Some newbie questions

[PunkReaper 0]

I collected coins about 15 years ago and now that I have retired I have time to get involved again. I have read quite a few threads and you seem to be a knowledgeable bunch so here are a few questions:

1. What is your preferred method of storage and why?

2. Which catalogues do you regularly use and which books would you recommend for background reading?

3. How do you catalogue your coins? Do you use computer records, professional software, photograph your coins. Paper and pen etc.....

Thanks in advance

[azda 973]

I collected coins about 15 years ago and now that I have retired I have time to get involved again. I have read quite a few threads and you seem to be a knowledgeable bunch so here are a few questions:

1. What is your preferred method of storage and why?

2. Which catalogues do you regularly use and which books would you recommend for background reading?

3. How do you catalogue your coins? Do you use computer records, professional software, photograph your coins. Paper and pen etc.....

Thanks in advance

Hello, and welcome to the forum and back to collecting. Firstly i am relatively new to collecting compared to others, so my answers are only what i do.

For storage of my coins i keep them in plastic caps and in a presentation box, maybe because i don't have so many, whether this may be the right method or not i've no idea.

I use the Spink book and also the CCGB book which this websites owner wrote as guide prices for value.

Personally i don't catalogue my coins right now as i don't have enough to merit this, maybe further down the line i would perhaps make an excel list of what the coin is and how much i paid and spink number and so on, i do however photograph all my coins.

I hope this helps, but i'm sure someone else might correct me about my method of storage, who knows.

Edited January 27, 2010 by azda

[£400 for a Penny ? 0]

Welcome back.

1. Depends what they are; Gold doesn't really matter, as long as they don't get scratched, Silver, Bronze and Copper need keeping away from moisture. Why ? well, a lot of the answer to that is how often you want to look at them. If you're going to get them out every week for a look, then you'll need to protect them to reflect the amount of use they are going to get. If you're going to send them to the bank vaults and only check them once a year, less so. I use a third party grading provider, AKA slabs quite a bit for milled coinage, acid free paper for hammered. A lot of folk on here come out in spots at the mention of slabs. Each to their own.

2. Again, depends what they are. The industry standard is Spink's annual catalogue, but this attempts to cover every coin which ultimately isn't possible. Every area has it's specialist publications. Recommendations ? Everything you can get - one can never read too much.

3. Depends how organised you are, and to a certain extent, on the above. Close up digital photography has made grading a fair bit easier IMO. Amazing what you can see on a photo that isn't apparent to (my) eye. Good idea I think to photo any coin of interest and play around in photoshop. I use a spreadsheet myself, it gets more and more complicated by the year...

Ultimately, you get to choose.

Unless Mat has his way....

X

[Peckris 579]

I collected coins about 15 years ago and now that I have retired I have time to get involved again. I have read quite a few threads and you seem to be a knowledgeable bunch so here are a few questions:

1. What is your preferred method of storage and why?

2. Which catalogues do you regularly use and which books would you recommend for background reading?

3. How do you catalogue your coins? Do you use computer records, professional software, photograph your coins. Paper and pen etc.....

Thanks in advance

1. Most of my better coins are in three cabinets : one fairly large, one small, and one tiny. The proof sets and modern RM issues are stored loosely (the packaging keeps them away from the atmosphere).

Coin albums are a decent alternative, so are 2" coin flips, just make sure they aren't PVC.

General principles : keep coins in a dry, salt-free environment - if any hint of dampness, use packets of silica gel near the coins and reheat them fairly regularly.

2. For general identification and valuing of British coins : Spink's "Standard Catalogue" published annually, but Chris Perkins' "Coin Collectors GB" series is great value for coins from 1797 on. Reference : Peck (copper and bronze), Freeman (Bronze), Gouby (bronze pennies), ESC (silver milled), Davies (silver varieties from 1816). If you need those names expanding, just shout.

3. Since 1994 I've developed my own bespoke series of related database files in FileMaker Pro - this has evolved into a pretty awesome set of applications if I say so myself! Scanned coins appear in the master records; I have a comparative set of coin prices from 1966; I can interrogate auction lots to see when sales plus purchases for me go into an overall profit; I can see coins bought by year, by supplier, by location, by value, by reign, etc etc; I can input prices annually and perform a set of calculations for all coins including mid-grade items, to update the values; I can print out tables in many many ways; that's just for starters.

However, you can get by with any database manager to get you started. The fields you should start with :

Date, Denomination, Reign, (Metal), Condition, Variety, Price paid, Where bought, Date bought, Current value, Quantity, Location (storage), Date sold/disposed, Price realised, To whom.. You will also need a general Comments field (or more than one), and maybe you might wish to record the legend?

You don't actually need a Database Manager tool to start with - you could start a simple coin organiser using e.g. Excel spreadsheet. These can be imported later into a DM with the column headers > Fields, and the rows > records.

