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5 Tips to Collecting Coins

1. You are collecting because you like it.
You may be interested in history, art, metallurgy, economics, or types of money people use as units for an exchange of value. You can collect based on subject. You may like coins related to animals, flags or a specific subject matter.
You may collect by country of origin. From a specific era. Coins of the BC era or early AD. Colonial coins of the U.S. or Canada. You may collect European, Australian or Mexican coins or South American issues. Collect according to ruling governments. There are myriads of collecting subjects and specialties you can pursue. You may collect only coins found in circulation. Oddities and errors and varieties that strike your fancy. Whatever your endeavor it is because you like them and it interests you. You may collect square coins or coins with holes in them. You may collect by type and year or mintmark. You can collect transportation tokens, tax tokens, bank tokens, privately minted medals. As you can see the subject range is enormous and you are doing it because you like it and learn from it. Whatever peaks your imagination.

2. So, how do you find coins, other than your own country and in circulation, other than traveling ? Join a coin club in your area. So, how do you find a club? They don't advertise, your local coin shop is not going to tell you about them. Go to the American Numismatic Association (ANA) website, click on ANA Clubs, then click on your state. A list of all the ANA clubs in that state will appear and you find one nearest where you can attend. Some are free, some have dues which may be a whole $10 per year. Most meet once a month.

3. Attend Coin Shows. At the coin clubs you will not only learn about coins & currency, you will find out about your local and national coin shows. There is probably one show every week in the US, all year long. At the clubs and shows is where you can buy, sell, and trade and get free appraisals and invaluable information for what your interests are. Clubs & shows have speakers  which may cover any subject revenant to numismatics. Such as grading, (Download the FREE Grading PDF in the shopping cart at Tozan.com), counterfeit detection, how coins and currency are actually manufactured and printed. Speakers can range from numismatic specialists, to speakers from the US mint, or the secret service. Speakers giving presentations on the history and background of the coins and mint engravers, even speakers talking about the much controvercial crypto-currency, like Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology. Ask anything you want to know about numismatics and there is someone who knows, or someone who knows who knows!

4. Subscribe to Coin Magazines or online publications. Some online publications are free. You can get complimentary magazines at clubs and shows. Get books on the subjects that are your interest. There is Coin World, Numismatic News, The Numismatist, Bank Note Reporter, World Coin News. All US publications. There is Canadian Coin News, Coin News Magazine in the U.K., The Austral-Asian Coin & Banknote magazine in Australia.

5. Collecting vs. Investing. As your interest grows. Know the difference between collecting and investing, and  look within yourself to know your objectives. Fun is good, collecting is fun, but know thyself to know, you do not want your fun and collecting to cost you more than you thought. Read books, speak to people, look at a lot of coins. Gain knowledge, understanding, and with action, turn that into wisdom (The Trivium)  and share your knowledge and interest with others.  article by Lou C.-Highlands Ranch, CO.