Richard Giedroyc - The Everything Coin Collecting Book: All You Need to Start Your Collection And Trade for Profit

THE

Coin Collecting Book

Dear Reader,

Coin collecting is the hobby of kings, of young and old, of male and female, of husbands and wives. It can be an academic pursuit or a leisure-time activity, and it can be profitable. You can collect on a shoestring, or you can spend a significant amount of money on this hobby. Just dont lose perspective. With the exception of some commemorative coins as well as bank notes that are made for use in commerce, coins and bank notes are currency first and collectibles second.

This hobby can be all-absorbing. I began as a collector, eventually becoming a full-time coin dealer. There has been a tremendous learning curve along the way. Numismaticsthe study or collecting of coins, tokens, and paper moneyis so vast that you never stop learning. That is part of the excitement!

I hope that by presenting the basics you need to effectively participate in this age-old hobby you can derive as much pleasure from coin collecting as has been my privilege.

Editorial

Production

Visit the entire Everything Series at www.everything.com

THE

COIN
COLLECTING
BOOK

All you need to start your collection for fun or profit!

Richard Giedroyc

This book is dedicated to my wife, Jewell, without whose support
I would likely not be involved in this pursuit.

Copyright 2007, F+W Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Publications, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-59337-568-9
ISBN 13: 978-1-59337-568-3

Printed in the United States of America.

J I H G F E D C B A

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Giedroyc, Richard.
The everything coin collecting book / Richard Giedroyc.
p. cm. (An everything series book)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59337-568-3
ISBN-10: 1-59337-568-9
1. CoinsCollectors and collectingHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.

CJ81.G54 2007
737.4dc22

2006028186

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases. For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

This book would not have been written if it werent for the patience of my wife, Jewell, and the encouragement of my editors David Harper at Krause Publications and Gina Chaimanis at Adams Media, as well as the countless number of coin collectors and coin dealers with whom I share this wonderful hobby on a daily basis. I would also like to thank Randy Thern at Krause for the many hours of research to locate the photos for this book.

1. Get involved in the social aspects of the hobby.

2. Learn to grade and authenticate your coins.

3. Understand the ways to collect.

4. Learn the many avenues through which you can sell what you have collected.

5. Know the rarity and value of your coins.

6. Study the history behind what you are collecting.

7. The facts about coins as a possible investment are importantlearn them!

8. Find where to go to learn more about numismatics.

9. Numismatics can become a full- or part-time profession. Consider it!

10. Treat coin collecting as a hobby firsthave fun!

COIN COLLECTING HAS been around likely since someone invented the first coin. Collecting is one of the most popular pastimes people enjoy with their discretionary money. Coin collecting is a natural choice of hobby, since we see coins and bank notes virtually every day.

Among the spoils of war inventoried by Pompey the Great when he dragged the unfortunate Mithradates VI of Pontus through the streets of ancient Rome was a coin collection. Julius Caesars nephew the Emperor Augustus was known to give what contemporary chroniclers call ancient coins to some of his colleagues. Since that time there have been the sophisticated and the unsophisticated, the rich and the poor, the elite of society and the commonerall with one interest in common: the pleasure of collecting coins they value.

Coin collecting took root early in the history of the United States. By 1816, a major coin collection was in the makings, and the first acknowledged auction specializing in collectible coins took place in 1828. Nobody really knows just how many people collect coins today, in part due to a lack of reliable studies and in part due to a lack of an acceptable definition of where accumulating coins stops and true collecting coins begins. We know one thing for certain: There are innumerable people who have old coins they found, inherited, or simply accumulated and are keeping the coins either for their collecting pleasure or because they hope those holdings may have significant value.

Coin collecting is a very organized hobby. There are local, regional, and national organizations open to anyone with such an interest. There are hobby and trade publications, some of which are published weekly. The Internet has more numismatic-related sites than anyone could possibly read. There are a significant number of books on aspects of the subject published every year.