Coin Collecting

Coin Collecting is one of the most popular hobbies out there for good reason. It is incredibly easy to start and yet can get extremely sophisticated and even sometimes turn into an investment.

Coin Collecting Ideas

Coin collecting can be cheap or expensive. You can start out collecting coins from your change, and slowly graduate to buying and selling your coins. Here are a few low cost options to get you started:

1. Pick a denomination (like Nickels) and try and collect one from as many years as you can.

2. Try an collect one of every type of coin from a particular year (like yours or a child’s year of birth.)

3. Tell people you are trying to collect foreign coins and ask them to give you some pocket change from their travels.  See how many countries you can collect.

4. Keep growing with your hobby – learn about mint marks and expand your one a year collection to include different mint marks.

5. Learn about the importance of condition in coin collecting and try to update your collection to the best condition examples you can find.

Coin collecting can be cheap or get very expensive. The ideas above can mostly be done by just watching your pocket change. At the other end of the spectrum you can easily spend thousands of dollars on premium specimens.

First, buy a book

Like many hobbies one of the best suggestions is to buy a couple good books first. Here are a couple popular ones:

A Guide Book of US Coins (known simply as the Redbook) is updated every year and has been around for decades (some people even collect Redbooks!) It has a wealth of information and illustrations, as well as an attempt to establish an average retail value of most coins. Don’t depend on these values as values can vary greatly, but it is a good start.

Standard Catalog of World Coins is probably the bible of world coin collecting. This one is also updated frequently. It is not cheap (about $30-$50), but it is very comprehensive.

When it is time to buy coins

As you advance in your coin collecting hobby it is hard to resist buying some coins. The best advice here is to acquire knowledge before you start acquiring coins. When you do start buying start small. You may want to acquire more common coins in as good condition as you can afford. Many examples are not too expensive.

Where to buy coins

Buying coins has changed over the years. There was a time when there was a coin dealer in almost every town and most that managed to stay in business did so because they conducted business honestly and valued their reputation. Today you have many options.

One option is Ebay. Ebay has a huge coin section and it is a good place to get an idea how much coins cost. You can check the reputation of sellers and see what coins have sold for.

Coins as an investment

Coins can sometimes be an investment. Like all collectibles the value of a coin is determined by what people are willing to pay for it, so values can go up or down. One comment here is that some coins are made of silver or gold, so that besides their collectible value they have the intrinsic value of the silver or gold they are made from. Of course as everyone knows the price of silver or gold can also go up or down.

Coin Security

Coins are easy to carry and easy to sell. This makes them a favorite of thieves. If you are just collecting pocket change this doesn’t matter too much, but if you start buying coins their value can add up fast. So consider the use of a safe deposit box and check with you insurance agent about protecting the value of your coins.

Until next time…..