There are various reasons to collect coins. Some people collect coins from a specific period of time, some collect coins based on perceived future value, some collect coins based on type of metal, some for historical value. Some people happily collect more common everyday coins, going through their pockets at the end of the day for them is fun, checking dates and mintmarks on their change. Some collectors can spend thousands of dollars on rare silver and gold coins from the 1800s and early 1900s. Some collect coins from different countries.

With any new hobby comes the learning. As coin collecting is a hobby involving an outlay of money for coins from the start, its best to join a group to get help from experienced collectors. You will need someone to buy the coins from, and it can be difficult to find a reputable coin dealer. Someone who has been coin collecting for years can help you choose a knowledgeable and honest coin dealer. Youll need to learn about the value of different coins. This can be done by following what coins are being sold for, and what dealers are paying for coins. You will need to be shown how to assess the true value of a coin which can be based on many factors such as age, mintmark, and condition.

The mintmark of the coin can usually be found near the date and on newer coins the mintmarks are as follows: “P” Philadelphia, “D” Denver, “S” San Francisco,”W” West Point New York. Older coins may show the following mintmarks: “C” Charlotte North Carolina, “CC” Carson City Nevada, “D” Dahlonega Georgia, “O” New Orleans. Its interesting to note that from 1793 to 1838 the only mint in operation in the US was in Philadelphia and coins from these years have no mintmark.

As you become a more experienced coin collector your “eye” will mature and youll be looking more closely at details like the lettering on a coin, making sure the letters are still clear and not worn down. Youll pay attention to the general condition of a coin, and you may stray away from coins that have a lot of obvious wear and tear. These are a part of grading a coin. Youll learn to look for minting errors which can make a coin quite collectible. For example a three legged buffalo instead of a four legged one, or perhaps an off-centered image.

As with any hobby, the more you learn about coin collecting the more you’ll be able to enjoy it.

Why do I Need a Coin Dealer?

It is very difficult to build a collection of rare coins without a connection to a good coin dealer. If you are an investor hoping to make a profit with your collection of rare coins, building relationships with good coin dealers is vital to your success. If you are interested in making the highest profits possible with your coin collection, you will need to find a merchant partner who is experienced in the specific rare coins that interest you, and who will sell them to you at a good price. Most coin dealers will charge a lower premium on the sale of coins to their best customers. After all, it makes good business sense to get the most profit possible from a person who will do business with you only once. If you have a long-term relationship, however, the margin does not need to be as high for the coin dealer to make a good profit.

Because coin dealers are experts in their chosen fields, they will also have better connections than individuals who buy coins on their own will. Finding the right vendor or wholesaler can be a long and difficult task for someone new to the coin collecting trade. Coin dealers will also be more likely to recognize a counterfeit coin, have a higher chance of hearing about the sale of the specific rare coins that interest you, and will recognize an asking price that is over- or undervalued. As an investor, these are all critically important points for your success.

Building a long-term relationship with a knowledgeable coin dealer is the best way to protect the money that you invest into rare coins. All too often, new coin collectors who try to go it on their own without professional help end up being scammed out of hundreds or thousands of dollars.

What Do I Look For in a Coin Dealer?

All coin dealers are not created equal, and it is nearly impossible to specialize in every area when it comes to collecting rare coins. Therefore, it’s important to know what to look for before you select a professional for your coin collecting needs.

The first vital piece of information that you’ll need when considering coin dealers is his or her professional qualifications. Some important questions to ask include, does the coin dealer belong to any professional groups? How long has he or she been in business? Can the coin merchant provide references from other satisfied customers? One of the best indications that a vendor has a high level of professionalism is a membership in the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG). This group includes the most reputable coin dealers in the business thanks to an emphasis on ethics.

The second most important question to put to a prospective coin dealer is the area in which he or she specializes. There are so many different kinds of rare coins to collect, ranging from gold bullion coins to ancient Roman coins, that it is impossible to be a true expert in all of them. You’ll want to find a merchant that specializes in the particular area that is of interest to you. A trader might be able to recognize every rare American coin at a glance, but that won’t do you a lot of good if you really want to collect legal tender from medieval times.

