Whether you have acquired a new coin of unknown value or you are simply wondering how much you could get if you sold off some duplicate coins, you will find that selling coins can be quite different from collecting them!

When you want to sell coins, you must first know how much they are worth, and in many cases, you will discover that the number that you come up with will vary depending on different factors.

When you are thinking about selling coins, no matter what the reason, you should be ready to do some research.

Check out a few of the things you need to know about coins and how to price them.

The first thing that you are going to need to think about is the grade of your coin.

The coin’s grade refers to the coin’s condition.

A coin that is in good condition will certainly sell for a higher price than a coin that has not been treated well or that has some staining and damage.

Remember that a coin that has damage on it is not going to be a coin that you can expect to sell for full price.

This does not mean that the coin is worthless but you still need to keep that in mind.

A coin that has not been circulated will likely sell for more than one that has.

Also be aware that the price of your coin will depend on its popularity.

Interestingly enough, the interest in a coin can often drive its price quite high and a coin that was only a fair option for sale one year can be quite valuable the next!

The shifts in coin collecting do not necessarily happen that fast, but they can, so it is important to make sure that you have the most current information that is available to you.

Take some time and learn more about the coin that you are selling and the market that you are going to be selling it into.

When you want to sell your coin, you might be tempted to look into the Blue Book to guide you.

Keep in mind that the Blue Book is not as helpful as it might seem at first glance.

The Blue Book only tells you what you can expect to pay a retailer for a certain coin in mint condition.

The price that a dealer is willing to give you for the same coin might be quite lower, as they definitely need to make a profit from it.

Remember that you might need to subtract five to fifteen percent from the price that is listed in the Blue Book to figure out what you would get from a retailer; for less rare coins, you might even subtract a full fifty percent!

Take some time and learn more about how much you can sell your coins for; this is important information for any coin collector to know!

In the beginning mankind would trade food or weapons in exchange for leather or some other item that they could use to make life easier for them and their family.

This type of trading worked out until mankind decided that there is a better way.

As man evolved he learned to harness the metals of the earth and began using them to make better weapons.

However, someone realized that this metal could be made into coins and used as a means of trading for items that they needed.

The idea of using coins as legal tender became very popular among towns people and the harder certain metals were to find, the more valuable it became.

Man began stamping symbols on these coins; which signified the amount that the coin was worth, as well as the country that it came from.

Later down the timeline, man began stamping the faces and other familiar monuments and artifacts.

Even later down the timeline; they began stamping these coins with a certain country’s leaders, heroes, and other facts from history.

So collecting coins is not only fun but it is collecting history as well.

Today, coins of interest are not just old coins but what condition that old coin is in.

Coins that have never or almost never been circulated became in high demand.

This uncirculation of coins is done now in the 21st Century as well.

The head of a government will requisition a coin to be manufactured and only allow so many of the coins be produced.

In this way coins are sold to coin collectors all around the world.

Each year these coins will increase in value; making the coin more rare.

These rare coins can be very beneficial to people that own them; so buying rare coins and reselling others is a great way to increase a collectors bank account.

Many coins were manufactured for its amount of bullion value.

This was the amount of certain metals that was placed in the coin when it was manufactured.

Collecting coins for its artistic value did not come until sometime later in history; although some of the art from the Roman and Renaissance periods had very beautiful engravings stamped on both sides of the coins.

Coin collectors do not always collect them for their money or art value; there are various types of hobby collectors, who collect coins from every country.

The bullion the coin contains the more valuable it is; however, the bullion value may not interest some coin collectors; just the idea of owning coins from any country is a worthwhile effort.

Some coin collectors only collect coins that have errors on them.

Coins that have been double stamped or a coin that only had part of a symbol stamped on it.

In the 1980′s coin grading became very popular among many coin collectors.

This was a means for buyers and sellers of coins to measure a coins value.

Grading services will certify the authenticity and rate the quality of individual coins.

This establishes the worth of a particular coin from other coins of its kind.

Collecting or gathering coins is not only interesting, but exciting as well.

It is exciting for collectors to get together at a coin convention, shop, or some other meeting place to display and show off their coin collect.

Reducing the risk of wear or avoiding other contaminates that could damage your coins, is important to maintain their value.

Even breathing on the coins can cause color changes and even some spotting.

You should always keep your valuable coins inside packages which are designed to protect your coins from contamination and wear.

If you ever have to take a coin out of the protective covering; there are certain ways it should be handled.

Never pick up a coin from your collection from anywhere except by its sides.

Finger prints are just as much as a contaminate as the air or breathing on the coin; as moisture comes from your mouth.

If you do so you should only wipe the coin gently with a velvet cloth, then place it on clean soft cloth to insure that it does not get damaged.

Many people do not realize that just cleaning a coin can reduce its value by as much as half the market value.

A great way to display your coins it to use a glass case covered with velvet on the inside.

Another good idea is to have two coins of the same denomination and turn one on the face side and one on its reverse side; this way no one would ever have to have a reason to take the coins out of its case.

Never use abrasive cleaners on your coins.

There are professional cleaners that will not harm your coins; and never rub your coin dry; instead just dab it and air dry it. In many cases some collectors use olive oil to remove finger prints or other foreign objects from their coins.

The coin is then either air dried or by using forced air.

If you do use forced air from an air tank be sure to hold the air nozzle approximately 12 inches away from the coin, as forced air has moisture in it and it may cause some damage to the coin itself.

