What Should Someone Keep In Mind When Considering Trading An Entire Coin Collection For One Coin?

I would like to answer your first question. I would love to exchange a few coins (but here it should be borne in mind that I would exchange coins that I am no longer interested in, and only them) for rarer ones. Simply put, I would exchange a handful of coins at the price of 10 cents for one at the price of 5-10 dollars.

I'd say there are three things I'd keep in mind: 1) value of the coins in question, 2) how likely you'd be to come across the coin you're looking for again at that price, and 3) how likely you'd be to replace the coins you're trading if you decide to collect them again.

1) It probably doesn't make much sense to trade higher value coins for a lower value one, unless you are absolutely convinced it's a rare coin whose market will take off in the next few years.

2) Will you be able to come across that coin again in the near future, or is it indeed a rare find? If you are likely to encounter it again, perhaps you could hold off. If not, then it might very well be worth the trade, assuming again that you're not really losing much, or any, money on that swap.

3) If the coins you're considering trading are ones you can easily acquire again, and the coin you're looking to acquire is not, then assuming the value is similar, I'd absolutely make that trade.

I'm in the process of getting rid of the bulk of my collection with an eye towards having fewer coins that are better quality and/or rarer. I have a good sized accumulation of common date coins that I'm just not as interested in anymore. I'd be happy to trade the lot for one or more coins that meet my current interests. Having said that, I doubt there's anyone that's looking to go the opposite direction with their collection.