Coin collecting is a fun and rewarding hobby. Some collectors choose to focus on historical, political, or artistic value, while others seek to purchase coins for potential long-term profit.
Before getting started, you’ll need some tools for sorting, identifying, and storing your collection. Use Numista, Excel, or a dedicated inventory app to catalog your collection (see FAQ 3), either to insure it or sell it, or simply to reference it for personal purposes.
First, sort the coins by a method that makes sense to you, based on your own tastes and experience. You may sort by century, or by country, or by type of coin. You might also set aside coins that don’t fit your own ideas of what you want to collect for now, to be later traded or sold.
Second, photograph the coins. Don’t just take a photo of the holder, though — carefully remove the coin from any shiny plastic flip or capsule and place it on a plain, dark background with an inexpensive jeweler’s pad.
Third, verify the info you have against what’s available online. Search websites that sell coins – eBay, Etsy, etc. – and use the filters to find recent, completed auction listings.
Fourth, check prices for similar coins. You can get a lot of good information by looking at the bids for coins on an auction site, but don’t just look at those – search by keyword, or by year, to see what other sellers have paid.