Coin Collection For Beginners

Various types of coins can be collected. New coins, uncirculated one’s, rare coins from different parts of the world, American Eagle coins, and then there are still coin collectors who have a passion for old coins. Coins from the early period in our history is very popular, AND valuable!

Unfortunately getting your hands of good quality old coins is hard, as these old coins may have some of their identifying marks worn away either completely or partially.  This physical condition of the old coins will determine the coin values, so you want to store them in a protective coin folder if you are lucky enough to have some old coins.  The next step is gather information about these coins that will help you to know what type and what value your old coin collection is.

Knowing or finding out the country of origin of very old coins is most probably the hardest part.  Hopefully the date and country of origin was minted on the coin and only a partial stamp of the origin or portrait that may still be found on the old coin.

After determining the country of origin for the coin, you should start looking in coin books or the Internet to see if you can find some history about these coins. The history of your coin, should give you an idea about when and why these old coins were minted. This information is will help you identify and try to match your coins with others that can be found elsewhere.

The cost or value of these old coins should then be determined.  The best place to that is have your old coins be appraised by a respected coin dealer or coin shop.  You can get a separate appraisal done for all the old coins in your coin collection.

Knowing the coin value of these old coins will help you to see if these coins ad value to your collection or not.  If they do ad value, then see if you can get your hands on more of the same coins.  Pairs or a range of old coins with the same history are most of the time more valuable.   Old coins are a different ball game when it comes to collecting coins, but if you have a passion for old coins, adding some to your collection can greatly ad value to your whole coin collection.

Various individuals collect coins because they look good, however, there are coin collectors who collect coins to make money.  Coins values are placed on these coins before they are sold or bought by collectors or dealers. The grading of coins will most of the time determine the actual value of the the coin itself.

The pice and grading should be looked at closely before you fix the price of the coin, but to do that, you need to have enough knowledge of coin values, gradings and general information about coins and coin collecting. Reading up on coin values and grading will give you a good idea of what traits and marks are looked at by coin dealers before they buy any coins from you.

Not only knowing that various factors will influence coin values, but understood the information is very important.  Start by taking your coin collection to a coin shop for a coin appraisal. Ask the coin shop owner if you can watch while the appraisal is taking place.  This is a good way of learning what coin values grading and coin values really are.  Since the grading of coins is based on the knowledge of valuer you will need to have several coin appraisals carried out to ensure you have a good idea of what the true value of your coins are.

The coin values are mostly based on the physical condition of the coins. Most beginners to coin collection try to clean their coins if they are dirty - BIG MISTAKE!.  The cleaning process can cause damage to the coins; instead you will need to take them as they are or let a professional numismatist see what the coin values are like.

The coin coin market changes allot, and the coin value of your collection will vary from time to time. Leave selling prices intact until you are satisfied with the best coin values for your collection. The coin value of your collection will help you to decide if you are going to buy more coins or sell your coins.

In the end it all comes down to knowing coin values!  Therefore, a coin appraisal should be done for your entire collection before you decide to buy or sell; in other words, find out what the different coin values are for your coins. If you send your coins in for appraisal or grading, you will also find that besides knowing the coin value or your coins, each coin will also come back sealed in it’s own bag or case.  Leave your coins in the cases to help preserve the coin value.

If you are a beginner coin collector and wants to start out this exciting hobby, your goal should always be to get at least one or maybe two good coins in the collection. Buying coins is easy these days, as it can be done online or from various coin shops, but you need to make sure that your coin collection is of good value, so selling the coins won’t be a problem in the future. The best way to find out the value of your coins is by the coin grading system.

Coins from different countries are graded with different systems.  The coins are inspected to see what the condition of the coins are like. A coin dealer or collector will grade the coins in your collection.  Grading coins will differ from system to system, and most of the time depends on the actual knowledge or the dealer or collector. 

Grading coins is a very specialized field, and it takes many years before a coin collector or dealer will have gained enough experience about grading coins.  Unfortunately and sometimes fortunate, there is always a doubt to what the actual value of a coin really is. 

To learn the basics of coin grading, will start by reading more about what adds value to the coin itself.  Various coin grading books deal with this subject and you should read books like this to understand how coin grading works.

Put into practice what you will learn from books, information and from other coin collectors themselves. Using this information will help you to try and give your coin grading to the coins that you have with you. This information will help you to do a coin grading of your own coins and compare that to various values that have been given for those coins.

Even though the coin grading system used in the USA is standardized, you will often find various coin dealers arguing some points highlighted by the coin grading system.  

Mint State Coins:  These are coins that were never circulated and coin dealers and collectors are extremely fond of these coins! 

Categorizing coins:  Coins are always categorized from the best to the worst, so learn what makes a coin a good one and what not.

By starting to use these values for grading coins, you are well on your way to understanding the real value of coin grading.

Coin Grading Values:

1.Unc means Un-circulated or Mint State and there is no sign of wear and tear.

2.AU means Almost Un-circulated,

3.XF means Extremely Fine coins with only a light dusting of wear on the highest points.

These coin grading values and the other coin grading values will determine the value of the coin.  By using coin grading, you will soon see how these gradings affect the price of your coin collection.