Buying For A Beginner

I think the key is educating yourself. With all the information available, there is no real excuse not to.

I agree. The biggest mistake new collectors make is buying a bunch of coins before understanding anything about coins, and then they complain and get upset about it, when they didn't even take the time to learn about how to grade and authenticate to a certain level of skill. Once you do that you won't have to buy only slabbed coins which isn't a very good idea in the first place if you're doing it to protect yourself from getting ripped off.

I wouldn't say that's a mistake. Buy what you're interested in, buy what makes you happy. If you like a coin because of its artwork, buy it. If you buy a coin because it features your favorite historical figure, buy it. If you get tired of those coins, you can always resell them. The way I collect, if I see a coin I like or don't currently have in my collection, and it's priced within my budget, I'll buy it and enjoy it. I don't care so much about grade, but I try to stay away from very poor condition coins; I like to see some details in the designs. Most of the time, the high grade coins of designs that I like are out of my price range, so I don't buy those coins. Right now I'm just buying coins of types that I don't have, for example I went to a coin show last weekend and bought a Mercury dime, two Barber dimes, an Indian Head penny, a Buffalo nickel, and a high grade Wheat penny. The dates weren't important to me; I bought all of them because they were something I didn't have in my collection. People collect in different ways, I happen to collect what I find interesting, regardless of rarity, condition, etc. Collect what interests you. As far as paying for it, pay what you're willing and can afford to pay.

It does not come overnight. It takes time, diligence, and education. Study our grading forum. There is a great book out there: The PCGS Grading guide and Counterfeit Detection. Also, the photogrades are not too bad. It just takes practice and seeing thousands of coins, literally.
Like Tim said, do NOT buy anything from these clowns at HSN. Littleton is also cut out for beginners IMO. I've seen coins at HSN for 3-4 times over Greysheet.

I agree, I meant to say when new collectors buy coins that they know nothing about and when they find out they've gotten ripped off they get upset about it when doing a bit of research and reading would have benefited them greatly.

Thanks for the many thoughtful replies. I guess the main things I can take away from this is "buy the book" and "slow and go". Education. Going slowly is probably the kindest favor I can do for myself. Learn to grade. That's going to be a trick! But I can see where it's necessary. No one here seems overly committed to slabbed coins only which seems to say I can get some good buys on unslabbed as well IF I do my homework. That's fine. I was only leaning towards the slabbed as a safety net as a beginner. Gotta fess up though, I just bought my very first coin with no homework--proof American silver eagle from the US Mint. Maybe I paid too much for it but don't think the price will ever come down, at least in the forseeable future. But I'm not really interested in turning a quick profit or any profit at all. Just the enjoyment of being able to have some beautiful coins.

Thanks for the warnings on dealers to stay away from.

James

We'll need a little more information. Technically, all coins with any silver are "alloy" since they all contain at least a certain percentage of copper (with the exception of bullion American silver eages, which are over 99.9% pure). You're most like referring to earlier date JFK 50c pieces and Eisenhower dollars which are 40% silver, 60% copper and nickel.