How to start a coin collection relatively cheaply and benefit from it

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This is my first entry for the “HOW TO” Challenge by @papa-pepper.
The link to the contest is below:

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https://steemit.com/howto/@papa-pepper/i-m-declaring-myself-king-of-steemit-how-to-and-i-ve-got-200-sbd-on-the-line-to-prove-it

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I thought that it would be interesting to create a "howto" post, and decide to make one on the topic that I recently got interested in, which is "coin collecting".
I am also a beginner in this topic and you should perform your own due diligence when you decide what to buy. None of the below should be taken as financial advice.

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Coin collecting can sometimes sound quite boring and not interesting at all for some.
I used to think like that and now I am creating a post to talk about it.
When people talk about coin collecting, some may think that it is referring to Gold and Silver so how is that cheap. So this post is not referring to Gold and silver, but if you do have a Gold and Silver collection, then good for you.
This post is about a collection of old coins which are not made of expensive metals

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The Steps

• Step 1: Purchase the coins
• Step 2: Purchase an entry level coin catalogue
• Step 3: Purchase some Cardboard Coin Holders
• Step 4: Purchase some Coin Sheets
• Step 5: Purchase a Coin Album
  The above are essentially the items that you need and I will go into each in slightly more detail.

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Step 1: Purchase the coins

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The old coins can generally be purchased at an affordable price based on weight for example in one's local coin shop. Although the coins are not worth much in terms of numismatic value, one would be surprised on the rewards (not necessary monetary) that one can gain from a collection of old coins.

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This is a typical lot of coins that you get at a local coin shop at quite a cheap price per weight unit (kilogram/pound etc).

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I was fooled initially to think that something may be gold because it looked like gold, however that is generally not the case, but you will get the hang of it as you start looking at more coins.
Again even though collection of old coins is considered a cheaper option, also consider your budget, so that you don't buy too much.

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Step 2: Purchase an entry level coin catalogue

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There are several coin catalogues out there:

• On a specific country
• or on coins around the world.

When I first started collecting world coins, I purchased a coin catalogue which allows me to understand coins. one may also search on line to check out the coin, however when you are checking out a large amount it is generally easier to flip through a book based on the country and the year, rather than typing it on the computer every time. Unless there is a app that can identify a old coin when you take a picture of it.

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Step 3: Purchase some Cardboard Coin Holders

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They look like this

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And come in different sizes

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Essentially you find a particular coin that you want to hold in the cardboard coin holder.
Find the size that is most applicable for the coin. You then fold the cardboard coin holder across the middle and staple the coin holder.
It should look like this in the end

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Some people prefer to staple only 3 sides to save one staple, but I prefer stapling 4 sides.
Whichever way you decide to staple, make sure it is consistent so that it will look good when you put them together

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You will also notice that I wrote on the cardboard coin holder. There is no standard way of labelling it, the way I follow is as follows:

Again, Consistency is King, so that you are able to identify the properties of the coin immediately as you look at the coin holder.

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Step 4: Purchase some Coin Sheets

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Coin Sheets look like this

This particular coin sheet I have can hold 20 cardboard coin holders. You can then easily slot your completed cardboard coin holder into the coin sheets, like this

Once you have completed all your cardboard coin holders labeling, your coin sheet will look like this

Looks structured right? You can choose to collect the same coin over different years, or to collect the different denominations of the same year. I will cover that in more detail in another post. In this case, I collected the same coin over different years.

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Step 5: Purchase a Coin Album

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Once you have multiple Coin Sheets, you want to keep them together in a Coin Album
Make sure that the Coin Sheets and your Coin Album are compatible. For example, if your Coin Sheets are compatible with a 3 ring binder, then purchase a 3 ring binder.

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Possible Benefits

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• As you start researching about the coins, you will start to learn more about the history of the different countries.
• One of the reasons the lot of coins is sold quite cheap in local coin shops is because the shop owner has generally gone through the coins and took out all the coins which have more value. Hence, the left over pile is generally worth very little by itself. However, you never know, shop owners are also human and they may overlook the coin pile, and you may just be lucky to find a coin which is worth more.
• Although, it is unlikely that you would find gold from a pile of coin like that, you may generally find some coins made from fine silver or a more valuable old coin. (Do take note that when you look at coin catalogues that you understand that the catalogue values are not generally the price that you would be able to sell your coins for, it depends highly on the quality and also the supply and demand for that coin - the catalogue value can only be taken as a guide and generally the upper limit of the coin)
• You can say that you have a coin collection now. Maybe sometime in the future, where no one transacts with physical coins anymore, your physical coin collection may be worth slightly more.

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And this is it for now, let me know if you want me to cover more in a particular area.

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If you like this post, please upvote, resteem, follow and comment.

Thanks for your time and have a great day!

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