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Where does a coin newbie start?
vibr0nic
Posts: 614 ✭✭✭
Hi there,
This is my first real post to this forum, and I am new to collecting coins. Brand new. In fact, I don't even HAVE a coin in my collection yet, however I do have experience in collecting currency. Coins intrigue me for a number of reasons, so I recently decided to start building a nice type set of US coins to complement my type sets of currency. I have a 2010 Red Book for coins, and have gone through every page of it. I have used the Red Book to put together an Excel sheet of the coins I will need to collect to complete my set, including grade and year ranges for each type that are a fit for my budget. So, I have some very broad knowledge of coins, and I'm reasonably well organized to start building a collection.
With that said, here's a few things I could use some help with:
Pricing. What resources - magazines, books, software - do you find helpful with tuning your offer or bid range on a particular coin? This is really the biggest question mark for me. On the currency side, there is software that tracks collectible currency transactions from eBay, Heritage and all major auction houses (the one I use is called Track & Price). Is there something similar available for coins? (T&P coins is out of date).
Grading (1). Are there any TPGs that have "problems"? Are there any that are regarded as top of the class? This is particularly important to me as I will be buying mostly graded coins, and while I won't be "buying the holder", I'd like to stick to the most trustworthy grading services. (Feel free to PM me if this topic if is unwelcome in the public forum)
Grading (2). What are some good resources - magazines, books, websites - that offer help with grading on your own. I would like to learn about the methods and standards that TPGs, or collectors in general, use for coins.
Any other valuable links for a currency newbie are always welcome.
Thanks.
This is my first real post to this forum, and I am new to collecting coins. Brand new. In fact, I don't even HAVE a coin in my collection yet, however I do have experience in collecting currency. Coins intrigue me for a number of reasons, so I recently decided to start building a nice type set of US coins to complement my type sets of currency. I have a 2010 Red Book for coins, and have gone through every page of it. I have used the Red Book to put together an Excel sheet of the coins I will need to collect to complete my set, including grade and year ranges for each type that are a fit for my budget. So, I have some very broad knowledge of coins, and I'm reasonably well organized to start building a collection.
With that said, here's a few things I could use some help with:
Pricing. What resources - magazines, books, software - do you find helpful with tuning your offer or bid range on a particular coin? This is really the biggest question mark for me. On the currency side, there is software that tracks collectible currency transactions from eBay, Heritage and all major auction houses (the one I use is called Track & Price). Is there something similar available for coins? (T&P coins is out of date).
Grading (1). Are there any TPGs that have "problems"? Are there any that are regarded as top of the class? This is particularly important to me as I will be buying mostly graded coins, and while I won't be "buying the holder", I'd like to stick to the most trustworthy grading services. (Feel free to PM me if this topic if is unwelcome in the public forum)
Grading (2). What are some good resources - magazines, books, websites - that offer help with grading on your own. I would like to learn about the methods and standards that TPGs, or collectors in general, use for coins.
Any other valuable links for a currency newbie are always welcome.
Thanks.
I like large size currency and silver dollars.
0
Comments
Welcome to the hunt.
The entertainment can never be overdressed....except in burlesque
Buy magazines and get an idea what you like,
Join a coin club
Joining and coming here is a great start. grab a soup ladel and drink from the fountain of knowledge on these boards ( PS if you ask something and they answer it, but if you ignore their advice they will be like yeah well your gonna do what your gonna do anyway so why ask us. ) THIS was a lesson I learned the hard way.
Go to a coin show and see whats out there and what you like
Once you know what you like, Buy books on that topic
When starting out Buy slabbed coins till you learn more and feel good with grading and even then slabs are good to make sure rarer coins are REAL and not FAKE.
This place has some great dealers that will work with you and work out payment plans and give you advice.
don't waste your time with ebay
buy only PCGS or NGC coins
buy from Mark Feld
he is very fair with prices, you will learn a lot, and he is honest
get his newsletter
and call him if you like and he will help you
you will not be sorry, and you will thank me when you get your first coin from him.
Lester
Mark Felds website, he is a forum member, coinguy1
Grading - PCGS Coin Facts for 12.95 will show you excellent pics of graded examples for lots of coin series. I also recommend PCGS's "The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection."
TPG's - My personal collection is made of NGC and PCGS holders. Great coins can be found in other holders and can be easily converted if they meet NGC or PCGS slabbing standards, but in most cases this results in a lower or no grade. There are exceptions. When buying other holders I almost always end up discounting the assigned grade. Check ebay's coin and currency policy for the select group of TPGs that are recognized for sellers to include the assigned grade. It is a good indicator of what is safe to buy. Most others are unreliable in assigning grades and in many cases the grade was assigned by the person selling the coin. Regardless of how much faith you put in a grading company, always be happy with the coin when you are able to see it in hand. Because most purchases on non-rare coins take place without the opportunity to personally view the coin, the quality and reliability of the TPG becomes that much more important.
