New

I am new to being a numista, my grandmother gave me a bunch of coins, and i have alot now, i was going thorugh and seeing what they were made of, ect. Is there any tips for me on what i should look for, and all that??????

you mean where to specialize on? or searching coins out of that pile that are actually worth something?

first case: hmm, you might want to check for literature or categories on the internet.
collecting special areas / continents is common.

But I assume you mean the latter...
so. buy yourself a decent up to date catalog. since they fixed a standard I would suggest buying
Krause Mishler World Coin Catalog (advertised on this page under Books - see above   ).
You could look for old coins, metals (silver and gold of course). If you have old "silver"-like coins, there's
often a weight and purity remark on the coin, telling you that is actually a silver coin (with different amount of silver corresponding the remark, of course).
Early 20th century coins can get quite worth looking for, especially since there used to be lots of (small) varieties in the coins (different details, missing mintmarks, erroroneous lettering etc.).
Die errors might be interesting, too. That means: Is the coin struck in the right direction concerning obverse to reverse. Hope it helps.
Better yet: buy a catalog and participate in Numista. Great to have new members on board  

thanks, ill be sure to look into that :)

I would just like to add to Makake's comment. Many numismatists either care for the value or the variety or both. While it is best to look for both, variety is always worth looking for. A good number of cheap coins is worth it. However, if you see a coin that is, without doubt, genuine, valulable, and is sold cheap, I suggest buying it... if you have the money. The Krause Mishler Catalogue I think helps if you are away without a computer. Here, Numista, and World Coin Gallery help organize without the need to buy a very large book, as Numista goes date by date organization and World Coin Gallery finds the values by KM#s.

Those early 20th century coins that Makake is talking about are ones to spot because errors, such as misprints, sell for hundreds online. If you are one of those mistake coin collectors, I suggest keeping them.

About selling and buying coins: If you are buying, unless you are that kind of collector, do not buy the same coin you already have... for the right price, that is. If you have a coin that is the exact same, sell it for the right price. Here's the problem. Coins often have different mintmarks, different metals, and, most importantly, different dates. If you are sure, by looking at every detail, that the coin you are selling is the same to another, go ahead and sell it. If you are selling a copy, make sure you keep the best detailed coin. For example, if you have two 2010 D 1 Cent coins (I tried to use a mintmark country), sell the one that has more scratches/blurs/fades/rusts/dents.

I hope that helps.

Quote: "Ian"​I am new to being a numista, my grandmother gave me a bunch of coins, and i have alot now, i was going thorugh and seeing what they were made of, ect. Is there any tips for me on what i should look for, and all that??????

​I'm new and my grandma gave me some coins also.

Hi and welcome, have a quick look through the Numisdoc section of this site, there are lots of good tips there on how to identify coins, if you look them up in the Numista catalogue then we now have purchase values on many of the coins so you can see what people have been paying for them

Quote: "neilithicman"​Hi and welcome, have a quick look through the Numisdoc section of this site, there are lots of good tips there on how to identify coins, if you look them up in the Numista catalogue then we now have purchase values on many of the coins so you can see what people have been paying for them
​
​

​I have have thoroughly investigated the catalog but have not yet ventured into the numisdoc, will do.

Great advice here.
I would just like to add this (although I'm not a coin collector).

I attended an RCNA workshop directed by Susan Maltby (Conservator) on preserving one's collection (coins or notes). She asked the attendees if any of us had seen damaged or have come across damaged collectible items. All of us had witnessed collectibles that had been damaged somehow. She then told a few stories about great collections being destroyed by water (or poor storage). She said it is remarkable considering how expensive some of the collectibles are (that the collector didn't store it properly).

So- keep your coins in a dry place and store them in decent PVC holders. A lot of seniors (who put away coins/banknotes) don't get that. You can buy proper coin holders & pages on eBay (& they don't have to be too expensive). Good luck (& enjoy researching those coins!)

I hope you meant PVC-free (leaching plasticizer isn't good for anything containing copper and I think banknotes don't do particularly well with this sludge too)

Quote: "Idolenz"​I hope you meant PVC-free (leaching plasticizer isn't good for anything containing copper and I think banknotes don't do particularly well with this sludge too)

​-yes, thanks for clarifying "PVC free" (example mylar sleeves)
Sorry for confusion -what happens when you rush through these posts...

Quote: "Idolenz"​I hope you meant PVC-free (leaching plasticizer isn't good for anything containing copper and I think banknotes don't do particularly well with this sludge too)

​Well maybe so serial#8 can sell their coins for more because there would be more coins with PVC damage assuming serial#8 stores the coins .