Best products from r/coins

Books: This is what I said when replying to another thread for book recommendations. I love the CherryPicker's Guide - these will pay for themselves over and over. I don't personally recommend Striking it Rich, but to each their own. I'd rather see you "creep" a coin forum where die varieties and mint errors are discussed and new finds shared than spend a ton on books right out of the gate. I might also recommend learning about the entire minting process (I think a book called From Mine to Mint?) - this will help you understand how die varieties and mint errors are created in the first place and eliminate the confusion between a true doubled die and something like strike doubling.

​

Bookmarks: John Wexler has a very useful site called doubleddie.com with lots of images and descriptions of die varieties. CONECA has a Master Listing of all known die varieties for US Coins and a forum (that, honestly, I rarely visit because no one ever replies to my posts there.) These are just a couple examples; there are tons of great websites out there for you to reference (even PCGS and NGC have some nice high-quality images of varieties they attribute, which also can be very helpful when determining value.) Start building your set of web bookmarks and it will make things easier for you in the long run. PCGS Photograde is a free online reference to help you learn how to grade US Coins, for example.

​

Loupe: I'm always happy to recommend the BelOMO 10x Triplet Loupe - it's the loupe I've been using for about a decade now. IMO 10x is large enough to see even tiny varieties, and you'll mostly be concerned with the quality of the glass and metal. Lots of those cheap plastic loupes say they are higher magnifications, but aren't, or the "glass" isn't even glass (let alone high-quality glass.) I like the shape of the loupe and the texture of it - if your hands get sweaty, it won't slip out (like the cheaper chrome-plated examples you find at every coin shop.) You really, really want good quality glass here - save your eyes - and the better quality glass and larger field of vision (wider glass) the easier it will be on you. Cheap loupes make it hard to focus properly.

​

Magnet: Get yourself a decently strong magnet - this will help diagnose some bad counterfeits out there. I think I got mine at a local hardware store. I'm always amazed when a coin shop doesn't USE the magnet and buys a bunch of fakes...like, did we forget how to deal coins today or something?

​

Scale: I have been using an AWS SC-2kg scale for a few years now with decent results. My older version doesn't have an AC Adapter (just battery operated.) This will also help you diagnose counterfeits and other various mint errors.

​

Lamps: IKEA sells their Jansjo gooseneck LED lamps for less than ten bucks. They have a few different styles of these including some with clamps. They will be bright enough for variety hunting and if you get a few of them can be useful in coin imaging.

​

I tried to use gloves, I really did. But when you drop half the coins because the cotton is too slippery, it's best to learn how to properly hold a coin in your hand. I bought a really nice set of coin tongs in person at a coin shop somewhere - can't remember where - but they are sold on Amazon and eBay now. The problem with them, though, is that the company is in Germany and the shipping is more than the cost of the item.

​

I'd start learning how to image your coins as you look for varieties and errors. If you can take a good image of a die variety, chances are someone will be able to help you attribute it. I've never had good luck with the cheapo LED USB microscopes that are available, they all take crappy images, don't work with my computer, etc. I've returned every one. This could be an entire other discussion, honestly.

​

I love using my tablet (I maxed out with an iPad Pro a couple years ago) for reference books and cherrypicking on eBay. It's wonderful to have a ton of reference books/manuals/coin images handy and portable.

​

Other than that - best of luck to you, and we'll do our best to help. Just remember at the beginning to take a breath before you get all amped up and start thinking you've found a valuable variety on every coin you see. I've seen it so many times - new person shows up, posts thirty threads about thirty different coins, none of which have usable images (all out of focus for example) and then gets butt hurt when people tell them their coins are worth face value.

​

Don't take it personally.

​

It takes time and persistence to learn how to find real varieties. THEY ARE OUT THERE, though...I just found a nice 1934 DDO Quarter in a bag someone told me fifty times had been searched and searched (he's just that kind of a person, though, so I just ignored him.)

​

I'll echo others here, but I think it depends on what you'd like to collect. If you don't want to spend much money right now, especially if you haven't decided on what specific things you like, then searching coins from circulation - rolls from the bank, etc. - is a good way to get started (since all you spend is the face value of the coins you keep), but you may need to search a LOT of rolls before you find anything interesting. For example, I searched over $200 in half dollar rolls a few months ago - found no silver, but did find one proof that had escaped into circulation. I mentioned to the tellers that I knew what I was looking for, and they replied "so do we." Ah.