Links - endless amount of links available in reading old threads here and using the search function. Create folders as necessary in your browser "links" for quick reference. Mine include mintage figures and refined ebay searches for the series I'm interested in.
Rampant currency debasement will be the most important investment trend of this decade, and it will devastate most people.
- Nick Giambruno Buy dollar insurance now, because the policy will cost more as the dollar becomes worth less.
If I may ask... why is eBay viewed with such apparent scorn?
lcoopie: Thank you for the dealer recommendation.
Atarian: Yea, I learned my lesson by not listening to the currency guys early on. I won't make that mistake twice.
swamp and derry: its looking like digging up price history will take a little more time compared to currency (the T&P software is a huge time saver for that).
Thanks!
<< <i>If I may ask... why is eBay viewed with such apparent scorn? >>
Because everyone is anonymous. Not all sellers are reputable and not all buyers act honorably. However, lots of coins bought and sold there daily, more than anywhere else. If you play by the ebay/paypal rules for buyer/seller protection you have nothing to fear. Their protections have ALWAYS protected me (over $10k in the last year) as both a buyer and a seller. Ebay has become a much safer place to buy and sell. Most of the horror stories are from someone who lost money primarily because they didn't protect themselves by knowing and following the buyer/seller protection rules. Seller feedback is important, but don't be afraid of a good seller who got hooked up with a bad buyer. Buyer feedback is meaningless. Communication is very important for both parties.
Rampant currency debasement will be the most important investment trend of this decade, and it will devastate most people.
- Nick Giambruno Buy dollar insurance now, because the policy will cost more as the dollar becomes worth less.
-Don't buy from sellers with poor feedback. Having little/no feedback is also worrisome, although everybody has to start from somewhere. Depends on how much you're spending.
-See if the seller allows returns.
-Be wary of blurry/crappy photos.
-Read the fine print.
-Counterfeits. Do your homework and know what to look for. In some cases, this is another reason to buy graded coins (PCGS and NGC are best), though sometimes the counterfeiters are even copying the holders.
-Where is the seller located?
-Know what options ebay has at your disposal if the sale goes south.
-Has there been a large time gap in a seller's feedback ratings? (ie, have they reappeared with a very expensive item after a 6-year absence?) This may indicate a hijacked account and possible scammer.
-If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
-There are probably other good words of advice, but I think I've hit most of em.
eBay has many safeguards in place to protect the buyer. There are a lot of great folks selling on ebay and a few bad eggs that make most of the news. Be careful and study up with the tricks the scammers are using and you shouldn't have too many problems.
<< <i>One piece of reading material that greatly helped me when I was starting out was the book "Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection" by PCGS. It is good reading and also has a lot of good pics to help you see what they are talking about. >>
It's in my Amazon cart.ready to go. Just waiting to see if there are any more key books for general knowledge that I should acquire.
<< <i>Where does a coin newbie start? >>
Wherever his (or her) heart desires. Follow your bliss.
Whatever grabs you by the mind and makes you want to know more about it.
Sometimes, though, if you're like me, you'll find your instinctive tastes exceed your budget. But there's plenty of series to collect (or yes, countries or historical periods to collect if you're a World & Ancient coin guy like I am), and plenty of angles you can approach from. There's even room for a little creativity, if you decide to collect along lines that few or none have ever done before. (But striking out into the wilderness like that is usually more for the jaded veteran than the fresh newbie.)
Completed auctions on ebay and Heritage are a good start, I also like Numismedia LINK
"Grading (1). Are there any TPGs that have "problems"? Are there any that are regarded as top of the class? This is particularly important to me as I will be buying mostly graded coins, and while I won't be "buying the holder", I'd like to stick to the most trustworthy grading services. (Feel free to PM me if this topic if is unwelcome in the public forum)"
Top tier PCGS, NGC, ANACS; however, there are bargains to be found in all types
"Grading (2). What are some good resources - magazines, books, websites - that offer help with grading on your own. I would like to learn about the methods and standards that TPGs, or collectors in general, use for coins."
PCGS makes their version of Photograde available for free LINK; there are also grading books.
"Any other valuable links for a currency newbie are always welcome."
I find the local public library system to be quite helpful.
<< <i>buy only PCGS or NGC coins
buy from Mark Feld
>>
While this is good advice, once you know what you're looking at, you can find some nice coins in other holders. This can come in handy if you are going to go the certified route, with crossovers. As many will state on here, "Buy the coin, not the holder."
