Starting a coin collection
Starting a coin collection is fun and easy. Anyone can start a coin collection with very little time and money. Now is a great time to start with so many changes in our currency and so many new coins coming out all the time even is modern collection of coins can be a fun and exciting challenge.
A good idea to starting a coin collection is to start with the easy coins to get. Start by collecting pocket change. It can be whatever you like, maybe you want to collect coins that only have a certain year like your birthday, or maybe you like shiny new coins so only save ones that are shiny and new or what we call uncirculated in the numismatic community (numismatic is someone who collects coins). A good place to start right now is the state quarter series you can collect all of them or just a certain state. Maybe you will want to collect ones that have state outlines or ones that have animals many collectors have specific themes such as coins with animals on them or coins about sports.
The exciting part to collecting pocket change is that it is the easiest treasure hunt you can have. When you do find the coin you want it’s always exciting. It is also inexpensive and you are likely to find many coins when you start.
Once you have started a collection you can start to delve into other areas of collecting. Some of the easier areas to get involved in are collecting U.S. coins. You can start to collect coins that are older or no longer made. One such coin that is still sometimes found in change is the wheat penny that is the penny with Lincoln on the obverse (front of coin) but instead of the Lincoln Memorial it has two pieces of wheat on the reverse (back of coin). This coin can be found in pocket change still on occasion, and it is also inexpensive to get buy today often selling for only about .10 for a coin from the 1950’s and it offers some interesting variations like the 1943 steel penny which can often be bought for about a dime but is the only U.S. coin to be made of steel and was only made for one year in WWII.
Since we started to discuss prices we should also discuss grading, grading is the condition of the coin. The condition will partially determine the price of the coin. The better the grad the more expensive the coin. As you begin to buy coins from a local dealer or through the internet the sellers will typically be glad to help teach you all about the condition of a particular coin and how each coin is graded there are even companies that professionally grade coins. It is important to keep your coins in good condition you should not touch the face of the coin but only touch them on their sides the grease from your hands will stain the coin.
There are many other U.S. coins that are inexpensive today and popular they include the Indian Head penny, Buffalo nickel, and Mercury dime all of which can be bought for under a dollar and the Indian Head pennies can be over 100 years old! There are more expensive coins to collect made out of silver like the Morgan dollar (but these don’t cost a dollar anymore), Peace dollar, and Walking Liberty half.
Another popular area of interest is collecting foreign currency. You can choose to pick a certain country, continent, shape (not all coins are round), or a specific theme like animals. The Internet is a great place to look for foreign coins. A popular country is the United Kingdom or Canada. They are popular because we can read them like our own, the ease to find them and the beauty of the coins.
There are coins besides the ones you get in your pocket change that are minted every year. These special coins are made in limited numbers and are called Commemoratives, because they commemorate special occasions or people, like George Washington’s Birthday, Olympics, Jackie Robinson, WWII, etc. The U.S. only makes them for two occasions a year. You can buy new coins directly from the mints website but older ones you will have to buy online or at a coin dealers. Other countries also make commemorative coins that you might want to buy the Olympics or world cup are popular themes for commemorative coins and many collectors hunt after Olympic coins from around the world.
Another field of coin collecting is ancient or medieval coins. The ancient coins are actually cheaper and easier to find then medieval coins. Ancient coins are typically around 1700 years old but can come from even longer ago. The most common coins are from Emperor Constantine the Great. No one really knows how many of these coins were made often you can find them for only a dollar or two though good example and ones in precious metals can go for a lot of money. Common themes on ancient Roman coins are animals, Gods, and war. Some collectors collect certain emperors, some collect a certain God, and some collectors collect common themes such as Camp gates (look like fortress).
There are a few oddities in coin collecting. The most obvious is error coins. There are many different errors that can happen to coins. Some are common like a blank plantchet when the coin is flat and has no picture, or a clip when there is a clip in the coin. Some have fun names like a teacup, or a Mickey Mouse triple strike. Some of the errors are inexpensive while others are rare and valuable. A final popular oddity is the Hobo nickel from the depression. Hobo nickels were made by the homeless in exchange fore food or shelter. They are buffalo nickels that have been made to look like Indians (besides the one featured), cowboys, and even hobos. There are modern hobo nickels too and unfortunately it is hard to know when your coin was changed to know if a real hobo or a modern artist modified it.
As stated before one of the best places to start a coin collection is to check your pockets and it is a common habit even for experienced collectors to check there change on occasion you find more valuable coins like the wheat penny, or occasionally an Indian head penny. Another commonplace to add coins to your collection is the local coin dealer. They often have a wide selection of coins and the owners are often knowledgeable and happy to help out people new to collecting. You will likely find many coins you might not have heard of and learn a lot about coins from a local dealer. Another commonplace to find coins is online, there are many coin auction sites and of course you can always try ebay. Of course with online auctions you need to be careful of fraud, especially for more valuable coins. The less expensive coins often are cheaper online but for more valuable coins the scarcity of the coin with a high amount of people wanting the coin often makes more expensive coins sale for more online then from a dealer. Using the internet even sites like Wikipedia is a good place to find out more about coins.
So you now have nothing to lose but some spare change so go out and start collecting.