If you want to purchase coins, going to a local coin store, or meeting dealers at a show, is good, as they can help guide you to making a good purchase. If you start to specialize in particular areas, dealers can even keep an eye out for you, and put things aside. You might want to specialize in a particular series (e.g., a date run of Lincoln cents), or from a particular country, or with certain symbology (pics of animals, ships, etc.) or time period (e.g., Roman Empire - $40 will get you a nice coin that is 1700+ years old, for example - a lot of new collectors think that something that is old must be valuable/only in a museum, which isn't the case).

eBay and general Internet sites can be a good source for coins, but unless you are buying coins certified by reputable companies (PCGS, NGC predominately), from dealers that offer returns, I'd not suggest doing things this way if you are just starting out. Even if photos are decent, coins can be cleaned or otherwise impaired (so are worth less than they appear to be - you might overpay, maybe significantly, without realizing), and in one instance I had, an outright forgery (which I figured out after paying, but before it shipped, so was able to get my money back). Once you get more familiar with coins and what's out there, reasonable prices, and such, then eBay in particular can be a very good place to find things. For example, I've been collecting schillings of the Free City of Riga for a while (1563-1580). It is a very very specific collecting interest, and you just can't find them other than via eBay (out of several 100+ table shows, and multiple visits to half a dozen coin stores in driving distance, I found exactly one, but have purchased over 170 via eBay) - apparently metal detectorists in the area are finding them and selling them that way.

Lastly, I'd recommend picking up a few books so you know what is out there - what to look for and what things are worth. For one, if you are collecting US coins, the Redbook is very useful to know what is out there. If you are searching rolls, the Cherrypicker's Guide vol 1, vol 2 is handy to know what particular things to look for. The Redbook will tell you which dates are more rare/desirable, and the Cherrypicker's Guide will do the same for varieties. If you want to collect world coins, the Standard Catalog of World Coins volumes are very handy. There is one volume per century, starting in 1600. They are a bit pricey, but if you have a pile of coins that need identification, are very useful. You might be able to find these in a library, but having your own copi

Hope it helps!

A lot of it depends on how you want to collect. A fun, easy way to start is to put together date sets (one coin from each mint for each year) for modern coins from your change. You can get folders like this one to hold those coins and they'll help direct you.

You can also collect Type sets, with one version of each coin used in a country over a specific time period. Assuming you're from the US, a popular and not-too-difficult type set is the 20th Century type set, which introduces older coins that have different designs and ones made from silver.

Or you can just collect coins that are nice to look at, either ones with a beautiful design or that are in a pristine state. This might be more expensive but is no less satisfying.

Regardless, Apmex is a very popular site for coins both modern and old, and there's always eBay, although be sure to know what the price of the piece you want is (check sold listings) to avoid overpaying for anything. In that vein, a great resource for collecting US coins is the Red Book which is part price guide and part history book, with great pictures of all US coins from the Colonial era to modern times.

Hope this helps, and happy hunting!

Awesome you are keeping to collection going! I wish I had some of my granddads collection. The family wanted to sell it, so it got sold. So I started my own collection for the family to sell when I pass on.

Looks like you have quite a journey ahead of you, r/coins is great for identifying, showing off and steering you in the right direction on places to learn more.

Here are some links if you want, the PCGS site is great.

https://www.pcgs.com/grades

And a Redbook is always helpful, and any other good book on coins.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins/dp/0794845061/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509639315&sr=8-3&keywords=red+book&dpID=51vv8FmczFL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

"Photograde Coin Grading Guide" is one I really like for grading. It's practically free used except for shipping.

https://www.amazon.com/Photograde-Official-Photographic-Grading-United/dp/0307993612/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509639444&sr=8-2&keywords=Photograde+Coin+Grading+Guide

And most of all have fun!

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. Regardless of whether you’re a novice or an expert, the term numismatist still applies.

