Post Advice For New Collectors

A while back I made a thread sharing my biggest "rookie mistake", which was paying too much for a 3CN on ebay - based on their posting of the PCGS price guide. I then invited others to post theirs and thread took off pretty well. It was interesting and informative, and dare I say fun to see other people's rookie errors. Some people actually shared that they polished their collections!

I'd like to do something similar but different. Here we will post advice for all collectors, especially those just starting out.

There is tons of ground to cover. There are all sorts of ideas for pricing coins, avoiding scams, buying certified coins, storing your coins, picking a budget, negotiating prices, buying on ebay, etc. etc. Of course, in many cases advice can come from one's own rookie mistakes so still feel free to share them.

For the original post of this thread I'm only going to post one piece of advice. I want to leave room for others to share theirs. So here it is:

Make a "smart" plan for your collection! You don't have to make one right away but at some point it's a good idea to have one. When you first start collecting it can be overwhelming shopping for coins. There are so many choices and so many options you can be pulled in multiple directions. Think about a project before you start one, and in particular think about a budget.

I think a good starting point is to start building your own "type set" with or without a coin album. This will give you experience with each of the coin series and force you to diversify your knowledge. It will also give you variety in your collection and make it more enjoyable.

If you begin to have an affinity for a particular coin type go ahead and go for it. Just make sure you have a plan! I wouldn't buy that MS65 Red 1925 Lincoln unless you either have a huge budget or you don't mind having your set not match at all. In other words you might not want BU Red Lincolns sitting next to VF brown Lincolns in the coin album. And for 99.9% of us assembling a complete BU red Lincoln set is way over our head. Also remember that some coin types are pretty cheap to complete (Ike Dollars, Statehood Quarters) and others, like Trade dollars, can be very costly.

The above advice is just something for you to strongly consider. There is nothing wrong if a collector decides they don't need or want a plan. Some may just be happy buying whatever happens to catch their eye, and they might not care if their collection has any particular theme or pattern. I just find that most collectors eventually fall into a particular plan or theme. And I myself wish I would have planned better, sooner.