There are probably off-the-shelf coin applications - I bought one back in my PC days, and I will just say this : however well-written they are, there WILL come the day when it can't do what you want, and then you're stuck.

[azda 973]

I collected coins about 15 years ago and now that I have retired I have time to get involved again. I have read quite a few threads and you seem to be a knowledgeable bunch so here are a few questions:

1. What is your preferred method of storage and why?

2. Which catalogues do you regularly use and which books would you recommend for background reading?

3. How do you catalogue your coins? Do you use computer records, professional software, photograph your coins. Paper and pen etc.....

Thanks in advance

1. Most of my better coins are in three cabinets : one fairly large, one small, and one tiny. The proof sets and modern RM issues are stored loosely (the packaging keeps them away from the atmosphere).

Coin albums are a decent alternative, so are 2" coin flips, just make sure they aren't PVC.

General principles : keep coins in a dry, salt-free environment - if any hint of dampness, use packets of silica gel near the coins and reheat them fairly regularly.

2. For general identification and valuing of British coins : Spink's "Standard Catalogue" published annually, but Chris Perkins' "Coin Collectors GB" series is great value for coins from 1797 on. Reference : Peck (copper and bronze), Freeman (Bronze), Gouby (bronze pennies), ESC (silver milled), Davies (silver varieties from 1816). If you need those names expanding, just shout.

3. Since 1994 I've developed my own bespoke series of related database files in FileMaker Pro - this has evolved into a pretty awesome set of applications if I say so myself! Scanned coins appear in the master records; I have a comparative set of coin prices from 1966; I can interrogate auction lots to see when sales plus purchases for me go into an overall profit; I can see coins bought by year, by supplier, by location, by value, by reign, etc etc; I can input prices annually and perform a set of calculations for all coins including mid-grade items, to update the values; I can print out tables in many many ways; that's just for starters.

However, you can get by with any database manager to get you started. The fields you should start with :

Date, Denomination, Reign, (Metal), Condition, Variety, Price paid, Where bought, Date bought, Current value, Quantity, Location (storage), Date sold/disposed, Price realised, To whom.. You will also need a general Comments field (or more than one), and maybe you might wish to record the legend?

You don't actually need a Database Manager tool to start with - you could start a simple coin organiser using e.g. Excel spreadsheet. These can be imported later into a DM with the column headers > Fields, and the rows > records.

There are probably off-the-shelf coin applications - I bought one back in my PC days, and I will just say this : however well-written they are, there WILL come the day when it can't do what you want, and then you're stuck.

Peckris, we had quite a debate recently about the values of coins in the Spink book etc, so who's values do you use when inputting your data in this huge database you have, just a curious question lol?

[Peckris 579]

Peckris, we had quite a debate recently about the values of coins in the Spink book etc, so who's values do you use when inputting your data in this huge database you have, just a curious question lol?

Very good question! As my 45-year coin comparative values reference is based entirely on Seaby/Spink, that's the source I use. It's just that these days I take them with a hefty pinch of salt Also bear in mind that insurance companies use Spink too.

[declanwmagee 122]

Peckris, we had quite a debate recently about the values of coins in the Spink book etc, so who's values do you use when inputting your data in this huge database you have, just a curious question lol?

Very good question! As my 45-year coin comparative values reference is based entirely on Seaby/Spink, that's the source I use. It's just that these days I take them with a hefty pinch of salt Also bear in mind that insurance companies use Spink too.

I take an average of 4 to value the coins in my own collection:

Tony Clayton

British Coins Market Values

Spink

CCGB

I update each one that's a physical book every other year, and Mr Clayton does his own updates.

For coins I'm selling, I use my own historical records, corrected for grade, so a coins value is what I reckon I could get for it, based on what I've got for that particular date/variety in the past.

Huge databases are half the fun of being a coinie!

[Peckris 579]

Peckris, we had quite a debate recently about the values of coins in the Spink book etc, so who's values do you use when inputting your data in this huge database you have, just a curious question lol?

Very good question! As my 45-year coin comparative values reference is based entirely on Seaby/Spink, that's the source I use. It's just that these days I take them with a hefty pinch of salt Also bear in mind that insurance companies use Spink too.

I take an average of 4 to value the coins in my own collection:

Tony Clayton

British Coins Market Values

Spink

CCGB

I update each one that's a physical book every other year, and Mr Clayton does his own updates.

For coins I'm selling, I use my own historical records, corrected for grade, so a coins value is what I reckon I could get for it, based on what I've got for that particular date/variety in the past.

Huge databases are half the fun of being a coinie!

I agree with you apart from Coins Market Values - I've usually found them to be a bit "under" for values?

[declanwmagee 122]

Peckris, we had quite a debate recently about the values of coins in the Spink book etc, so who's values do you use when inputting your data in this huge database you have, just a curious question lol?

