What Coin Magazine Should I Subscribe To?
If you are a beginning coin collector, or even an experienced collector, you may be wondering what numismatic/coin magazine or numismatic newspaper you should subscribe to. The first question is whether you want a weekly or a monthly. While you may find you need both, the purpose of this article will be to examine the monthlies. Specifically, we will examine COINS magazine, COINage and Coin Values. There are other publications dedicated to just price information such as COIN Prices which are not in the scope of this article. Note: While Coin Values, provides price information, it also contains feature articles where as Coin Prices, is strictly pricing information with various advertising.
All three magazines offer feature articles about different coins and coin collecting. And as one might expect, some of the same writers appear in more than one magazine. Many of the articles published in the magazines are not staff writers, but outside writers/collectors that make a few bucks on a published article. This by no means implies poor quality of articles; in fact, the contributions by the outside writers are excellent sources of information. With that in mind, let’s look at the publications in detail.
Coin Price Data Comparison
If you are looking for monthly coin price information, the three publications differ slightly. For example, COINS offers a Comprehensive price guide with mintage figures and has prices for most lower grades, but in mint state, COINS only reports only MS60 and MS65. Early coins, two, three and twenty cent pieces are published quarterly. Each quarter, the magazine includes a different feature such as colonial, Mexican, Canadian or Paper Money prices. Quarterly issues have nearly 70 pages of coin values with no advertising on the pages. Regular issue contains 20 pages of coin values (no advertising). Some issues show various grades for each series.
Coinage also provides a comprehensive guide for all US coins but does NOT include mintage figures. Coinage provides a better breakout on ranges showing MS60, MS63, MS64, MS65 and sometimes MS67 and MS68 depending on the coin. Coinage also has more Proof pricing. Coinage provides 65 pages of price information but each page is nearly 1/2 advertising.
Coin Values provides a smaller guide showing only key dates for some series (no Lincoln Cent, Jefferson Nickel, Roosevelt Dime pricing in the issue I reviewed.) No mintage figures but shows pricing for wider group of MS and PR than COINS.
Coin Dealer Comparison
If you are looking for coin dealers, COINage and COIN VALUES seems to have more advertisers. In fact, when comparing December issues, COINage had 97 advertisers listed in their index, COIN Values had 80 advertisers while COINS had only 60. On the other hand COINS magazine has a classified section catering to smaller dealers while the other two do not. Very often, if you find a small dealer selling what you need, you might get a better deal. It is interesting to note that while COINage had more advertisers listed, it also had the least amount of pages as shown below. It seemed every page had an ad of some sorts. In regards to advertisers, as one might expect, some of the bigger dealers advertise in two or more of the publications while some dealers can only be found in a specific magazine.
Number of Pages Comparison
The number of pages in no way related to the quality of the content, but for comparisons sake, here the page counts for December issue:
COINS 130 pages
Coinage 106
Coin Values 130
Miscellaneous
One of the more interesting features found exclusively in COINS is the COIN FINDS section. This is where your every day collectors can write in and brag about what older coin they found in circulation. While finding a rare coin in circulation is quite rare, it is interesting to read about what other collectors have found still in circulation.
Both COINS and COINage offer editorial commentary while Coin Values does not. Additionally COINS has several other features that give it the edge such as Q&A section and a specific coin focus (last page in COINS)
All three publications offer some Coin Market information.
Summary
In summary, my opinion is that COINS and Coinage offer substantial value while Coin Values offers less coin pricing info and less content. While offering less content, the content that is offered is good. Additionally, Coin Values does offer a cheaper subscription rate than the others. Additionally, in the issues that I reviewed for this article, COINS magazine seems to have more information that is of value and/or more interest to the average collector and is my personal favorite. Since I love reading about and learning more about coins, I subscribe to all three.
Keith Scott has been a collector for over 30 years and owns a small internet-based coin store at http://www.mountainviewcoins.com and coin article website at www.coin-articles.com. Visit his website for a history of US coins, metal market updates and news about your favorite coins.
Antique Music Boxes – Buying Tips
Looking for a unique music box? What about an antique music box? You can find many antique music boxes that are still playing. Here are some tips on how to get a vintage music box.