Also, not to detract from Mark Feld, but there are many, many, many other excellent dealers here. Read the boards and you'll find out who is who.
By best advice would be to pick a series you like and learn as much about it as you can. Then decide what your per coin budget will be and stick to it. Some of the keys may run over the budget, but don't buy impulsivley all the time.
http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/
link
Understand that it takes a while to learn to grade coins. Reading and looking at images is okay, but looking at coins in person is the best way. It sounds like you are willing to commit time to the task. For the average person, it often takes several years of looking at lots of coins to learn the finer points of grading mint state coins. That's one reason I suggest starting slow, with lower grade, less expensive examples, until a person learns more about grading.
I will add, be aware that fake slabs are a significant and growing problem, and Ebay (and Craigslist) seems to be the venue of choice to pass them. Some are fake slabs with counterfeit coins, some are fake slabs with a real coin, but in a higher grade fake holder. Some of the fakes are crudely made, and can be recognized from the photo, some are extremely deceptive and the photo will fool most collectors. One tip off is a seller located in China, but that alone is not much of a safeguard any more because middlemen or games can be used to simulate a U. S. address.
For high value coins, I would stick to PCGS and NGC. For coins more in the $100 and under range, I am okay with ANACS. If the grade makes the price, then I tend to stick to the big two, and sometimes only PCGS. Auction archives often show a signficant difference in average price for coins from various companies.
Stone's Thread
<< <i>Stick with currency and work on either specializing your collection OR your knowledge. >>
hi ambro,
To each his own, but I'd rather be a jack of many trades, and master of none, when it comes to collecting. No offense to people who choose to specialize in one thing, but I simply like collecting things I think are interesting, historical, artistic, and simply cool and fun that I can share with family or friends. Restricting myself to just one thing would get a little boring for me personally. Also, I definitely get enjoyment out of the hunt - my currency collection has grown to a point where I am hunting for fewer and fewer notes. Opening myself to the world of coins gives me a whole new world to explore that satisfies all of these things.
Steve: great links and info. Thanks.
Gacoinguy: I think those 2 or 3 TPGs will be my choices for the short term. I was bitten early on by my ignorance with currency grading, so I don't want to make that mistake twice. Maybe someday, I'll develop the skills to snag a deal or two in coins though.
Catbert: great thread. Bookmarked that one.
RedTiger: In currency, I have always had a taste for choice+ notes, and I will probably do the same with coins (where its financially possible). Thanks for adding some more color with your views on the TPGs, and for the added info on eBay.
Thanks to everyone else who is trying to help out the new guy!
<< <i>
To each his own, but I'd rather be a jack of many trades, and master of none, when it comes to collecting. No offense to people who choose to specialize in one thing, but I simply like collecting things I think are interesting, historical, artistic, and simply cool and fun that I can share with family or friends. Restricting myself to just one thing would get a little boring for me personally. >>
That's the spirit!
Basically, what matters at the end of the day is that you're having fun. Doesn't matter if you're collecting Saint Gaudens gold or state quarters...or both. Enjoy and welcome.
I've been collecting since before I was 10, but feel alot like you. I started collecting so many different things, but couldn't finish many sets - finally ended up with the Basic Design Set, No Gold, which is in the PCGS Registry - a nice 40 coin type set, and only need 1 more which I hope to have by May. Now I have a 6 y/o grandson who wants to collect everything he sees, and I see myself in him. Trying to get him to focus on one or 2 things is difficult because of his enthusiasm. We're going to his first coin show this weekend.
Mark Feld is a terrific person and dealer and I've bought 3 or 4 pieces from him. He's very helpful with advice and I consider him a friend. But like was mentioned, there are other great people to deal with, too. When in doubt, it's not a sin to come in here and ask about someone's reputation.
Keep reading & keep asking questions!
Welcome!
A type set is fun, and not a bad place to start. Be aware though that some series are more difficult to grade than others for various reasons. Grading certain series, in my opinion, can't be learned from a book. They probably can't even be learned from just looking at lots of coins. For those series, you have to have somebody to point out what your looking at so that you can see the differences. That said, you will learn an awful lot by building a type set. If it were me, I'd start with the 20th-century coins first. They'll generally be cheaper, so your mistakes will be less costly (and you will make mistakes; we all have).
For pricing you should start with the wanted to buy ads in the back of the coin papers.
These prices are low but they do constitute a base line for properly graded coins. Don't
forget though that some of these buyers are ver picky about grade.
The next thing is to sell some coins from time to time. It's when you sell coins that you
really learn what they are worth.