(Part 2) Best collectible coins & medals books according to redditors

Even paper envelopes aren't a great idea, as paper is often acidic. Any coin store will have inert plastic holders or flips that you could put the better coins into. I wouldn't worry too much about touching the coins, unless any of them are uncirculated; then the oils on your fingertips would tarnish them. Just make sure that they are individually cased so they don't clink together and get scratched. If she's looking up values, then the Yeoman guide would help; it's reasonably priced, and your local library probably has it. Also: DON'T CLEAN THEM.

Time for a Whitman folder: http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Folder-1857-1909-Official-Whitman/dp/0307090035/

Expect to get $1 apiece of you sell the duplicates on eBay. You made $990 profit today.

You can buy this book:

http://www.amazon.com/2012-Guide-United-States-Coins/dp/0794833470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319846835&sr=8-1

It's called the "Red Book" in the industry. The prices are not entirely accurate, but will give you a rough idea whether a coin is worth $1 or $1,000.

1964 and earlier half dollars, quarters, and dimes are 90% silver, and are currently selling for about 25 times face value. Keep in mind this is just for scrap, common dates, though. If the coins are better condition, or better date, they're worth more.

If you have a few specific coins about which you're curious, I'm happy to look at them.

Yep. 100% agree. In fact, there is a new 2nd edition out.

Well, based on the condition from the photo and according the the 2012 Red Book I would say a conservative $3,000 at least. Of course the market does fluctuate... I also used the ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins: American Numismatic Association and Grading Coins by Photographs. There may be some really good online services that can help you figure out the value as well, but I don't really know of any of the top of my head...

PS- Nice photos!

I didn't have the ISBN's handy for all of these it was easier to find Amazon links and a link to Rick Snow's site for the Indian books. These are the books on my bookshelf which aren't the common ones: (Some are hard to find.)

• Photograde: Official Photographic Grading Guide for United States Coins, 19th Edition
  
• United States Early Half Dollar Die Varieties 1794-1836, 4th Edition
  
• The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection, 2nd Edition
  
• The Complete Guide to Barber Dimes
  
• The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters
  
• The Complete Guide to Barber Halves
  
• The Flying Eagle & Indian Cent Attribution Guide (Volumes 1-6)

In addition to Sear and Van Meter lesser known books on coins:
Encyclopedia of Roman Imperial Coins II ERIC II
and the equivalent of coin porn 100 greatest

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. Regardless of whether you’re a novice or an expert, the term numismatist still applies.

The important thing is to not overwhelm yourself and try to be an expert on everything. Learning how to research and educate yourself is probably the most important lesson to learn in the beginning. I would also recommend figuring out what you’re interested in collecting and focus on learning about that. Once you’ve done that, break it down further into manageable chunks, just like you’re doing with the Seated Liberty type.

I tend to focus on a single denomination at a time. I started with small cents, learning everything I could about varieties, grading, etc. When I want to switch it up, I choose a different denomination and start the process again. So if you’re interested in building a Seated Liberty type set, continue doing what you have been, focusing specifically on learning as much as you can about the type before the show.

If you don’t already have them, here are a few books I highly recommend picking up:

Official Red Book of United States Coins
Photograde
Grading Coins by Photographs
Cherrypickers’ Guide - Vol. I
Cherrypickers’ Guide - Vol. II

These aren’t meant to be read cover to cover, but I reference them constantly.

If you’re interested in focusing on Morgan’s at some point, I would also recommend this book:

The VAM Keys

Finally, when you’re considering a purchase, I go to eBay and filter by Completed and Sold auctions to get a sense of what kind of deal I’m getting. The market fluctuates frequently and although the Red Book is a very valuable reference guide, seeing what similar coins have sold for recently is a much more accurate representation of what a fair price is at that point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apn-kYEl-Xw - PCGS grading webinar 101. There is a 102 and 103 that are very good and worth watching. I found this very helpful for the basics.

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Grading-Counterfeit-Detection/dp/0375720502/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457635266&sr=8-1&keywords=coin+grading+and+counterfeit+detection - I bought this book and found it helpful too.

Beyond good resources like that, all you can do it maybe take the ANA seminar or look at lots and lots of coins. Go to a coin show and just look at graded Mercs.

In my experience, which is <5 years, each series grades differently enough that you have to look at a lot of the coins from that series to be able to grade within half a grade on average. The smaller the coin the harder it is to grade since smaller marks become grade limiting. I can grade dollars and other series I collect fairly competently, but I feel like I suck at Mercury Dimes in comparison.

The killer is the shipping. From the USA shipping anything heavier than a toothbrush is absurdly expensive.

If you're looking for a good general primer on collecting coins this one is highly rated and very affordable: https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Ancient-Greek-Roman-Coins/dp/030709362X

In the free department you can download a copy of my book ERIC which is roughly comparable to the Sear series. The link is on this page: http://www.dirtyoldbooks.com/eric.html

The ANA standardized grading based on the Sheldon 70-step scale back in the 1970s (I think). Whitman has published the descriptions in book form for all US coins.

http://coins.about.com/od/Coin-Books-And-Publications/fr/Book-Review-The-Official-ANA-Grading-Standards-For-United-States-Coins.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Standards-American-Numismatic-Association/dp/0307090973

I'm sure if you look around you can find the descriptions online somewhere.

