STOP BUYING COINS!

stinkinlincoln · May 26, 2009 7:51AM

& read the books!

I'm no expert by any means, but I do know a little about a lot. I often read threads here and for the most part, gain a lot of very useful information, but lately I've been reading what seems to be a lot of new collectors on buying spree's. Now I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do with their money, but sometimes you just need to stop, slow down, and think about what it is that you're doing.

There was a specific thread that I saw that bothered me. Someone was looking for info on Carson City Morgans. They got some great advice, but the OP had NO idea that Carson City minted anything other than the Morgans... This for some reason troubled me. It was my understanding he was ready to go buy coins. Some of these coins are decent money for most, and if the OP was to put out that kind of coin for a hobby, maybe the advice first should have been, BUY THE BOOK!

Pleas, do not take this example as a bashing in anyway shape or form, just an example but one that stuck out.

STOP. Buy the book first. Read it several times, then find another book about the same topic. And you guessed it, read it afew times.

This hobby is a wonderful thing to have, and these coins tell us all our story through our money. There are fakes, crooks, doctors, scammer's, dirtbag's, & anything else you can fill the space with that will try to put it to you, but if you read the proper books and study the history of the coins, you'll make great coin purchases.

Just slow down now and then and read the books. They are just as important as the coins.

Warmest regards to all.
eom

MidLifeCrisis · May 26, 2009 7:55AM

I agree.

Reading about coins makes the hunt, the purchase, and the collection infinitely more enjoyable.

pennyannie · May 26, 2009 8:03AM

I do not completely agree to read the book and then buy coins. Sometimes you just got to get your hands on some coins to figure out what they books are saying. I would agree to buy low cost coins at first to you realize how this game is played. You can read a book on how to pull your motor out of your car. It might not make a lot of sense to you. Buy a book on how to pull the motor and go outside and open the hood and read the book as you are looking at the parts being discussed.

My best advice to a collector is to join a coin club or find a friend, neighbor, realitive or someone that you know that collects coins. Start off slow and look at trends, auction results and BOOKs. I think a new collector needs to be aware that they are easy prey to get taken to the cleaners by dealers and other collectors that do not have the highest of morals.

A new collector could buy pcgs cac certified coins and do fair without ever reading a book IF they can determine fair market value. To me figuring out FMV is the hardest part to collecting.

New collectors will make mistakes reguardless of how they approach collecting. Some mistakes cost a lot of $$$ and some are not to bad. As with everything

BUYER BEWARE

mach19 · May 26, 2009 8:04AM

tahoe98 · May 26, 2009 8:05AM

..........wise advice, stinkinlincoln.

ziggy29 · May 26, 2009 8:08AM

I think someone who is planning to spend a lot of money or become a series specialist should do exactly what you suggest. I'm not sure I'd say a generalist spending $5 here and $20 there needs to stop all buying before reading anything and everything. Occasionally the best learning comes from a bad buy -- better to "learn" from a bad $30 buy than a bad $3000 buy.

BECOKA · May 26, 2009 8:11AM

There are certain dealers that I would send someone to that chooses to buy first and read later. They would at least get quality stuff.

CRO is one of them where pretty much anything in their inventory at any time would qualify as a quality coin.

Otherwise I agree, read first, I was one of those that bought first and read later, it stings but also a good lesson.

BBN · May 26, 2009 8:14AM

I agree if one wants to drop a huge dime on coins. If they just want to start out buying circulated crap for $5-10 then I see no problem buying coins first. Most people's interest starts out by just buying junk and their taste refines over time as their knowledge expands.

GrumpyEd · May 26, 2009 8:17AM

I agree with everyone

I notice that it's like many things that you can tell people that you're sure of but they sort of need to get their hands in it and learn it for themself.

Hopefully they learn it without a big loss so they don't burn out after they look at those early purchases and wish they learned sooner.
It's one of those things where the second round gets better than the first.

tahoe98 · May 26, 2009 8:22AM

<< There are certain dealers that I would send someone to that chooses to buy first and read later. They would at least get quality stuff.

CRO is one of them where pretty much anything in their inventory at any time would qualify as a quality coin.

Otherwise I agree, read first, I was one of those that bought first and read later, it stings but also a good lesson. >>

..........enlighten us ben, CRO? who dat?

stinkinlincoln · May 26, 2009 8:26AM

I think he means Coin Rarities Online. A wonderful site to gaze at for hours on end.

stinkinlincoln · May 26, 2009 8:27AM

Some great points posted here also. I knew the members here would put down what I missed.

coinkat · May 26, 2009 8:35AM

Books really pay for themselves... knowledge is power

tahoe98 · May 26, 2009 8:36AM

<< I think he means Coin Rarities Online. A wonderful site to gaze at for hours on end. >>

..........

