Coin Collecting Tips For Hobbyists And Investors
Whether you are a hobbyist or a serious investor, there are some coin collecting tips that help ensure the quality of your collection. Shared by experts, these tips also help you sell your collection for the right price at the right time. But, whether or not you envision a time when you will be selling your collection or parts of it in the future, applying these tips diligently can enable you to make good buys that adds to the overall value of your collection.
Keep your Tools Handy
A coin collector’s tools should always be ready in case an opportunity comes up to acquire a good piece. These tools include white cotton gloves, coin folders, envelopes, a storage box and a good magnifying glass. Some collectors keeps a loupe to use when they want to view a coin’s details clearly.
Keep a good copy of a grading guide book. This provides you with an explanation of the numerical grading system, with detailed photographs of coins and how they are graded.
Apart from the grading guide, an essential part of your tool assembly is a good guidebook. One example of a guidebook you can keep is A Guidebook of United States Coins which is better known as the Redbook would be a good source of information on US coins. This guidebook, updated annually, includes descriptions and basic grading criteria for each coin design.
A serious collector keeps abreast of coin prices by regularly looking at price guides which list the prices of coins. Price guides are available online from the PCGS and the NGC. Apart from these, Coin World and Numismatic News also publish price guides in addition to their weekly coin papers.
Simple Ways to Prepare for a Purchase
It is never a good idea to invest money in a purchase without investing time and effort in preparation. Here are some simple coin collecting tips to make sure you get a good buy:
1) Do your research. If you have the chance to buy a coin you like, find out how details about it including how many of that coin were minted, its grade, how rare it is and who is selling it.
2) Compare prices using at price guides from reliable grading services. Do not rely on websites or TV programs that are trying to push their own items.
3) Muster your self-control and buy only if you are certain that this coin is a good investment.
4) Examine the coin carefully with a good magnifying glass and a loupe before you write your check. Scratches and dents are not always immediately visible so take care that you have made a detailed inspection of the merchandise. There is no way this can be overemphasized. Even experts have made mistakes by taking for assuming that a coin is all that it seems.
Once you have made the purchase, it is important to store it appropriately, arranged with other coins in an order or design that makes it easy for you to view it both as an individual piece and as part of a bigger collection. Again, it is important that you keep abreast of prices so you know if the value of your acquisitions is going up or down.
Make sure that the quality of your coins remains as good as it was on the day you bought them. Taking care you do not damage your coins when you handle them. Always hold a coin by the edges while wearing gloves. Have a soft cloth ready to catch the coins in case you drop them during handling and most of all, never, never clean or polish them.
Whether you are want to be a serious investor or you just want to start a hobby, these coin collecting tips can be useful for you. Following them helps you make sure that your coins remain valuable regardless of whether you bought them for profit or for fun.