I buy coins sometimes but prefer to find them in change. Super hard to find any real valuable coins in circulation but it happens.

I buy coin folders and fill then with what I find. When I find a coin I need to fill a hole I get pretty excited. Get a state quarter book and start sorting and filling it.

If you have money to spend buy some coins that speak to you and see how you like it.

I really like my 20th century type set folder. One slot for each coin type that was made in the 1900s. Lots can be found in changer some have to be bought.

http://www.amazon.com/20th-Century-Type-Coins-Official/dp/0307090469/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0794846327/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

No problem! Just put the coin into Google and that's what popped up. Might be worth picking up a physical copy if you end up using it a bit, hopefully throw the author(s) a couple of bucks:

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Catalog-World-Coins-1701-1800/dp/0873415264

I'll echo others here, but I think it depends on what you'd like to collect. If you don't want to spend much money right now, especially if you haven't decided on what specific things you like, then searching coins from circulation - rolls from the bank, etc. - is a good way to get started (since all you spend is the face value of the coins you keep), but you may need to search a LOT of rolls before you find anything interesting. For example, I searched over $200 in half dollar rolls a few months ago - found no silver, but did find one proof that had escaped into circulation. I mentioned to the tellers that I knew what I was looking for, and they replied "so do we." Ah.

If you want to purchase coins, going to a local coin store, or meeting dealers at a show, is good, as they can help guide you to making a good purchase. If you start to specialize in particular areas, dealers can even keep an eye out for you, and put things aside. You might want to specialize in a particular series (e.g., a date run of Lincoln cents), or from a particular country, or with certain symbology (pics of animals, ships, etc.) or time period (e.g., Roman Empire - $40 will get you a nice coin that is 1700+ years old, for example - a lot of new collectors think that something that is old must be valuable/only in a museum, which isn't the case).

eBay and general Internet sites can be a good source for coins, but unless you are buying coins certified by reputable companies (PCGS, NGC predominately), from dealers that offer returns, I'd not suggest doing things this way if you are just starting out. Even if photos are decent, coins can be cleaned or otherwise impaired (so are worth less than they appear to be - you might overpay, maybe significantly, without realizing), and in one instance I had, an outright forgery (which I figured out after paying, but before it shipped, so was able to get my money back). Once you get more familiar with coins and what's out there, reasonable prices, and such, then eBay in particular can be a very good place to find things. For example, I've been collecting schillings of the Free City of Riga for a while (1563-1580). It is a very very specific collecting interest, and you just can't find them other than via eBay (out of several 100+ table shows, and multiple visits to half a dozen coin stores in driving distance, I found exactly one, but have purchased over 170 via eBay) - apparently metal detectorists in the area are finding them and selling them that way.

Lastly, I'd recommend picking up a few books so you know what is out there - what to look for and what things are worth. For one, if you are collecting US coins, the Redbook is very useful to know what is out there. If you are searching rolls, the Cherrypicker's Guide vol 1, vol 2 is handy to know what particular things to look for. The Redbook will tell you which dates are more rare/desirable, and the Cherrypicker's Guide will do the same for varieties. If you want to collect world coins, the Standard Catalog of World Coins volumes are very handy. There is one volume per century, starting in 1600. They are a bit pricey, but if you have a pile of coins that need identification, are very useful. You might be able to find these in a library, but having your own copi

Hope it helps!

I have used this a lot:

http://www.coinfacts.com/large_cents/large_cents.html

It seems to be the best resource at the moment

I also bought:

http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Whimsy-William-H-Sheldon/dp/0942666623

and

http://www.amazon.com/Copper-Quotes-Robinson-Jack-H/dp/B000V05SJ2/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405085534&sr=1-3&keywords=copper+quotes

I didnt find either of them to be overly helpful (no pictures).

I would recommend the most current Blue Book for a guide on what you can expect coins to really be worth. On common silver though just figure current melt value, as the blue book was printed when silver was about 20% higher than it is now so the minimum prices will be high.

Get yourself a Whitman Album. Cheap way to store them neatly while being able to take them out and look at them

For starters, get this Red Book.

But don't rely on just one source of info. Some online resources I've used:

Heritage Auction searchable archives.

2018 U.S. Guide.

Coin Grading Tutorial.

CoinHELP!.

Greysheets wholesale/dealer prices "7-Pack" set w/binder $55/one-time purchase.

Too much?

This one is also nice

Is this the book you were talking about? I put it on my Christmas list either way. Definitely looks like it will be helpful. Thanks for the recommendation.

Awesome you are keeping to collection going! I wish I had some of my granddads collection. The family wanted to sell it, so it got sold. So I started my own collection for the family to sell when I pass on.

