Coin Collecting Auctions: Bane or Boon?

Coin Collecting Auctions: Bane or Boon?

If you are a coin collector who wants to sell or buy coins, one good way to do it is through coin auctions or bidding.

Coin auctions provide the best ways to obtain coins that have remarkable values. Coin auctions are the primary source of rare coins because most rare coin collectors want to sell their treasures to the highest bidder.

Unlike the typical way of selling and buying coins, coin auctions entail some rules and regulations for both the bidder and the seller that they must adhere to.

Basically, there are three types of coin collecting auctions. These are:

1. Auctions through mail bidding

In this type of coin auction, the seller will advertise and publish coin auctions through the mail. This is highly beneficial for people who want to participate in the activity but cannot attend the event personally.

Usually, the seller has a mailing list available and it is used to send catalogs that contain the descriptions and pictures of the item(s) to be sold.  At times it may contain the starting bid amount and other pertinent information.

The seller’s mailing list, the catalogs, or brochures are sent out to the potential bidders. These lists may also be sent to those who have purchased from them in the past.

2. Phone auctions

These auctions are conducted by phone. Just like the mail bidding, phone auctions must observe the rules and regulations that are to be followed.

Once the highest bid is identified, the item goes to the winner. However, there are some instances when people may ask the seller for an approximate selling price but the rules still remain the same, no disclosure of previous bids.

3. Online coin auctions

This type of auction is popular because when bidding on a particular coin the bidder is able to see what the coin looks like. Greater interaction between the seller and the buyer may also be achieved as the seller can instantly contact the bidder for important information.

The only drawback to this kind of coin auction is that through the Internet, others can deceive a coin collector into believing that what they see on the screen is exactly the same item that they are bidding on.

All of these things can provide you with the best ways of obtaining the best coins available on the market. Just try to stick to your bidding budget.

Coin Collecting as a Hobby

Coin Collecting as a Hobby

Most people engage in different activities that they consider hobbies. When people consider a particular activity as a hobby, it means that people find that activity pleasurable in that they enjoy collecting different kinds of coins.

In this context, it does not necessarily follow that the coin collector will focus more on the monetary value of the coins. When the focus of coin collecting delves more into the monetary value of the coins than the gratification the collector obtains, it is no longer deemed a hobby but an investment.

History tells us that the main reason other generations collected coins was the value that coins would someday attain. The ancient form of coin collecting was even labeled a hobby “fit for the kings” because ancient coins were so valuable that only the kings were capable of collecting them.

Today’s coin collection is no longer limited to the “kings” or the affluent. Anyone can now consider coin collecting as his or her hobby. The popularity of coin collecting continues to flourish as more and more people collect coins. That is why it is now known as the “King of Hobbies”.

Why Such Popularity

One of the many reasons coin collecting is considered by many as one of the most popular hobbies in the world is based on its ease of access.

When somebody wants to start coin collecting, he can start any time, anywhere. Some people start coin collecting with the coins that they have in their pockets. This phase of coin collecting is known as the “accumulator” stage, where collectors try to accumulate as many coins as they can often using their “pocket change”.

After the collector gets the “hang of” accumulating coins, the hobby becomes more expensive. This is because true hobbyists are willing to pay the price as long as a particular coin will enhance their collection and will beauty to their “masterpiece”.   And the rest, as they say, is history.

Coin collecting as hobby is a pleasurable activity that any person can use to create a feeling of gratification..

Coin Collecting Album: A Pocket for Your Coins?

Coin Collecting Album: A Pocket for Your Coins?

For every numismatist or coin collector, finding a good place to store their coins is the most important thing in this world because storing their precious coins in a good and secure place will ensure that the quality and value of their coins is maintained...

There are many types of storage spaces that can help you by displaying and storing your coins. You can either use folders, holders, plastic tubes, or the album, but among these reliable storage spaces, the coin collecting albums are the best way to display the coins.

If you want to know why, here are some benefits of albums and you can evaluate the concept from there:

1. Two-way image viewing

With coin collecting albums, you can get more satisfaction viewing your collections because albums let you see both sides of your coins. You do not have to remove your coins every time you want to see the opposite side.

Therefore, albums give you the best of both worlds.

2. Better defense against instant wear

Another benefit of albums over folders and other coin storage is that it gives the coins better defense against harmful elements that will expedite the deterioration of the coins.

Albums are generally characterized by the use of plastic materials that serve as shield against scratches and environmental factors.

3. Good coin holder

Albums provide pockets for coin storage. The best thing about using a pocket is that even “dilapidated” coins or extremely worn coins are better protected.

Worn out coins, when placed in folders, have the infuriating tendency of falling out over and over again. With coin collecting albums they are kept intact.

4. Variation in prices

Albums that are used in coin collecting are usually priced from $20 to $40. Even though they can be expensive, they provide better storage for your most-prized treasures. Paying the price for an album is a great alternative to the other typical types of storage.

5. Information center

Coin collecting albums are great “information centers” as far as the hobby is concerned because most of the albums that are used in collecting coins have an inside front cover| that allows you to place important information regarding your collection. It also has a back cover that provides space for your “mintage figures.”

Coin collecting is easier and more pleasant with the help of these albums. It makes your treasures last longer, thus, establishing greater value in them.

Therefore, coin collecting albums are definitely the best “keepers” for your coins.

Have coins? Will collect!

Have coins?  Will collect!

Old coins that is.  Try looking under that old dresser, or up the attic where grandma or grandpa’s things may be stashed away patiently waiting for you to discover them.  Who knows, you might find a coin there, an old coin that – at today’s rate - may be worth a few dollars; probably three or four or five, even ten times what the coin was worth back then. 

A penny a day, is worth okay

Fortunately or unfortunately, there was a shortage of copper during the year 1943 and all pennies made at that time were minted using steel. There were however, some Lincoln pennies that were incorrectly minted on bronze that turned out to be blanks.  A few years – or decades later -these bronze pennies became a rarity and are valuable.  The steel ones though, because of their commonality, are worth only between one to three dollars each. 

Be aware and be wary as there are schemes where gullible coin collectors are sold coins that are copper plated in an attempt to make these pennies appear to be bronze.  Also, keep your guard up anytime someone offers you a circa 1943 penny made out of a metallic white alloy.

Old coins are good coins

Coins, specifically the silver dollars made and circulated between the years 1878 and 1935, are worth between twelve dollars and twenty five dollars for the circulated coins.  The coins that were not in circulation are worth considerably more.

Meantime, those quarters, dimes, or half  dollar coins made and circulated prior to 1965, are usually made out of ninety percent silver and therefore worth as much as today’s silver (with an additional premium, albeit small, put on the coin’s face value).

Wrong pennies are right

There is a Lincoln penny issued in 1972 on which the date and the letters on it appear to have been doubled.  This rare coin is currently worth about sixty dollars, assuming the pennies are in standard condition. The Philadelphia Mint during that time period accidentally misaligned the die used in minting the coins causing the portrait of Lincoln to look like it was doubled.  Fortunately or unfortunately, eighty thousand of these were circulated before the error was discovered.

In summary, coin collecting is similar to collecting bits of history and trivia from the past.  In addition to the face value its worth as a treasure - pennies, dimes and coins – often are worth more in the long run.