World coins-where to start

krazyace5

I went to my second estate sale in a week with tons of world coins, I have no idea what is what, I did buy some that are interesting and odd and some that are old.
I have a hard time telling what they are made of though. Any suggestions on what I should look for?

Any sites where I can find out about the ones I did buy?

Thanks

skingspan

Sounds to me like you need a Krause standard catalog of workd coins. There are separate ones for 1901 - present, 1801-1900, 1701-1800. They are kind of pricey but will worth it if you are planning to spend money on world coins.

I haven't been able to find any all inclusive world coins websites.

trozau

My local library has the Kraus Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-Present. Check and see if yours does, too. Best reference I can suggest. There is also a version for the 1800's and 1700's but the library usually don't carry those.

1jester

Welcome to the Darkside, Krazyace! If you photo or scan the coins in question, there will be people here who are willing and able to ID them for you.

cladking

If you go to coin shows try to pick up a little older Krause. These list all coins from
1700 to date or 1800 to date. You may need a brand new 1900 to date also since
these prices change much faster. Don't take any of the pricing too seriously though
since it varies from a small fraction of true value to wildly optimistic.

With experience you can almost always tell cu/ni from silver just by sight. In the mean
time you'll just have to learn the little identification tricks to look them up. Most people
can ID 80%+ of coins from the last couple of centuries even before they know anything
about the coins.

Stork

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Well that pretty much sums it up . Really just start exploring until something grabs your fancy. Many people here have the One From Every Country (OFEC) which justifies quite a bit of exploring. Works for me anyway!


Cathy

lordmarcovan

Start with a Krause catalog, as others have mentioned. That is the key to the gates. It can also be your road map- once you see what's out there, you can make decisions on what you like.

It was British large pennies that brought me in.