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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;satootoko, post: 41945, member: 669&quot;]Here&#039;s where &quot;buy the book before the coin&quot; comes in.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are literally hundreds of countries that have minted coins over the last few thousand years, ranging from the beautiful to the grotesque; and very many of them quite popular with collectors.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>What do <i>you</i> mean by &quot;ridiculously high&quot;?&nbsp; When I was a teenager, earning 35¢ per hour at a summer job; or even as an Army private earning $21 a month; spending $5 on a coin would certainly have met that standard.&nbsp; Today I routinely spend large multiples of that amount.&nbsp; (If I had Bill Gates resources, I don&#039;t think I wouldn&#039;t consider it ridiculous to pay $100,000 for a coin I really liked and wanted.)&nbsp; In other words, the Hobby of Kings can be enjoyed on any size budget.</p><p><br /></p><p>European coins (Great Britain, Euros, France, Germany, etc.) are probably more &quot;popular&quot; with U.S. collectors than those from other areas of the world (China, Japan, Zimbabwe, Paraguay, etc.); but in the final analysis you have to decide what trips <i>your</i> trigger.&nbsp; For me its Japanese coinage of the Meiji/Taisho eras; for GDJMSP its medieval gold ducats; for other forum members its other times and places.</p><p><br /></p><p>Before you start spending money on the darkside, I suggest that you <ul> <li>randomly cruise EBay, not to buy but to look at the variety that&#039;s out there</li> <li>visit your local public library and leaf through the Standard Catalog of World Coins</li> <li>read every post in the World &amp; Ancient Forum here</li> <li>read the posts in other W&amp;A forums; and</li> <li>generally educate yourself on what&#039;s out there in various price ranges.</li> </ul><p>After you&#039;ve done that for several months, you&#039;ll probably know what you want to collect, and how it will fit your budget.</p><p><br /></p><p>If there are any coin stores where you live, or if any coin shows are held within driving distance, you could also spend some time browsing.&nbsp; Most dealers have &quot;junk box&quot; coins - common issues in circulated condition that they sell for anywhere from 5 or 10 for a buck to a few dollars each.&nbsp; No &quot;rarities&quot;, no gold, not much silver, but plenty of interesting pieces to whet your appetite.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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