There are several threads that I've read on here about the best way to keep track of your collection. There's plenty of posts about commercial software VS homebrew. There's even more about how to store your coins. I guess my question goes a little deeper. I'd like to know not how, but WHAT everyone keeps an inventory on. I'm trying to update my system of keeping track of my collection. The coins I currently have in 2X2's are easy. I think I can figure out something for the ones in my Whitman folders. But what about 'the others'. You know, the 300 or 400 Indian Head cents and even more Wheaties, the 250 Mercury dimes, the Franklin Halves, etc that are currently stored in tubes and maybe not nice enough for 2X2's? Do you put EVERY coin in a 2X2? If not, how do you inventory the loose coins that are stored in tubes or elsewhere? Do you store them by year or just by type? Do you even keep track of these at all? My gut feeling is that I want to inventory everything, but I'm just curious how everyone else does it. I'm open for ideas!
I made a database with Access (homebrew). I have seperate fields for storing Date, Mint, Denomination, Country of Origin, Metal, Mintage, Grade (my own or grade on a slab), a brief description of the coin (noting toning, unusual marks, etc), date of purchase, purchase price, from whom purchased, whether it has been cleaned by me, a field to describe variety (doubled Die, Type 1, stuff like that), date of sale, sale price, to whom sold. I have had this for a few years and am constantly revising. I recently added a field to link to pics of coins I've photo'd. The photos are stored in a seperate directory, but I might include them in the database someday. There are search forms that allow me to query based on text or numbers in any of the fields. Works pretty well. Just a note, I don't always fill in every field for each coin.
Yes, you can put a link into Excel also. Type anything you'd like into the cell you'd like to link to the picture from (I.E. Image, Photo, 1979-S PR69), right click on the link, select Hyperlink, from the next window that comes up navigate to where you have the image stored and click on the filename then click Ok.
Of course, it helps if one reads the question being asked. I'm pretty sure you can include that is linked to the specific data, but I'd really have to research it. Note to self: Remember to ensure brains are loaded before you shoot your mouth off. T.
Ahhhhhh...The difference between collecting and hoarding. The coins that make my grade and warrant display in anything from an Intercept Shield 2x2 in an Eagle folder, or 2x2 cardboards in a 3 ring binder, or Dansco albums are part of my collection. They are inventoried with an excel spreadsheet with columns listing all of the important stuff including date purchased, cost, grade, mintage numbers and any varieties. Also, just as a general price guide, I list the Redbook figures for the year in EF40, AU50, MS60, MS63, and MS65/PR65 conditions. The coins that don't make the above are in a sealed in tupperware "bucket" and hence, are being hoarded. I guess someday they may end up on ebay and sold as "unsearched, discovered in a coin nut's house." Until then, I hoard them and the coins without dates (like Buffalo Nickels), I like to use as part of a tip when I have breakfast. Matter of fact, the ladies call me the golden dollar because I like to get rolls of SAC dollars and use them for tips. At least I am trying to circulate the freakin' dollar coin.
I use Microsoft Excel to create spreadsheets. Each slabbed coin type gets a spreadsheet as well as the mint and proof sets. Raw coinage gets its own. The generic template has entries for date, mintmark, grade, comments, number, price each, and subtotal. At the bottom, total number of items and total price are automatically computed. It took about one week to build the spreadsheets, take inventory, and make the entries. I update it when a new item arrives.
Similar to cdb1950, I built my own database, except I used FileMaker Pro instead of Access (it's cross-platform unlike Access which is Windows only). FileMaker also has a nice "export to HTML" feature which I use to dump a copy of my coin inventory onto my webserver so I can access it from anywhere. As far as storage goes, I've started using the new CoinEdge holders. I really like them -- they're a good quality product and are cheaper than using the Whitman plastic 2x2 holders. There are also album pages for them, so you can still store them in a 3-ring binder.
Coin Inventory and Storage I'm in the process of writing my own Windows program to inventory my collection. Like I Palindrome I , I am going to write a web component also. When done, I'll probably give it away to some folks who want to give it a try. I have no intention of selling it --- too much of a hassle. As for storage, I have been looking for a piece of furniture, either office or living room quality, to store my coins. Any suggestions? I can't seem to find anything. I saw these terrific artist cabinets with drawers, but they are only 1 3/4" high. 2 1/2 inches would have been perfect!
For keeping track of my collection, 99% of them are entered into an Excel spreadsheet. Only the common tokens that I roll up are not included. I use many different headings, depending on the type of token in a particular list. Excel is very adaptable for all of my requirements, and I feel no need to buy a "program" (not saying they can not be good as well). Every unrolled token goes in a 2x2 as I feel some info needs to "stay with" each token. I buy them 1 or 2 thousand at a time a couple times a year.
I store all my raw coins in flips properly labeled and in album pages sorted by date and denomination. As time and money permits I get all my coins that I want to keep encapsulated by SEGS and store them by date and denomination in blue PCGS boxes, labeled on the outside as to what's inside. I have all my collection in a simple excel spreadsheet sorted by date with seperate files for denomination.
