World Coins beginner

I want to expand my horizon of knowledge by learning about World Coins. What should I be looking for? how does one Grade them? Key dates? etc...

I'm an absolute beginner at this. I have studied only US Coinage my whole life. I have some coins from Mexico, Bahamas, and Canada. I want to try to learn everything about World coins. Does anyone here have such knowledge? Where should I start?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

First I recommend you buy Krauses world coin catalogs. 1901-2001, and 2001-to present. probably around $85-100 for both books. seems like a lot but they are great for identifying coins you might be interested in. the 1901-2001 is very thick and $70-80 bucks seems right for that size book the other 2001-to present goes for a about $28-30+ and is thinner. If you have interest in old world coins they have Krause world coin catalogs from the 17th, 18th and 19th century. I have bought these just for reference and possible coin buys in the way future. the prices are usually correct for the market. some will be different for scarcity. I also look on Ebay almost everyday to see what is on the market and see what certain coins go for.

 

Buy what YOU like. you will enjoy them so much more.

 

you might also want to look at this thread to see if you might like some of the coins in there... http://www.cointalk.com/threads/wor...west-acquisition.165399/page-228#post-1930046

 

I would agree but would say buy older versions of 20th century, (and 19th, 18th, and 17th if interested) to save a lot of money. The prices do not change quickly usually, and a key date will be seen by pricing regardless of version you are using. The KM catalogs are key because world coin collectors use KM numbers for their coins. If you really get into a series, of course the KM books are way too general and you will need more specific books.

 

You can get the Krause World Coin Catalogs on Ebay CHEAP. I just saw the 2010 1901 to 2000 catalog with a BIN of $20 and a 2010 version of the 2000-date catalog for $7. There are dozens from which to choose.

 

All I might suggest is to be reasonable in your definition of 'everything'. There are something around a 100,000 times (that is being conservative) as many types World coins as there are US so learning everything is going to take a while...a long, long while. That makes spirityoda's advice 100% correct: Buy what you like. We might each have a collection of a thousand coins and not overlap a single one. Never buy something because someone else thinks you should. I have my definition of what is collectible and you will have yours. That is good. One of my favorite world dealers gave what I consider the best advice: "Love your coins for what they are, not what they are worth."

That said, there is nothing wrong with buying the Krause that covers the time of your interest. I would if they made one that old.

 

if you want to go even cheaper you can buy the Krause catalogs on CD Disks like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-2014-St...n-Pdf-format/161294612859?hash=item258de8797b

 

I'm more so interested in learning about world coins so that I can deal world coins. I most likely wouldn't add them to my personal collection as I mostly collect Morgan Dollars.

 

dougsmit has great advice on "love your coins for what they are, not for what they are worth" great advice of getting more enjoyment out of your coins. when you get more familiar with the world coin market then you will feel more comfortably spending more on coins. after 10-15 years you will see and understand why some coin are more scarce/rarer than others that will obviously bring higher money. there are many threads on specific world coins countries here on CT. feel free to ask any of us if you have certain interests in certain countries that you want to know more about. we will be happy to help you if we can.

 

A trick I have learned from Ebay is to look at their completed auctions to find out what some coin prices are getting in the coin market. other CT members here have experience in other higher end auction houses/ websites that can tell you more about what some specific coin values/prices realized.

 

some here can tell you the Heritage auction house website. they deal with a lot of high end world coins. I think PCGS and NGC have websites for world coins with prices... ?

 

I think I will start with Canada,Mexico,Australia, and Brazil.

 

I'll be fine pricing everything. My trouble is that idk what to look for, how to grade them, detect counterfeits etc...

 

my other advice to you is go to coin shows and look at thousands of coins and their prices so you get feel and understanding why certain coins get more money. that experience will come with looking at tons and tons of coins.

 

as medoraman said they have specialty books for almost any country.

 

And from India...I'm sure this is a legal copy.

 

I’ve been interested in world coins for years. Decades, actually. But in no way am I an expert on “world coins” per se. The landscape is simply too vast. It would take a lifetime of study to master the subject. But that’s what I like about it — world coins are an antidote to boredom, because there’s always something new and different to discover around every turn.

As others have said, get the Krause world coin catalogs and study them. From the standpoint of a collector, you’ll just naturally gravitate to some over others. It might be particular countries, or, as in my case, regions (Europe and Latin America) and historical significance (British Empire).

As a dealer, however, you’ll obviously want to identify where the market is. Canada and Mexico are hugely popular with collectors. Cameroon and Malawi, not so much. So I think you’re on the right track with this:

I would add the key western European countries to your list — particularly France, Spain, the German States, and most definitely pre-decimal Great Britain.

 

Emerging markets are also popular, like Brazil, Poland, India, Russia, China. And since you are a dealer, I'd say pay attention when you see something you haven't seen before. Those tend to be the good ones. It's basic advice but there's really no way to tell someone how to "learn" world coins. It's a huge undertaking.

 

there are many books on Canada and Mexico coins...not so much on Australia and Brazil. medoraman might have books on these other 2 ? from what I remember he has the most vast coin library of all the members here. ?