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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Swiego, post: 1576759, member: 41881&quot;]While a new poster here, I have been collecting since about 5 years of age, and I wanted to share some advice that has served me well over the years--some of which is advice not often posted here as far as this lurker has been able to tell. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>1. Once you know a series to collect, build a reference set to carry with you to shows. For example I always take to a show a set of taped flips of five Jeffersons ranging from worn circulation to a gorgeous 40&#039;s MS66 6FS. This lets me compare coins under unfamiliar lighting conditions to known references. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2. Get some cleaners and a camera. Clean some coins, and take lots of before-and-after pictures. Study how tricks of lighting can hide flaws or accentuate cameo or luster. Study what cleaning does to coins: the good, bad and ugly alike. Learn for yourself what kind of cleaning you like (if any), what you don&#039;t like, and how to spot all of it. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>3. Put mintages in perspective. Imagine a cent you always wanted. Now imagine a 50-roll of them and soak that image in for a while. Now imagine a bank box of them--buy and mess with one if you need to, to see how insignificant one coin is when in a pile of 2,500. Now imagine a thousand or ten thousand of those piles. That&#039;s the mintage of that &quot;key&quot; date. When you are on the cusp of knowingly over-paying for something &quot;key&quot; for fear of it going away, do a gut check of imagining a few million of those coins, and make sure you still want that coin. (If you do... Buy!)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>4. Learn the first wear points of all coins you can. Even if you don&#039;t collect them, try to learn anyway. Always find one point that guarantees to reveal wear, and one detail that guarantees a certain level of sharp strike. Make this an inspection criteria on any BU coin. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>5. Buy some cheap proof sets to break open and Work on coin handling techniques. Minimize dust in air, wear gloves, minimize breathing and move those coins around for practice. At higher grades, handling techniques become very important. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>6. If you are beginning but have some means, resist the temptation and start with low grade coins. As is often the case in life, it is harder to appreciate nice things without a point of reference. Really get to know those VG8 barber halves before jumping for one with the CAC sticker. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>7. At the beginning, invest in volume so that you have more exposure to more coins. Lots, rolls, cheapies. As you improve your comfort level assessing coins, trade quantity for quality. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>8. Everyone should try a type set!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I hope these are useful to someone![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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