The important thing is to not overwhelm yourself and try to be an expert on everything. Learning how to research and educate yourself is probably the most important lesson to learn in the beginning. I would also recommend figuring out what you’re interested in collecting and focus on learning about that. Once you’ve done that, break it down further into manageable chunks, just like you’re doing with the Seated Liberty type.

I tend to focus on a single denomination at a time. I started with small cents, learning everything I could about varieties, grading, etc. When I want to switch it up, I choose a different denomination and start the process again. So if you’re interested in building a Seated Liberty type set, continue doing what you have been, focusing specifically on learning as much as you can about the type before the show.

If you don’t already have them, here are a few books I highly recommend picking up:

Official Red Book of United States Coins
Photograde
Grading Coins by Photographs
Cherrypickers’ Guide - Vol. I
Cherrypickers’ Guide - Vol. II

These aren’t meant to be read cover to cover, but I reference them constantly.

If you’re interested in focusing on Morgan’s at some point, I would also recommend this book:

The VAM Keys

Finally, when you’re considering a purchase, I go to eBay and filter by Completed and Sold auctions to get a sense of what kind of deal I’m getting. The market fluctuates frequently and although the Red Book is a very valuable reference guide, seeing what similar coins have sold for recently is a much more accurate representation of what a fair price is at that point.

You certainly could, and it would probably be a fun and educational experience, but it's not necessary -- and if you're more interested in obtaining information than buying or selling, the shop owner may not be as generous with his/her time.

But the info you're after -- how to assess condition and rarity -- is available fairly easily. You can get a good intro to grading condition by comparing your coins to graded specimens at PCGS Photograde, for example. And you can assess rarity by checking out mintage charts online or by checking out a copy of the Red Book from the library (or buying one). A note on the Red Book: the price guides tend to reflect top retail prices, and the book is much better for the info on the coins than the price guides -- as a result, older editions are still very useful. All of the price guides, however, give an idea of what's special and what's not.

Once you have condition and rarity, I would direct you to eBay to check "sold" listings for coins in similar conditions, for an idea of market price.

Newer collector here also:

• Start with an easier collection off of the bat. Like a 1974-2013 Lincoln Cent book. Quarters, nickels, dimes, etc - start with a newer series for an easier way to find them.
  
• Get a Redbook.
  
• Figure out what you're wanting to collect. Are you looking for investment, or just because to collect, do you have a certain country, year, style design that you like?
  
• Read, read, read. Spruce Crafts has a lot of nice little guides to read through.
  
• Don't hold the coins by the obverse/reverse, hold by the edges, wear cotton gloves if you wanna stay clean.
  
• Coin Roll Hunting (CRH) is a fun easy way to find a lot of what you can fill Whitman coin binders with - plus it's cheaper than buying on e-bay/coin sites when you don't know what you're looking for right now.
  
• Get a loupe/magnifying glass and a nice bright desk light.
  
• DO NOT CLEAN COINS.

Video is going to be your problem, most cheap scopes won't do a very good job, depending on what you're looking for.

I've been using one I got off Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XNYXQHE/ or similar, there are several identical ones from different brands there). Picture quality is OK, good enough for basic work, but it doesn't seem like it would do video well (though it can).

A few example pictures:

https://imgur.com/J49ZBFM

https://imgur.com/ocAlHr6

https://i.imgur.com/N90jTHI.jpg

Not great, but decent magnification and perfectly acceptable for basics (could use some better lighting). That's going to be your baseline, and at $40 you're pretty limited (you can probably pick up a version of that for a bit under $40 if you look around).

Anything past that and your price is going to pop. The one /u/Thebillyray linked is a similar but slightly better option, but at twice the price. Anything higher quality than these will start to push you well over $100.

I don't own one yet but I've got my eye on this one since I want something fairly inexpensive and easy to use for my first purchase:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XNYXQHE?psc=1&redirect=true

It's only 2mp and uses a flexible arm to hold it instead of a sturdy, straight stand so not sure how great is for photography. I think I'm going to use it mainly for viewing a lot of coins vs. photographing a few ones so might fit the bill.

But if I'm being honest, I hope I can get cool pics as well :)

• 2x2 Cardboard flips will be your friend.
  
  
• The amount of money you spend on a safe should probably be 10% of the total value of your collection. If youre just starting out a simple Sentry or well hidden spot will do but those things dont bolt down and are easy to crack/hotwire. When you start getting really up there in worth look to getting a heavy TL-15+ rated bolt down safe.
  