Looks like you have quite a journey ahead of you, r/coins is great for identifying, showing off and steering you in the right direction on places to learn more.

Here are some links if you want, the PCGS site is great.

https://www.pcgs.com/grades

And a Redbook is always helpful, and any other good book on coins.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins/dp/0794845061/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509639315&sr=8-3&keywords=red+book&dpID=51vv8FmczFL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

"Photograde Coin Grading Guide" is one I really like for grading. It's practically free used except for shipping.

https://www.amazon.com/Photograde-Official-Photographic-Grading-United/dp/0307993612/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509639444&sr=8-2&keywords=Photograde+Coin+Grading+Guide

And most of all have fun!

Forumancientcoins.com, http://cointranslator.com/, http://dirtyoldcoins.com/Roman-Coins-Blog/, http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/ are a few to get you started. Doug Smith is a great resource. It was awesome to hear him just casually talking coins last show I went to.

David Vagi's Coinage of the Roman Empire, https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Ancient-Greek-Roman-Coins/dp/030709362X, David Sear's books to name a few.

Were you also looking for Roman history in general?

Good dedicated grading guide:

Older version

Newer version

The version shouldn't matter much, though the newer one might have more color photos.

For error/variety collecting, I'd recommend the following:

Jeweler's loupe: 15x in my mind should be fine for most major varieties and errors.

Lamp: I like a small, flexible desk lamp kind like the Ikea Jansjo.

Gloves: optional. only really necessary if you are working with high-value coins. Since most error/variety collecting comes from bank rolls, bags, etc. and has generally circulated, I don't see much of a point in gloves. In addition, gloves decrease your sense of grip which can actually lead to dropping coins MORE often.

Books: books are gear, too. I'd recommend the cherrypicker's guide. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008OAZJY0/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb

Good to have a "Standard Catalog of World Coins" book. I have an older edition, but the new one is available on Amazon here

Well, hundreds or even thousands. Admittedly the odds are against that kind of find, but I would kick myself if I let that go without looking.

A rough guide:

http://cointrackers.com/wheat-pennies/

but you really need a hard copy in front of you, like Yeoman's Red Book:

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins-ebook/dp/B07CJVDS2F/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=red+book+coin&qid=1556030122&s=gateway&sr=8-2

​

Heh, the whole thing might make a collector out of you :)

Krause Publications has their MASSIVE books - https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Catalog-World-Coins-1901-2000/dp/1440247978/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505178933&sr=8-1&keywords=krause+publications+world+coin+catalog

Cherrypicker's guide if you want to be serious about it and spend the $40

For melt values look at this site:

Silver Calculator


For collector values I would get this book(Its 6 bucks shipped):


US Coin Blue book

>To the best of my knowledge it's always been colloquially referred to as a penny, but I don't claim to be an expert on numismatology. But I have three points:
>
>1. We're discussing this on Reddit, not defending our dissertation on "The Impact on the Monetary System of The Coinage Act of 1792".
>
>2. The parents comment refers to it never having been a penny, not just that the historical usage is wrong.
>
>3. There are ways of relaying that information without sounding like a pretentious prick.

I agree with that. I was mostly trying to point out the distinction between correcting someone when they say penny and correcting someone when they incorrectly refer to an obsolete coin that no longer has a common colloquial name. One is much more pedantic than the other. Penny is the common colloquial (informal) term for the US one cent coin, thus it will be referred to as a penny for things oriented towards the general public who uses such term (such is the case with the US mint website page on it). For non-general public like coin collectors, it's referred to by its actual name since there is a clear distinction between coins that only say penny (like the Britsh penny) and coins that only say cent (like US one cent coins). For a coin that is much more often referred to by collectors than it is in conversation by the general public (like with the US Half cent) the proper name makes more sense to use.

I agree, they could have done so without sounding so pretentious and how they followed it up makes them sound even worst. They definitely didn't handle all of this well.

"Penny" is a British term that continued to be used out of habit, even after the U.S. developed their own one-cent coin. It is the same way that people still refer to native Americans as "Indians," even 500 years after we realized they weren't. Ironically, one of my favorite coins that I collect is called the Indian head cent. I'll admit that I even say "penny" sometimes out of habit, but the statement I made is still an undisputed fact.

Source: I collect coins, and primarily focus on variations of the U.S. one-cent coin. I have The Official Red Book guide to Lincoln cents, which goes into great detail about the history of these coins. It even begins the first chapter with "Tradition of the 'Penny'," which explains the transition from the "penny" to the "one-cent" coin. I would highly recommend this book, even for non-collectors. I also have, and would recommend, A Guide Book of United States Coins: The Official Red Book, which has a new edition each year (to update current market values), and covers every U.S. coin. These books have loads of interesting history, as well as high quality images of each coin, including all of the error coins.


I'm sure you meant well by doing a 2 second Google search to challenge my years of reading and collecting, but I think you misinterpreted my comment. All I intended to do was share my knowledge.