Very good question! As my 45-year coin comparative values reference is based entirely on Seaby/Spink, that's the source I use. It's just that these days I take them with a hefty pinch of salt Also bear in mind that insurance companies use Spink too.

I take an average of 4 to value the coins in my own collection:

Tony Clayton

British Coins Market Values

Spink

CCGB

I update each one that's a physical book every other year, and Mr Clayton does his own updates.

For coins I'm selling, I use my own historical records, corrected for grade, so a coins value is what I reckon I could get for it, based on what I've got for that particular date/variety in the past.

Huge databases are half the fun of being a coinie!

I agree with you apart from Coins Market Values - I've usually found them to be a bit "under" for values?

Yes - a bit stingy, particularly at the bottom end of the market where I reside! I'm due to replace it this year - I have the 2008, but at twice the price of CCGB I'm hesitant. So I'm on the lookout for another source of values. I did find this the other day

http://british-coin-price-guide.homelinux.com/

if you can get past all the flippin' animated GIFs and the idiosyncratic layout, the values given don't seem to duplicate any of the other sources I use so I'm not sure where they're from. They tend to come somewhere between CCGB and Spink.

[Kronos 0]

It would be nice if any of you could upload some sample spreadsheets for us to have a look at. To give us an idea or improve on our current spreadsheets.

[Peckris 579]

It would be nice if any of you could upload some sample spreadsheets for us to have a look at. To give us an idea or improve on our current spreadsheets.

Mine is a series of related database files, each file consisting of a number of layouts and scripts - and it's all in FileMaker Pro. I'm assuming this would not be any use?

Edited January 30, 2010 by Peckris

[declanwmagee 122]

It would be nice if any of you could upload some sample spreadsheets for us to have a look at. To give us an idea or improve on our current spreadsheets.

I can upload some of mine if you like Mark - some of the fields won't mean much to you as they refer to other bits of the database but if you're interested I can talk you through it.

[AardHawk 73]

Unless Mat has his way....

That made me smile.

[Kronos 0]

It would be nice if any of you could upload some sample spreadsheets for us to have a look at. To give us an idea or improve on our current spreadsheets.

I can upload some of mine if you like Mark - some of the fields won't mean much to you as they refer to other bits of the database but if you're interested I can talk you through it.

Yes please, I'd love to see them.

[declanwmagee 122]

It would be nice if any of you could upload some sample spreadsheets for us to have a look at. To give us an idea or improve on our current spreadsheets.

I can upload some of mine if you like Mark - some of the fields won't mean much to you as they refer to other bits of the database but if you're interested I can talk you through it.

Yes please, I'd love to see them.

Mark, try as I might, and ZIP as I might, I can't anything useful down to the 150k upload limit. Can I email it to you?

cheers

Declan

[azda 973]

It would be nice if any of you could upload some sample spreadsheets for us to have a look at. To give us an idea or improve on our current spreadsheets.

I can upload some of mine if you like Mark - some of the fields won't mean much to you as they refer to other bits of the database but if you're interested I can talk you through it.

Yes please, I'd love to see them.

Mark, try as I might, and ZIP as I might, I can't anything useful down to the 150k upload limit. Can I email it to you?

cheers

Declan

I have just downloaded a coin manager file from the t'internet, gonna give it a whirl and see how it goes

[declanwmagee 122]

I have just downloaded a coin manager file from the t'internet, gonna give it a whirl and see how it goes

I've looked at a few, but you can't touch Excel for making it do just what you want it to do, and for the ability to change your mind every 5 minutes

[Kronos 0]

It would be nice if any of you could upload some sample spreadsheets for us to have a look at. To give us an idea or improve on our current spreadsheets.

I can upload some of mine if you like Mark - some of the fields won't mean much to you as they refer to other bits of the database but if you're interested I can talk you through it.

Yes please, I'd love to see them.

Mark, try as I might, and ZIP as I might, I can't anything useful down to the 150k upload limit. Can I email it to you?

cheers

Declan

Thanks Declan, I have PM'd you my email address.

[Peckris 579]

I have just downloaded a coin manager file from the t'internet, gonna give it a whirl and see how it goes

I've looked at a few, but you can't touch Excel for making it do just what you want it to do, and for the ability to change your mind every 5 minutes

Much as I admire that Mac stalwart Excel, I think you might do even better with a database manager. For one thing, they give you a lot more flexibility with related files that you can interrogate any number of ways, plus you can create full-page/whole-record layouts AS WELL as the ability to view your data in spreadsheet column/row format too. With a spreadsheet you're limited to the column/row relationship, where with a good DM you can have global fields, relational identifiers, and who knows what else.

[£400 for a Penny ? 0]

Unless Mat has his way....

That made me smile.

I do hope said Mat is still talking to us despite everything ?