New to Coin Collecting

[Guest]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Ryan and I am new to coin collecting and am very excited to be part of the Lincoln Cent Resource Community.

Right now I'm trying to learn as much as possible about Lincoln cents and collecting. I'm currently reading "A Guide Book of Lincoln Cents" by Bowers. I also have a great mentor who is showing me the ropes.

Do you have any advice or tips for a newbie?

Thanks!

[1sgret]

Welcome to the Forum and enjoy. Read and understand the reference material you have and ask questions and post your finds with pictures (if you can) as this is what the Forum is all about.

There is allot of knowledge and information with this Forum so browse around in the different areas and especially of some of the prior posts in the different categories.

[jallengomez]

Welcome to LCR. Sounds like you've got a great start so far.

Jody

[copperlover]

Welcome to the forum Ecteacher. You are in the right place at the right time. You can start by identifying some of the latest cents in circulation which are readily available at a fraction of the cost of the earlier minted cents. Study them carefully and then progress to the rarer varieties which are harder to find. Also you can obtain DDO and DDR and RPM cents at minimal cost. After observing the obverse and reverses very careful you will begin to know what the various types of doubling should look like. Only after you become somewhat knowledgeable should you start building a collection of variety/errors. I am not a pro here but I hope this will help you to lay the foundation for a great start. Looking forward to your finds when they are posted.
Lucien

[Roller]

Welcome to the forum. I'd say that it's important to stick with it and don't get discouraged if you can't find something significant right off the bat. You will make nice finds in time.

[DCW]

What's cool about searching Lincoln cents is that you can play the game for 1c. If you win, you could have a valuable variety in your collection. And even if you lose, you still have all your money that you started with.

[Brad]

Welcome to the forum Ryan. Ryan is a good freind of mine, and a fellow teacher. He is off to a good start and I think being part of the forum will help him avoid costly mistakes and hopfully lead to some great finds.

[busyeye]

Welcome to the LCR familia Ryan.

[Maineman750]

Welcome aboard Ryan. Ask questions and learn to take pictures as we will be wanting to see them to give you good answers.

[Chugly]

What's cool about searching Lincoln cents is that you can play the game for 1c. If you win, you could have a valuable variety in your collection. And even if you lose, you still have all your money that you started with.

I completely agree with this! Its like our own "private" lottery. You can play it almost any time, anywhere and right under other peoples noses, all free except for your time!

I commend you for first reading a book on the subject as there is an old saying in coin collecting "buy the book before the coin." I would also recommend the CONECA website and simply spending time with us. It might also be a decent idea to purchase a few inexpensive rpm's from a dealer that you trust. That way you know what you are looking for. It can be hard to find a dealer who correctly attributes these however.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Welcome to the forum! You will learn much from the fine people here!

[atarian]

Chugly made some great points. i tell ya its fun seeing someone have something cool and thinking its worthless and then you get the coin from them and your all happy. They think your nuts but in the end your the big winner. my ex had that with a 98 WAM. gonna spend it and i bought it for a few$ and she was happy and i was too. Now that I think about it. The fact that i had to pay for a penny showed why shes my ex.

[ecteacher18]

Thanks everyone for the great advice and tips!

I visited my first coin show on Saturday and had a lot of fun. Over the last couple of weeks I made some purchases that I am hoping will help me.

1) Dansco holder with spots for proofs

2) BAUSCH & LOMB Hastings Triplet Magnifier - Model: 816171 MAGNIFICATION: 10X

3) 2012 Guide Book of United States Coins: Red Book

[Maineman750]

That surely is a great start. Good optics are worth paying extra for .Do you have a digital camera already ? It will be handy when you have specific questions.

[coinman2009]

Welcome! I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

[celartu]

Welcome to the LCR Ryan