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Well I will hold fire on any more purchases until I go to the next fair but I still have other pics of 'my crap' to put up over the coming days

He's pretty scary, but I reckon he'll give you a princely reception if he knows you're from here!

Gold prices are quite low at the moment (the lowest for around 5 years), the bullion value of a full weight sovereign is currently around £160 - if you only paid a few £ more than that I think you did well. As Coinery says, we all start off on this path, and the trick is to keep mistakes to a financial minimum. Upgrades are inevitable, but do factor in commission and postage when buying and selling at auction (including eBay). At the end of the day it's a hobby, and the process of acquiring, attributing, and trading coins is enjoyable in itself, along with owning and admiring your collection. Keep a record of what you paid for each coin, who from, and when. Many dealers will offer a no quibble refund if you are not happy (for any reason) with a coin once you have it in hand and/or will send you a coin on approval at no cost to you. This gives you the huge advantage of being able to examine the coin in hand before committing to the purchase, rather than relying on photos (often only 2) and subjective descriptions and grades. It's also helpful if you can focus on a collecting area, or at least one area at a time, rather than trying to collect any and all coins from any period and any country. Make full use of this Forum, it's the best free resource there is, for English coins at least. Just a few of many many tips that so many on here would offer I am sure! Above all, enjoy it NM!

I think you raise a good point that's often missed by a lot of us who have (or have had) large collections, and long-since moved beyond that desperate feeling of not really having a collection until you've got a few coins. If you don't go crazy, I think buying a few lesser grades is a good thing, but stick to a small area and keep looking for the same coin and dates for upgrades. You'll lose a bit of money this way but, boy, when the 3rd upgrade drops on your door mat, you'll come close to skimming your first purchase across a lake, such will be your enlightenment. To be honest it's no good expecting novices to buy well from the very beginning, whatever advice is given, because you need to know what a rubbish coin is first. If you have to rely on experts from the outset you'll never come close to becoming one yourself...just don't make your education too expensive. I did exactly the same thing as you...and so did everyone else on here, whether they admit it or not! The only consolation I can offer you re the money you'll lose along the way is that, one day, you'll sell one or two that will start to address the balance, especially when the time comes that you make fewer, and hopefully smaller, mistakes? Happy collecting Nons!