Hello, I've been interested in starting a collection of coins from around continental Europe / UK Areas. I will admit I know close to nothing on how to go about starting to find a decent seller of real coins not cheap imitations. How can I start my search to find coins to collect? I could provide more information if that might help, but I guess I don't want to get to specific in what I want. I just find currency over in that part of the world interesting, and wouldn't mind collecting some if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to ship to the US. Thanks in advance and I'll post more if needed to help point me in the right direction. -Steve
Well the first question I have for you before suggesting anything is how much money are you ready to spend per piece ? If you want to limit your cost at 20-60$ a coin you will have to buy Raw coins, coins that are not graded "slabbed" Slabbed world coins are seldomly found under a hundred dollars.This is assuming that the coin was worth slabbing from the get go and that it's certified by known grading houses seldomly is not a word Now for how much a piece is worth , you could buy some books before hand to minimize the risk of getting burned. If you only want cheap raw coins I would tell you to go on ebay but then again If you buy coins on ebay you have to pay hammer price , and it's usually driven up by irrational last minute bids. That said I have found amazing steals on ebay due to poor pictures and simply having the coin pages open all the time and scavenge listings like some starved hyena. You can also find small amounts of world coins at your local coin shop , if it's like another shop I have been to.
I'd guess I'll have to decide on how much I want to spend if it will be $60 a pop to get 1 decent coin. I guess not too much in the long run, I wouldn't consider myself a serious collector, just interested in it for the novelty. How much would it cost USD to get lets say 1 un-circulated euro? How about 5,10,20,50 Bank Note? I'm going off what I find on websites, I haven't really started looking around local coin shops, so this request might be totally off, but I just want to find legit info before asking around or looking so I don't get burnt. I've read a few posts here saying you should hit barns and nobles and get a book before buying, so could anyone recommend any titles, so I can read up on it before making a purchase from E-bay/ a local coin shop near me?
Well since you are really starting out I would advise you to start raw and small, You have to learn the basics ... what's luster , bag marks , tonning etc... I believe that you could hone your skills on raw coins that are in the 5-10 dollar range before jumping in bigger buys "slabs" A coin market is nothing like a stock , options etc market; The coin market is very volatile due to the auction formats and the O/D. Some people would advise you to only buy slabbed coins at first, personally I think this is something you should look at a bit further down the line.
slabbed coins... what are those? Yeah I'll look into a book then, and educate myself on this before making any kind of big investment. Thanks.
Slabs are plastic holders that grading companies encapsulate grade coins in. A lot of slabbing companies are simply posers, they offer nothing but a cheap plastic case for your coin and a most then likely over graded opinion. Gradders that are truested and recongnised are ; NGC , PCGS and IGC , ANACS.
Vinnie 1st off decide what you want to collect, now if you want to collect uncerculated Euros have a look at my post on them it will give you a idea as to what is available, then if you are interested send me a pm and I will be happy to give you the ebay names of a couple of good dealers http://www.cointalk.com/t35562/ Quite a few pages to read through LOL but some nice scans
First thing you do is get a passport. Then, when you've got that, buy a plane ticket and a eurail pass, quit your job, and start going!!!!! That's what I did. I had a great time (plus some really nasty ones) and I got a huge collection. Travel is good for the soul. I reccomend it to everyone.
I'm actually in the process of getting my passport. My friends and I always wanted to go to Europe and that part of the world, so if I don't find any good deals in the next few years, yeah, I'll be in that part of the world anyway, and it will make my shopping a lot easier.
Here ya go! This is a slabbed coin, it's been graded and placed in a slab. Good idea may be to stay away from these for your current purposes.
If you just want to pick up some coins and notes for the novelty of having them vs. some serious collecting direction, find a nice medium sized coin show near where you live and go there. Bring money and look through the dealers junk boxes to start. Lots of cool stuff there. You'll probably find examples of many of the things that will interest you.
Do coin shows in the US carry much foreign currency that won't cost an arm, leg and 3 of my fingers? Yeah I see what your saying, I'd love to buy stuff at a show if it was in decent shape, and didn't end up costing me $100/$200 a coin.
You might check out one of your local shops. I see there are 4 in Everett. (Did a google search on "coin shop Everett Wa") A lot of coin shops and shows have bargain bins. One I shop I go to even has foreign silver in a bargain bin along with the US silver stuff. Picked up some nice coins out of that bargain bin. As an example. Picked up for a little over silver value.
Middle East coin I take it in that last picture? cool, yeah there is one right down the road from me, I'll have to stop in when my weekend rolls around again. Thanks. I also went to the store today and got a simple book on coins and whatnot, so I'll probably read most of the book at work(I know, I'm really slammed at work) and all these other posts might make sense once I know more about how to go about collecting and all that jazz. Thanks.
Ah... I'd have to forgo E-bay, after writing my last post I stumbled across a post about someone who ended up buying fake coins on E-Bay(she didn't end up losing much), so I'll just hit my local coin shop. :high5:
I always have liked coin shops. After awhile its nice to have them know you. I've picked a few coins from the back of his shop, he didn't have the chance to get up front or price yet. One of the last gsa morgans I bought was from the back. He knew what I was interested in and asked me if I wanted it. BTW the coin above is an 1974 Egyptian pound.
Someone is going to rage.. I also see you posted this exact message in 5 different threads... good work , I'm sure it will bring in sales.
Vinnie nothing wrong with ebay if you buy from reputable sellers, just remember to stay away from china LOL
