where to start in collecting IHC?

koreansteve

i'm a junior member (16 years old) and i've just begun collecting IHC. I have no idea of where to start so i was hoping for some pointers. I figure that I could buy a bag of IHC and get a foundation from which to start.

What's the best way to start collecting IHC??
Where should i keep the IHC i get (hard/soft plastic, whitman album, holders)???

goose3

shylocks great site!!!!!!!!

join here and tell them #1318 sent you!!lol

rick snows site!!! great books and coins!!!!!!

get some books and read up on them a bit before jumping in and spending a lot of money (esp. on key dates)
there are some resident experts on indians right here on these boards. one member, shylock, built and maintains 2 of the sites I linked.

michael

i agree with goose

if you are going to buy and collect indians then get nice circ eye appealling coins and start first with the key coins if you can depending on your budget and price range but however you start only buy nice eye appealling coins! and not too dark or woodgrained no matter how cheap the price

or start with the harder dates in the late 1860's eary 1870's

good luck

sincerely michael

michael

if you buy the coins in their resopective slabs keep them in the slabs

if you buy them raw gwt one of those eagle inert coin albums those are the best and look good!

sincerely michael

littlewicher

Indian Head Cents have always intrigued me and I've always loved the design. I just got a RD example a few days ago from jbsteven. It is beautiful.

goose3

marks are on the slab...

nwcs

Best way to start? Look at as many certified (from the best companies) IHCs as you can. Get a feel for how they should look. Copper people can do screwy things to their coins. It's the most played with metal out there. If you see what a coin *should* look like, you'll do better in buying. Even if it's MS coins you look at and G and VG ones you buy.

toothpuller

Steve collecting IHCs is definitely an adventure. It is a long series and is very difficult to complete. Some of the keys can be expensive to obtain in any grade. There are also some counterfeits floating around. Assuming as a sixteen year old that you have a limited budget I would start with brown or possible redbrown for common date coins. Red coins are more expensive and often if you buy them raw they have been recolored. If you go brown you can get a higher grade coin for your money, ie more bang for your buck.

As goose says look at Shylock's website.

Dansco albums are nice. They are frequently available on auction on eBay. Don't invest in one until you are sure that you like the series and have 7 or 8 coins.

I collect red slabbed IHCs in high grades, but everyone seems to start with an album.

Coulport

Start with the 1877.
It's all down hill from there.