Coin collecting on a tight budget?
CoinChickAsh
Posts: 10
I'm new to collecting and really enjoy it so far. Right now I work in retail so my money is pretty limited. What are some ways to collect and not spend too much money. Do any of you have the Whitman folders that you have filled from coins you find in change? That sounds kind of fun and along the same lines as what I'm doing with the state quarters.
-Ash
-Ash
0
Comments
Start with a few good books (you already know about the Red Book, right?)
Then go to a few shows and just look and look and look and look, trying to understand what level of "ooh, ahh!" am I after, and how much does it cost in various series.
Then maybe a 20th Century US non-gold type set. You get one each of a whole bunch of really great designs that way, in the nicest grade you want that you can afford. There are a lot of really cool coins in that set -- Indian 1c, Liberty & Buffalo 5c, Barber & Mercury 10c, Barber & Standing Liberty 25c, Barber & Walking Liberty 50c, Morgan & Peace $1, plus the more recent things. You could get some commemoratives, too. Since you don't have to buy any rare dates, you could get very attractive examples of most of these things for way under $100 each, and in a lot of cases less than $25. If you don't mind lower circulated grades, in fact, a lot of your coins could cost less than $10 or even $5.
Then, if that was fun, go into 19th century things, or gold, or focus on a series.
Over time you will probably be more pleased than buying many cheaper coins.
of course i do not follow my own advice :-)
I started my collection with Large Cents. They are pretty reasonable in the VF to XF range (later dates).
But I would suggest you just pick something that looks cool in the book (for the money you have to spend), and start with that.
The coins you buy are going to be yours so be sure it is something you like. Also your next book selection should be Photograde ,
so you can learn to tell what grade you are buying. Don't go by the grade that is written on the 2x2 or what someone else sais it is.
Know the value of the coin before you buy it , not after you get home.
Don't get in a rush to buy, there are a lot of coins out there.
Read - Learn - Read - Learn - Read - Learn - Read - Learn
What I collect depends on, mood, time of day,
the weather, available funds, what is in front of me,
and other factors which is beyond my scope.
This thread has been really helpful. And I can see before I buy anything, I have a lot to learn. Thank you!
Welcome aboard.
Sounds like you are off to a good start with coin collecting with your Red Book and looking at state quarters.
One very affordable series is Jefferson Nickels. I'm putting together a complete set of uncirculated Jefferson Nickels. The series is very affordable as there are only two dates/mintmarks (1939-D and 1950-D) where an uncirculated example will run you over $15.00. Most dates and mintmarks can be had in uncirculated grade for under a dollar. It's not the prettiest series out there, but it is a challenge to find well-struck uncirculated examples and I'm enjoying the series very much.
I noticed on your profile that you are in California. If you live close to either Santa Clara or Long Beach, you may want to attend some big shows that take place in both of these places. Those are great places to just browse the floor and perhaps talk to a few dealers. Smaller shows are also good places to start.
Good luck and don't be afraid to ask any questions.
(Hey, I just hit 1,000 posts.)
probably ever before so meaningful sets can be assembled on a shoestring.
Look for the best quality and highest grades you can find. Watch for errors and var-
ieties. Fill up the blue Whitman folders and in very little time the good stuff will just
jump out at you. I find the quarters most enjoyable but there are many who prefer
nickels, dimes, or cents. For less than $40 spread out over a year you can do all of them.
Word of warning: Be careful if you start buying off of eBay or if you visit any coin shops. There are some real sharks out there. The Forum is always willing to help you out however.
You could pick a denomination, and do a type set right back to the very early 19th century. A type set of 1c coins all the way back to the draped bust design is pretty doable, as long as you don't demand high grade of the draped bust or classic head designs. That's just a for-instance. Depending on the grade(s) you select, you can do a type set of 5c, 10c, 25c, or 50c coins right back to the early years of this country for not that much money.
Or, you could pick one design that spanned a bunch of denominations, and do one of each -- a seated liberty half dime, dime, quarter, and half dollar make a nice display and can be had in reasonably appealing condition (attractive VF examples, for instance) for not that much. If you want to expand, you can collect subtypes -- with stars & without, drapery & without, legends on obverse or reverse, with motto or without, with arrows, etc. Leave the dollar(s) for when you are feeling spendier.
Or, you could pick a year that interests you and do a set of one of every non-gold circulating denomination for that year. Some years are more economical than others, obviously. You could pick a mid-19th century year and pick up some cool odd denomination coins in there -- 2c, or 3c, or 20c.
OK, you probably get by now that I'm kinda biased toward older coins. Sorry.
Another (free) resource worth knowing about, both for grading & pricing info, is www.heritagecoin.com, where you can set up a free account. Heritage is a gigantic retailer & auctioneer, and you can search their auction records by type, date, grade etc. and view prices realized, population reports, and a zilliion pictures of real coins. I don't know of anywhere better to compare, side by side, what 2 or 10 or 100 different examples of the same coin in the same grade might look like. It makes a nice ancillary reference to go with Photograde or the ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins (another good book, with more detailed verbal descriptions than Photograde, but worse illustrations).
Whitmans are fine at the novice level. I personally like dansco albums better.
Some sets that would be fairly economical to complete:
Silver Roosevelt dimes (circulated or BU)
Jefferson nickels (circulated or BU)
Liberty Nickels (circulated only).... has three tough dates, the 1885, 1886, and 1912-S. Only 33 coins in the set.
Silver Washington quarter (circulated only)
David
Circulated moderns from the silver era are quite reasonable. Also circulated Mercs and Frankins.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
A complete set of Jefferson nickels (business strike) could almost be completed from rolls of nickels obtained at your bank. Another inexpensive series, Roosevelt dimes, could be collected in a lower mint state grade, like MS-63/64.
Connor Numismatics Website
(Explanatory note, since you're new: this is "The Dark Side".)
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
On top of that, I'd encourage you to try collecting coin pictures. That's right, pictures. Create a virtual album of your favorite series and put together the best looking set of images you can find on the web. You'll be amazed how much fun that can be, and the things you learn will help prepare you for the day when you're ready to buy more expensive coins.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
-Ash
If you work a cash register you should be on the lookout for any older coins or paper money; if you have colleagues who do, ask them to keep an eye out for you. You'd be surprised what can turn up - half dollars, silver certificates, united states notes, etc.
Also, if you can, go to local banks and get rolls of coins to search through. You can look for older dates and silver coins. People are always finding silver half dollars at banks - then all you need is a coin dealer to sell them to and you will have some "extra" money for your coin budget.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
If you're new to collecting I'd suggest holding off on putting much money into Coins. The State Quarters are interesting to all of course and the cool thing about pulling from circulation is that you can spend em at any time.
Nothing is worst than paying for a coin and then finding you need to sell it a few months down the road. It's especially bad if you were charged too much at buying time and are given too little at selling time. A good way to have your coin collecting interest go up in smoke. And as many will tell you, this is a game where you can get burned bad. Tread carefully.
I like the suggestion of collecting pics and also going to a few shows. You can indulge your need to look at cool coins without the need to commit to an expensive relationship with them.
I wonder if many dealers feel the need to collect coins for themselves? I sort of doubt it. At any time I'm willing to bet that anything they have is for sale at the right price. Maybe that's a clue for you. Maybe you should aspire to be a dealer/collector. Your collection could be your inventory. Of course I'd recommend getting lots of learning before jumping too far into that direction.
A Coin Club might be a suggestion for you. If there's one in your area you maybe could check it out. If the nerds there like you - and they will - maybe you could get some cheap/ free coins to begin your collection.