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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The_Cave_Troll, post: 473490, member: 1674&quot;]Step 1:&nbsp; STOP BUYING COINS!!! I cannot overstate this enough.&nbsp; You do not <i>yet</i> know what you are doing and you are almost certainly making mistakes that you will regret once you know more.</p><p><br /></p><p>Step 2:&nbsp; Keep asking questions.&nbsp; This is how you can learn what you need to kow to avoid the numerous potential pitfalls that could cause you to make poor purchasing decisions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Step 3:&nbsp; Once you have decided that you know what you would like to collect then look for books on the series that you are interested in collecting and read them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Step 4:&nbsp; By this point you should have a very good idea of what you want to collect, so you can begin looking for coins to buy.&nbsp; Since you don&#039;t have any experience grading you need to stick to coins graded by NGC and PCGS.&nbsp; Then look for coins that aren&#039;t generic in nature.&nbsp; Generic coins change in value based upon which marketers are pushing what at any one time, which is something you want to avoid.&nbsp; Instead look for pieces that are better dates because those are more likely to be a better long term things to hold.</p><p><br /></p><p>Step 5:&nbsp; Research prices by searching the prices realized at auction for recent coins similar to what you are interested in buying and be aware that if there are a bunch of prices in a fairly narrow grade range and then there are a couple of prices that fall outside that grade range, then that is almost assuredly due to a difference in quality for that piece in comparison to other more average for the grade pieces.</p><p><br /></p><p>Step 6:&nbsp; Get a qualified additional opinion on the coin you are interested in buying to be certain that you are buying a coin that is average or better for the grade.&nbsp; Usually this opinion should come from a dealer familiar with the series you are buying.&nbsp; It may cost you a fee for this consult (especially if the coin is in an auction and the dealer will be your agent to purchase the coin for you) but it is definately money well spent.&nbsp; However if you call the auction house you can usually get someone there to do this for you for no fee.</p><p><br /></p><p>Step 7:&nbsp; Actually buy the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>A couple of notes: this process should take at least 6-12 months to complete since you are completely new to the industry.&nbsp; Don&#039;t get frustrated with it though, it is time well invested.&nbsp; Most newbs who don&#039;t do this give away whatever future profits they may have made by purchasing mistakes that they later regret.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, this advice is wise for anyone who wants to try to &quot;invest&quot; in coins, which I don&#039;t recommend, but it is different than my advice for someone just having fun with a much smaller budget.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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