Okay, so I have a lot of coins (600) excluding pennies (have 1.5k pennies) I would really like to trade up a few of my common dates for a more semi key..or common grades for a higher one..maybe cut my collection to like 100 nice coins...where would I go to do this? Is there anything specific I should try to do?
I'd guess that aren't many people that would want your coins if they already have the better coins you're looking for... Perhaps you should try to sell yours, and then buy the ones you want.
Best bet is probably e-bay. Coin dealers would have a hard time selling the common stuff unless they were very nice gems for the grade.
With the type of coins you have, I think it will be easier to sell the first group and buy the second.
Goldstone, there is something that you need to keep in mind, something that nearly all collectors have to learn. That is - don't buy coins just to fill holes in your collection. If you buy a coin, make sure it is one that you will ne happy with and want to keep. Don't think that it's OK for now and that you will later trade up for a nicer coin. That kind of thinking will cause you to spend twice, if not 3 times as much on your collection as you would have if you were patient and bought the nicer coin that you really wanted to begin with. Look at it this way, that patience you exercise now, will allow you to own many, many nicer coins over the years will all the money you save.
Patience is the key.... I agree with your statement. Goldstone, it is okay to buy what you can afford, but don't go down the path of buying twenty or so AG coins, then trading them in for on VF coin, you know what I mean?
Thanks that a great point right now I havn't bought anything in a while, I've saved up $200.00, and I'm looking for a nice morgan (CC of course lol) or a just really nice quality coin, if anyone spots a great deal on a quality coin let me know!
Yes, getting back to the OP's question and not what he should have done I don't know what kind of "common" coins you have, but if they are silver - even AG/G, you can easily trade up. Two G/VG Frankies sold for melt will allow you to buy a AU/BU speciman and so on and so forth. Nickels, cents and clad stuff will be much harder to trade up or even sell.