Hi there! I am a beginning coin collector and I don't know a whole lot about coins, values, grading, and etc. I would love to know all about those, but that would probably take too long to explain to me I assume haha! So the main thing I was wondering was what coins should a newbie ( me ) go after? You know, coins that are cool but may not be the most valuable/expensive coins since I don't have much of a budget y'know a typical teen's budget. Along with that what are some sites or places I should use to buy coins? Are there any starter sets or stuff like that I should think of buying? Any answers will be greatly appreciated and thanks!
There is nothing wrong with getting a couple folders and start to fill them with your pocket change, I would suggest some Whitman folders. http://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/products/Whitman-folders/
I like the idea of a 20th Century United States Type Set. One coin of each major design, composition and denomination. The Lincoln Cent portion of the set, for example, would include a 1909 "with VDB", a "wheat-back", a 1943 "steelie", a post-1959 "Memorial" (and if you so desire a 1982 or later copper-plated cent. Jefferson nickels would have a standard issue, and a "War Issue" from the 1940s with actual silver content. Other represented coins in the set include Roosevelt Dimes (silver and clad), Washington Quarters (silver and clad), Half Dollars (Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin, and Kennedy silver and clad), ninety-percent Silver Dollars (Morgan and Peace), and modern dollars (Ike silver and clad, Anthony etc). As your collecting budget expands, you could eventually add 19th Century Coins (Flying Eagle Cents, Shield Nickels, etc) to the set. One reason I recommend Type Sets for new collectors is that non-collectors sometimes take an interest to such a set. They are also educational, as you learn about each design type and (hopefully) some of the history that led up to each change in our nation's coinage. While your numismatic knowledge expands, you can ask family members or friends to look through the coinage they receive in change, and perhaps they will find something of interest -- perhaps an error coin or obsolete design. If you prefer to collect a date and mint set, consider 1883-1912 Liberty Nickels or 1948-1963 Franklin Half Dollars. The Liberty Nickels are, for the most part, inexpensive in circulated grades, with only a couple "keys", and all were minted at Philadelphia, except in 1912. Number of coins in the set is limited, so it's not like you're trying to collect a hundred years of Lincoln Cents from three different mints, and including a "No Cents" example from 1883 makes for great story-telling to non-numismatists about the gold-plated rackateer nickels which were allegedly passed as five-dollar-gold-pieces to unsuspecting merchants. For my own personal set, I was lucky enough to come across an unlabeled Capitol Plastic acrylic nickel holder with exactly enough holes for all of the Liberty Nickels, with two extra holes. I placed a gold-plated rackateer-style 1883-nickel in the first hole and put a replica-1913 in the final open hole to "complete a set with a story to tell", several stories actually. Although I've since moved on to collect mostly rarer certified coins, this unusual "Complete Liberty Nickel Set" is still one of my favorites! The Franklin Half Dollar series is a reasonably priced beginners set that can be acquired in uncirculated grades. Advantages to collecting this set are the limited number of coins in the series (35, not including proof issues) and the fact that the coins contain 90% silver content. They are large and flashy coins, and stories about Ben Franklin are legendary. Be sure to read about Ben, and you'll learn a lot of interesting tidbits about the man and the coin, including why there's only a tiny, tiny eagle on the reverse of the coin. If you prefer foreign coins, I suggest a topical collection. Find a non-numismatic subject that interests you and assemble a collection around that theme. I have a friend who is a bird watcher, for example. He also dabbles in coins. I've suggested to him that he put together a set of coins which feature birds on the obverse or reverse. Are you into geometry? Collect coins of unusual shapes. Square coins, three-sided coins, multi-sided coins, coins designed with a center-hole or bi-metallic. Find a theme that interests you, and design your own "type collection" around that theme. When you do finally decide what you want to collect, be sure to post it here, so the rest of us can share in the joy as you build your collection. And welcome newbie, to Coin Talk and to the Hobby Of Kings!
Two weeks of trying to fill a Whitman album with Lincoln Memorial Cents will be a great start on learning as quickly as possible. Buy a Red Book, a 10x triplet loupe, some cardboard flips, and a full-clinch stapler and read the Lincoln Cent Resource. Go to the bank and "buy" five rolls of pennies. Then ten more. Visit every local coin and pawn shop in your area first before you buy anything from any of them. Then move to Jefferson Nickels, then Roosevelt Dimes at five and ten times more expensive. Visit a coin show. It won't take long before you'll start caring about the difference between grades, can discriminate between a deal and a rip-off, and figure out what kind of coin collection you initially want develop.
I think the first things you should hunt down are a couple of books......Red Book of United States Coins and ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins, both of which are published by Whitman. The Red Book can provide you with lots of ideas about what to collect, and the Grading Standards can help you along the way with pointers on condition and how it relates to value. Chris
I think before you go after buying coins and deciding on what coins you want to collect, there are a couple of books I would recommend for you to read first: Great info on coins, price guide is outdated by the time each edition is printed. Great info on grading and counterfeit detection.
Others have given you solid advice, and I will not repeat them. My advice: Read this and other coin forums religiously for a year before diving in and buying any expensive coins. Consider a cheap series to cut your teeth on before moving to more expensive coins -- something you can collect out of rolls or pocket change is a good place to start. Good luck in your collecting endeavors....Mike
Remember to collect what you like. If you like shiny wheaties then you can get those in later dates for a small amout. If you like silver jefferson nickles, you can get those without breaking the bank. It has been said that when making sets(not from pocket change), buy the best coin you can aford.
Welcome! I recommend investing under $20 total, on a few 50 packs of Saflips and a dozen archival quality heavy weight 3-ring pages. Slide your favorite coins in the saflip, then slip into the page, which you can pop into any 3 ring binder you want. If you store the binder with the spine up (pages hanging), then the pages won't be weighing down on each other and thus promote "rub." As you observe what you have already, and organize them by whatever perspective makes sense to you, you'll note your own preferences beginning to form.
I would first go into a coin shop or go to a coin show and look around. Tell the dealers what your budget is and ask them to show you some items. You will know what to collect when you see it, cause it will jump right up and grab you! Once you find out what you want to collect, invest in some books FIRST... they will more than pay for themselves in the long run. Also... you should check out the US minted philippine coins dated 1903-1945. Beautiful coins and highly underrated!
Thanks to every single one of you! I learned a lot and will think of buying some books and folders etc to start out with! I definetly learned a lot about what to collect so thank you all!
THanks for the advice I think I will look into those half dollar coins and the liberty nickels! Thanks a lot!
I never knew the US minted philipine coins! I love the philipines since I am part filipino! ARe these coins affordable? because I would love to check those out!
Yes!! They are very affordable minus a few dates. You can put together a mint state type set fairly easy or a complete set in lower F-VF grades. There will be a few show stoppers such as the 1906-S, but the rest are doable. You can find a section about them in the red book but the best reference so far is "U.S. Philippine Coins" written by Lyman L. Allen, get the 6th edition NOT the 7th edition. Lyman Allen sold the rights to his book due to his age and the new one published this year; the 7th addition is not as good as the last. You can obtain a copy from Ray Czahor at cookiejarpi@verizon.net
