I have a friend who wants to become a coin collector, what advice should he be given?

SanctionII

A friend of mine told me yesterday that he is interested in collecting coins, particularly silver coins. He showed me some Morgan and Peace Dollars he picked up a while back and some ASE's that he recently bought on E-Bay. The Morgans and Peace Dollars were all circulated and were common dates. The ASEs were MS ASEs.

I told him in general about grading [1-59 numerical grades for circulated, 60-70 for uncirculated]; third party grading & slabbing; circulation strikes; proof strikes; bullion coins; toning, strike, marks, wear, eye appeal; coin shows; coin dealers; E-bay; varieties; the "its a hobby, have fun with disposable income only'" vs. its an "investment" which can make you huge profits" points of view; the read the book first principle; and the knowledge is power principle.

What advice would you fellow forum members give to my friend as he prepares to indulge in the "Hobby Of Kings"? Thanking you in advance for your comments and sagely advice.

clackamas

RUNNNN Meth or crack is just as cheap and addictive

ss350camaro

two words


























Real Estate

kranky

Buy him a copy of the Coin Collectors Survival Manual by Scott Travers and make him swear not to buy another coin until he reads it.

charley

Go to a major numismatic show, with empty pockets, and observe, question and listen all day, and pick up all the freebie literature available, go home and start reading. Then a decision can be made to stick with coins or switch to Hot Wheels.

mgoodm3

I was thinking RUN! too.

SanctionII

I like ss350camero's advice............ "Real Estate".............; however, that is what my friend does for a living and he wants to have a "hobby" into which he can place some of his monopoly money.

ziggy29

<< <i>two words >>





... free flips?

Barry

First buy the book...

dldallen

<< <i>First buy the book... >>



....then get your head checked........

nwcs

Tell him to buy a red book and the ANA grading standards and be prepared to look before buying. It'll pay off in the end.

Julian

Tell him to look at some books, go to some shows, coin club meetings, etc., and then choose something that he enjoys.

No one can tell what may increase in value, so the driving force behind a collection is the person's enthusiasm.

Get counsel about values and condition, if necessary, until he knows what he likes and can afford.

Information is valuable. Read and ask.

LanLord

I don't agree with those that are saying run.

As long as he goes into it with the warning you gave him, about not expecting to "strike it rich" in coins.

Make a fun hobby, find something that strikes his interest either from an asthetics, historical or general interest aspect.

And don't spend money he can't afford to lose.

With some effort he will have a collection to be proud of, with luck it may be worth as much or more than he paid for it - but don't do it strictly for the profits.

mhammerman

All of the above and you might advise him/her that these are tricky times, learn some tricks.

ER

Just tell him to join this Forum. He 'll be good to go.

SanctionII

TTT.

Come on folks, more of your thoughtful comments and advice are needed.

Monstavet

Perhaps someone could recommend a good divorce attorney?

dpoole

Particularly in this market, I'd tell him to focus determinedly on enjoyment. Collect a series or some variant of a type set in nice looking circulated specimens. He can acquire an eye that way, familiarize himself with grading, enjoy going to shows and talking to the old timers, and do it all within an easy budget.

Otherwise he can get clobbered on the high end stuff, and leave the hobby embittered, broke and as monstavet said, divorced.

MORGANHUNTER2

Advice to a guy who is in real estate? come on sanction- your friend is probably more aware of market volitility than we are- real estate is / has been far better of an investment - money come / money go, dirt stays and you can put money into it- build big buildings, fancy homes- or plow it, crop it and make food for the hungry.

But since he is your friend- show him what you have cover the graded stuff- make him learn from looking at the coin, tell him to read up on a variety that he likes and that you may just per se- have. Then get on this board as a newbie for free and ask millions of questions and get an occassional laugh- some of the folks here have a warped sense of humor- but mindful of what they have.

I was not a collector til my dad passed in March- did not even think about it after - wanted to get rid of it all, until I took it to a dealer and he offered me 2.5 of total face value- sad because I went onto places like ebay and teletrade, here, heritage and with what the ol man had - well let's say I have 2 ms66fbl frankies that IF I send in to slab by the pricey coin graded slowly folks- they would be worth 60 times what I was offered for just the 2, and I have more to look at 7000 to be a little more precise- all varities, dates, and grades- I'm hooked, but wish I wasn't - rather have the ol man back.

cladking

Tell him to sell some coins once in a while right from the beginning. You
don't really know anything about the market until you sell something. If
you're going to put your hard earned money in coins then you need to
know what the coins really cost. your money goes much further when
you're educated.

dorancoins

If your friend want to get into numismatics, first thing - buy a copy of the Red Book. Second - he should figure what type or denomination would interest him. Third - go to coin shows and get a feel and an idea whats out there. Finally, he needs to find what he wants within his budget should he have one, and have fun!

Proofquarter

Just like coins and stocks real estate can also go down but you have to live somewhere.
Collect what you enjoy as coins should be a hobby. Don't sell anything ever unless you are a dealer or buying something better to replace it. Long term on everything is best.

MassFullStepper

As long as he doesnt beg for free flips, or wants to borrow a stapler.............

coinmickey

As someone noted above- tell him to walk a show with no money and make him realize that what appears to be rare from the ads, e-bay and web-sites is not really that rare...and that prices may rise or fall due to many factors.

And tell him to try and sell some of what he just bought and see what he gets for it. That will give him a dose of reality and then he can go from there with eyes wide open.

Regulated

I would strongly suggest that he takes a part time job working for a major dealer.

DaveG

I second the advice to have him read Scott Travers' Coin Collectors' Survival Manual. It's the book I wish I had read first when I got back into coin collecting.

After that, he should figure out what kind of collector he wants to be - does he want to fill up Whitman albums from circulation or assemble a set of circulated Mercury dimes or a set of mint state Walkers or a set of MS Saints.

After that, take him to a coin show and show him around.

itsnotjustme

Have him cut his teeth with grading some moderns. Loan him a few inexpensive slabs, and have him crack some new rolls and pick candidates for submission. Review for him and if good enough send a few to PCGS.

Teach pop reports, cleaning, damage, toning, NT, AT, if you did not.

What budget range is he looking at? That would also make a big difference.