videos which were fantastic to get you started immediately.
This software has a lot of horsepower and probably more than I'll ever need but it sure is sexy. I think for now this old excel guy will continue on with his .xls files but at least now I have an appreciation for coin software.
FootnoteOne program that looked interesting and could have been a possible contender was Visual PackRat Plus 2.0 and at a price tag of just 24.95, could have won based on value and features. But there was no demo download available at the time of this review so they had to stay off the list. Better luck next time I guess.
Posted 07/02/2007 11:28 pm
for thirty days.
