Beginners Help

[JaggyNI 0]

Hello everyone!

I am 20 years old and completely new to coin collecting after finding coinweek on youtube and thinking that it seems like a pretty cool hobby! I'm very interested in history too so the two seem to go hand in hand.

I've ordered the Coin Yearbook 2014 so I'm waiting on that to arrive. My question is... what do I collect?

At the minute, I don't have that much disposable income so I was thinking of sticking with pennies, however I've noticed that a lot of them are relatively easy to find and for pretty cheap, so that's something I don't really want to do!

I was browsing the coin acquisition thread on these forums and noticed someone said that halfpennies would be a great place to start for someone sticking to one denomination. Would you agree with this? I also really like the look of some Roman coins but I'd imagine they would be rather expensive.

Apart from that, any other tips and tricks for a beginner would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Chris

[Coinery 1,156]

Hi Chris,

Welcome aboard! You can compile a massive collection of Roman coins at less than a fiver each, with the rarer and more expensive coins available once you've got a bit of experience under your belt!

Halfpennies are great IMO and a great place to start, at least financially (especially when you move into the Victorian material)! Pennies and farthings are good also, with only a few price shocks for the 1900's, and plenty of experts in those areas on here!

Best advice I can offer is to read around the forum a lot, it's the best beginner's 'book' there is!

[JaggyNI 0]

Thanks very much for the welcome!

I didn't realise Roman coins could be bought for so cheap! Any recommendations on where to buy from? I think I will start with halfpennies as well.

It's just so daunting with so many sets and eras to start collecting from!

[JaggyNI 0]

Can't seem to find an edit function, so apologies for the double post and if I'm being stupid!

Would "Roman Base Metal Coins" be a good reference book when starting out with Roman coins?

[Peter 615]

Welcome Chris

Why stick to one denomination?

Buy what you like the look of in appearance and price.It will soon drop into place.

Buy the best you can afford.

I won't dis Coin Yearbook it is fairly cheap and may give a beginner a bit of advice.

There is far more usefull advice available on this forum.A better pricing book which covers varieties

and more useful info is Collectors Coins GB (about half the price as well) (Covers 1799-1967)

The same publisher also sells Roman Bronze and Silver books which would serve a newbie well.

[JaggyNI 0]

Thanks Peter! I figured I'd stick to one denomination for the time being just to get a solid foundation for my collection, but looking around the web there are lots of other things I like the look of... all a bit overwhelming! haha.

Thanks for the advice on the books as well. Toying with cancelling my order for Coin Yearbook and picking up the other one.

[Peckris 579]

Hello everyone!

I am 20 years old and completely new to coin collecting after finding coinweek on youtube and thinking that it seems like a pretty cool hobby! I'm very interested in history too so the two seem to go hand in hand.

I've ordered the Coin Yearbook 2014 so I'm waiting on that to arrive. My question is... what do I collect?

At the minute, I don't have that much disposable income so I was thinking of sticking with pennies, however I've noticed that a lot of them are relatively easy to find and for pretty cheap, so that's something I don't really want to do!

I was browsing the coin acquisition thread on these forums and noticed someone said that halfpennies would be a great place to start for someone sticking to one denomination. Would you agree with this? I also really like the look of some Roman coins but I'd imagine they would be rather expensive.

Apart from that, any other tips and tricks for a beginner would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Chris,

Welcome aboard! You can compile a massive collection of Roman coins at less than a fiver each, with the rarer and more expensive coins available once you've got a bit of experience under your belt!

Halfpennies are great IMO and a great place to start, at least financially (especially when you move into the Victorian material)! Pennies and farthings are good also, with only a few price shocks for the 1900's, and plenty of experts in those areas on here!

Best advice I can offer is to read around the forum a lot, it's the best beginner's 'book' there is!

