Collecting Antique Coins
In order to start a collection of antique coins, there are a few things that you need to know. The best and cheapest place to start learning about antique coins is your local library. While the internet can provide a valuable resource as well, coin collecting has been going on for a long time before the internet. They also have librarians on staff that can help you with you research.
Unfortunately one of the toughest things in collecting coins is determining their value. It is not wise to go to a collector to ask their opinion on the value of your coins because they will more than likely undervalue your collection so they can get a better price on purchasing it.
In contrast, the internet prices tend to be grossly overvalued so there really is no exact science to determining the value of your antique coins. It is a hobby and process that you need to figure out on your own and the only way to do it is through hard work.
$7 Million for a Coin
Unfortunately, for the most part, old coins are pretty much worthless. Well not worthless, but not worth more than their face value. Only unique and truly rare coins give any value, and it is these antique coins that collectors go crazy for. One good example is the double gold eagle. This coin was minted in 1933 but was never circulated. The government decided to not put the coin into circulation and all but three were recalled. One of these three rare coins sold for over seven and a half million dollars at an auction.
Now conversely, a penny from the turn of the century while far older than the double gold eagle is probably worth about a cent, unless it came from a rare mint or had some strange imperfections. The reality is that just because a coin comes from an antique era it does not make it an antique. Antique coins are far more rare and the really sad part is that there is a lot of misinformation on the actual value of these coins, so it is in your best interest before you begin investing in coins that you do the research on what is truly valuable yourself.
Also of extreme importance is the condition of the coin. Coins in mint condition will be far more valuable than ones in worse condition, however very few coins are actually in mint condition. The term mint condition means exactly that, there is no way to distinguish the coin from one that was minted yesterday, so again buyer beware when someone claims that a coin is in mint condition.
