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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 1287222, member: 112&quot;]What can make coin collecting better ?</p><p><br /></p><p>There&#039;s a couple of different ways to read that question I think. But the one I will address is what can make coin collecting better for you, as an individual. And that&#039;s pretty easy to answer, I can sum it up in one sentence. Follow good collecting practices.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now that may sound over simplified, but it&#039;s actually pretty complicated and it involves a lot of things. Several of them have been mentioned already, but I&#039;ll repeat some and hopefully mention some more.</p><p><br /></p><p>First and foremost - study, buy the book before you ever buy a coin. And forget the excuse that books are too expensive and that you&#039;d rather spend that money on coins than you would on books. Because I&#039;ll tell ya, compared to the money you&#039;ll lose or waste buying coins without knowledge, books are cheap - waaaaay cheap ! They will actually save you money.</p><p><br /></p><p>Secondly, only buy coins from trusted and respected dealers/sellers and forget about everybody else. I cannot overemphasize this enough.</p><p><br /></p><p>Third - ask questions <b>BEFORE</b> you buy a coin, not afterwards.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fourth - learn the value of patience, and be patient, ALWAYS ! I know we live in the age of instant gratification and that everybody wants everything, right now ! Get over it, forget about it, completely and totally. It is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make. And everyone really, really, needs to learn that.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fifth - learn how to grade coins correctly and accurately. This is a lifelong process and you will never stop learning it. And if you think you&#039;re pretty good after a year or two, well you&#039;re not. Accept that, acknowledge it. The wise man knows how much he has yet to learn.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sixth - do not blindly trust the TPGs. They make mistakes, ALL of them. Yes they do a pretty good job for the most part. But one mistake can cost you a lot ! Be aware of that. As said a million times - buy the coin, not the slab.</p><p><br /></p><p>Seventh - learn the coin market, study it. And you can&#039;t do that by looking at on-line&nbsp; price guides - none of them ! You have to do the research on your own. And <u>do not</u> use ebay for researching realized auction prices - ever ! You want to study the realized prices from auction houses and only auction houses. They are what makes the market - period.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are more, but you do these things and I absolutely guarantee you that you will make coin collecting better - for you.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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