Do you use Excel to keep track of your collection? Do you take photos?

Bochiman

I finally decided to see how hard it would be to link the XLS I use to the photos I take of the coins.
Not hard at all.

I encourage anyone who uses Excel and who takes photos of their coins, to make at least a combo collage of the obv/rev and link that in their spreadsheet. It is actually pretty cool to see what I normally have (date/MM/grade/TPGS/Cost/From/Notes/etc then also have a link and click on it and have the picture of that coin pop up.

Without it, sometimes, I have dupes and forget which is which....this makes it easy. Each cell can have a link so you can do more than 1 picture, but I think, to keep the beast restrained, I will only link to 1 or 2 pictures (1 or 2 cells).

Took a whole 10 seconds to do once I decided to try it. I heartily recommend it.

Anyone else have coin collection/Excel tips?

OneCent

Yep, I track all of my coins in Excel and include a hyperlink to their photo's.

Excellent advice!

coinkid855

Hmmm. I'll have to look into putting my pictures into my excel spreadsheet. Sounds like an awesome idea...



-Paul

BobSav

If someone could print a quick guide to do this I sure a lot of us would appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.

Bochiman

Paul, don't put the pictures in the spreadsheet....you can, but they take up too much space and it wouldn't be worthwhile to do for each one, imho.
Do put the hyperlinks though...particularly if you have them in a storage area that won't change (at least, often, since you would have to edit the hyperlink to keep it live).

Bob,

If you have excel and have a spreadsheet, click on any cell (hopefully, an empty one ). Then right click and choose "hyperlink" (same as "insert" and "hyperlink" or just CTRL-K).
Then, a dialog box opens and you can navigate to the area on your hard drive that has your photo. Once you highlight the photo you want linked, hit ok, then it shows up as a clickable hyperlink in your spreadsheet.

Hope that helps.

BobSav

Bochiman

Thanks very much, will try it tomorrow.

Bob

Bochiman

No problem, Bob, hopes it helps.
For certified coins, it saves time. For raw coins, like I track in one of the spreadsheets, it will prove invaluable if I keep it updated when I get the coins.
Some Roosies I have for my son are duplicated so it can be hard to know which was which months/years down the road. This makes it easy

IGWT

I encourage anyone who uses Excel and who takes photos of their coins, to make at least a combo collage of the obv/rev and link that in their spreadsheet. It is actually pretty cool to see what I normally have (date/MM/grade/TPGS/Cost/From/Notes/etc then also have a link and click on it and have the picture of that coin pop up.

I link to local picture files using variety attribution numbers as the text of the link. I create separate subdirectories to hold all pictures files for each of the coins in my collection (I typically have at least 4 photos of each coin). When I click on the hyperlink in the spreadsheet, just one picture opens (using MS Windows and Fax Viewer as the default program), but I can quickly play through all the pictures in the subdirectory. This set-up lets me quickly view all photos for a coin with just one link in the spreadsheet.

mheffner2

Mind posting a screenshot of your spreedsheet? I've never come to terms with any of the ones I fiddled with.

nurmaler

For those of you who have MS Access, and aren't scared to poke into queries and VB, you should go with Access over Excel. You'll have so many reporting options - grouping and filtering, it's a no-brainer.
~n

AnkurJ

I use excel, and also keep pictures of most of my coins. Also have a inventory sheet inside my safe deposit box (of coins that are there), and a inventory sheet of what I have at home.
Ankur

Dawg144

I don't use Excel for coins anymore...I got a nice little blank physical book that I like to keep records in. I can take it to coin shows to see what I need or can upgrade.

TomB

I've been using Excel to keep track of my coins for 13-years and I also use hyperlinks embedded within certain cells that are linked to images. It works beautifully and is free.

TomB

I've been using Excel to keep track of my coins for 13-years and I also use hyperlinks embedded within certain cells that are linked to images. It works beautifully and is free.

coinkid855

<< <i>Paul, don't put the pictures in the spreadsheet....you can, but they take up too much space and it wouldn't be worthwhile to do for each one, imho.
Do put the hyperlinks though...particularly if you have them in a storage area that won't change (at least, often, since you would have to edit the hyperlink to keep it live).

Bob,

If you have excel and have a spreadsheet, click on any cell (hopefully, an empty one ). Then right click and choose "hyperlink" (same as "insert" and "hyperlink" or just CTRL-K).
Then, a dialog box opens and you can navigate to the area on your hard drive that has your photo. Once you highlight the photo you want linked, hit ok, then it shows up as a clickable hyperlink in your spreadsheet.