Finally, you should consider the motivation of the coin dealers you are considering. A highly motivated coin merchant will go to shows and retailer auctions, keep abreast of current prices and trends, and will generally keep up-to-date with the current coin market. Any investor will recognize the impact of current information on profit levels. A coin trader who is highly motivated will also be more likely to provide you with excellent service and the best rare coins.

Once you have selected a coin dealer, it is important to reward him or her with your loyalty. You are likely to get the best prices and service from coin dealers who know that you are working exclusively with them.

Charles Roman

Coins and Coin Collecting http://www.coinsandcoincollecting.com/ :your guide to getting the very best from your coin collection.

Gold coins are a favorite of coin collectors with an eye toward investment. Not only are golden coins lovely to behold, but they also have a value that is guaranteed, due to their precious metal content. The value of gold coins is usually higher than the value of their weight in gold bullion, making them a better investment than the gold market alone.

Many countries produce gold coins for collectors or for commemorative purposes. These coins oftentimes emphasize unique aspects of the country’s culture. Australia reveres its national animal with the Gold Kangaroo, for example, while China has a Gold Panda with a lovely design that changes every year. Canada’s coin features a powerful national symbol with the golden Maple Leaf, and South Africa mints the Krugerrand. One of the world’s best selling coins, the Krugerrand features the South African national animal, the Springbok. Taking its place as one of the most popular gold coins among investors and collectors, however, is the American Gold Eagle. The American Gold Eagle stands out among other bullion coins because of its lovely design, and because its value is backed by the full strength of the United States government.

The Beauty of American Eagle Gold Coins:

The Gold Eagle features a representation of Lady Liberty striding with torch in hand through a field of light rays on its front side. This image is inspired by a golden coin designed by Augustus Saint-Gauden and minted from 1907 to 1933. The Augustus Saint-Gauden Double Eagle is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful coins America has ever produced. On the flip side of the American Eagle gold coins is a nest full of bald eagles, the national bird of the United States. The nest represents the American dedication to unity and family. Furthermore, a special die is used when minting these coins, to bring the gold to an especially high shine and to make it easier to see small details in the design.

American Eagle Gold Coins have Guaranteed Value:

American Eagle gold coins are valuable not only for their lovely appearance, but also because they are the only bullion coin whose gold content is guaranteed by the United States government. Each American Gold Eagle is stamped with its exact gold weight, as well as its face value. They are minted from 22-karat gold, which by law must be pure gold bullion mined from within the United States. This guarantee of the authenticity of the precious metals used to make American Eagle gold coins is highly valuable to investors.

Buying American Eagle Gold Coins:

Golden American Eagles were first produced in 1985 and come in a variety of sizes and values, ranging from the 1/10th oz American Eagle coin with a face value of $5, all the way up to full ounce gold coins with a face value of $50. Remember that most gold coins are worth more than their legal tender amount. Although they re not available for purchase directly from the U.S. Mint, American Eagle can be commonly found for sale in coin shops, on the internet, by gold dealers, and at coin shows. There are also variations on the American Eagle that are minted from silver or platinum instead of gold.

Coins and Coin Collecting, http://www.coinsandcoincollecting.com/ Your guide to getting the very best from your coin collection.

Coin collectors use a numbering system to give collectors an accurate measure of the condition a coin is in. This numbering system ranges between 1 and 70. “1″ being the worst possible condition of a coin, and 70 meaning flawless.

The numbers tell collectors many things, like how much wear is on the coin and if there are any damaging marks on the coin. There are very few coins out there with a 70 grade on them. It is very rare, and most coins minted have flaws, even if they are ever so slight.

Grading coins is a science, and once you learn that science, putting a grade and a value on that coin will become much easier for you. Plus you will be able to accurately grade coins at auctions, coin dealers, and private collectors, so you will not get ripped off if someone is trying to sell you something at a higher price than it is worth.

So, coin grading is very important in the hobby of coin collecting, and learning this practice will greatly enhance your skills in the hobby and make you much more aware of current prices and rates that certain coins are going for.

How to Grade US Coins is a great starter for hobbyist trying to learn the art of coin grading. This book will go over all the different aspects of coin grading, and all the different grades of coins. It is a great reference to any hobbyist, and comes highly recommended.

