5 Great GIFTS For Coin Collectors! (Must-Have Coin Supplies)

5 of the best AFFORDABLE gifts for coin collectors of all experience levels. Coin supplies we would ALL love to receive!

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⚡TIMESTAMPS FROM THE VIDEO⚡

00:00 Gifts for coin collectors INTRO

00:41 A coin MAGNIFIER aka coin loupe – see the best one

01:37 A coin SCALE (features to look for)

03:10 A coin FOLDER – not just for beginners

04:24 A coin DISPLAY HOLDER (see my favorite brand)

05:37 A coin BOOK – general for newbies, or specialized

08:30 Gifts for coin collectors SUMMARY

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hey! This is Josh with The Fun Times Guide. And today we’re gonna look at 5 kinds of gifts for coin collectors. 

Now we’re not talking about coins themselves. Rather, we’re talking about coin supplies. So, you know… books and holders and those kinds of things.

None of these gifts are very expensive. I think they’re affordable for most gift givers. And I almost guarantee… I will never put an ironclad warranty on this… but I would almost guarantee that ANY collector would love to receive any (or all) of these 5 kinds of gifts. 

So what are they? Let’s dive right in…

We will first look at gift #1… a COIN LOUPE. Now, what is a coin loupe? It is as you see here, a coin magnifier! This one has 10x power. So basically, it magnifies artifacts (or items) to the power of 10. And it’s just enough detail. You can really get a good look at the coin — looking for, you know, doubled dies or die breaks or those types of things. It’s a great basic gift for any coin collector. This one’s a middle-of-the-road model. It’s well-made. It’s made from metal. I’ve had this one out for over 15 years it has never failed me. And it is a great basic gift for any coin collector. I will not talk about pricing because I don’t want to have this video become outdated in a couple of years — by giving you prices that could be totally inaccurate in a couple of years or further on down the pike. So I do recommend you go ahead and shop online or your local coin dealer to look for coin loupes (or any other gift that I’m going to talk about here in this video). 

Coin gift #2 is a SCALE. Now what I have here is a scale that provides readouts in both integer units (which is this first number) and tenth of a gram (the second number). Now, why is that important? Well, let’s say you’re trying to weigh these two coins — a bronze Lincoln cent and a zinc Lincoln cent. The bronze cent should weigh around 3.1 grams. Tolerances would say 3.0 to 3.2 grams. So 3.1 is a standard, more or less, issue weight for a bronze cent. This is a zinc cent that should weigh around 2.5 grams. Now on a scale that would provide JUST the integer readout, the weight of this copper penny would be shown as 3 grams. Well guess what? At 2.5 grams, the weight for this coin would ALSO show 3 grams. (It would be rounded up to 3.) So you want a scale that can show at least a 10th of a gram fraction. Just to show you here how this works… Here’s the coin. The scale’s on. This coin weighs 3.1 grams. That’s the standard weight for a Lincoln cent. And a 10th of a gram. Here is a zinc cent. It should weigh around 2.5 grams. And there’s 2.5 grams. So you want to buy a scale that shows a readout not JUST in grams, but in tenths of a gram. This is not a very expensive scale. It’s kind of a baseline gram scale. You can find it at most coin shops and online. 

The third gift is a COIN FOLDER. Now a lot of people tend to associate coin folders with beginning coin collectors. But I’ve gotta tell you… I’ve been over 30 years in the hobby. I know a lot of advanced collectors. Folks of any strata in knowledge and expertise in the hobby can enjoy a good coin folder! Now this one here is a Lincoln cent coin folder designed for pennies made from 1941 through 1974 — which is a nice run of Lincoln cents. I want to show you how this works… Here’s a 1973 Lincoln cent, which would go in the 1973 portal. Just kind of snap it right in — put the first corner in there. You want to kind of push down on that side, and then push the coin into place, and it snaps right into place. Really, a very nice display! You don’t see both sides of the coin but… I’ve gotta tell you, these folders are really efficient. They are a nice, handsome display option. They are NOT expensive. You can find these actually at many bookstores — like general bookstores. If you can’t find one at your local bookstore you can go to a local coin shop. Or of course, find them online.

Gift #4: a COIN DISPLAY HOLDER. Now, these come in all forms and fashions. This is a Capital Plastics holder. I like Capital Plastics. They really make a great product. I’ve had some of their holders that last me over 30 years. They are kind of like museum quality the way they’re made. This is a snap-lock version. I have some also that are a sandwich style construction — which is 3 panels. The outer panels are clear (or transparent). The middle panel is like this — it’s opaque and that’s where the coins sit in these slots… these portals. I’ve gotta tell you, I mean these are rather… I won’t say they’re expensive, but they are costlier than a coin folder. But these really last a long long time. You can see both sides of the coin with the Capital Plastics holders. There are many other brands that make displays like this… or that present coins like in an at-a-glance fashion. They range a gamut in price. But a display that’s well-made with inert materials — so that it will not react with the coins or the metals themselves — makes a fantastic gift. 

And finally we have COIN BOOKS. Now coin books span the entire spectrum of topic. They go from the most generalized — like the Guide Book of United States Coins that comes out annually. And these… I’ll tell you if there’s ONE book you buy, this is the book to get! Get the current year (or the next year’s edition) for the gift recipient. It’ll have EVERYTHING in there that especially a U.S. collector would want or need to know. We’re talking about basic information on coins themselves, how to collect coins, how to grade them, retail pricing. This covers like literally every U.S. coin, every American colonial coin, any coin that was used in the land (or on the land) that became the US’s going back to the 1600s is covered in this book! I’ll tell you what… I mean, I make sure I buy a new copy every year. I still learn new things after over 30 years in the hobby from buying this book. (Which is also called the Red Book among longtime collectors.) You can find this book at basically any general bookstore — as well as, of course, at local coin shops, and online. You have these kinds of books which are more generalized. 

Then you go into more of the genre-driven or specific types of topics. Oh, full disclosure… I wrote this book… A Guide Book of American Silver Eagles. It is a book that profiles the entire series of the popular U.S. silver bullion coin known as the American Silver Eagle. There are many books like this that focus on a certain series or program. Just like the Red Book, you can find this book at basically any bookstore, you can buy it online, at your coin shop. 

This book here by Scott Travers… The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual is a great kind of a general guide book on how to buy and invest in coins. I’ve had this book for many many years. It’s a great great gift. 

This is more of a specialized book that you would NOT find at your local bookstore. But it is an essential guide for Lincoln cent collectors by Charles Daughtrey. And it talks about different varieties that you can find in Lincoln cents. Which, as a Lincoln cent collector myself, this to me is like an indispensable guide. I’ve had it for years. It’s a great resource. A book like this makes a great gift for a collector who you know focuses their attention on a certain series. 

But these books (or books like these) exist for virtually every series. And not just U.S. coins, but world coins as well. And if you know whom you’re buying books like this for… and also you know what they need for knowledge… what they want to be able to seek for knowledge… buying them the right book, whether it be specialized or more generalized, is a GREAT gift idea! 

And there you have it… 5 gifts for coin collectors! I would love to know if you think I missed something. Or if you have other gift ideas, let me know in the comments below. I would love to read them. Thank you for your time. And happy collecting!