ranchhand

well, I have not forsaken my US coin collection, even though i threatened to ( I have went to the dark side for the most part )

I am still VERY keen on my classic comem sets, and plan on making some head way this year. I have vowed to get either a hawaii or spanish trail before the end of 2006.

I am saving up and keeping my "eye on the prize".

It seems like the best and most given advice in coin collecting is as follows:

1. buy the coin not the holder.
2. buy the keys first.
3. buy the book first.

As i have grown as a collector this advice rings more and more true to me, and its time i started focusing on key coins. it seems like they keys just keep going higher, the historical prices tell a story. common coin prices seem to barely keep up with inflation, the keys seem to stay solid no matter what happens with the market.

the way i see it if i don;t buy the hawaii or spanish trail soon i will never be able to afford it.

My question to you "old time" collectors; have you ever purchased a coins and thught to your self "man i just paid way to much!" only to discover years later that the coin is worth many multiples more then you paid?

Speedy

I think your #1#2#3 are a little messed up...I would put it like this...
#1..buy the BOOK before you buy or sell the coin
#2..buy the keys and harder to find coins first
#3..buy the coin not the holder

Yes I have done that...gotten a few coin and thought...man..I will never get this out of this coin if I need to and then when I sell I get more than I put into it.
There have also been times when I have gotten coins and a few months later the dealers fingerprints pop up and I lose....where I paid about $7-$10 a coin I now get $3 for all 3 of them---that is where you come even with the coins you sold and made money on it!

Speedy

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Coin collecting is the only hobby in the world that you can spend all the money in the world and still have some left over

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Just Carl

No, never have. I'm a coin collector and have been one for well over 50 years and as a collector and not a dealer or invester, I never worry about the cost of a coin. I also don't worry about key coins because I have no intent on selling anything. The so called keys come into realiazation when I notice the never filled empty slot in one of my albums. Then I will eventually just go to one of the many coin shows or shops and buy one to fill the album. As long as I have no intent to resell any coins, there can never be a feeling of over payment. I've never kept track of what I paid for a coin so if I do look up the lastest value, I have no idea of if I under or over paid. As long as a person considers themselves as a pure coin collector and not a someday dealer or invester, who cares if the price goes up or down.

ranchhand

i was not really putting them in any order...

PyrotekNX

It all depends what kind of collector you are. The casual collector honestly doesn't need to buy any books or worry about holders because they rarely purchase graded coins. A casual collector probably would not pay $1000 for a key date either.

The majority of collectors become interested in a series where they have enough coins to try to make a set. An inexperienced collector is very unlikely to start collecting a harder series like large cents or half dimes without actually having some or seeing some in person. Young collectors will typically start with coins they know about and are accessible. By the time they find out about 1/2 cents, 1/2 dimes, 2, 3, and 20 cent pieces, they will probably know enough to at least do a little research before they start bidding up on ebay.

ranchhand

that sounds really dangerous to me...
not buying any books or educating yourself would be for the casual collector of pocket change. someone who should probably never buy any coin more then its face value...

if you are buying from a dealer, other collector, or ebay you really need to do some research to keep form being riped off!

Richard01

For me, price is not relevant as it compared to market value, but as it compares to intrinsic value as a desired part of my collection. would I pay $10 for something worth a dollar? Yes, if I really wanted it. Is that dumb? No more so than paying $10 for a giant cheese head at a packers game... pay for what you enjoy and don't confuse investing with collecting. I tried selling for a while... but found I loved 'em all too much. Buy them, enjoy them, and let the rest go by without worry.