Professional Coin Grading Service is a great service for those who either have had a hard time learning the fine art, or need a professional grading service to grade a particular rare coin. They also come highly recommended, and for some of your more finer specimens, a professional coin grading service is the way to go, to get a more accurately graded coin.

So check out our coin grading button, and learn the different types of grades for your coins, read the recommended reading on grading your US coins, or have a professional coin grading service do the work for you. Either way, accurately having your coins graded will easily put a value on your collection, and could quite save you a lot of money in the buying of coins for your collection.

Jon Gammon is the author and webmaster at The Coin Alley, visit the website to learn all about the wonderful world of coin collecting.

First of all its very import to distinguish “collecting coins” from “numismatics”, which is the scientific study of money and its history. The act of collecting coins is something more complex because it can have many different conceptions and meanings.

It started, as an art, in the fourteenth century with Petrarch, while collecting them because of their value, as a way of saving up, goes back to the beginning of capitalism. Everything started when Petrarch realized that the coins were much more than simple little golden medals, he saw more than material value in them and decided to start a personal collection. As everything Petrarch invented has become popular, the art of collecting coins started to be known as “the hobby of kings”.

There are basically three levels that coin collectors can go through: casual collector, curious collector, and advanced collector. The casual collector collects coins just because its fun and because he likes it. Even a kid could be a casual collector. They usually dont spend a lot of money looking for rare coins or preserving them, therefore their collection is made of random coins they collect by chance. When the casual collector starts to get more involved with his collection and start to want to go further, he becomes a curious collector.

Curious collectors usually go look for non-circulations coins and they can spend a little money on them, buying them on Ebay or other collection sources. They also start to study more about the art of coin collecting, buying books and frequently visiting coin themed web pages. If the curious collector starts to take his hobby as a way of life, he becomes an advanced collector.

Advanced collectors usually focus on some specific interest, and they spend a lot of money in order to make their collection bigger and bigger. They can collect only coins that were in circulation in a certain determined period of history for example, or they can get specialized in a single country, or maybe focus on a specific coin theme, such as presidents or nature elements.

Apart from what kind of collector you are, or even if you havent even thought about collecting coins, the art of hoarding coins just for pleasure and fun is itself a quite interesting hobby activity.

The hobby can become a business. When that happens, the collector goes into a completely different world where people are capable to do such crazy things to reach their objectives. Professional collectors can spend real fortunes in order to achieve important, sophisticated and rare pieces to their collection. When a personal collection turns out to be an historically and politically valued one, it usually becomes part of a museum or an art gallery collection after the owner passes away. To reach this level of specification is quite difficult, because it demands time, patience, money and the most important thing: the collector must love what he does; otherwise the collection will always be an amateur one. That doesnt mean you have to become a professional collector to make it worth it. Doing that just for fun is already a great way of spending quality time.

So don’t think twice if you want to start to hoard coins, it can start as a small thing, but who knows you might become a professional and famous collector.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Coin Collecting

http://www.GoArticles.com/

1. Face To Face: Coin Collectors Know Best

The internet is home to a lot of gold coin dealers wherein you can meet all sorts of people from all over the world who are into both buying and selling gold coins. Of course, it is a rather convenient venue for you to be able to do your transactions. You must be extremely conscious, however, when it comes to dealing with other gold coin collectors that you will meet through the internet. While there are some real gold coin enthusiasts on the internet, there are also those people who are posing as gold coin collectors and are just looking to rip you off.

2. Why Gold Coins?

The history of gold coins dates as far back as 2,700 years ago. The first gold coins in the world were issued in Lydia around 640 B.C. certain internet websites will provide you with a lot of information about the history of gold coins.

As money, gold coins have been a convenient way for people to do their transactions. Gold was only used for coins that were considered of a higher value. As gold is not the most common ore, it became impractical for gold to be used in the common coin systems of all major countries. This means a collection of gold coins is extremely rare due to the fact that gold coins are no longer being produced.