  
• Currency Sleeves work well at keeping bills safe.
  
  
• Do not clean your coins, ever. Never unless you dug them up out of the ground. Even then be extremely careful with just warm distilled water and gentle swishing. Sorry, cant avoid the heart attack every time someone brings this up.
  
  
• This is a really nice scale. Reliable and dependable. Rarely needs recalibration. Perfect for coin collecting. Bit small if your start going down the silver stacking path.

Congrats on getting into the hobby! I'm not sure that either of these is of any significant value, so if they were in my pocket I'd probably save the money and not grade them.

If you haven't already, get yourself a copy of The Red Book to help you better understand the value of coins you might be interested in, and what to look for when evaluating a specific coin.

I'd also spend a little time on youtube learning about luster (particularly cartwheel luster) so you can better spot coins that have been cleaned...before learning it the hard way like I did!

Are they U.S. coins? The main price guide to U.S. coins is called the Red Book - the values aren't exact, but they will give you a rough idea of what the coins are worth. To find out exactly how much you could actually sell the coins for, you can search through Sold Listings on eBay - eBay is the main online marketplace for buying and selling coins, and if you want to sell you'll get better prices there than going to a coin dealer. Finally, feel free to post pictures of the coins in this subreddit and people will be happy to help out in telling you how much they're worth.

Whitman Red Book is gonna be one of your best friends. eBay sold listings or greysheets are gonna be you best bet for up to date value/pricing.


I would honestly just decide how much money you want to spend and find a LCS (local coin shop) and go pick out something you like. Decide if you wanna buy just one coin or maybe a few for cheaper. Make sure to pick a coin up and really examine it closely, don't just decide by looking at it in the case. Also don't just pay the listed price, see if you can talk the dealer down a bit (sold listings/greysheets can help with this), just don't make an insulting offer.

These things you will not be afforded buying a coin online. And the experience is part of the education process. That fact that you've already studied puts you ahead of most and you'll just keep learning as you go.

1. Don't buy any coins from amazon, as you can get much better deals on ebay and at local coin shops.
   
   
2. Be aware of the value of the coin you are buying. A lot of new collectors way over pay for common coins because they don't know any better. Save yourself the grief and buy a Red Book which will give you an approximate idea of what coins are worth.
   
   
3. Beware of fakes. There are a lot of them out there and they can be hard to spot. Until you are very well informed on a certain type of coin don't buy coins from ebay sellers with low feedback.
   
   
4. Most coins aren't going to be great investments. It can be a very fun and rewarding hobby, but very few people make a lot of money collecting coins.
   
   
5. Have fun with it! I'd recommend looking into coins other than just US coins, as you can get some very cool and old world coins for a fraction of what US coins cost.

First, I am very sorry for your loss. This is never a great way to receive coins.

In terms of valuing it, I would take it very slow. It looks like your Dad was passionate about this hobby, and he had a fairly large collection. You would honor him by learning all you can about them.

You will need to start by separating them by denomination. It looks like there are a lot of coins in those cigar boxes, so you want to do this as orderly as possible.

Once you have them grouped, start checking for any key dates. You can use the PCGS price guide to identify those. I wouldn't rely on their prices, however, as they are known to be very inflated.

https://www.pcgs.com/prices

You can also get yourself a copy of the redbook...

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins/dp/0794847021/

You will also need to learn how to estimate each coin's grade. This can be difficult if you don't have experience doing it. PCGS has a Photograde app that you can download, and use to compare your coins to pictures of other examples in every grade. That will help.

Any higher grade coins, or key dates will end up being the most valuable.

In terms of tracking, you should look into using Numista. Enter each coin in as you evaluate them. This way you will end up with a complete record of everything, and a running total for estimated value.

https://en.numista.com/index.php

Hope that helps!

It shouldn’t take much money. I’d start by grabbing Red book and blue book. I’d say blue book would be better for you, unless you plan on buying more coins.

