New Collector

When I started out I went to local coin shows, shops and browsed the internet looking at as many coins as I could. I also bought a RedBook (A Guide to United States coins) by Whitman Publishing and absorbed as much as I could in it. By doing this, I was able to tell what coins struck my fancy, and come up with a list of the ones I wanted to collect. In my humble opinion, the most important thing is that you collect something YOU enjoy, something that YOU love to look at, and not what others tell you to collect.

I have found that this can be a very rewarding hobby, both financially and personally, but I enjoy it more when the coins I buy and trade for reach me in a personal manner.

Welcome to the greatest hobby. I'm sure you will find this forum and hobby educational, fun and worth the effort.

Jim

I generally suggest Mercury's as well but lately I have been really getting into Lincoln cents. I guess one could say I have jumped on the bandwagon. There is just so much talk about them and the upcoming changes/possible discontinuation that I couldn't resist. It's been really fun laying out $50.00 and leaving with a stack of 2x2's as opposed to just one!

Lots of things depend on where you live, how much your willing to spend, how much time you are willing to invest, traveling and just likes and dislikes. As already noted and I think I mentioned this in your previous post. Go to coin shows. Look in Google for example and type in coin shows and your state. Then if there are some, many, etc., go to as many as possible. I said where you live due to some areas have few to no coin shows at all and in some areas like Illinois, there are coin shows almost every weekend. How much time is pending on what you do for a living, if you have kids that also take up time, a wife that wants you to do things besides looking at coins. Traveling is important if you have to go some distances to coin shows and coin stores. As to what you like and dislike, that is really up to the individual. For example I dislike the baby sized dollars and refuse to buy them, collect them, nor spend them. I also dislike the presidential wife coins. I don't hate Jefferson nickels and have several completed sets bug I see no future in value for those. Licoln Cents are really plain but probably 1000% of all collectors collect them, slight exageration.
You just have to keep on looking for now and decide what is best for you. Get some more Whitman or Dansco Albums and attempt to fill them.

I agree with my collegues. Collect whatever intrests or intrigues you. Lincoln cents, nickels, Ike dollars, etc.

Have fun- John

Connor, there is some very good advice in the responses to your post. Take your time!
I have been collecting for over 55 years and I have most of my collecting goals completed, but....I am still energized by this hobby and I love to look at my sets and coins everyday.
If I were just beginning today I think I would concentrate on 20th century U.S. silver coins. Why? The last third of the 20th century saw the last of the coin business strikes in silver(gold too in the 30's, but that is a different subject). Before 1964, or so, silver was the mainstay of coinage world wide for over twenty centuries. Today, given the price silver demands the only silver coins struck are either bullion (ASE, etc.) or "collector" proofs or special commemoratives. A collection of every U.S. silver coin series that was started and completed in the 20th century would include: the Mercury dimes, Roosevelt dimes, Standing Liberty quarters, Washington quarters, Walking Liberty halves, Franklin half dollars and Peace dollars. To make it very special you could add a short set of the modern 20th century commemorative half dollars as well as the ASE.
The current 21st century coins are interesting and I collect and maintain all of them but my heart is in my birth century...the 20th....and before long all of these silver coins will be very difficult to find or at least much more expensive than today.
Just my opinion....