Saturday, September 27, 2008

What Type Of Collection To Start ?

Many collectors have a particular theme for their collection. The very real possibility of completing the collection makes collecting exciting for many collectors.

Some themes are of course, easier complete than others. As well as less costly.

Country

Collecting coins from a particular country, or a collection of coins from every country that issues them.

Year
One of the most popular methods of collecting. Collecting a particular coin from every year it was issued. The Lincoln penny is a good example. You can purchase books that are designed especially to catalog this type of collection.

Period
This group includes coins from a particular period in history. It also includes coins from a particular century. Or those issued during a particular civilization or monarch's reign.

Subject
Coins usually depict something. A collection can be of coins depicting the same or similar subjects.

Composition
Collecting coins based on what type of metal their made of is a popular category.

Variety
When thousands or even millions of one particular coin is issued there's usually more than one die. These dies often have slight differences. More differences are found in older coins since the dies were hand carved. An interesting collection could consist of a coin from each die.

Mintmarks
The mint mark tells where the coin was made. With several different locations minting coins and in different quantities thereby making some mint marks rarer than others, collecting the different mint marks makes for an interesting collection.

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