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 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,422 |
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Valued Member
United States
50 Posts |
I am new to the world of coin collecting, but I need guidance. I have been reading and learning as much as I can and am really excited about this new hobby. Any tips about getting started would be greatly appreciated! As a child I acquired a fair amount of coins from my mom who worked as a bank teller, but I am just now picking up the hobby twenty years later. I am trying to keep from just going out and buying stuff. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2541 Posts |
Here's a few tips from someone who is fairly new to the hobby himself: Avoid E-Bay for now. Too many people have been ripped off there Find a focus and try to stick with it - there's nothing worse than spending $1000 over the course of the year and having a random bunch of coins Don't buy anything expensive right away (that number is different for everyone), but say $100 for argument's sake. Buy a RedBook and read through it - it is very informative and you will learn a lot. Probably the best $12 I every spent in the coin collecting world! Have fun and enjoy yourself! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2120 Posts |
What interests you the most? Do that. A lot of people say start a type set. But I think it takes a little time before youre really ready for that under taking. For me I started with Mercury dimes and tried to get a short set ( no key dates ) completed from my dealers junk silver basket. Oh, if there are any terms you don't know, this site has a great glossary of terms you can look up. Happy hunting. Welcome to the community! |
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Valued Member
United States
450 Posts |
Hello and welcome perhunt29 post often in the forums and dont worry about doing it too much we are both learning and was told by a few members that its ok to post more then normal people do we have an excuse we are new lol Good luck and look forward to your posts :)
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Valued Member
United States
368 Posts |
The way I started was simply bank roll searching
take it slow at first and get used to holding the coins in your hand and looking for dates, mm and things you need
I got whitman folders for like 3.25 a piece to hold and organize my stuff
Gonna move them to nice dansco's or something once I get a nice looking set with few holes
but thats how I would and did start, pick something and go with it, and a suggestion.....ALWAYS ask for halves and collect them on the side, they are hard to come by and make for a lot of fun
even if you can only get 2 or 3 at a bank like me sometimes, they accumulate and you get nice coins and a lot of dates after a while
but I mainly suggest roll hunting and organizing using folders
don't buy until you realize what you need and are the most interested in, or you can buy some really unneccesary items
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
First off,  to CCF. All good tips so far. I would add buy yourself a 10x loupe, and only handle coins by the edge and don't clean them. Good luck in your new hobby.
John1 
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Valued Member
 United States
50 Posts |
Thanks for all the great suggestions! I will take them all into consideration. Also, thanks for the welcome!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1599 Posts |
Spend as much time here at CCF as you can. That is how I have learned what I know about the hobby. I tried to concentrate on a single set to start with ( Franklin halves). Pursuit of that set helped me greatly. I quickly learned some good lessons (and still do). Ask questions, the members here are very knowledgeable and always willing to help. Oh yea, from one Alabamian to another-War Eagle! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1534 Posts |
Quote:
I have been reading and learning as much as I can and am really excited about this new hobby. That's probably the best advice a new collector can get. Keep doing it and hold off purchasing until you are confident in your grading abilities and have somewhat of a sense as to when a coin is counterfeit. |
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Valued Member
United States
270 Posts |
Learn how to grade..When coin pic are on here try to guess the grade before scrolling down and seeing what it was. it is cheap practice make the mistake here and not on a 1000.00 coin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
672 Posts |
Collect What makes you happy!...nothing else matters this is a hobby not a job... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
613 Posts |
Welcome, a Red Book is a very good starter. Identity is a good start. Lets say small cents, Flying Eagle, Indian Head, Wheatie, Memorial, and now Shield Cents. Learn to identify each coin and where it was made. P D S... The main part of coin collecting is to have fun. |
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Valued Member
United States
476 Posts |
Roll searching has done a lot for my grading/evaluation abilities over the past 10 months that I've been in the hobby. It's a very cheap way to look at a lot of coins with little to no cost. I've recently been working on weeding out my hoard of "keepers" from my 8 months of nickel roll searching. I'm amazed to see what I kept in the early days of roll searching. I bet I'm throwing back least 80% of what I kept back then. I actually read an online book http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html at that site that was extremely helpful in picking up on some finer points of grading. (Hope that link is allowed...if not I'm sure it won't last long.) Above all, regardless of your budget, whether high-end coins or low-end coins, the best advice I've seen for beginning collectors is "Collect what you like." No other advice really has much bearing IMHO. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
781 Posts |
a RedBook is a great place to start. I picked up 2008 at the end of the year on the bargain rack for $6.00 or you can pick up the most current one for $12 or so. I still reference my book almost everytime I roll search. which leads to the idea of roll searching... This is a great way to start adding to your hoard. a box of cents will cost $25.00, a box of nickels $100.00, dimes $250.00, halves $500.00 This is the perfect way to get coins you want/need for face value. the best part is, you can take back the ones you don't want and get your money back. Read through some of the roll hunting threads here. the popular ones are Cents, Nickels, Dimes, and Halves. Not many people are searching quarter rolls. You'll see different ways people go about cashing in their reject coins. Some use coin counting machines in their bank. others roll them up and deposit them. I use a coin deposit bag provided from my bank and take back a big ol' sack of coins at a time. The best thing you can probably do is just browse through this whole forum, reading threads on topics that catch your eye. you'll learn more than you though was possible. |
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Pillar of the Community
555 Posts |
Go to a coin show, so you can see in person what type of coin may hold interest for you.
You are over 30 so if you have money you may decide to buy only PCGS or NGC slabbed material (makes you safer from buying wrongly graded or counterfeit coins).
If you don't have alot of disposable income you need to buy raw coins from some of the reputable sellers mentioned elsewhere in this blog.
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Valued Member
United States
487 Posts |
, perhunt. Look up a person on this forum know as Superdave he has a world of knowledge. I read as many of his postings as I can, his knowledge of Morgans is unbelievable! I believe to build a strong collection takes time and patience. Find something that interests you and stick to it. Enjoy! |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 3,422 |
Posted 06/13/2010 10:40 pm
