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Message:: [QUOTE="Apples, post: 832192, member: 23934"]After seeing a friend's collection last year, I was really interested to try coin collecting myself. To avoid too many rookie mistakes, I did a little preliminary research and browsed around the internet (including here) to see what I was getting myself into.  As a semi-outsider to the hobby, I thought I'd share the results and insights learned. My first project was to round up a set of silver Chinese pandas.  I figured it was a good test case... relatively small set size and not too expensive.  Of course they are absolutely gorgeous as well.  I picked up a few other odds and ends along the way as I saw them, but I wanted to keep my initial focus small and defined. Although I am pleased with the final results, the road to get there was depressing and disheartening for a few reasons. *  Lack of good local dealers and online storefronts.  It has been repeatedly said that the best way to buy is local, via dealers or shows.  And my experience would seem to confirm this.   But if you don't have that network in your region, it's an uphill climb.  Which pushes you by necessity towards online dealers.    And apparently the MO for coin storefronts is:  "good web interface, good inventory, good pricing... choose any two"  With a few purchasing exceptions, I never felt like I got a good experience with purchasing online. * Counterfeiting is a drag and undermines trust in your own collection.  I understand this series specifically is more prone to counterfeiting than most, and I accepted that prior to my first purchase.  But I did not expect counterfeiting operations to be so sophisticated and so pervasive.  And while I purchased only from highly lauded dealers, the fact that it is out there puts a certain level of mistrust in every potential purchase. * (Related to above)  Ebay is (still) a hive of scum and villainy, giving the hobby a bad name.  I knew this going in, didn't end up buying from them, but it bears special emphasis.  It did generate a great anecdote though: Looking at an auction, seller was a high (2000+) feedback professional dealer who owned a coin shop.  Stock photo looked fishy and I google searched to match it to a known counterfeit.   Curious, I emailed the seller for clarification, as it seemed strange to see a high end professional hawking such a bad forgery.  His response was rather indignant, knowing he had been caught, saying to me "it's okay to imply that its genuine, so long as I don't explicitly use the word genuine."  Right. * Upsurge in PM prices are a barrier to entry.  When looking for a certain piece, I came across an article from just 18 months ago, touting the general asking price of that piece as 1/3 to 1/2 of the current asking price.  Really demoralizing to know that you're paying double or triple the price compared to your fellow collectors because the PM market has irrevocably exploded. * Slabs are bulky and cumbersome.  If I can get over the price, I am thinking of doing the silver panda proofs next.  But the fact that so many are slabbed adds difficulty/expensive, because I don't want slabbed ones.  I get that it's a "standard" of the hobby, but I find them bulky and unattractive.  It is more like getting a picture of a coin than the coin itself.  Anyway, I'm just ranting at this point.  But I thought I'd give a little of my perspective from the outsider.  Here's a picture of my (near) finalized collection, which I think looks GREAT!  <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]

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