2019 Official Red Book of United States Coins - Spiral Bound https://www.amazon.com/dp/0794845711/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dkz-Bb81A1982

A Handbook of United States Coins Blue Book 2019 (The Official Blue Book of United States Coins) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0794846491/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Lkz-BbQFGHZ9R


Blue book will give you an idea of what coin dealers should offer value wise if you want to sell. Red book is closer to what dealers would charge for coins. These are just guides though, and prices can take wild swings, but they should give a decent idea on values, how to guess the grade for ungraded, and some errors to look out for.

Sorry for your loss, but hopefully his collection brings you some happiness.

Also, I am in Fairfax, Va, so if you wanted to talk about coins, or anything really, feel free to hit me up.

Depends on what you're interested in. Some people are really passionate about large cents, others love Morgan dollars, some like wheat pennies. The key is to find your niche. For me, its British coins and Standing Liberty quarters. There's plenty of references, some useful books would be:

The Cherry Picker's Guide Volume I

And Volume II

I don't know where you got that Amazon link but the URL appears to contain an affiliate ID so reddit's spam filter flagged it.

I agree that the Krause catalogs are pretty useful, up to a point. You can find them at the library or buy them new or used on eBay or Amazon. They don't change much from year to year so buying cheaper ones that are a couple of years old is usually fine.

Here's a non-spam link to Krause on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/2014-Standard-Catalog-World-Coins/dp/1440235678/

On the grading part; there are three circumstances that I'd like something to be graded: to increase its value, to authenticate it or to keep it safe (for something sentimental). Unless a coin is worth 250+ I wouldn't have it graded, I'd just throw it in an air-tite and tube.

PS: I love Morgans, that is the majority of my collection... all the way from cull Morgans to MS-66. If you are serious into collecting silver dollars (Peace and Morgan) I recommend you spend $40 and purchase this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Catalog-Encyclopedia-Morgan-Dollars/dp/0966016823

If you're looking for varieties, there is The Cherrypicker's Guide. If there is a certain series you would like to start in, the Red Book/Bowers Series has some good choices (Peace Dollar, Lincoln Cent, ect). Vamworld.com is a great resource for Morgan and Peace Dollar variates. For pricing trends, get a trial pack to The Grey Sheet

Go to http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html they have a calculator that will tell you how the silver is worth. A silver quarter is worth about 3 dollars, a dime is worth about 1.20. All of this is dependent on the spot price of silver. Unless you have a key date coin or an error you'd probably get about melt for them. IMO keep them until the value of silver goes up or keep them for your own collection. You may want to cross post in /r/silver too. If you want to sell there's a subreddit for selling silver as well. Hope this helps. Very neat inheritance.

Also, get a red book https://www.amazon.com/2019-Official-United-States-Coins/dp/0794845711/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522357135&sr=8-1&keywords=coin+red+book+2019 it'll cost you about 4 silver quarters. It'll show you what are the key dates and a few major errors to look.

As for storage just get some paper coin rollers, you can get them at your local bank for free usually.

this is one of those cases where the more effort you put in, the more money you get out. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would make you an offer just based on what you posted (i would take a gamble). the price would be pretty low and if you sold it, the person would make a lot of profit. what i recommend to everyone in your situation is to build an excel database and document every coin in the collection. From there, buy a "red book" for ~$10. just that alone will protect you quite a bit from unscrupulous dealers. from there, you can take pictures of the more high dollar coins and we all can help you determine a more exact price. the rest, a dealer will offer you a low price for, because there isnt a lot of profit margin.

I'll start with your last question. The coins were left to my brother and myself. He wants to cash out his half entirely. I'd personally love to hold on to many of the coins - although I will have to liquidate some. The idea is that we want a decent appraisal, so that we can divide the collection without just liquidating it all. It's kind of a sin to break up the half dollars though, the only ones missing are a 1794 and stuff past the 1940s. And most of them are in AU or better condition.

Most of the coins went to PCGS for your reason #2, there's a fairly big jump in value depending on the grade. The idea was that getting them slabbed would definitely increase the value more than the grading fees. Somehow I don't think a "PCGS Genuine - AU Cleaning" holder does that. In most cases, anyway- there were a few items that do fall into your category #1.

I've already picked up blue and red books. Is this the photograde that you recommend?

Totally! A great book is called cherrypicker’s guide vol 2 it is full of useful errors. Finding an FS-101 for the 1976-D Bicentennial Quarter would be awesome!