Hope that helps. >>



I meant hyperlinking, not actually putting the images in my spreadsheet. That would look lame.


-Paul

coinkid855

Found a better formula to insert pictures.


Use this

=HYPERLINK("..PicturesCopystandCopystand 040-1.jpg","Image")


Where the information inside the first quotation is the link to your image on your computer, and the information inside the second quote is what will actually show up in your spreadsheet. Looks MUCH better.


-Paul

blu62vette

I use excel and will try this to add photos. I should start a new spreadsheet mine is pretty ugly being that is was started at least 10 years ago....

tightbudget

I really should...

coinkid855

It really looks awesome. I really want to just skip a day of school and image ALL my Morgans....lol


-Paul

Goldbully

I'm working on it, got a good ways to go.....................here's a quick screen shot..............

PrivateCoinCollector

No I use MS Access. Highly recommend.

blu62vette

<< <i>I'm working on it, got a good ways to go.....................here's a quick screen shot..............


>>



How are you doing that? Is that a hyperlink or something else? I want to learn that trick....

Goldbully

<< <i>

<< <i>I'm working on it, got a good ways to go.....................here's a quick screen shot..............


>>



How are you doing that? Is that a hyperlink or something else? I want to learn that trick.... >>



Just go to "Insert - Picture - From File" real easy!!!!!


Good luck!!!

Zoins

<< <i>"Never tell people how to do things.
Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

General George S. Patton, Jr. >>

Just wanted to say nice quote!

Goldbully

<< <i>

<< <i>"Never tell people how to do things.
Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

General George S. Patton, Jr. >>

Just wanted to say nice quote! >>



Thanks Zoins.....General Patton commends you!!!

Bochiman

There is a lot that can be done, and, MS Access IS better, but for the quick "down and dirty" that most people like/want/need to do, I think Excel works just fine.
Yes, you can insert the pictures, like shown above, but, due to the number of coins in the collection we have, that makes the spreadsheet something that is more difficult to manage.

I prefer using the hyperlinks and not the pictures directly. Allows more listings on my screen at any one time. Also, since I keep track of prices and sums, etc, I don't want a lot of blank/white space sitting between listings since anything could throw it off.

jmski52

My Excel coin inventory spreadsheet has made me realize just how scattered my coin collecting objectives have become.

rgCoinGuy

Thanks for the advice on here, I do keep my list of coins on Excel, and wondered how to link a picture. I have a lot of experience with Access and have thought about making a more advanced program there, but Excel is easy to just pop and and look at the overview when I want/need to and I like its simplicity to keep track of what I have and what I am looking for.

USAFRETWI

I use Access and love it. Easier to use than Excel.

coinkid855

Here's a picture of what I'm doing in Excel...

Hovering above the link....



And when you click it, the picture opens up in IE.




-Paul

lope208

I too use Excel to track everything. Great tips on the photos. I keep them in a folder but never thought to link them before.

Also recently, with all the PM's flying, I decided to add a new feature to my spreadsheet. Using the VLOOKUP function, I created a table with 3 values for spot Ag, Au, and Platinum. Then, at a quick glance, you can see the spot value of your collection (even though it's almost always lower than its numismatic value). But for lower end circulated silver, etc, it's neat to look at. And all you have to do is change the spot value in the VLOOKUP table and your other forumlas linking to it will be all set


Grammar edited, oops!

BECOKA

I use excel but I am seriously considering Bento.

coinnut

I've been using Excel to keep track of my coins since 1999. I love Goldbully's idea of putting a picture of the coin right on the spreadsheet! I didn't know it had that feature. Now I have another reason to get a good camera.

BECOKA

<< <i>I've been using Excel to keep track of my coins since 1999. I love Goldbully's idea of putting a picture of the coin right on the spreadsheet! I didn't know it had that feature. Now I have another reason to get a good camera. >>



The hyperlink is better, if you put the picture in the spreadsheet it is not associated with a particular coin. i.e. if you sort your coins the picture does not go with it. If use a hyperlink then when you sort the hyperlink is actually in a cell associated with the proper data.

Moonbiter

I'm writing a program in Access for collectors. Still have some work to do, and I still need to work on the visual presentation of the information.

You can click on the images and they will open up into the full size image. I will also be putting in a report generator, along with want/need/wish lists you can take with you to a coin show. It will be a pretty indepth program when I get it done. Best part, is it's done in Access 2007 so you don't need access to run it. You can download the access runtime library or get it off the cd when I'm done, and you can run the program.

This is still a work in progress.

blu62vette

<< <i>I use excel but I am seriously considering Bento. >>



I am very curious of you go this route.....

