Beginning A New Hobby

We all seem to find a hobby at some point in our lives. Be it coins, stamps, gardening, playing video games, skiing,etc. But at some point we have to ask ourselves if we are learning anything by what we do for that hobby. Coins are an excellent learning tool, especially if you start early in life. It is a hobby the whole family can participate in and have fun also! It costs very little to get started and later in life you just might have something very valuable.
All you need to get started are a handful of pocket change, a few folders to put the coins in to protect and organize them and a list of what you have for coins to remind you of what you need to put in those folders
Starting out you might want to try the lower denomination, such as the cent,nickel or dime. Not much cost there is it! The second thing you need are the folders for these coins. Many stores sell them including bookstores. Barnes and Noble does,I checked it out recently. Hobbie shops that cater to other hobbies, such as models, trains, kites, and coins of course. Your phone book is an excellent place to look for these store. You will probably start with the classic blue Whitman folders and they cost around $1.99 or so retail. So go get those folders, grab a handful of change and let the fun begin!
The first rule of thumb for coin collectors is-DON'T touch the coins directly with your fingers. This is a no-no as the oils in your skin will react with the metal in the coin and eventually will dis-color the coin. Handle your coins only after washing your hands and then only handle the coin by it's edges. Never touch the front (obverse) or the back (reverse sides of the coin. Now you have your first coin in hand and you will need to insert it into the folder to store and display it. The Whitman folders are a bit hard to press coins into until you get the hang of it. You will need to start one edge, obverse up,by tilting it slightly to one side and slowly work around the coin until you feel it "pop" into place. Do this with a dry clean cotten cloth so as not to touch the face of the coin. There will be spaces for all your coins from all of their repectable mints (where they were made.) In the case of Lincoln cents, that would be Philadelphia, Denver and San Fransisco. You will know by looking at either the front or the back of your coins by spotting a lone P,D, or S somewhere on the coin. In the case of no mint mark this will mean Philadelphia also. other coins have different mint marks also. Some have an O for New Orleans, or CC for Carson City, Nevada. We will discuss these later in my series.
Now that you have started with the cents, you may want to move on to the nickel (5cent ), or the dime (10 cent), coin.
Later in this series I will insert a section where you can make comments and ask questions. As I am just getting started, it will take awhile to build this site properly so that it user friendly, easy on the eye, chock full of photos,etc. Thankyou for visiting and let's all have some great fun!