Coin Collecting For Dummies

The purpose of this fun, easy-to-access guide is to turn you into a world-class coin collector in as little time as possible. You’ll learn what coins can teach you about history and geography, develop organizational and observational skills, and learn to use analytical tools, all without event thinking about it. And you’ll learn the basics about ancient coins, U.S. coins, world coins, and the wild-and-wooly stuff that really gets your numismatic juices flowing. Discover how to:

• Start your collection correctly
• Evaluate coins using age, condition, rarity, and more
• Buy interesting coins without breaking the bank
• Locate rare and expensive coins
• Get savvy about avoiding fakes
• Get the whole family involved in your collection
• Develop a buying strategy
• Clean and handle coins safely
• Keep your collection secure at home and on the road
• Investigate tokens, medals, and miscellaneous coins
• Create complete collections of copper, nickel, silver, or gold U.S. coins

When it comes to numismatics, Coin Collecting For Dummies, 2^nd Edition is right on the money!

There's a ton of stuff to learn. This book covers alot of it in a very approchable way, and isn't quite as condescending as most of the "For Dummies" books. The humour is a little too frequent for the level of the content, but the book is a great start for the new collector.

There's a few sections the book could have done without, like the chapter on record-setting auctions. It would've been great to balance it with a section on the most underrated coins, or the best bargains.

If you're interested in getting started, this book is for you. For anyone with experience, it's probably not appropriate.


Highly Recommended!   February 24, 2005
D. Vantasil (Fort Worth, TX United States)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

For any of you who are interested in coin collecting, or if you happen to inherit somehow a collection of coins, this is the book for you! It is filled with information on how to take care of your coins, what to look for when purchasing, selling, trading or anything else regarding coins. The book is full of knowledge that is easy to comprehend. Buy it for youself or for your kids!


An educational collector's guide   February 12, 2002
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

Coin Collectors For Dummies is a paperback guide for beginning to intermediate coin collectors. With humour and style, author Guth explains numismatics, buying coins, choosing coins for your collections, U. S. coins, selling coins, and the part of tens containing the following: (1) the ten most valuable U. S. coins, (2) Guth's favorite ten U. S. coin designs, and (3) Guth's ten favorite web sites for the coin-collecting websurfer du jour.

Sprinkled with cartoons, black and white illustrations, homely tales and guides, Coin Collecting For Dummies is the quintessential user-friendly coin collector's guide. An added perk: many bits of fascinating coin history are introduced, often in silvery-grey highlighted boxes. Coin Collecting For Dummies is a fascinating, entertaining, and educational collector's guide.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer


This Book is Right On the Money   July 17, 2002
BCT (St. Petersburg, Florida United States)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful

This is a great book to read - even for non-coin collectors. The historical data is fascinating. Well written, good touches of humor - informative and educational. I think it's appropriate for anyone from beginning to experienced collectors and just about anyone who's interested in money.