3. Gold Coins For Investment

- Gold is sensible investment: all major countries use reserves of gold (such as Fort Knox) to maintain their national worth – A highly convenient investment – Physical gold is extremely stable in value

4. Commemorative Coins

When it comes to the commemorative gold coins, since gold is deemed as a highly valuable kind of metal, it is an obvious choice when it comes to making or producing special commemorative coins. In the past, there are sets of gold coins that were just issued to mark coronations as well as other important state events. A lot of financial reserves that are being held by banks are in the form of gold coins. Gold coins are a desired form of a reserved asset since gold coins are not really used for circulation anymore.

5. About Collectors

There are a lot of various gold coin sellers, buyers as well as collectors who are waiting to bid on the best kind of gold coins in the market most especially on the internet. For most gold coins that can be bought as well as sold at prices that are closely related to their intrinsic gold content. The most popular bullion gold coins are the krugerrands as well as the sovereigns.

For most gold coin collectors, there are the highly coveted rare gold coins and a lot of gold coin collectors are interested in these rare gold coins that they will offer high bids just to be able to get their hands on these.

A lot of people who are looking for things to collect are in real treat if ever they try out collecting gold coins most especially because gold coins can be bought in highly excellent and may be in even mint condition for only a relatively low premium over the gold coins gold content. Also, since the coin is made from gold, it is highly unlikely that it will tarnish or even discolor.

If you are looking into collecting gold coins, first research the various gold coins that are available in the market today. Find out how much they are really worth due to their gold content, and then factor in any additional value to the coin for being rare. Always be on the lookout for fake coins, and have coins appraised by a gold coin expert to avoid large differences in price.

Numismatics comes from the Greek word nomisma, meaning currency, or coin. It is also related to the study of banknotes, tokens, and other early forms of money.

Coins and other forms of money are issued by governments and other monetary agencies. Billions of these flood the market yearly. But as time goes by, the number of these coins go down. Some get lost and some are damaged beyond recognition.

This goes to show that the older the coin, the rarer it must be. And for coin collectors, this is prime stuff.

Coin collectors and hobbyists number millions around the world. This hobby is taken so seriously that there are even professional dealers and investors who ply their trade in this fashion.

The lure of coins lies in its power to draw people into the era it belonged to. These coins show many aspects of everyday life during those times. By examining a coin, one comes to know the geography, philosophy, sociology, artistry and other aspects of the culture they existed in.

Ancient kings (and even todays leaders) had a telling habit of having their faces imprinted on their currency. Some historians have been able to put together clues regarding the ancient civilizations using these coins. Sometimes, coins would tell of a leader or prominent figure that would have been forgotten by time if it were not for these coins.

Hobbyists usually start collecting coins from their own locality. This makes sense because they are the easiest to collect. These hobbyists then expand their collection to coins from increasingly farther and earlier origins.

Coin collectors regard every single coin as a unique specimen. They take note of the date, the mint marks, and even the abnormalities in its design. Ironically, some of the most expensive coins are those with the strangest abnormalities. This is because this type of coin is hard to come by.

For example, there could be a coin in existence that differs from other coins in its batch. For some unknown reason, it lacks some of the required markings. Such coins are deemed more valuable than the normal coins of its type.

A good number of coin collectors collect coins according to themes. The coins they collect all have a common topic. Some collect coins related to kings and queens. Some collect those related to plants and animals.

The price for a coin is determined by the demand for this coin. Many factors affect this demand. If a coin is rare, chances are, it is in great demand. However, there are some coins that are rare, or exotic, yet the demand for them remains low. If this is the case, then its market value will remain in the low end.

Before purchasing coins, one must do much research about that coin. He must assess its current market value and make sure that the coin is genuine. He should also consider how much he could earn if he resells the coin.

The American Numismatic Association is the largest numismatic organization in the world. It was founded in 1891 and was chartered by the Congress of the United States 21 years later. This group has the largest library of coins available. Collectors would love to visit their headquarters, the World Money Museum, which is one of the largest coin museums in the world.

Another organization, the American Numismatic Society, is the most active and respected nonprofit numismatic publisher in the world. They maintain a museum that contains more than a million objects. They also have a library that has one of the most comprehensive in coin collecting knowledge.

Whether you are a hobbyist or a serious collector, coin collecting will always bring a sense of fulfillment and history to your life. It is never too late to start collecting today. You cant lose! Your collection can only grow in value as the time passes by!