Glad to help.
Strike it rich with pocket change is also a great book if you're getting into errors and varieties.

https://www.amazon.com/Strike-Rich-Pocket-Change-Error/dp/1440235708/

Is this the book you were talking about? I put it on my Christmas list either way. Definitely looks like it will be helpful. Thanks for the recommendation.

Not really what you have in mind but this is what I might do with it.

1. An old US Commemoratives. Depending on where you live, your state may have created one back in the 20's or 30's (~$100 for the cool ones)
   
2. Work on a merc dime(~$1.50/each), Washington quarters(~$4/each), or half dollar(~$8/each) book
   ~The key dates get really spendy btw~
   
3. Save up and get a Classic Head or Indian Head Gold $5 half Eagle (~$500)
   
   
   or you could buy a Red Book (~$10) and flip through it until you see something that is in your price range

People will ALWAYS exploit you for your lack of knowledge in any subject. Educate yourself on coins and their values, the best thing new collectors can do is to buy the red book . It is a price guide of US coins, every coin that the United States has officially made is in there along with montage numbers and it’s value in several different conditions. You don’t have to buy the 2019 you can get one that is a couple of years old for a lot cheaper. Buy it and actually read the beginning, it gives a good run down of American coins and tips on how to get started.

That being said a 56D is one of the most common wheat pennies out there. Unless it has an unusual mint error it should never go for thousands of dollars even in BU condition that’s been graded by the PCGS.

I recommend dropping $13 or so on a US Coins red book. It'll have all the basics on how to grade, mintages, and, of course, a basic guide as to the value of the coin. It also makes for a great read on some coin history.

1931 S is the one most of us covet.

Your best bet is to pony up about $15 and get yourself a Whitmans Red Book. I have several copies and an e version on my mobile for reference if I'm out and about and come across anything.

Oh, and all wheaties are worth more than face value. They average around $0.15 a piece.

If they a packaged US mint products you can pretty easily look up prices on eBay sold auctions.

For everything else you can get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Grading-Counterfeit-Detection/dp/0375720502/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495145544&sr=8-1&keywords=pcgs+grading
or one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Official-Standards-American-Numismatic-Association/dp/0794838243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495145572&sr=8-1&keywords=ana+grading+standards

You can use those books to start evaluating their condition, then you can use eBay or even a Whitman Publishing US Coins Red Book to get relative values.

Collect what you like. There are many ways to do that affordably. It is helpful to have some kind of collection goal to guide and focus you [ex., get an example of every dollar coin from Morgans to moderns, or build a type set of coins minted in 1892, etc.]

The Red Book is a MUST have for any collector, and is especially helpful for new ones. If you don't have one yet, I would invest in one now.

these make it really convenient, and make great gifts for the holidays

The same one /u/sleepyminion has other folks hooked on. It's really great, especially for the price, but I can't get gold to show up in the correct color yet. As you can see in this picture, it looks more like a nickel.

Here's the link to the microscope

It's obvious once you've seen it. I have a Carson 7x loupe. Grab a flashlight and point it at the coin. Look through the loupe. If there are tons of tiny scratches in one direction, it's cleaned. If you rotate the coin and see tons of tiny scratches in the same direction while the coin is rotating, it's cleaned. Basically, if there are any micro scratches in a little cluster, clusters, or on the whole coin, is cleaned.

If you don't have a loupe, I recommend you get one. They're also good for familiarizing yourself with real coins so that you can spot fakes. I'm surprised how easy it's gotten.

I have these and really like them.

Carson LumiLoupe 7X Power Stand Magnifier With Dual Lens (LL-77) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010PCL5Q

BelOMO 10x Triplet Loupe Folding Magnifier https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EXPWU8S

I've had luck with estate auctions, especially with silver. Other than that, if you don't have a good coin dealer near you, get an up-to-date red book, find the coins you like, and get on eBay. There's a lot of crap on there, but you can find some really good deals too.

Seriously...I would buy a Redbook and Strike it Rich with Pocket Change and start looking at values. The Redbook gives high values for graded and slabbed coins. You can expect a little less, but it will give you a ball park that can be further compared to completed e-bay auctions.

