Coin collecting is a hobby that can become a viable investment. These coins usually have specific intrinsic values and can have cultural and historical significance.
Starting coin collection in 2023 has become more interesting with markets expanding and the craft becoming more popular.
Anyone can start a coin collection since the art requires no expertise but passion and drive.
This article outlines how you can start coin collection in 2023:
Define Your Focus And Do Your Research
It’d help to research before beginning your coin collection expedition. However, that should start with identifying your interests and defining your focus.
Consider the type of coins you’ll collect, the eras to pick from, and the denominations that interest you.
These should help you research the areas that captivate you and the coins you should go for. Doing your research should be easy if you have a definite focus guiding you.
You can read books related to coin collecting to learn about the history and artistry of this craft.
These books can be available in museum libraries, local bookstores, specialty coin shops, and online stores.
Still, you can obtain this information from coin-collecting libraries or by joining relative clubs.
Coin shows can also be ideal resource areas as you can reach out to coin collection experts and get their piece of mind about what coin collection involves.
Set A Budget
Coin collection as an investment can require digging deeper into the archives, buying from coin dealers, and using metal detectors to find them.
You may later sell them to coin shops for a substantial amount proportional to your coin inventory, and you may click here for some of the best coin prices if you already need to sell.
Coin collection can be quite expensive, just as anything involving relic collection.
Remember, this craft isn’t about gathering ordinary types used in the modern age; you’ll pick coins with immense historical significance and intrinsic value.
The benefits of a comprehensive budget include:
- It helps you control spending and prioritize the coins you need to add to your collection.
- It helps you plan for future purchases and track progress.
- It enables you to gather the necessary supplies for the activity.
Remember, coin collection can be more indulging, and you can easily get carried away, making you spend on the types you hadn’t planned for.
A budget helps you spend more strategically and with discipline.
Purchase Supplies
You may need to purchase your supplies to make your coin collection easier. These supplies range from coin holders for protecting your coins to coin albums to store your coins.
Storing rare coins can be similar to storing precious metals, only that you don’t need them vaulted. It also helps to get some magnifying glasses to help you see the tiny details.
You may need gloves to protect your collections from damage due to the oils and sweat from your hands and some storage containers.
You also include reference books in your supplies as they can help you with valuable information about the coins you’ve collected.
These supplies are usually available in coin shops, auction sites, and online retailers. You can also visit hobby and office supply stores to purchase them immediately.
Search For Coins Or Purchase Them
You’ll circulate online shops to purchase directly from coin sellers, coin shows, and auctions with open markets selling them to the highest bidders.
You may need to trade coins with other items your sellers want or offer cash outright. Estates and flea markets are also ideal for rare coins at reasonable prices.
You can still purchase metal detectors to scour areas around the beaches or where you think you can find these coins underground.
However, you should know that metal detector usage can be regulated depending on the area you plan to search.
Designated areas of prestige, including archeological sites and protected wildlife habits, don’t allow metal detector usage.
You should also avoid using this device in areas that disturb nature. Moreover, it would be best to be more careful, ensuring you don’t use your metal detector in hazardous areas like unstable grounds.
Organize Your Collection
Properly organizing your coin collection should help you identify and keep track of the coins you’ve collected so far.
It also helps prevent shuffling through the pile when looking for specific coins buried under your storage. Below are practical tips to help you organize your coin collection:
- Try sorting by type: Sort the coins by country, year, and denomination and organize them into folders or put them in labeled drawers. That should help you to quickly identify them and avoid shuffling through when looking for specific coins.
- Catalog the coins: A coin catalog is a record showing the coins’ details. The specs may indicate the condition or value, and you can use specialized coin cataloging software or a spreadsheet.
- Use albums of folders: Albums can be ideal for coin storage since you can label them with the details of the coins they hold. You can still use folders if they’re more feasible.
- Use a checklist: You can create a coin checklist in a coin-collecting book to track the required coins.
Organizing your coins can help you keep track of the types you’ve collected and sort them according to how you need them to appear on your storage.
Protect Your Collection From Damage
Rare coins can be like relics—delicate and incredibly fragile. That means you should protect them from damage, including breakages or scratches that ruin their quality.
Collecting rare coins is preserving their originality and keeping them that way for as long as possible.
That can be more meaningful if you’re doing it as an investment, which makes them treasures that need better protection for longevity.
Below are the tips for keeping your coins secure and protected from damage:
- Handle carefully: Avoid dropping your coins at all costs or mishandling them such that they scratch and lose their originality. Keep them in perfect condition to maintain their original quality for as long as possible.
- Protect against loss: You can easily lose your coins if you aren’t careful about how you store them. You can purchase collectible insurance that protects your coins from damage or loss, especially if they value highly.
- Store them securely: You can invest in a safe box or any storage mechanism to protect your coins. Rare coins with a high intrinsic value are prone to theft, and storing them in secure locations can offer much-needed peace of mind.
- Clean them regularly: Try gently wiping your coins using a soft dry cloth. That should remove dust and keep them better by preventing further corrosion and degradation.
It helps to protect your coins from damage and further degradation. While corrosion may still occur even after recovering these coins, protecting them from damage should help you slow the process.
Learn More About Grading
Learning more about the coin grading scale and understanding your way around it would be best.
Each coin has a grade with a significant impact on its value. The Sheldon scale is the most used ad ranges from 1-70.
Learning how to grade your coins can help you determine the asset value you hold, which works well if coin collection is an investment rather than a hobby.
Below are tips to help you accurately grade your coins:
Learn to examine the coins: place the coin under a good light source, such as the sun or concentrated beam and use the magnifying glass to identify scratches and wear.
A low-value coin may have more degrading marks than a high-value one.
- Check the mint luster: Luster is the level of shine your coins have that usually determines their quality. A higher gloss indicates better quality and vice versa.
- Evaluate the overall appearance: Check the color and toning of your coins to determine the overall grade.
- Set grading standards: You might have to set grading standards to showcase the quality of the coins. You can then assign a grade that benefits your coins and define their quality.
Remember that determining coins’ grades may require practice. You can use a professional grader’s help to assign befitting grades. Doing so will help you get the value of the coins you hold.
Join A Club
Coin collector’s clubs are ideal ways of being up to date on trends and updates about the coin collection domain.
Getting into meetings, auctions, and other events may offer valuable insight into coin collecting. It’s a great way of meeting with experts and learning from the industry’s best.
Joining a coin-collecting club can help you build your networks, which can be vital if you want to make this practice your investment.
Besides, doing that can motivate you to overcome this industry’s challenges, including high costs.
Conclusion
Starting a coin collection isn’t as challenging as you’d think. However, it takes knowing more about your way around this industry to make it a successful venture if you choose to go beyond making it a pastime activity.
Coin collecting is also a proper investment to achieve your goals. Nonetheless, it’s good to learn from experts who have successfully done it to get way ahead.
