coins & paper money

Starting to collect something do not require to first know some rules or methods. It start like a hobby, it has to be a hobby, else will be something you will leave behind. So, making collections (no matter what) will start an amateur level. In time, when you'll see your collection is grown up and start to have identical pieces several times, you then look for fellows with same passion and also start reading books and articles about. Then you will test your ability to have seen, predict, felt, that some things are quite non-valuable and other are very rare. Just to come back to coins and banknotes, there are few things to consider, beside the age: - how they look like - usage, erased details - how many were back there printed - some have been so many there is full market, everybody have, equal low value. Some of them may value almost nothing in bad shape and lot of cash in perfect shape. Some of coins were made by gold or silver and can have just the value of precious metal are made of or who knows what higher value because of what was the reason was made for. In this category of collectibles are also treasury notes, diplomas, medals, anniversary coins and so on.

Value is really based on three things. The rarity of the item, its quality (in relation to others of the same type) and its desirability. Clearly, the older something is, the rarer it is likely to be and the fewer items of its type are likely to be in 'good' or 'fine' condition. A collector's ideal is usually to have objects in his collection which are in the best condition possible and he will, of course, pay more for condition. The main influence on the price (and therefore the 'value' in the sense meant here) of something is, however, the fact that more than one person is collecting the same kind of thing. When they bid against each other to own a particular object, the highest bidder wins and the price that he is prepared to pay is called the 'value'. In the case of coins, this may be much more than the face value or the value of the metal, if the coin is in good condition and rare.