I have a digital microscope I got for Christmas last year that's awesome. This one.

Here are some pictures.

You should get a copy of the Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins, by R.S. Yeoman), which has grading standards for VF, EF and other grades for each series of US Coins. A more advanced version is the ANA Grading Guide.
https://www.amazon.com/Official-Standards-American-Numismatic-Association/dp/0794838243

I found this cheap on amazon but does it include modern coins? I didnt really find an answer


A Guide Book of United States Coins 2020 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0794847021/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_oz7VDbXS29WYZ

A while back a user mentioned this one and his pictures where awesome! Not sure about video though.

I've been very happy with this. I'd steer you away from cheaper loupes.

I use a [cheap hundreths scale for things like coins and jewelry] (https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Digital-Scale-sensitivity/dp/B0012LOQUQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494520671&sr=8-1&keywords=hundreths+scale), so not overly confident.

I did just weigh a normal penny using it and got the correct 2.5g, so I think the coin is most likely a good counterfeit - unless 0.3 grams is within the Mint's "margin of error".

photograde as others said, and also take a look at the grading standards book if you want a better description of it https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0794838243

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0794847021/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

IF you haven't got this yet start with this book. I have just recently started too. yes silver you want 1970 halves and older. quarters are 1964 and older. 1943 and 1944 copper and steel pennies. 1964 dimes and older. Nickels are ...1945 and older ... there may be ones to the 60's as well I really dont know about much other than halves and I really dont a great deal yet.

Buy yourself the official red book

It has tons of useful information and will teach you a lot about US coins and how to collect.

I highly recommend this book. It really helped me learn the basics.

What do you mean? How is this different from other doubling?

it looks just like the one in this book : http://www.amazon.com/Strike-It-Rich-Pocket-Change/dp/1440235708
and isn't Ken Potter a respected authority on the subject?

For US coins, I'd recommend the Whitman Red Book.

By "redbook" coin collectors mean this Guidebook of United States Coins which, strangely, is cheaper in hardback than paperback on Amazon right now.

Get a red book! Here’s a link to it on amazon!
https://www.amazon.com/2019-Official-United-States-Coins/dp/0794845711?keywords=red+book+coins&qid=1538231178&sr=8-1&ref=mp_s_a_1_1

I didn't have the ISBN's handy for all of these it was easier to find Amazon links and a link to Rick Snow's site for the Indian books. These are the books on my bookshelf which aren't the common ones: (Some are hard to find.)

• Photograde: Official Photographic Grading Guide for United States Coins, 19th Edition
  
• United States Early Half Dollar Die Varieties 1794-1836, 4th Edition
  
• The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection, 2nd Edition
  
• The Complete Guide to Barber Dimes
  
• The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters
  
• The Complete Guide to Barber Halves
  
• The Flying Eagle & Indian Cent Attribution Guide (Volumes 1-6)

Nah sorry I'm only into silver. If you are looking us coins only pickup one of those coin books like this one.
https://www.amazon.com/2019-Official-United-States-Coins/dp/0794845711

You want a "Cherry Pickers's Guide".

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008S3BUDM/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_LS5VDbJ9Y3XKH

Or something similar

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1440235708/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_UU5VDbFHRACFW

Blue Book or Red Book

You can buy a red book if you don't have one already - https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins/dp/0794845061/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498506416&sr=8-2&keywords=red+book

Start by finding this

Red Book

https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Microscope-Flexible-Observation-Magnification/dp/B00XNYXQHE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=pluggable+microscope&qid=1571013193&sprefix=pluggable+mic&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzUDQyUEVGUTMwN1ZZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjA1Mjk0M1I1VzRYMFJJMzhJSSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjczMjU2MTZMWkVMTTE4QVNVQiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

If you can, get one of these and post a magnified image of the S/8 to fully confirm it's not PMD/modified/actually an S.

40 bucks aint bad

You should buy a http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins/dp/0794842151 and check the prices. I dunno why no one has suggested that. It's not about grade at first. If you have a coin that could be worth something. Dig further.

Fake pirate money, I have a bunch of it, http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Treasure-Coins-Doubloon-Replicas/dp/B001CICTZS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411438806&sr=8-2&keywords=pirate+money