Any tips for a young collector?

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Hi everyone!
I'm Nathaniel, I'm 15 and I've been collecting for a few years but I still have a very basic collection, and so I was wondering how you guys got into collecting (professionally), or how you came across some of your favorite and best coins?
I always see such cool and amazing coins selling on ebay and Trade Me (NZ version of ebay which I use) but obviously I can't afford it because I don't have a job and I should be saving up for things like uni or a house or something instead.
I'm really curious because one day when I have the money to do so I'd love to become a professional collector and get as many amazing coins as I possibly can.
Also, how much do you guys think you've spent on your collection in all the years you've been collecting?

Thanks so much, and have an amazing day!

Nathaniel
Nathaniel,
We all started at the bottom, and slowly worked our way up to where we are today.
My small bit of advice to you is to collect coins that are easy to obtain, and obviously cheap. You may have to make decisions about collecting only certain countries and collecting all of them by date. If, like me, you only want to collect by type, (no more than one of each catalogue number), then what you collect is a major decision.
I like your thoughts on the future, university etc, but I think just a small amount on coin collecting would not hurt. Perhaps a little weekend job? I did a paperround when I was 14. Now I am retired, I referee football games, and that is my little nest egg for coins.
Also, you could ask friends who travel the world to bring coins back. I still do that now. Best of all though, is Birthday and Christmas. I used to ask for a special coin, and that worked most times.
I wish you the very best of luck with your coin collecting and to a bright future, in whatever occupation you choose.
I'm just a collector of coins, not a slave to it, unless I am in a coin shop.
For all you banknote collectors. Link to my swap list.
https://colnect.com/en/banknotes/list/swap_list/COINMAN1
i started collecting in 1963, since then i have concentrated on british coins but at the same time my collection has grown with foreign coins as well. the best advice i can give is to collect to what you can afford, do not overstretch your budget and have a focal point for your collection such as coins from your own country that are readily available.
we do not own our coins, we are merely guardians of them for future generations.
Quote: "COINMAN1" Best of all though, is Birthday and Christmas. I used to ask for a special coin, and that worked most times.


​Can relate to this; even if the days of begging my parents to fork out cash for a more expensive coin because I got X% on an exam or won some sports tournament are over for me, for the past couple of years my (English) grandparents have been gifting me a gold sovereign on my birthday. The last one even came in a NGC holder; they are some of my most cherished coins, for obvious reasons. (My French grandparents are a bit more frugal in comparison :D)

My personal recommendation (for a limited budget) is to buy strategically and smart; for example, if coins that interest you are old coins (as for me), then look for worn coins from as far back as the 17th and 18th centuries (more applicable to some areas of the world than others) that are cheap; and build a type set with whatever you can find (many of my early coins from pre-George III are pretty worn) until you have more money and knowhow to upgrade and/or add to that little collection.
If coin collecting is your passion, and you have a limited capital outlay, i would suggest that you concentrate on completing a NZ decimal set first. When, or if, you achieve this then you can set your next goal.
Quote: "auscoin"​If coin collecting is your passion, and you have a limited capital outlay, i would suggest that you concentrate on completing a NZ decimal set first. When, or if, you achieve this then you can set your next goal.
​Absolutely!! Many of the NZ coins have wonderful designs.

Also, consider yourself lucky to have been bitten by the bug at such a young age. In another 50 years you will be a very, experienced collector and even seasoned collectors will be drooling over your collection!!!
It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.  It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so.  Mark Twain
Hi Nathaniel! Just like you, I started collecting at a young age. My budget was very limited and I just bought whatever I could get my hands on, without much focus. Roaming through '4 to a guilder' boxes, ah, happy were those days! A great advantage of being young is that people are generally very willing to contribute to your well being (but only if you're a nice kid, of course). Sellers will more easily offer you a wink and a good deal, family and acquintances will generously give you any old or foreign coins they happen to have for free if they know about your passion. And of course, as CassTaylor suggests, parents and grandparents can easily be persuaded into providing you with just that little bit more funds to make you so much happier... (make sure your parents don't read this!).