If you have gold coins that need cleaning the best thing to do is to rinse them in very hot soapy water.

For bronze coins you should soak the coins in olive oil.

Sometimes if the coins are very damaged you may have to let them soak for a few weeks at a time.

For cleaning silver, copper or nickel coins a collector may want to soak them in white vinegar for approximately 5 minutes and then another 5 minutes in lemon juice.

After the coins have soaked; rinse them again under very warm running water.

These solutions will give the coin a bright finish after they are cleaned.

Another important thing to remember is never mix different types of coins together.

For instance, copper may cause other coins to have some discoloring on them and that will reduce the coins value even more, if not cause permanent damage.

There are many coin collectors which state that it is not a good idea to clean your coins at all, unless your coins are only worth the amount of the face value as well as the book value.

They state that any amount of cleaning will damage your coins up to 90% of the value of the coin itself.

They also state that if you purchased a rare coin that is already in a coin holder, and take it out of the holder to clean it, just the contact with the air alone could cause the coin to corrode and reduce it’s value significantly.

The tip is to always take great care handling your coins and if possible you should never touch them directly.

The grade of a coin is usually a key component of its value and in most cases, a higher grade often yields a higher value.

Coin collectors often seek higher value coins to satisfy their whims.

It is therefore very necessary for anyone collecting coins to have a reasonable knowledge on how coin grading is actually done.

In the early days of coin collecting, way before the emergence of an international market, coins were described only as good, fine or not circulated.

However, this mode of grading changed drastically by mid twentieth century.

This period saw the introduction of the Sheldon System as a method of grading and was first adopted by the American Numismatic Association in cohorts with other North American Professionals.

The Sheldon system of grading uses the 1 to 70 numbering scale where 70 represents a perfect specimen of a coin and 1 represents a coin that can hardly be identified because of very poor quality.

This system is similar to the Point Numeric System since they both assign numbers to the coins once graded.

The only difference is that the Sheldon System is not just numerical but also descriptive in its approach to assigning grades to coins.

Though universally acknowledged, numerically based systems such as the Sheldon System are shunned by coin experts in other parts of the World and more specifically Europe.

Here, the experts prefer to grade coins using purely descriptive or adjectival terms.

However, it should come as a relief to learn that these two approaches actually use the same terminology and are therefore not very different.

The mint state is the highest grade according to the Sheldon System ranging from 60 to 70.

The coins in this grade are not likely to have traces of wear and always seem to have very few contact marks with other coins or even scratches.

The non-circulated grade ranging from 50 to 58 follows next and retains most of its eye appeal but with less traceable wear on its design.

Next follows the extremely fine grade ranging from 40 to 45 and is characterized with noticeable wear but usually appears to have retained its distinctive features.

‘About good’ is considered the lowest grade in this system.

It is not always easy to distinguish the difference in grades and a level of expertise is usually required for grading.

Even experts do not usually assign the same grade to the same coin.

In certain instances, collectors succumb to the temptation of polishing their coin to pass them off as having higher grade.

The unfortunate result of this is that the coins are damaged in the process and end up with a split grade.

In such cases, the two sides of the coin are perceived to posses different grades, which must be appropriately allocated to them hence the split grading.

As a hobby, coin collecting began way back in the 14th century when it used to be the indulgence of Kings hence its branding as the ‘Hobby of Kings.’

The Renaissance period saw the reemergence of this hobby amongst the nobility and the super rich.

Collectors are especially keen to gather coins that are rare to get which they treasure and assign a significantly higher value.

There are certain themes or goals that collectors often seek to satisfy when they set out to satiate their indulgence.

Country collectors normally set out to collect coins from one country, usually their own.

Variety collectors set out to collect coins, which vary from the rest by virtue of differences in dies while type collectors gather coins on the basis design variance.

Year collectors seek coins minted in a specific year and yet there are still others who collect on the basis of the metallic composition amongst other criteria.

Anyone wishing to join the ranks of Russel Rulau, who has been collecting coins for ages, must bear in mind the seven steps required to start coin collecting.

The first step of note for a novice coin collector would be to decide which coins you want to collect.

That may impose upon you the need you want to identify with.

However, it is usually safer to start collecting the common types, which are readily available if you are to stay on course to satisfying your thirst.

Secondly, you should invest in a coin-collecting book such as the Whitman Coin Books, which are relatively cheap and satisfies the recommended standard for coin books.

This should be followed by an even more critical step of sorting through your change to find out which coins you already have and would wish to keep.

Such a habit should make it easy for you to retain desirable coins without going through the hustle and bustle of looking for them.

Another important step would be for the collector to head to the bank and trade in cash for rolls of coins.

Such rolls would provide a wide pool from which to select the desired coins with which to fill your album.

It is true you might end up with mostly later date coins but Lady Luck might smile on you and you land on the rare, older coins as well.

The coins you are not interested in can then be returned to the bank in exchange for a new set of coins or for notes.

This way, the pain of collecting the conventional way can be avoided.

Important, too, is for the collector to grow his or her collection with time.

This would certainly necessitate the need to buy additional books or coin storage tubes to safely keep your exotic collection of coins.

The sixth step is for the collector to get a ‘blue book’, which will educate the collector about the various grades.

The last but not least step is for the collector to keep the wares in a safe place.

You may never know when their value would appreciate.

In conclusion, coin collectors are advised to be persistent in their search for rare coins and should not give up easily.

In fact, they should enjoy looking for coins.

They should resist the temptation to buying rare coins but should go out and find them. More on that later.