First thing you need to worry about is if the box in a working condition or does it need repairs. Of course it is easier to buy a working music box, but you will pay more for it. If the box is not working, don’t get discouraged. A music box is a delicate mechanism that can be easily damaged, but most damages usually can be repaired as well. You can actually find very good deals buying damaged antique music boxes and repairing them.
Types of antique music boxes
There are two types of old music boxes – disc and cylinder boxes. Cylinder boxes appeared on the market in the middle of 19th century, a little bit after musical watches. Majority of them were produced in Switzerland, so many people call them Swiss boxes. They were very rare and expensive items. Some cylinder music boxes were made in Czechoslovakia and France.
Then a disc music box came to the market. They were cheaper to manufacture, which significantly affected the price and made them very popular items. First company to release disc boxes was Symphonion. Other popular brands of antique music boxes are Polyphon and Regina.
Quite interesting items are antique music jewelry boxes. Since these can be used to store your jewelry, it would be a great pleasure to open your little box often and to hear a beautiful tune.
How much would it cost to repair an antique music box?
Actually, quite a lot. The problem is that people who can do a good job repairing an old music box are difficult to find. There are very few professionals. Another problem can be parts, most of them have to be handmade. Fixing an antique box would require getting different items often including comb work, cylinder repining, dampers, governors and mainsprings. So be prepared to pay a lot for the repair of your antique box. But on the bright side, after the it is repaired, its value will dramatically increase.
Best places to buy vintage music boxes
It is amazing how many antiques you can find online. There are online antique auctions and stores. And of course there is Ebay. That is probably the best place to look for deals on antique and vintage boxes. You can find very interesting items and get them at a very good price. When buying antiques on Ebay, look for sellers feedback score. Only buy from people that have a lot of feedbacks, most of them positive.
Visit to find http://www.musicboxplanet.com/ the most beautiful music boxes. We compare many retailers of antique music boxes to help you find the best deals
Finding Old American Coins In Ordinary Places
With the new age of the Internet you can now find most anything you could possibly want online. While there are certainly many places to find old coins on the net, in some ways this hobby can be as traditional as it was back before the Internet. People starting out in their coin-collecting journey are often delighted to discover how many old American coins are still in everyday use.
You can often find collectable coins in everyday places. With the use of the modern day coin counting machine rare old coins can bounce from store to bank to who knows where without ever being revealed. When these coins wind up in your pocket is when they stand a chance of being found. Most of these rare coins wind up in the pocket of people who do not even look at them and off they go on their next journey!
Even though you ill find a few gems searching for old coins this way it is not the fastest way to build your collection. There are many places to go searching and we will examine a few of the most promising places.
Your local coin dealer
Your next great find can be as close as your local coin dealer. This may not be the place to get a super deal but if you look around and find someone you trust it may be one of the safest places to buy old coins. Get to know the owner; most likely he or she will have a good knowledge of coin collecting. There is a lot of knowledge as close as your hometown coin dealer.
Order coins through the mail
You can purchase almost any kind of coin through the postal service. Be careful of each shops grading system and always make sure they offer a reasonable return policy in case things are not as good as they first seem.
Coin collectors
This resource is not always the first one you think of but many collectors will sell coins to finance their own hobby. This is a very good way to get some good buys. Look in the classifieds in your hometown newspaper to see if anyone has a coin for sale ad.
Flea markets
Sometimes you can find coins at your local flea market, craft shows or antique store. There is usually not a lot of competition at these places so sometimes you can get a better deal on your rare coin purchase. Always be on the lookout for the guy selling old coins that really does not know what he is selling. You can find good deals when you find yourself in this situation. Always be sure of what you are buying because the guy selling you the coins may not be there the next time you visit. Use caution and you should be fine.
The Internet
As stated at the start of this article you can find most anything on the Internet and rare coins are no exception. Be sure of the dealer before handing over your credit card number. There are wonderful buys to be found on the Internet. Be careful and ask about reliable dealers at your local coin-collecting forum. Always check the web site return policy in case what you receive is not what you expected.
