How do I get a numismatic education

As the original link to the ANA does not work, here is an updated link...
https://www.money.org/diploma-program

Also for those interested in canadian coins, we have...
https://www.rcna.ca/educational.php

I know of a few people who have taken both of these courses and swear at them, during (LOL) and by them after completion!!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

The best way in my eyes to get numismatic and philatelic education ( as they fall in the same sort of areas ) is to firstly purchase a caralogue and memorize how to tell different gradings.... That is easier said then done.... Then go to a coin shop and spend about 20.00 on a heap if mixed coins by weight and sit at the kitchen table with your book and grade them accordingly. Forget the price of the item, you are just interested in the grading . Then once you get good enough, you can offer the coin shop some service to help grade...That can only do good by you as you will learn on the way...That is what i did as a kid after school for an hour but not as ajob..As you see i was pocking the dalers brains so to speak and that was my wages instead of money. ....As that is what i did as a kid and now i am very very pedantic with gradings.... NB, i am not perfect and i can make errors but it would only be in .1 - .2 of a grade. I grade down on my own collection as any fool can grade up.... If i want to sell something, i grade my way and when a dealer sees it, he realizes i have made an error in the grading and usually i get my asking price. Each coin minted in the USA has its own high points and you have to learn them first.... As i was originally an aussie, i had a hard time doing it as i was so used to the aussie way of things.
EG The word liberty must be somewhat visible on the heads side.
: On the morgan dollars, i first look at the breast of feathers on the
eagle and then the hair above the ear.
: Peace dollars i look at the eagles feathers only.
: Half dollars i look at JFK's hairline tip of upper earlobe and cheek
: Quarters ( wings of the eagle )
: Dimes : The wreath
: nickels : buffalos horn must be somewhat visible to get any ort of value
: Lincoln cents: The grains of wheat be somewhat visible

if someone wants to correct me, feel free. That does not mean i will take notice....lol

This will not take you 5 minutes to learn, it will take a long time unless you
have a photographic memory and only need to read something once and know it forever.

You may like to go to a public library and ask for the reference section. They should have the Krause world coin book there. I have added a picture of one that i have....Notice it is only up to the year 2000. You can also get 1801 - 1900... 1701 - 1800....1601 - 1700 and 1501 - 1600 They are huge. I personally have them all including the banknote volumes. I got most of mine mine on amazon. These books in the library cannot be borrowed or taken out as it is reference..You must look at them there and they will be very specific. The most common grades you will need ( in my opinion ) from experience will be Fine to almost EF ( a/EF )...That is what i did as a kid and later on i then went into higher grades.... Remember this is only to learn how to grade....NOT VALUE!!!!! As the value of any coin is only what a person is willing to pay for it....That also i learnt at a young age from a coin dealer in my school years.

lastly notice my book is 17 years old and prices may have caught up to present days values. So dont take prices in these books as gospel if you intend to resell. I dont mind doing all this as people like you are the hobbies future...if there are no people out there interested, then this hobby will slowly fold...

These books are also useful for mintages or anmounts made..... personally i buy about 4 different coins and only that in all grades...i go for low mintages like the Australian 1925 penny, 1911s and 12s USA wheat pennies. 1933 Australian Shilling and the 1915 australian threepence. The grade does not matter as most collections are missing them and these coins are easily sold...Go look in ebay for them and you may be surprised on the values of the coins that have been sold in there. a lot of "S" mintmark coins made it to Australia in the early part of last century.... It may pay you to look on the AU site on ebay as well.
My favourite out of all these is the 1933 shilling as there was under half a million made for the entire world. All you have to do is think how many may have been melted into bullion!!!

Lots of luck and hope you become good at grading...OIO

 

Read and study

 

Here is one way to become a coin dealer. Get experience selling at yard sales. Help friends and relatives at their sales. Clubs and organizations also.
Start with 100 cheap foreign coins in 2X2 holders or divided in bins of say 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents and $1. Talk to people. Get their opinions.
Trade as much as possible and have other items like trading cards, comic books, stamps, magazines, postcards, lapel pins, banknotes, jewelry etc.
A large coin is worth more than a small one. A coin with a good design (animal, art) is also better.
A good story helps. Like the 1,000 peso Mexican coin.
A dollar sign ($) means pesos in Mexico, but you can display it and someone will say, "thousand dollars, no way." Learn from your mistakes and experience.
Never buy by impulse. Know what you want before you see it and know your top price AHEAD OF TIME, FIRST. All collectibles are cyclical, with peaks and valleys. I remember gold at under $300 an ounce and silver below $4. Learn and have fun.

 

Instead of yard sales where there maybe no one go there that goes for coins and you will be sitting there all day for nothing....i suggest small coin and collectible shows in your local areas..
Offer your help to dealers for no payment - just for the experience...It is what i did as a kid and i retired from being a dealer before i was 55. On top of that, i never finished school as i thought
it was not necessary and i proved the entire school system is useless...By the way, no teacher at school will teach you numismatics and philatelics...It is simply hands on experience but one has to
be thorough. Grading is the most important thing to learn and i suggest you buy 2 LBS of foreign coins, print out my pictures here and than learn to grade...
Every coin has its own high spot but you will learn that with experience...
A good examplt is the buffale nickel...The horn is usually the first place to wear away.....The wheat pennies the grains of wheat are for that one....
Buy the USA red book of coin coollecting...That is a good start...Pic is in here..
As you see anyone can place a price on something but only an experienced numismatist can grade well.
It cannot be done half heartedly...As you see there are Stamps, Coins, Banknotes, War Medals, Badges, cloth patches, beer labels , comic books, covers, scriptophily, and many more things that fall under a stamp and coin dealers stock.... The wider the stock, the more chance of hooking the customers in...

 

reported above