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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;satootoko, post: 156935, member: 669&quot;]Hi Mark, and welcome to the Darkside! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Unless there is some special event in your life that leads directly to a specialty (example: my residence in Japan and its aftermath led me to modern Japanese coinage as my specialty), probably the most common entry route to world coin collecting is the OFEC path - One From Every Country.</p><p><br /></p><p>Within that category there are many variations.&nbsp; Some collect one coin from each formal, internationally recognized entity - one and only one coin from Germany or any of its States or incarnations.&nbsp; Others use the philosophy that if Krause calls it a country, they&#039;ll look for one coin from it.&nbsp; An even more expansive method is to collect by regime - each German State, each ruler of England, each monetary reform from Mexico, Turkey, etc.&nbsp; And, as the individualists most of them are, collectors find many other definitions for their OFEC collections.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the course of acquiring coins from dealers&#039; junk bowls (high grade is not usually critical to OFEC collectors), bulk lots of pre-Euro coinage from on-line sellers, ads in coin publications, and just mentioning your interest to friends and relatives who have traveled internationally and have some left over change; you will probably find yourself attracted to some particular group - perhaps a certain country, perhaps a certain metallic composition, perhaps a certain theme or subject matter, parhaps the coin types of one country, perhaps . . . you fill in the blank.</p><p><br /></p><p>Or then you might want to go to your local public library, get your hands on a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Coins, and just thumb through the thousands of pages of coin pictures in the volumes covering the 17th-21st Centuries, looking for something that grabs <u>you</u>.</p><p><br /></p><p>World birth year sets are another option, and there are many beautiful coins issued in yours.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another choice that has to be made, after you have learned more about the subject, is whether to include - or even limit yourself to - the vast array of Non-Circulating Legal Tender minted especially for collectors by many nations.&nbsp; Also, do you want to include or exclude &quot;pretend&quot; countries such as &quot;Sealand&quot; and the &quot;Hutt River Province&quot; which are not recognized by any national govenrment, but nevertheless mint tokens which they call coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the ancient field there are multiple categories, and many people dip their toes by acquiring uncleaned batches, which they soak in olive oil (sometimes for years) in order to see what they have.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bottom line - world and ancient coin collecting is a vast field with opportunities for everyone to find something that appeals to them.&nbsp; Daunting as it is, the very variety and breadth of the field is also its strengh - not to mention that in general Darkside material is chaeper than US coins of comparable quality.&nbsp; Although there are some extremely expensive world and ancient coins, they do not make up the bulk of the market.</p><p><br /></p><p>I haven&#039;t mentioned the most fascinating method of all - buy anything and everything in your price range that calls out to you &quot;Hey, look how nice I look - take me home.&quot; <img src="http://bestsmileys.com/cheering/1.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Whatever route you take, don&#039;t forget to read, read, read, and increase your enjoyment as you increase your knowledge.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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