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How do you collect?
knoxy4
Posts: 45
Hello again. I found myself just wondering what are the various ways that everyone here uses to acquire new coinage. I live in a relatively small city with only 2 brick and mortar stores. So needless to say the turn over, or influx of new interesting/unusual coins is not very common. Of course there is ebay which I've used a couple times, but it is hard for me as a new collector to grade coins and such from pictures and bid against the entire world. I was wanting to kind of branch out a bit more to see/learn/experience more of the coin collecting hobby rather then going into the same coin store seeing the same coins.
I know there's big shows and such, but ones that are in my travel distance are maybe 2 or 3 times a year.
Anyways, just curious how you more experienced lot actually go out and acquire coins? It seems a lot of people on here are very specific in what they are after, so how often do you actually make a new coin purchase?
And for bonus points, what did you collect in your infancy of the hobby? I don't have the knowledge or bank roll to be collecting gem Morgans, or gem anything really. What are reasonably cheap and easy collections for me to work on?
I know there's big shows and such, but ones that are in my travel distance are maybe 2 or 3 times a year.
Anyways, just curious how you more experienced lot actually go out and acquire coins? It seems a lot of people on here are very specific in what they are after, so how often do you actually make a new coin purchase?
And for bonus points, what did you collect in your infancy of the hobby? I don't have the knowledge or bank roll to be collecting gem Morgans, or gem anything really. What are reasonably cheap and easy collections for me to work on?
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i find hoarding to be the most pleasurable
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i find hoarding to be the most pleasurable
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AMEN Brother Never can have too much or enough. like 79 S Morgans
But hoard what you enjoy and be knowledgeable about what you hoard, it's even more fun that way.
I got my experience by reading grading books and looking at as many coins as possible. I lived in a small town where there were no coin shops within 60 or 70 miles. Fortunately my father often made business trips to Philadelphia where I got know the dealers who ran the coin department at Gimbels Department Store. Their prices were high, but those guys took me under their wing, and I learned a lot of them. I also bought as many books for them as were available at that time and studied them. I even bought books on coins I did not / could not collect like Sheldon variety large cents. When I was 16, the head of the coin department at Gimbels offered me a job. I couldn't take because I lived more than 100 miles away and still had to finish high school, but it certainly was a flattering offer!
As an adult I'm still and avid collector, and I was a dealer for 12 years. I still buy every coin book that interests me, and I travel to three for four shows a years. I try to avoid buying on the Internet because as you have found, pictures don't tell the whole story. I either have to know the dealer well or have a full return privilege.
The best advice I can give you is to go to as many shows as possible and look at as many coins as possible. Buy the ANA grading guide and study it. Also you might learn some things if you join a local club, if there one in your area. Finally if you run into a knowledgeable dealer who is willing to take you under his wing, jump at the opportunity.
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.This
for a valuable reference to dealers, reference material, etc.
My budget is maybe 30-50 bucks every week or two so I'm just chippin away a lil. There is a local club that I will look into and see how that goes. Just dont know right yet where I'll go with this hobby next...
and enable it.
bob
Anyway, I personally think 2 b&m stores is plenty, if you can access them. I live in a town where there aren't any coin shops, just a few jewelry stores that try to "flip" whatever comes their way. I didn't "get my self up by the bootstraps" in coin collecting- I definitely needed the help of a few people, and a few key resources. Anyway, no matter where you live- a big city, a small town, suburbia, the internet (like some of us, lol)- here's a list of sources you can get with a few bucks, some internet surfing, and some diligent networking:
TYPES OF PEOPLE
(1) "The Mentor." One day, I casually put up a penny variety on my Facebook profile status, just for kicks. I wasn't really into coin collecting then, but what do you know... an old friend of mine from high school contacted me back after reading my status, told me he's very much into numismatics, and pretty much gave me advice on how to begin collecting, not just acquiring. He still gives me advice each day, and we go out for coffee often. He introduced me to these forums, saved me thousands of dollars, and most importantly, kept me enthused about coins. I consider myself lucky, but if none of your friends are accomplished collectors, that's OK, too- your "mentor" could be a guy on these forums, or from another online club (setting up a LinkedIn profile might help you find some). Your mentor can be a person from your local coin club. Whoever's willing to take the time and point you in the right direction.
In all honesty, this forum here would probably suffice as a "mentor." I'm usually pretty skeptic about interacting with people online, but people here have always been direct and generous in their advice.
(2) "The retailer." Find one of these. Show up to his or her store often, and buy something from time to time. You'll find that a lot of coin dealers like to share information if you just ask. They'll show you a lot of different coins, explain why some are priced a certain way, and so forth. But stick around for too long without buying anything, and they'll get a little wary of you.
(3) "The wholesaler." It pays to know a source that won't sell you coins at retail prices, if you ever want to buy and trade coins. Heck, maybe you just want to buy coins at a discount because you don't have too much to spend. These don't have to be retailers- in fact, most of the time, they're not- but they can be Craigslist users, eBay users, jewelers who aren't into coins but come across them, and- in my opinion, the best of all- pawn shop owners. I know many who sell at spot price, leaving the numismatic value in my hands for free.
TYPES OF BOOKS
(1) The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins, by R.S. Yeoman. You'll usually hear that it's the first book you should buy if interested in US Coins, and there's a reason why. It lists every coin minted in the United States, along with its mintage number and (very) rough price range for each coin, with respect to its grade. It'll give details about the coin's design, and some stories behind the coin's creation.
(2) A grading book. You can get the ANA official coin grading guide; I prefer the book Grading Coins by Photographs. Similar authors, same publisher, etc. Your ability to assess how much a coin is worth will save you a lot in the long run, as certains dealers might try to offer you a poor grading's price for a nice coin you may have, or charge a top grading price for a coin that isn't of a notable grade.
(3) A book on counterfeits. This is a really important one to have. Studying counterfeits will help you learn- and appreciate- genuine coins a lot more. One that I'd recommend is The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection. Don't just stop with counterfeits- learn to identify coins that have been dipped, cleaned, altered, and so forth.
I could go on and on and on and on about websites... but for now, I'll leave you with these:
www.pcgscoinfacts.com (subscription required)
www.ha.com (need an account, but it's completely free)
www.ebay.com
raregoldcoins.com
coinflation.com
ngccoin.com
...and, of course, this website.
Hope this helps- it's just a small sampler of all the ways you can go about collecting coins.
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