Many hobbies require expensive pieces of equipment before you can start, but numismatics is surprisingly affordable. You can get started with just a few coin collecting supplies and quickly build an interesting collection. As with any hobby, you can find a wide range of coins to collect. The most important thing to remember is to stick with a budget, and focus on coins that interest you.
To view coins, you’ll need a good magnifying glass or loupe. This is useful for examining a coin’s details, including the inscription and the date of minting. Some coin collectors also use a loupe for grading their coins. Having the right tool for viewing your coins will help you avoid damaging them while you’re still learning about the hobby.
You’ll need some sort of way to store your coins. Some coin collectors use envelopes, jars, or bags to store their collection. Others may prefer coin folders or album pages, which are designed to hold a variety of types of coins. Coin folders are inexpensive and allow one side of the coin to be viewed, while album pages are slightly more expensive and provide additional protection for the coin.
To keep your coin collection neat and organized, you’ll need some type of stapler to affix the cardboard coin holders or folders to each other. Some coin collectors choose flat clinch staplers, which fully compress staples on the object’s surface to prevent them from scratching adjacent coins when they are folded.