Coin Collecting Information

Peter Gitundu asked:


When it comes to dealing with coin dealers you must be careful and watch their every move because they are tricky fellows. Yes you might find the one coin dealer who is honest but that is no guarantee. If your intention is to get your coins appraised, then you should be ready to do research on this dealer or dealers. The coin collection industry is a very hectic one with everyone out to get the best coins out there especially if it is very rare.

When it comes to coin dealers its always go to be weary, and cautious, because you might have a rare and valuable coin but the dealer might decide that you don’t deserve to have and decides that he or she should keep it and probably sell it. So if you intend to find the best but make sure the best is like all the rest. 

If you are a coin collector you can also learn how to become a coin dealer. You can ask a dealer to teach you how to read coins and learn how to tell the difference from a fake as well as getting to know the rare coins.

Coin dealers are often the ones who like to buy rare coins from you and are also coin collectors who sell rare as well as appraise coins for you. It is necessary that you check out what your coin dealer has to offer as well as his background, so you can know if he is any good or a lying hoax.

Carol King asked:


Coin Price Guides are useful among collectors. In brief, coins are tiny disk shaped metal pieces of currency. Coins come in various categories that are valued as per their face value, currency coins come with an amount printed on them and the printed amount is the price of the coin.

Rare and Historical coins are those that were made centuries before us, these rare coins are very significant in finding out historical information about our ancestors. Historical coins can fetch a very high price in the market; the pricing of the coin is also based on the significance, quality, condition, uniqueness and beauty of the coin.

Gold coins or Silver Coins are mostly bought as an investment; the price of these coins usually depends on the market price. Due to fluctuations in the economy there are no set price guides therefore the price of Gold and silver coins also fluctuates.

Coin Pricing is based on certain criteria’s- * The coin must be made of a valuable metal; and the pricing of this coin will be close to the market price of the metal.

* Coin should be of standardized weight and purity.

* The marking on the coin has to be genuine and marked only by an authorized authority.

* Pricing of the coin also depends on the date printed on the coin, as well as its historical significance.

From time to time coin collectors come across coins that are very difficult to analyze a price, for instance a coin collector may own a very unique coin that cannot be priced due to its unclear marking or worsened condition, on such occasions the pricing of the coin is based on the demand of the coin or how many coin collectors are interested in the piece.

Sometimes a very unique coin will not be as well priced, as a coin that is relatively plentiful in nature and this is simply because the more common coin is in higher demand by the coin collectors. For example there are only 30,000 dimes of the 17th century, where as there are nearly 4,000,000 20th century dimes, yet the 20th century dimes are sold at a higher price than the 17th century dimes, and this is only because the 20th century dimes are more popular among coin collectors.

Generally coin prices keep varying, the general rule in the coin price guide is the rarer the coin the higher the coin value, still there are some exceptions as in this case; a 1913 marked Liberty head Nickel was sold for $1,000,000 as there are only 5 pieces of such coins, where as 1000 year old Chinese coins were sold for not more than $100-$200 as there were a number of these coins available.

Coin grade also influences the coin price guide, coin grade depends on the condition, the better the condition the higher the grade will be and the higher price the coin will fetch. However you should bear in mind that the monetary valuation of a coin is not everything, even if one coin does not have a high market value it does not loose its significance as it can still be very much a part of your collection.

If you are interested in pricing, you can get Coin Price Guides that come in print (soft cover and hardcover) and they are also available online in digital format.