Discover a new hobby—or refine your existing techniques—with this practical coin collecting handbook In Coin Collecting For Dummies, professional rare coin dealer Neil Berman delivers a hands-on and fun guide to the intriguing hobby of numismatics—also known as coin collection! You'll learn how to buy, sell, grade, value, handle, and store your coins, as well as how to decide what kind of coins you should collect and how to assemble or diversify your collection. In this book, you'll also find out how to: Evaluate coins based on their age, condition, rarity, and more Navigate and make use of auction houses that deal in the buying and selling of rare coins Make the most of your new hobby by learning where to find rare coins and how to complete your collections There's no one "right" way to collect coins. But Coin Collecting For Dummies will show you how to avoid the most common pitfalls and take advantage of some handy tips, tricks, and best practices that make collecting coins even more fun and exciting. Perfect for the novice collector, or seasoned veterans looking for the latest news in coin grading and history, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the fascinating world of coin collection.

Revised and Updated for the Gold Rush From one of the world’s most knowledgeable coin dealers–a former consultant to the Federal Trade Commission who is often quoted by the Wall Street Journal–comes a thorough update of the most-trusted consumer protection handbook to buying and selling rare and valuable coins. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs and a full-color insert, The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual, Seventh Edition is indispensable for seasoned collectors and novices alike. This substantially revised edition of the Coin Collector’s Survival Manual includes revised chapters that focus on legal and financial advice for buying and selling coins, and a new chapter on the most secure way to detect coins that have been "doctored." You will learn how to: • Avoid scams when buying and selling gold • Understand the new coin grading system • Detect altered, counterfeit, and doctored coins • Know how high gold and silver coins will climb in value • Buy coins through Internet auctions–and avoid the pitfalls • Safeguard and protect your coins from disaster ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Scott Travers, former vice president of the American Numismatic Association, was called the “preeminent consumer advocate in the numismatic field” by The New York Times. He is a contributor to all the leading coin publications and served as a coin valuation consultant to the Federal Trade Commission. He has been featured as a coin expert in Barron’s, Business Week, The WSJ, MSNBC and TODAY.

There’s a special comfort in collecting, in surrounding yourself with familiar objects and building a store of assets. The allure of money is especially strong. Coins represent real value. The warmth of silver and the weight of gold are irresistible to some. Coins travel throughout the world and through time itself, representing and absorbing history as they pass from one person to the next. Oh the stories coins could tell if they only had voices. Coin-collecting is a relaxing and inexpensive (although it can be very expensive!) hobby. If you buy properly, coins can be an excellent place to park your money for a rainy day, and if you buy the right coins and the market improves, you may even be able to make a profit on your collection. In fact, numismatics (the fancy term for coin collecting) offers more riches than you may realize. This rewarding hobby also opens the door to some serious life skills, such as History Geography Observational skills Organizational skills Analytical tools. This book is designed to appeal to collectors at every level, from beginner to advanced. This is not a hardcore coin book; rather, Coin Collecting For Dummies is a great general reference that points you in different directions for further investigation. Perhaps the most important goal of this book is to get you excited – and to keep you excited – about coin collecting. Coin Collecting For Dummies covers all these topics and more: Deciding what to collect Storing your collection correctly Finding out about repaired, restored, and recolored coins Pricing world coins Finding a good coin dealer Buying at auction Understanding that condition equals value Exploring the wild side with rare, expensive, and esoteric coins Selling your coins No one needs coins, but if you decide to collect them, you certainly need this book. Coin collecting can sometimes be a confusing maze of choices sprinkled with little traps along the way. Sure, you can go it alone, but why not make your journey into numismatics a lot easier by picking the brain of an expert collector and learning from the mistakes of others.

The award-winning title has now been revised to offer the most up-to-date information and consumer protection advice available.