DieClash · May 26, 2009 9:21AM

Certainly the 'Book' is essential to personal growth in this hobby. But experience is the real educator. When I was collecting in my youth almost all of my collection came from coins that I pulled out of change. At 13 y.o.a. I purchased a 1977 Red Book; after all it was published after the first circulating commem in years (1776-1976 bicentennial coins) that spurned my interest in the 'Book' at the time.

Also, I received a hand-me-down grading book from my older bros.: A Guide to the Grading of U.S. coins 5th edition by Martin Brown and John Dunn ©1969.

The guidelines employed by the authors used the common descriptive text such as G, VG, F, EF, AU, UNC and PR that we are all familiar with today. But instead of assigning a numerical grade, the "Official Brown and Dunn grading system" [does anyone remember this system?]

used the letters A, B, C, & D after the G, VG, etc. textual grade. Think of it as the grade one might receive on a school report card. A G-A is alot better then a G-B, G-C or G-D.

So this is how I first learned how to grade coins some 30+ years ago!

When I got back into collecting coins in the mid 1980's I purchased from CoinWorld advertisers at prices that approached Red Book guide prices as that was the only source of pricing that I knew at the time.

Later, I even purchased coins on approval from Littleton Coin Co. This is how I completed a set of BU Frankies in a Dansco album. Not to knock on Littleton now, I think they do a tremendous job of popularizing the hobby amongst the less-educated collectors. But it took me years to realize that I was paying way too much for those BU Frankies! Some 23 years after completing my Frankie set, the cost that I paid Littleton back then is still much more than the entire collection is worth!

The bottom line: even buying the coin after buying the books is not going to completely inform the buyer/collector of coins. One must develop acumen in this hobby and reading is not the only ingredient; one must also learn from experience!

So what have I learned? The Red Book is a good guide with lot's fo good information, but quality coins can and are bought at much lower prices from venues such as eBay, dealers and especially from other collectors. And as good a resource as the Brown & Dunn grading system, there are other grading guidelines out there. When purchasing online or elswhere always be conservative when assessing the Seller's assigned grades.

Cheers!

MidLifeCrisis · May 26, 2009 9:37AM

<< There are certain dealers that I would send someone to that chooses to buy first and read later. They would at least get quality stuff.

CRO is one of them where pretty much anything in their inventory at any time would qualify as a quality coin. >>

I whole-heartedly agree.

Sit with Dave and John for half an hour at any show and you'll learn more than if you had spent all day reading.

But, after you've sat with them for that half hour, go back to reading those books until the next show.

Whitby · May 26, 2009 9:52AM

<< Books really pay for themselves... knowledge is power >>

Best advice yet.

I would only say that it would be a great mistake to assume that knowledge drives the urge to collect. Lets face it, for whatever reason, aesthetics play a roll, like it or not, All of us say, wow, thats a cool looking coin.

THEn yes, educate yourself as much as possible.

Deagle74 · May 26, 2009 5:43PM

+1!!!

...I can see 2009 copper token saying: "More books, less coins" or " Book first, coins later"

R

crypto79 · May 26, 2009 10:40PM

I think most people forget what it was like to be a new collector. One tends to become a series specialist by learning the hard way and going out there and putting your hands on lots of coins. Reading books after having a foundation is best because I have never read a coin book that was 100% on the money(pun intended). Hopefully you don't take too many lumps during the learning process but the only way to really circumvent the learning process is to pay a old school dealer(who already took his lumps) to assemble a collection for you. Reading the book first only really helps seasoned collectors who think they know more than they do about a new series but do know how to navigate the standard hobby pit falls already.

garsmith · May 27, 2009 1:57AM

id bye a buk if n i kud reed won, butt i has a emericain hi skol edgewkasion.

tahoe98 · May 27, 2009 2:18AM

..........in your case, Gareth, i'd start with a grammar book.

speety · May 27, 2009 2:37AM

<< ..........in your case, Gareth, i'd start with a grammar book.

>>

I'd just recommend starting with the 2nd grade...

stinkinlincoln · May 27, 2009 2:39AM

lol,

you guys kill me.

And I agree so far with everyone here. Its not all about the books, but you can get alot further I believe with them than without.

STOP BUYING COINS!

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