If You Could Give Yourself Numismatic Advice

My #1 for the past 20 years. Know your dealer or be very very careful. I made a lot less mistakes once I learned this.

 

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[QUOTE="physics-fan3.14, post: 2242056, member: 19165"/].....in the modern world, the savvy collector uses all the tools at his/her disposal.[/QUOTE]

When I was a kid in the poolroom, if I had told someone that he was a savvy pool player, I would have gotten slugged.

Chris

 

This is a pretty thorough list; good job.

As for whether it will help any young collectors, it makes me think of a saying:

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience, well, that comes from bad judgement." —Anonymous

 

Buy on the strength of the coin, sell on the strength of the slab.

 

To start buying the rarer and higher end coins sooner, there are many patterns that have come to market in the past decade that I wish I had taken a shot at...

 

I strongly disagree with this idea. If you've bought a strong coin, the strength of the coin should sell itself.

Are you buying a coin, or are you buying a number on plastic? If you've learned to grade, and if you've learned the serious you are buying, you'll have the advantage over the TPG itself.

 

Good list Jason. Can't say I'd add anything at this point.

 

I think 1 and 2 are especially important. REAL connoisseurship is dying in our hobby.

Speaking to patience and hesitation (or lack thereof), so many times I have kicked myself if I didn't get a coin, only to turn around a week later and find a much better thing.

Be careful with "eye appeal above everything else" because until you know what is truly genuinely appealing to the eye, that one could get you in trouble!

But overall, you've given yourself some excellent advice! It's a great game to play - I thank ya for inspiring a little dialogue.

 

The "series" you are buying.

Anyway, sure you'll have the advantage over the TPG, in that you won't be blindly bidding on the grade on the slab, but it's the one who's blindly bidding on the grade on the slab who's going to win that coin...isn't it?

 

Great idea for a thread, and great o.p., Jason. If I were to distill it down to one word,it would be.... patience.

 

I'd first kick myself in the butt, then yell in my face "START NOW YOU DUMMY!!!!!!!!!"
end of story.

 

Don't impulse buy. I have gotten some good coins on a whim but I have gotten others that, when I actually looked closely at them, merited a "What the heck was I thinking?"

 

This is the best advice. Don't buy the slab, don't look for bargains ... get the right coin and keep her. I wasted time and money upgrading coins that did not meet my standards or weren't special at all.