I think that at times many newcomers enter the hobby and buy what ends up being overpriced crap and then starts to educate themselves and buys some coins. I am not asking what you'd tell the newcomer, since they will only learn the lesson the way we all did, by making the mistake. I am not interested in what to tell him, I am interested in what you say would be a good starting point for that person who is now ready to start collecting in earnest. With a budget of $50 if you can buy any coin or coins with that money, what would you buy and why? It copuld be a complete set of say jefferson nickels from 1963-date, or it could be 1 TPG graded coin in that price range, anything you like. What would you suggest a relative newbie buy to start learning. (Besides a book! LOL Which is what we all would recommend, that's not what I have in mind.) What coin(s) or currency would you buy?
I might buy a couple coins form eBay or Amazon.com just to add to my collection. Otherwise Id save for a new Metal Detector for me
I don't think that I would change anything that I did for my first purchase. I bought the 2007 silver set and got a 1960 washington quarter in change back. I WAS HOOKED after that. ( I think it was purposeful on behalf of the woman working that day)One thing that I would not do again would be to harshly clean a 1964 dime I found in the cash register at work with jewelry cleaner and brush about a week later. I just didn't know. Otherwise you can get some pretty descent Morgan for 40-50 bucks.
With a 50 dollar budget, I would advise the new collector to go to the bank and purchase 20 rolls of Nickels, and an album to store them in, they could spend hours filling holes, upgrading as they went along, and then rerolling the ones he did not want, and trading them for more nickel rolls to search. That would get a good start on a collection, it would also have the fun of searching and possibly making a find maybe a silver war nickel or even a buffalo. I am pretty sure that 50 dollars could last a whole summers worth of rainy days.
A crystal ball that will determine what the next big coin will be before it goes up in value, what bank I should go to to get the best rolls, and where to find all those hidden caches of old coins.
Personally, I would recommend searching through rolls as well. Whatever interests the newbie. Halves, nickels, cents would all be good places to start and on a budget. Taking the ones you don't need back to the bank will also go an awfully long way before you run out of cash. A nice collection acquired at face is a no-lose proposition. Me personally, I would peruse eBay looking for bargains, but my suggestion to a newbie is markedly different.
I agree with the roll searching but add a loupe to the list. Looking for upgrades during the whole process. Helps with grading a little and gets em used to using the loupe.
I pretty much had that budget my first month of collecting from my computer. I am disabled so the internet is pretty much all I have. I stayed up nights and slept days and though it took awhile I got the 1993, 1994, & 1995 silver proof sets for just under $50.:hatch:
Ok if you can't bum a few bucks from your mom maybe go to the bank and try to get a few bu lincoln rolls.
I also agree the roll searching might be the best option. You can look for errors and varieties, old coins, and great examples of older bu coins. You an sell or trade the ones you don't need.
How do you go about looking for bargains? You could probably write a book on that, but perhaps just a quick thought? Thanks.
I would buy one of these, or these or these. In that order but the Phillipines peso would have to be one that hasn't been cleaned. The coin in the pic looks like it's been cleaned but that's all I had on the fly. :vanish:
Decent semi key Lincolns or groceries. Either way it's not much and an impossible question. Groceries tend to go up as do the Lincolns. Lincolns tend to last longer.
