Gift suggestions for family coin collector.

Good afternoon everyone. My father in law enjoys collecting US coins and I would like to get him a gift for the holidays. I know nothing at all about coins and was hoping to get some guidance here if I could. I was hoping to spend around $50 but I honestly don't know if that is enough or really low to get him anything good. Any suggestions as to what might be good or places to consider would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.
Jesse

TLDR If you had $50 to spend on a US coin what would you get and where would you get it?

 

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Find out his birthyear and get a nice slabbed BU coin. My suggestion would be PCGS or NGC MS 63-68

 

Hi Jbrophy,
First, welcome here to CoinTalk. Second, do you have any idea what your father in law collects? Has he mentioned anything specific that you can recall? Maybe you could ask him to show you his collection..cuz if you knew what he's in to, someone here will probably give you a great suggestion!

 

2011 proof silver eagle. I think you can get one of those for $50 or just slightly more.

 

You can get an E-Gift Certificate from the U.S. Mint website in different amounts:

http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wc...storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&identifier=GIFT

 

They just sold those out not long ago and retailed for $58.95 plus shipping. I mean where can you get them for around $50 already?

 

My motto is "Never buy a coin collector a coin". Though your intentions are good, if you know very little about coins, there is a high, high probability that you will get him something he does not like or want. Oftentimes what seems really neat to a non collector, is undesireable to someone who has been in the hobby for some time. The E-Gift Certificate is a great idea or maybe pick up a gift certificate at a local coin shop.

 

I agree with the above statement that it's may not be the best idea to buy a coin collector a coin... although your intentions are great, most of us coin collectors are really picky on what we like.

Do you know which series of U.S. coins he likes to collect??? Indian Cents??? Morgan Dollars??? Commemoratives??? I think the money would be much better spent on a nice book or two on the stuff he likes. If you know which series, I'm sure we could provide some recommendations. There are also some general books that are really nice that most collectors would love to have, like the 100 Greatest U.S. Coins book. Of course, he may already own some of these books but I like that idea much better than trying to find a coin to buy.

Good luck.

 

If he's a serious collector, I would get him something pertaining to coins, but not a coin. Get him an antique loupe, or a crafty small wooden box to put his favorites in. He might appreicate a book related to his favorite coins. If you do get him a coin, get him a 1 oz silver eagle, or maple leaf.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-Americ...673?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e68f394c1

 

I absolutely agree. Better yet, the 2011 W burnished silver american eagle is a little less expensive right around $50 from the us mint website and will have a much lower mintage than the proof. I would even call it a potential sleeper. TC

 

Concur! I have been telling my wife this for years. Last year I got a gift certificate to mint and it was great. After some of the "coins" she has brought home for me from garage sales, no way I want her picking out coins from a dealer for me! She means well but she will get ripped off or pick something I won't care for much.

Love the antique loop idea. If gift certs aren't your thing I would say burnished silver eagle is safe. No coin collector would be disappointed with that even if he already has one.

 

Well, I suggested specific items for my various family members to get for me - Silver proof sets, ASE, Dansco albums, etc.

But I don't think any coin collector would scoff at a free unc or proof American Silver Eagle (as said above).

 

I agree 100%.

My wife was going to order a set of coins from seventhavenue.com, 10 Decades of 20th Century coins, for me as a Christmas gift. The set is $79.95 plus shipping. I told her not to order the set as they're, no doubt, low grade, common coins in the set and the $79.95 price is over-inflated for the coins in the set.

I told her if she wants to get me something numismatic for Christmas, get a gift certificate from one of the dealers I do business with regularly or from the Mint itself. Leave the coin buying to me.

 

Buy him a membership in the ANA. If he doesn't already, it will interest him in getting to the coin shows. If he goes there now, he will get in free if it is ANA sponsored. In addition he will have grading privilages with NGC, access to the ANA Library, Money Museum and a host of ANA internet site perks.

 

If he has slabbed coins (graded coins in clear cases) you might want to get him one of these. Cost is $39.99 before shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310192935614?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

I also like your suggestion regarding magnifiers (loupe). A good quality loupe is always welcomed by collectors.

 

:thumb:Silver or gold. Like this ck out my Links On signature below

 

OP, lots of good answers, especially warning you about not buying. I know you have the best intentions, but saying "someone is a coin collector, what should I buy him?" is pretty much identical to saying, "someone wears clothes, what should I buy him?". There is way to little information to go on. Of the answers presented, I like either an ANA membership or possibly a 2011 silver eagle or a loupe.

Like I said, if you had a teensie little bit more info it would really help. I think most here are assuming he collects US coins, but many collect world or ancient coins. Even within US coin, there are so many specialties as to make buying a coin he would like difficult.

If you wish to go with an ANA membership I would call them up and make sure he isn't a life member already. That would be a waste of money. Even if he is a member you can add a year onto his membership. If you wish to go with a loupe or similar, I would go either to a local coin store or a coin show.

Chris

 

You could sign him up HERE on CoinTalk!! (Or show him the site you have found) Wouldn't it be funny if we found out he was already HERE?

Lucy

 

Gift Advice

Hi,

I’m a profane here looking for some advice. My uncle is a coins’ collector and for his 50th anniversary we want to offer him some Canadian coins. We were looking at the Canadian Silver Coin page and there are so many choices. So I guess the question is how do we go about choosing a coin or set of coins which bear a great long term value?

Thanks for helping.

Consto.