I'd back up what Coinery says. Roman coins are amazingly cheap when you consider how ancient they are - so that's a good choice. If you don't have much income, I'd concentrate on the base metal coins of the later Empire (3rd Century onwards) which means denominations such as follis, AE3 and AE4 (those are generic names for small bronzes). You can find Constantine commemorative types (e.g. 'URBS ROMA') in decent grade (VF) for around £20-£25. If you can run to a bit more, the silver denarius of the 2nd Century on can be had in VF for around £30-£50 each. And the silver-washed antoninianus (3rd Century on) for even less.

If you prefer the larger penny over the halfpenny, most regular issues back to 1935 can be picked up fairly easily in UNC, or for a fraction of the price in EF. However, halfpennies are better value for money, being less popular than pennies.

[TomGoodheart 403]

Hi and welcome Jaggy! Well, most of us probably started in a fit of enthusiasm, bought loads of tat for too much money and finally settled down to a particular area and bought some books to learn more about it. Which of course is not what you should do, but ..

In the end you need to enjoy what you collect. That's more important than what, so long as it isn't silver rounds that pretend to be coins but were never designed for spending No, seriously, collect what you like!

Personally I collect only a very narrow range of coins (20 years worth of a particular value). My wife says all my coins look the same! Whereas others collect good examples of any coin that takes their fancy.

If you're like most of us, you'll change direction or focus a few times. And you'll make mistakes (particularly with grading, which affects price) I expect. But remember, you can always ask for advice here, even about coins you want to buy. Just post a photo and ask for opinions. Because there's no shortage of those here!

[JaggyNI 0]

Again thanks for all the welcomes folks! Starting in a fit of enthusiasm is exactly what I'm worried about doing as I've done it before with other things only to realise what I've bought is completely useless!

After a quick look on ebay thanks to Peckris' advice on Roman coins I'm genuinely shocked at how cheap some of them are. I can own something that is 1500+ years old for that price... pretty cool if you ask me!

Am I right in thinking these are the correct grades? (I collect comic books too, apart from the uncirculated grade they seem pretty similar!)

UNC or MS = uncirculated, mint state.

AU = almost uncirculated

Then you have your fine, good and fair etc all the way down to poor or basal that I read somewhere?

[TomGoodheart 403]

Am I right in thinking these are the correct grades? (I collect comic books too, apart from the uncirculated grade they seem pretty similar!)

UNC or MS = uncirculated, mint state.

AU = almost uncirculated

Then you have your fine, good and fair etc all the way down to poor or basal that I read somewhere?

Basically, yes. Chris (predecimal owner) gives this brief guide: http://www.predecimal.com/grading_standards.php

And of course, there's Derek's book, the Standard Guide to Grading British Coins. But remember these generally apply to later milled (machine made) coinage. Hammered (and ancients, like Roman) because they were hand made with inherent variations are a bit trickier ..

[1949threepence 3,367]

Welcome Chris.

As you say there are a myriad varieties that can be collected, so it's best to concentrate on the area/denomination/time period that interests you most, and stick to it for a good time.

That way, you will become much more knowledgable in that particular area, and when you move up to collecting more costly, rarer items, less likely to be fleeced.

[JaggyNI 0]

Thanks everyone.

One more question and then I'll stop bugging you all!

What do you use to store your coins?

[Rob 3,152]

Varies from person to person. Mahogany cabinet and the bank for me. Others store them in Lindner or similar trays, 2x2 cardboard flips, 2x2 acid free envelopes............ It will depend on the value and grade of the coin. Keep copper and bronze away from plastic as a rule of thumb. A bucket is not recommended. Nor are things like Whitman folders where you have a cut-out for each date in a series. The cardboard is not acid-free and will corrode copper and bronze.

[Peter 615]

JaggyNI

You can never have too many books.

Rob didn't mention that you can buy albums which take plastic sheets that can house 2x2 flips.

The flips can also be stored in long boxes.

Keep the coins in a dry environment and save all those silica sachets.