So I got it in my head to get a coin collecting software to keep my collection organized and so that I can double check if I have something already. You can find some for $10 or less but most are $50 or more depending on all the features. I was curious to know if there where any free ones for the basic collector. After searching for a couple of hours I found two bare bones software's for collecting. I can't post the links on here via the rules but if you want to take a look at my profile I will post them on there.
The best free one I use is the one on Heritage Galleries. You can be as simple or as detailed as you want. Check it out.
They all have pros and cons. List what you want and then see which ones (free or paid) meet most of what you need. I can send you an Excel Spreadsheet I used for a long time (free if you have MS Office of the Office clones). With a couple of added columns it may work for you. It worked but I decided I wanted something with a few more features, so I bought CoinManage - not perfect but it met most of my needs. If you want the spreadsheet just let me know via PM and I'll send it to you.
CoinManage really is awesome. I'm not sure why it doesn't get more attention in the community. My only problem is with the new version I can't get the scan feature to work... I have to import my coin photos should I want to include them..
Yes, I like Excel too. You can tailor it to your needs. I have added many tabs for each coin denomination and also keep a tally on another tab. I also have a tab to tally coins by country, another tab that links foreign currency value from countries to the tabulation sheet, and coinflation values to the tabulation sheet. I have another tab that tabulations coins purchased by year versus current value, which also determines ROI. Recently, I added a tab that listed all the circulating 20th century and the ones that I have versus the ones that are missing.
I use and recommend Excel. Office 365 for Home makes it so darn easy, $100 a year for 5 machines, the full Office Suite. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/home-premium/