I Bought A 2026 US Coin Guide, What Else Should I Buy?

Have you got the RedBook yet?

I collect mainly world coins and formerly used the various Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins. Now I almost exclusively use Numista (for world and US coins too):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/index.php

Microscope cameras with lights to take close up photos of coins are nice to have. There's various brands and price ranges. You can find them on Amazon, ebay etc. But many of us use 10x loupe magnifiers you hold in your hand to search for coin errors and varieties. They are not expensive. I have a regular Cannon camera with macro setting for close ups so never bought a microscope cam.

Here is screenshot of loupes on Amazon:

Don't go jumping in right away with a microscope. Spend some time reading, researching, and learning about coins first. Too many times newbies start out with microscopes and everything they see that is magnified looks like an error to them. Then after constantly being told it is just damage or a worn die problem they get discouraged and get disappointed and give up.
Try to put together some easy sets first to get the hang of handling coins and how to go about obtaining them. Then after awhile try coin roll searching and getting your microscope. Enjoy.

I respectfully disagree with @Rocky B suggestion for new collectors to get a microscope to look for errors.

@Marv65 said it well. As a new collector you don't yet have the experience to know what a normal coin looks like given all the normal things that can happen in the striking chamber.

Newbies that try to force the knowledge topic by examining minute parts of coins through microscopes often get frustrated with us telling them it's not an error, just normal stuff.

Best advice is purchase a few guidebooks, pick a current denomination of interest to you, read about the coins and gain experience handling and examining them.

The RedBook of US coins is often recommended and for good reason. It contains a wealth of vital information. There is a new issue every year.

Have fun and best of wishes on the knowledge journey.

With @nickelsearcher & @marv65


I've seen that around here somewhere

A microscope isn't needed for a beginner; this is for advanced collectors or specialists. If you ever want to get one one, buy used one for $25-50 somewhere.

You have loupes, which would be my second recommendation after a Redbook. I prefer an achromatic like Echenbach's 3/6/9 loupe.

Where you go from here will depend on your interests, which you can expect to change over time.

Moving into world coins is a big step, but it sounds like you have some experience with stamps. That's good. The issue with world coins is that the world's a big place spanning lots of languages and around 2500 years. A set of Krauses will be thousands of pages and, in my opinion, omits a lot of the important context around coins that I find most meaningful. Explore a bit, and narrow down regions/countries and time periods -- from there, you can find a lot of books, numismatic and otherwise, to delve into.

So I guess the question now is: What do you find interesting in coins?