What Should I Look For?

Don't look at coins as an investment.
Think of them as a collection and recreation.
EXCEPTION: Coins costing $50,000 or more -- and maybe not even then.

If you want a coin-like investment go for bullion, and I don't mean bullion coins.
I mean bars or rounds.
And be prepared to sock them away for 20+ years.
That might work.

Do you want to be a coin dealer? Dealers make a profit on turnover and not by hoarding stuff and waiting for the price to go up. A dealer can work as much or as little as desired and there are many ways to sell coins. I like yard sales and flea markets and specialize in cheap foreign coins that are displayed in a binder with 20 pocket plastic pages. Each Coin is protected in a cardboard 2 by 2. My minimum price is 25 cents per coin and displaying anything worth more the $25 invites theft. My experience shows that a sale should have at least six to twelve categories such as comic books, books, trading cards, postcards, stamps, tools, furniture etc. Some sales do not move a single coin while others may exceed $100 from a single customer. Coins have to be watched carefully or people steal them. Beat up large cents, Indian pennies, Two Cent Pieces, 1943 steel pennies and Buffalo nickels often sell.

General rules of coin collecting:

1. Collect what you like. (not what someone else says you should collect)

2. Do Not get caught up in EPR (Expected Positive Return)

3. Do not spend the rent money on coins. (this is often the hardest rule to follow)

4. Follow your heart

5. Learn, watch, read, and above all listen.

I will repeat what Kanga said....do not look at this new hobby as a future "investment".
Look at it as a hobby and have fun collecting and learning about the history of coins.
If you decide to sell them off somewhere down the road and make a little money, great.

If I did not have a Kennedy half dollar I would buy a 1998 matte proof Kennedy.
With some luck and patience you can find one in the $150 range.
If I didn't have any Indian Head cents I would look for a nice AU to add to my collection.
A nice matte proof Jefferson nickel.
Half Cent or large cent.
Your options are wide open. Look for a NICE coin that you LOVE and you can't go wrong.

Since you just started collecting my advice is save your money.

If you're itching to buy something then I suggest you pick a theme. I collect coins with animals -- it's my critter coin collection. There are rules for this collection and the first rule is that NONE of them are expensive coins. This is just for fun. I search junk bins at shows, and I've bought a several from members on this site.

So -- why not spend say... $20 on some fun coins and save the rest of the money. That way when you see a good deal on a great coin you might just have enough to get it. Just putting away $100 a month will allow you to get some pretty nice gold in a few years.

Some awesome advice above! I did think about looking for coins with women I admired on them. Being a history buff I also considered looking for coins from the periods I study (even did some looking for a Henry I coin--not thick on the ground, and I suspect if any surface they'll be way out of my price range.)

Given my grandpa collected from circulation in Colorado, most of his coins were minted here in Denver, so I do have lots of those. It might be fun to collect one of every coin minted in Denver, but in a few cases it'd be pricy!

As for becoming a dealer, id probably need to have some coins first! I'll work on it! Most of my gps's coins are probably melters. Maybe once I've finished studying his collection and going over my own coppers, I'll try my hand at roll hunting. Could be a fun way to while away those wintry days later in the year.

As for the investment value, I realize I was thinking differently than I should. I was looking at the appreciation of the value of my grandpa's coins, many of which were pulled from his till over the decades he ran a service station. All those quarters worth 25cents back in the day, now worth 23x that, at least! I guess from here, though, they won't necessarily appreciate at the same rate, and newer coins can't be expected to do anything like that.

Thanks for all the great ideas and advice!

Thanks, David! I definitely see some benefit from getting coins from periods that interest me. It'd be awesome to hold a coin that could have passed through the hands of someone like Christina of Markyate or even Boudicca.

Thanks, panzaldi! I will definitely take your advice and ask questions before making future purchases, at least making sure the dealer I'm working with is trustworthy.