Before you get your wallet out to make that purchase always do the proper research on what you are considering buying. Knowledge is power and in this case it may save you a few bucks on that great find.
You will find place after place to purchase your old American coins. With just a little effort on your part you will discover an abundance of places to find old coins
For more information all about the hobby of finding old American coins visit http://www.find-coins.com where will find useful tips, articles and resources to help you find old coins.
Coin Collecting Values! What Is Your Coin Collection Worth?
There are so many things that can affect the value of your coin collection. A lot of these are obvious like the condition your coin is in or how old it is. How many coins were produced is another item that will affect your coin collecting values. Other things to keep in mind are factors that are beyond your control such as how much desire there is for the coin you own.
While you do not have any control over all the things that affect your coin collecting values like the state of our economy there are many things you can watch out for. The more knowledgeable of a coin collector you become the easier it will become to spot the winners.
Here are a few things you could keep an eye on when determining your coin collection value.
Learning how to grade your coins should be a top priority. You can and should seek the services of a professional coin grader if you are not certain of your ability to properly grade your coins. However there are a few simple steps you can take to determine your coin value. You should start with a through visual inspection. Try to decide where your coin will rank in the coin grading system.
Age is a general factor to keep in mind when determining your coins value. Generally speaking a very old coin will be worth more than a modern day coin. This does not factor in things like wear, where it was minted, the history of the coin or other essential pieces of information.
How rare the coin is has much to do with its value. It stands to reason that if there are not a large number of a coin to be had it will bring a higher price than one that can be found easily. Usually the less a certain coin was produced the more bucks it will bring if you decide to sell it.
Coins that were produced with errors or flaws in them are generally considered more collectible in the coin collecting market. Things like double-strikes or file marks can determine the coins value.
Coins that have visible wear or a defect such as nicks or scratches will often not be worth as much as the same coin in mint condition. Use common sense and experience to decide whether a defect is a profit producing error or if the coin is just worn.
There will always be fads that will come and go away. Sometimes your coins will bring you more profit than other times. This is not under your control so do the best you can and sell your coins when conditions are best if you can.
Do your research and you will find yourself being able to more accurately determine your coin collecting values.
For more information all about coin collecting values visit http://www.find-coins.com where will find useful tips, articles and resources to help you find old coins.
How To Value Coins Using A Coin Value Guide
One of the most important pieces of information that a coin collector will want to know is how much a coin is worth. By knowing what a coin is worth will affect what they are willing to pay or sell it for. Plus it will help you to look and appreciate your coins much more. There are plenty of US coin value guides available both off and online. But some are certainly more accurate than others. However, what should be remembered is no one guide is foolproof. All the guides available will only provide you with an approximation of the market value and actual coin prices. So if you really want to know the market you should also see what coins are actually selling for.
A great place to look for such information is on auction sites such as eBay as well as various auction houses such as Heritage, Teletrade, Bowers and Merena and Stacks to name a few. Also you could take a look in your local and national coin shows as well as local coin shops to see what prices they have. But below are details of some of the more common US coin value guides that are in use today.
1. US Coin Digest
This is much like the Red Book but it includes coin pricing for more grades. Where in the Red Book has only pricing for six grades of the Morgan Dollars in the US Coin Digest it has pricing for 11 grades. It also contains a bit more background information in relation to coins in general.
2. Greysheet
This is officially called the Coin Dealer Newsletter and is an expensive subscription periodical ($98 per year). It is most commonly used price guide to be used by dealers when setting their own prices. However, it does contain wholesale prices also (so it is a wise choice for the more savvy collectors out there). The prices in this are based on coins graded according to industry standards. But they also include pricing for properly graded raw coins when compiling their figures. However, the biggest weakness of this publication is that it ignores the current state of grading services.
3. Numismedia Price Guide
This is an online service and is similar to the PCGS Price Guide. But the prices on this site can be somewhat higher than those that appear in printed guides. However, this site has been a subscription service since 2003 and costs $96 per year for you to be able to see the pricing of grades above MS-60.
So as you can see from above there are plenty of different US coin value guides available not just in book format but also online also.
For more information all about coin collecting values visit http://www.find-coins.com where will find useful tips, articles and resources to help you find old coins.