Starting a Coin Collection

Starting a coin collection is easy, start by checking the change you get.  Once you find something unusual, even if it is not valuable, you have a good chance of becoming a coin collector, called a numismatist.  And, if you tire of the hobby, you can simply spend it.

The saving of one each of each year and mint mark from the change you find is also no risk.  And, replacing coins with coins from the same year and mint with better ones still risks nothing.

Of course, most people get very little change, especially in the time of credit cards, so you would move on to getting change from a bank.  Getting rolls of change from a bank you normally do business, opening and checking them, and increasing your collection costs nothing but time, and an occasional trip to get more coins from he bank.  And you may have to look around for a bank equipped to accept the checked coins.

The first purchase you make should be a Coin Book, so you will know if you find a valuable coin.

The Official 2014 Red Book - Guide to U.S. Coin Values - Spiral Bound



Now you are almost there.  Organizing your finds so you know what you have should be the next step.

Lincoln Cents Folder #1, 1909-1940






Fifty State (District of Columbia and Territorial) Commemorative Quarter Folder: Deluxe Edition (Official Whitman Coin Folder)





In fact, there are folders for whatever denomination you collect!

Coin Albums

One way to feel certain about filling a coin set is to fill an album.  Oh, some coin seties are so long, like the Lincoln penny, that more than one album is needed. Today, several companies make albums.  Whitman albums are perhaps the best known, and have been around for many years.

It is not advisable to store high grade coins in albums, since the coins are exposed to environmental damage, and often pushed into place.

Newer type albums have solved the handling problem, and the ability to view both sides, by using transparent pockets that can hold any size coin.

Coin Collecting Supplies


Coin and Currency Collecting Starter Bundle with Black Album

 

Coin Album 60 Pocket



 50 State Commemorative Quarter Folder 1999-2008



 Lincoln Cents Folder Starting 1975 (Official Whitman Coin Folder)

 

BCW - Premium Collectors Binder (D Ring) Album - Black Leatherette - Great for Coin & Currency Storage!