Which ANA Summer Seminar Courses?

JCB1983

I have only been collecting for going on two years, and really only 6 months heavy. Am determined to attend both ANA summer seminars. My interests are as follows: Old U.S. Copper, Anything Seated, BCH/Q, and Franklins. Would also love to improve grading techniques. A photography class would be nice. I joined the ANA about a week ago, but nothing has arrived via mail. Which courses would you recommend? Can anyone provide me with a web adress? Thank you kindly in advance.

~Jason

edix2001

http://www.money.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NumismaticEvents/SummerSeminar/default.htm

MrEureka

Jason - Please tell us a little more about how you plan on pursuing the hobby, especially with respect to where you plan to buy most of your coins and the general price range of the material you plan to collect. I ask because I wonder how critical it is for you to focus on self-defense (i.e., grading) at this stage of the game. If you're planning on jumping into the deep end of the pool, a grading class is probably your best bet. If you plan on starting more modestly - which I think is a good idea - I'd recommend taking a class (or two) that focus on the coins, not on grading or authentication skills.

edix2001

Yeah, I took US Type Coins, very educational about American numismatics in general.

JCB1983

Thank you for the responses by the way. I do not feel that it would be appropriate for me to jump in the deep end at the moment. I'm currently about a year or so from graduating from college and feel propelled to put the final bricks/mortor in. With this being said I believe it to be essential that I take classes on grading. I have been running the ebay department for a busy pawnshop for going on 3 months and handle quite a bit of raw coins. It would be beneficial for the business as well as my personal goals (intend on working in numismatics) to learn how to properly grade. If I could choose my own destiny it may be similar to the following: Continue to work for the pawnshop until graduation (economics degree), attempt to get a job with a respected dealer in numismatics, and eventually open up my own coin store/business. Dreams can be dreams. In the meantime I have hit the books right? Any advice would be highly appreciated. Most of all I want to attend the summer seminar because I love coins.

~Jason

RedTiger

Given that background, definitely go for grading and authentication. Sorry to say, but for a person interested in a career in the industry, the rest is mostly fluff. History, stories, doesn't matter to most coin buyers or sellers. If history is of interest, reading general history and biographies will give you plenty at much lower cost than the ANA classes. General history tends to be more interesting than narrow numismatic history to most folks, I dare say even most coin collectors. At most coin shows the educational seminars are poorly attended even though most are free and many are very good. Compare that to grading, where having coins in hand with an expert guiding you will move you ten steps forward.

Grading isn't the deep end of the pool. I see it is more like a 101 level course, a requirement for a person that wants to be a dealer. From all accounts the ANA course is one way to jump start the process, and move a person a year or several years up the learning curve in a short time period. Someone that wants to work in the industry absolutely makes money based on their grading skill. The higher the skill level the more they will tend to make. There are other skills such as negotiating, and business management, but grading and authentication are imperative.

MrEureka

It does sound like a grading class is the way to go, but you can still add an evening mini-seminar or two to expand your horizons.

Kove

Given what you wrote, I would highly recommend that week 1 you take Grading Part 1 with Don Bonser and Jim Stoutjesdyk (course #1), and week 2 you take Detection of Counterfeit and Altered Coins led by JP Martin and Bob Campbell (course #24). These were two of the best courses I've taken there, and the best instructors. Each class I was in had several students who worked in pawn shops and coin shops.

I would get a solid basis in technical fundamentals like grading and counterfeit detection first, and later take specialized courses in the coin series that interest you.

Trime

Jason,
You answered your own question in your response to Andy (Mr Eureka).
If you can afford the time take in this and future years the full range of the grading classes. They focus on different grade levels of coins as well as progressively greater levels of expertice. The advice of Red Tiger regarding authentication and counterfeiting is sound since you deal with raw coins. That said, the ANA summer course has a wonderful spectrum of classes on many aspects of numismatics and if you become a regular you will learn from the best. Lastly it is great fun.

AMRC

Mine?

JCB1983

Thank you again for the responses. Thank you as well for the link edix. I’ll be looking forward to signing up and attending grading course 1 in week one and counterfeit detection/altered coins in week two. I’m sure that it is included in the link but is there are grading course 2 offered in week two? Finally I signed up for the ANA about a week ago; should I be expecting a package for membership via mail? I do not recall my membership number.

~Jason

edix2001

Yes, there is Grading US Coins Part 2 in the second week, which is course #22. Also, if you can afford, are the mini-seminars held at night (started out years ago as "Bull Sessions"), that you might benefit from, such as: Week One, A. Advanced Numismatic Negotiating for $99 (no apparent prerequisites required) and Week Two, H. Numismatic Evaluations for $79. On top of all that, there is the rewarding Denver Mint Floor Tour for $75 (18 years old and up). One could fit it all into a busy schedule. But ... you've got to act quickly on registration for such things, as they fill up rather quickly.
Feel free to call or email the ANA Education department with any questions you may have:
(719)482-9849
education@money.org