Hi. I'm New here

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Permalink Reply by Aidan Work on July 9, 2009 at 1:26am

Welcome aboard,John!

If you have any questions about British Commonwealth coins,please let me know.

Aidan.

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Permalink Reply by John F Berry on July 9, 2009 at 1:35am

Ok, great! Thank you. Are you in the UK? (My sister lives in London)

Aidan Work said:

Welcome aboard,John!

If you have any questions about British Commonwealth coins,please let me know.

Aidan.

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Permalink Reply by Aidan Work on July 9, 2009 at 1:52am

John F Berry said:

Ok, great! Thank you. Are you in the UK? (My sister lives in London)

Aidan Work said:

Welcome aboard,John!

If you have any questions about British Commonwealth coins,please let me know.

Aidan.

John,
I am actually 12,000 miles away from the U.K. - in New Zealand!

Aidan.

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Permalink Reply by John F Berry on July 9, 2009 at 1:57am

Well it would be safe to say i need a history AND a georgraphy lesson then!

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Permalink Reply by Chris on July 9, 2009 at 2:02am

Hi John,

Welcome to coinnetwork. If you're really bored, then coin collecting and coin research can certainly fill up the hours of your day pretty quickly :) There are lots of good folks on here that post and comment often, so I encourage you to check out the different conversation threads. Since you're new to the coin world (no pun intended), let me first suggest that you keep a heavy hand on your wallet and learn as much as you can before starting to make purchases (regardless of whether you intend to collect coins as a hobby, investment, or both). There are many, many resources available on the net and in print, as I'm sure you've probably discovered. Several, which you might want to check out are coinupdate.com (current articles on various coin topics), coinflation.com (articles and up-to-date metal values of different coin denominations), mintnewsblog.blogspot.com (daily blog on various US mint coin topics), minterrornews.com (lots of articles on error coins), pcgs.com (one of the best rated third-party grading services (NGC is another), they have a free price guide, which can give you a ballpark estimate of coin values), and perhaps at some point you may want to check out and subscribe to Coinworld magazine at coinworld.com (it's been around a long time, and has coin articles and information among other things). Those are some of the web sources I use, so hopefully that might help you get started.

Just a suggestion, but an easy way to get started into the coin hobby is to look for error coins in your change (and your family and friends change too if it really strikes your interest). You can also simply go to your local bank and buy rolls of coins to search through for errors, wheat pennies, silver coinage if your lucky (pre-1964 dimes, quarters, halves (1966-1970 are 40% silver), and WWII nickels). It only costs you the gas it takes to get to the bank.

Anyway, just a little info to help you on your way. I hope you have fun and find some good stuff.

All the best,
Chris

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Permalink Reply by John W on July 9, 2009 at 7:51am

Totally agree with Chris. I'm fairly new also John.
I would say to start with simple stuff, like lincoln cents or something. Trying to start with gold or silver can get expensive, quickly. There are books to put your cents, nickels, dimes, etc in and it's pretty cool to watch them get filled up. Banks will sell you rolls and, especially when you're just starting, you'll find things you don't have in almost every roll.
I started with just crude cents to fill the book and then began to upgrade the cents, slowly but surely.
Some on here hate Ebay and some are realistic about Ebay. I'm realistic. I make sure I know what a given coin is worth before I bid on it. Once I start bidding, I keep my ultimate price as a limit. PERIOD. Otherwise you'll end up drifting upwards and paying too much for a coin that you could for less 2 days later.
The other thing is that eventually (unless you're 15 years old and have strong, perfect eyes!!!) some sort of magnifying device to read Mint marks and spot scratches and such. I don't think this is super important at the start, but the devices are really cheap, so no biggie.

I'm rambling, so I'll sign off now.....but good luck and you're in the right place for FRIENDLY advice and help.

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Permalink Reply by John F Berry on July 9, 2009 at 5:09pm

Wow, that is some really good advice! I will heed it all. I think I will enjoy the research as I am a big history buff (mostly US, but some other international histories are very rich too!)

My father, who I mentioned earlier, really enjoyed it (But he WAS a doctor with the resources to pursue it! lol)

I think the whole eBay thing has gotten old with me. I get tired of the whole "$5 for the product and $119 to ship it", etc!

And you're right. This is a very friendly place, and I am glad to have found it!

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Permalink Reply by John F Berry on July 11, 2009 at 12:08am

Ok...so is there a relatively small collection that's fit for a complete novice?

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Permalink Reply by John W on July 11, 2009 at 7:58am

I think that more important than the size of the collection, is the ease of attaining and cost.

From that perspective, something simple and inexpensive (to start with anyway) is my advice. It is what I did.
I started with Lincoln cents.
The problem with starting with anything other than cents, nickels, dimes or quarters is that you mostly have to buy them.
If you buy a blue Whitman (or whatever) collecting book, you can start filling it up for free right away. Let's face it, you want to make sure that this is for you, before you start buying $300 gold pieces.

Good luck. Lots of cents/pennies out there.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Archibald on July 11, 2009 at 7:59am

Hi John, Welcome to Coin Network, I'd recommend the Franklin Half Dollar series to start with. It's a large sized Silver coin with a short date run (1948-1963) and without any major rarities, so the entire series is pretty inexpensive to obtain. We have many disabled collector's both here and in uscc, so your in good company. You might want to check over a numismatic bibliography to see what reference books are available that might interest you. I'd recommend two to start with, the "redbook" which is a standard reference & price guide, and one on grading (there are a few different ones available). If you have any specific question's this is a good place to ask. ~ Jim
U.S. Coin Collecting

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Permalink Reply by Frank Charly on July 11, 2009 at 9:23am

John:
I would suggest you go to the U.S. Mint web-site, it has some interesting information for collectors. Their grading definitions are most significant so you understand what coin grade levels are all about. The mint also has a sample of items, which might interest you as a collector. You will no longer find bargains at the Mint because of their new pricing structure. But there are some great commemorative coins, i.e. 2009 Lincoln silver dollar and the Mint Sets are well worth the price. One warning, as long as e-bay has been mentioned, avoid the TV coin sales. They are charging two to three times the value of what they are selling. When you buy from the Mint you can be assured that you got what you paid for. The Mint is www.usmint.gov

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Permalink Reply by Chris on July 11, 2009 at 11:32pm

Hi CC,

The 1921 and 1928 peace dollars are the keys in the series (1928 more so). The 1921 was a high relief version, which makes it stand out from the other Peace dollars.

Also, a caution for everyone. Be careful about basing a coin's value upon the Redbook or any other guide book. Oftentimes, the 'value' noted in the Redbook is not necessarily close to what you could sell a particular coin for, nor is it necessarily close to what you should consider buying a coin for.

Good luck,
Chris

CC said:

I've just started collecting Peace Dollars and they have a short run from 1921-1935. I don't know if there are any major rarities in the series though. I’m looking at the prices in the Redbook and there are a few in the higher grades that are pretty $$.

That reminds me. I would only buy slabbed coins from the top three grading companies. One of my first learning curves was buying an over-graded and cleaned Morgan Dollar from a self slabber. Here’s a link you might want to check out.

http://coinauctionshelp.com/page16.html

There was a discussion about counterfeits some time back. I'll look for it. I believe silver dollars top the counterfeit list.

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