From the age of 18, I didn't look at my collection for 30 years. When the virus bit me again, I started cataloguing what I had and found that I had acquired quite an interesting collection. It even had some very valuable items for which I must have paid peanuts back then.

Also with the years came the wisdom that 'collecting everything' was not the way to go forward for me so I narrowed down my scope to a particular period. Coins that fell outside my scope I have since then swapped away. I think that this greatly improved the quality of my collection.

To summarize, the advantages of starting young with collecting:
1. Let your youthful charms work for you while they can!
2. Even without adding coins, time will make your collection more interesting and valuable.
3. Lack of focus is a virtue when you're young - it will help you discover yourself and the world you live in. Only when life gets more serious, lack of focus starts to feel more like a sin.

Enjoy collecting!
Welcome on numista !
Quote: "Nathaniel"how much do you guys think you've spent on your collection in all the years you've been collecting?

I guess most of us don't really know how much we spent in this hobby and we probably don't want to know as well :O

I confirm the comments of Coinman1 and ArnoV.
Speaking about my personnal experience, I started collecting a bit younger than you but it was mostly due of the changement of currency in my country.
I asked my parents if they can picked as many coins as possible before they were wisdraw of the circulation and choose to keep only one coin per date of every type.

Soon, I noticed that many people did the same and they were started to collect the new currency (the euro) too.
Even if there is nothing wrong about that, I didn't like the idea of collecting the same things than other people around, so I started to think how I can differentiate my collection.

Few months after I decided to buy mixed lots of foreign coins.
It was relatively expensive for me (even if it was only 50€), but I got few kilos of coins with that and, even if their values were pretty low, I have no regrets.
Of course, speaking about money it wasn't a clever investment if I wanted to sell them back, but it wasn't the goal.
It was an easy way to be more familiar with modern coins from all over the world ; it was fun and I learned a lot from them because I had to do the research by myself to figure out where they came from and how to identify them properly.

I asked the World Coins for my birthday (now you can find a version of this book online, but it's not that convenient) and got few coins from my family as well (they mostly came from travels or were found in drawers).

From that time until 20, I was mostly looking for new coins on the flea markets and bought few other in coin shops : much more expensive but, as ArnoV said, we often have discounts when we are young so it was good deals after all and their values incraesed much more than I expected for some of them !
Then I stopped colleting for a while and prefered to focus on the studies.

Last year I put my nose back in my collection : the bug came back !
Of course, I had to do a lot of improvements and now I'm even specialized in areas I never collected when I was younger, but I'm 27 now and I'm still proud of the coins I get during this first period.

In short, collect what appeals you the most and fit in your budget.
The most important thing is to have fun !

Ps: I bet he probably won't need 50 years to acquire experience : Internet makes things much easier than before :wiz:
Quote: "Nathaniel"​Hi everyone!
​I'm Nathaniel, I'm 15 and I've been collecting for a few years but I still have a very basic collection, and so I was wondering how you guys got into collecting (professionally), or how you came across some of your favorite and best coins?
​I always see such cool and amazing coins selling on ebay and Trade Me (NZ version of ebay which I use) but obviously I can't afford it because I don't have a job and I should be saving up for things like uni or a house or something instead.
​I'm really curious because one day when I have the money to do so I'd love to become a professional collector and get as many amazing coins as I possibly can.
​Also, how much do you guys think you've spent on your collection in all the years you've been collecting?

​Thanks so much, and have an amazing day!

​Nathaniel
​Hi Nathaniel, We all start with very little and end up with far too much, if you would like 1 coin from my collection I will send it to you for free to help you along the way.
It's only money my friend, choose whatever you like, no problem.
people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening
Hey Nathaniel,

Even though you are two years older than me, sometimes I save up some money go on trade me and try to win one of the auctions for a bulk lot of coins just to test my luck, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Like one time I got a Cook Islands 20 tene, 1974, minted 5,500 times! It's also a great way to get more countries and varieties into your collection.

