Coin Collecting for Beginners Quotes

“One indispensable reference book is “A Guide Book of United States Coins” more popularly known as “The Red Book” among numismatists. It is published annually and provides a good timeline of US coinage history, basic coin grading information, and description of coins starting from the earliest to the present. The book also has a list of errors to watch for and an explanation of errors which happened during the minting process.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“There are consumer protection agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission, that are concerned with getting your complaint information so cases can be filed against fraudulent dealers. Most government agencies may not be able to deal with individual disputes but they can provide you with sound advice regarding what actions to take against erring dealers. If the dealer who defrauded you is a member of a coin organization, you can normally file a complaint in that organization and receive help. The Numismatic Crimes Information Center gives the following tips when responding to ads online and offline: Both dealers and collectors should be cautious when responding to ads, especially online ads placed on popular websites such as Craigslist. Even though there are hundreds of legit transactions that take place all the time, some can turn out to be a scam or robbery.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“Fraudulent dealers of bullion coins intentionally overprice their coins or misrepresent the quantity of precious metals contained in the coins they sell.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“There are dishonest coin dealers who intentionally mislead buyers into thinking that they are being sold coins that have historically appreciated in value through the years. Take note that there has never been any guarantee that any coin will appreciate in value.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“disagreement. Now, even small differences in grades can mean substantial differences in the value or price of a coin. Fraudulent dealers exploit this by inflating the grades of the coins they sell. False grading is the most common form of coin fraud in dealing with rare coins.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“• Compare prices. Although grades are important factors when determining the price, you need to be cautious about the price itself. As mentioned above, consult publications that list the prices of coins. If the price a dealer quotes is lower than the listed price in these publications, then there is a possibility that the dealer is not telling the truth about the quality or grade of the coin in question.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“If you buy coins from an independent source, be sure to check their grades. Remember that grades are just the opinion of the certification or grading service. Take time to know if the grading service the dealer used is indeed independent of each other, what grading standards were used by the grading service and what is the reputation of this service.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“If you are not absolutely convinced of the dealer’s reputation and reliability, ask for a second opinion from another source. Before committing to buy, find out what you can do to remedy the situation if the second opinion turns out to be unfavorable to your choice of dealer. Check the dealer’s buyback offer if it involves the full purchase price for refund or will it be a discounted amount; or will you be given credit that you can apply to future purchases?”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“• Be wary of any promise by the dealer regarding any buy back guarantee, especially at a price more than what you paid for or any guarantee concerning the coin’s grade.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“Do not rush into buying. Bear in mind that a sale that sounds too good to be true will usually turn out to be not true at all. Do not just easily be goaded into buying because the dealer tells you that he or she has an excellent reputation and a high degree of reliability.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“Managing all data related to your coin type and its size can be overwhelming. A coin collecting software might be a good idea to have to help you keep track of your coin collection. Coin collecting software is not just for creating a catalog or inventory. Most commercially available software packages have built in coin inventories to categorize modern, ancient and medieval coins. They also are able to organize coin related links, existing web resources and an option that includes recent coin values updated for the current year. Software that has a coin glossary and a dictionary of various numismatic terms integrated in it would be most useful. You can choose from various programs that have an easy to learn interface and have readymade templates. A good one should allow you to create reports and summaries. Both novice and expert coin collectors will benefit from using good coin collecting software.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“• The Standard Catalog of World Coins by Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler – consist of four volumes, each covering a different century from 1601 to 2000, identifying and listing prices for coins from around the world.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment

“But bear in mind that whatever you are, whether a collector or an investor, it is essential that you get your coins in your possession and never let any company keep them for you. The company may go belly up and you could be left holding a worthless paper document. Store your coins where you can be sure they are safe like in a safety deposit box of a bank.”
― James Bradshaw, Coin Collecting for Beginners: Learn the basics of coin collecting as a hobby or an investment