Do you currently use excel or numbers?

seatedcoins

<< <i>I'm writing a program in Access for collectors. Still have some work to do, and I still need to work on the visual presentation of the information.

You can click on the images and they will open up into the full size image. I will also be putting in a report generator, along with want/need/wish lists you can take with you to a coin show. It will be a pretty indepth program when I get it done. Best part, is it's done in Access 2007 so you don't need access to run it. You can download the access runtime library or get it off the cd when I'm done, and you can run the program.

This is still a work in progress.

>>



That is really cool. I have access, but have never used it. I'd be interested in looking at the template when your finished.

lkenefic

<< <i>Yep, I track all of my coins in Excel and include a hyperlink to their photo's.

Excellent advice! >>



Me Too!

Bochiman

<< <i>I'm writing a program in Access for collectors. Still have some work to do, and I still need to work on the visual presentation of the information.

You can click on the images and they will open up into the full size image. I will also be putting in a report generator, along with want/need/wish lists you can take with you to a coin show. It will be a pretty indepth program when I get it done. Best part, is it's done in Access 2007 so you don't need access to run it. You can download the access runtime library or get it off the cd when I'm done, and you can run the program.

This is still a work in progress.
>>




Moon.....that is good for a lot of info on single coins. I like it. But, Excel is good for a lot of information about a lot of coins at one time. Very easy for me to see which Roosies my son has and which he doesn't. One glance.

BECOKA

<< <i>

<< <i>I'm writing a program in Access for collectors. Still have some work to do, and I still need to work on the visual presentation of the information.

You can click on the images and they will open up into the full size image. I will also be putting in a report generator, along with want/need/wish lists you can take with you to a coin show. It will be a pretty indepth program when I get it done. Best part, is it's done in Access 2007 so you don't need access to run it. You can download the access runtime library or get it off the cd when I'm done, and you can run the program.

This is still a work in progress.

>>



That is really cool. I have access, but have never used it. I'd be interested in looking at the template when your finished. >>



This does look good. Too bad Access does not work on the Mac. I know I can always run it in windows. I am going to try something similar in Bento which is Filemaker Pro's little cousin.

BECOKA

<< <i>

<< <i>I'm writing a program in Access for collectors. Still have some work to do, and I still need to work on the visual presentation of the information.

You can click on the images and they will open up into the full size image. I will also be putting in a report generator, along with want/need/wish lists you can take with you to a coin show. It will be a pretty indepth program when I get it done. Best part, is it's done in Access 2007 so you don't need access to run it. You can download the access runtime library or get it off the cd when I'm done, and you can run the program.

This is still a work in progress.
>>




Moon.....that is good for a lot of info on single coins. I like it. But, Excel is good for a lot of information about a lot of coins at one time. Very easy for me to see which Roosies my son has and which he doesn't. One glance. >>



In access you can create query and print out in excel form a list of just your sons coins. All you have to do is add a new column to the main data base for owner.

The single coin view is one of many. You can create any view you want.

coinnut

Thanks Becoka

The hyperlink is better, if you put the picture in the spreadsheet it is not associated with a particular coin. i.e. if you sort your coins the picture does not go with it. If use a hyperlink then when you sort the hyperlink is actually in a cell associated with the proper data. >>

Moonbiter

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>I'm writing a program in Access for collectors. Still have some work to do, and I still need to work on the visual presentation of the information.

You can click on the images and they will open up into the full size image. I will also be putting in a report generator, along with want/need/wish lists you can take with you to a coin show. It will be a pretty indepth program when I get it done. Best part, is it's done in Access 2007 so you don't need access to run it. You can download the access runtime library or get it off the cd when I'm done, and you can run the program.

This is still a work in progress.
>>




Moon.....that is good for a lot of info on single coins. I like it. But, Excel is good for a lot of information about a lot of coins at one time. Very easy for me to see which Roosies my son has and which he doesn't. One glance. >>



In access you can create query and print out in excel form a list of just your sons coins. All you have to do is add a new column to the main data base for owner.

The single coin view is one of many. You can create any view you want. >>



You can do that in my program too. You associate the coin with a collection, so you can bring up coins in only 1 collection, or any other criteria. You can pull up a single coin, to every single coin in the database.

The one part I haven't designed yet is the split window, where the lower part of the window looks like a excel spread sheet. This will be an option you can turn on or off.

LostSisler

I use a Mac and am running Office 2008. You guys should check it out here.
I use it for all of my personal stuff. The new version of Excel is great.
At the ANA we use PastPerfect. You can check that out here.
Enjoy!

LindeDad

I just looked at my spreadsheet and at 1168 line items that would be a lot of linkage.