Cheers,
William
Quote: "Iainmac"
Quote: "Nathaniel"​Hi everyone!
​​I'm Nathaniel, I'm 15 and I've been collecting for a few years but I still have a very basic collection, and so I was wondering how you guys got into collecting (professionally), or how you came across some of your favorite and best coins?
​​I always see such cool and amazing coins selling on ebay and Trade Me (NZ version of ebay which I use) but obviously I can't afford it because I don't have a job and I should be saving up for things like uni or a house or something instead.
​​I'm really curious because one day when I have the money to do so I'd love to become a professional collector and get as many amazing coins as I possibly can.
​​Also, how much do you guys think you've spent on your collection in all the years you've been collecting?
​​
​​Thanks so much, and have an amazing day!
​​
​​Nathaniel
​​Hi Nathaniel, We all start with very little and end up with far too much, if you would like 1 coin from my collection I will send it to you for free to help you along the way.
​It's only money my friend, choose whatever you like, no problem.
​That's the spirit!! You have some nice coins.
Hi Nathaniel
I just looked will fast at your collection. And saw you have no coins from Iceland. PM me your address and I can send you a set of 1,5,and 10 Kr from 1996


oh the 1 KR is a 1999. The biggest thing is to have fun and learn
yours daryl
It is, what it is, or is it.
I recommend looking through junk bins sometimes you can find real treasures.
Hi Nathan,

I am also happy to help you out - pick a couple coins off my swaplist and let me know your address and i will get them sent to you no problem. There is not much on my swaplist at the mo, i have just reset my collection and i am having a major clear out! But i am sure you can find something you'll like on there :wiz:

Matt
Quote: "ArnoV"​Roaming through '4 to a guilder' boxes, ah, happy were those days! A great advantage of being young is that people are generally very willing to contribute to your well being (but only if you're a nice kid, of course). Sellers will more easily offer you a wink and a good deal, family and acquaintances will generously give you any old or foreign coins they happen to have for free if they know about your passion. And of course, as CassTaylor suggests, parents and grandparents can easily be persuaded into providing you with just that little bit more funds to make you so much happier... (make sure your parents don't read this!).



Can relate! As a young person, I was surprised to receive commemorative coins instead of coins in Chinese New Year red packets :) Also, there is the occasional "never seen young man like you!" from the coin shops and give me some coins for free.

For my age... hm...
Hi Nathaniel, I'm also a young collector and the way I got a ton of cool coins is by joining a coin club. I'm from the United States so I don't know of any clubs in New Zealand. I personally joined the American Numismatic Association. Through that you can win many coins. You also get many other things, but every club is different. So, I would suggest finding a few clubs and look through the member benefits. Some clubs give out free coins, some give you numismatic magazines, some do both and more.
Hi Nathaniel and welcome. I'm from Western Australia (Waves) and I collect German coins from during the Second World War. But I also have begun a great and fun collection of Australian coins. Did you know that the one dollar Australian coin first came out in 1984? I know right!! I didn't know either till just recently, so what I have done is to begin a collection of 1984 Australian coins. I have collected the best I can find of a 1984 5 cents, a 1984 10 cents, and so on up to the 1984 dollar coin. All are used and circulated but I don't mind. My one dollar coin looks awesome as it has darkened around the edges over time. Doesn't it look great!

Best thing is..... these coins cost only their own value and are easy to get. So my 1984 set is my first Australian coin set. And something to build upon as time goes by :D And I learned a few things as well :8D

And welcome to this website. You'll find a wealth of knowledge here as well as some awesome people who will help you with great advice.
Collector of Third Reich coins (1933 - 1946), and Australian coins.
Not swapping at this time.

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