absolute newby to collecting

[mike18]

Hi.

My names mick, im 41 and am into photography, ornothology and being myself.

I"ve not been into photography that long but i love the macro side of it and have been taking photo"s of coins recently, i"ve never really thought about coin collecting before but after seeing the macro shots of the coins i"ve decided to start collecting coins.

I would rather join a forum than attempt to buy coins off ebay.

I apologise if this is in the wrong section but i suppose we all have to start somewhere.

If anyone has any starter collections then please let me know.

[Red Riley]

Hi.

My names mick, im 41 and am into photography, ornothology and being myself.

I"ve not been into photography that long but i love the macro side of it and have been taking photo"s of coins recently, i"ve never really thought about coin collecting before but after seeing the macro shots of the coins i"ve decided to start collecting coins.

I would rather join a forum than attempt to buy coins off ebay.

I apologise if this is in the wrong section but i suppose we all have to start somewhere.

If anyone has any starter collections then please let me know.

Welcome to the forum Mick and Merry Christmas. You will see in other threads that individuals have coins for sale; one person has kilos of them! This is going to sound dreadful because I wrote one of the books above, but before you start collecting seriously, it may help to read up a bit on the subject so you know what you are looking at. I would recommend that at least initially, you don't specialise in any particular denomination, but buy a mixture of coins at the lower end of the market, just to see what it is that gets you going, and e-bay is usually OK for this; any mistakes can easily be sold on. The advice usually is to buy the best you can afford and whilst this is generally good advice, you could easily blow your entire budget on one coin - and one coin does not a collection make!

I could go on for ever, but it is Christmas day and I've got a turkey to stuff...

[Peckris]

Hi.

My names mick, im 41 and am into photography, ornothology and being myself.

I"ve not been into photography that long but i love the macro side of it and have been taking photo"s of coins recently, i"ve never really thought about coin collecting before but after seeing the macro shots of the coins i"ve decided to start collecting coins.

I would rather join a forum than attempt to buy coins off ebay.

I apologise if this is in the wrong section but i suppose we all have to start somewhere.

If anyone has any starter collections then please let me know.

Welcome to the forum Mick and Merry Christmas. You will see in other threads that individuals have coins for sale; one person has kilos of them! This is going to sound dreadful because I wrote one of the books above, but before you start collecting seriously, it may help to read up a bit on the subject so you know what you are looking at. I would recommend that at least initially, you don't specialise in any particular denomination, but buy a mixture of coins at the lower end of the market, just to see what it is that gets you going, and e-bay is usually OK for this; any mistakes can easily be sold on. The advice usually is to buy the best you can afford and whilst this is generally good advice, you could easily blow your entire budget on one coin - and one coin does not a collection make!

I could go on for ever, but it is Christmas day and I've got a turkey to stuff...

I pretty much agree with all this, except the stuffed turkey

Red was too modest to say so, but his book on grading - all the main designs of English coins in several grades, from 1797, is an excellent place to begin, and would give you an insight to one of the most important aspects of collecting - condition.

After that, the Collectors Coins GB series is the best-value coin guide around, as it lists even more varieties than Spink's Standard Catalogue but costs about a quarter of the price.

Those two books, which should cost you around £15 the pair, would see you through for quite a time. (Both books go back as far as 1797, for earlier coins come back here and ask again.)

[mike18]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Theres a lot of stuff on ebay that i"m looking at but im trying to find a cheap collection just to start me off, hopefully i will have something sorted in the next few days

[£400 for a Penny ?]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Theres a lot of stuff on ebay that i"m looking at but im trying to find a cheap collection just to start me off, hopefully i will have something sorted in the next few days

Get anywhere yet Mick ?

[scott]

i would also recommend getting the coin yearbook too, although its pricing isnt as detailed as collectors coins GB (you should ALWAYS have that for variants) it covers hammered and has some great information on storing/cleaning as well as listing mintmarks throught the WHOLE WORLD as well as demoniation lists throughout history.

because no doubt you will find sometinh interesting that forign and that book is great if you want more info.