Pretty much since they were invented, coins have been highly  sought after collectibles. They're ideal as a liquid investment for a lot of reasons and are considered a one of the best hedges against inflation, especially US silver and gold content coins.
Everyone in the collectible world has heard the statement "when the economy is bad, silver and gold go up.

Last month gold peaked at just over $1000.00 per oz. and is hovering steadily between $850 and $900 an oz. That's about a 110% return or increase in the last 8 months. Silver has increased about 150%. Which of your investments returned that kind of money for you this year? Now of course this all means that gold and silver content coins have followed suit, but in most cases rare and collectible coins travel along the same route. They almost always go up when the economy slips and then remain steady, it's why there are so many coin collectors and dealers.

• At some level anyone can get into collecting coins, even children.
• They're small and easy to display and take care of.
• There is an enormous volume of published information available, much of it for free. It's easy to educate yourself about coins if you wish to do so. I'm not saying you'll become an expert overnight, but you can learn enough to start making a profit in just a few hours.
• While the rarest coins are limited, there are billions of coins on the market which you could make a profit on.

• Learn about grading. With the right coin, the difference in one grade jump can mean thousands of dollars, you can make a lot of money, just by identifying and buying under-graded coins.
• Well bought is half sold. Remember, it's easy to make a profit on a coin or anything else for  that matter if you've purchased it at a low enough price.
• Start searching your pocket change, there are still many valuable coins in circulation.
• Find a mentor who will teach you some of the tricks of the trade, many times such a person will divulge valuable information to a picker whom they think may reciprocate. A picker is someone who finds good deals on coins to sell to a dealer or collector, usually at a wholesale price.
• Tell everyone you know that you've started investing in collectible coins. You'll be surprised how many people ask you to take a look at their coins. A LOT of people have collections.
• Search online and live auctions. Sometimes you'll have heated competition, sometimes you'll have little or none, but you will learn something at every auction.  Stick only with auctions that have low starting bids  and no reserves, these are real auctions. There's another word for an auction with a reserve price, it's called a 'store'. If you want to pay retail, by all means go ahead, but don't expect to make a profit that way.
• Recognize that the best thing you can find in the business is a great contact person. When you find someone who is trustworthy that you can make money with, cultivate and nourish that relationship because that's a garden you can eat at over and over again. Repeat this type of networking as much as possible and you'll have plenty of profitable deals.

Please leave any tips, comments or questions you may have.

Thanks for reading and good luck,

AW

 The author can also be found at Auctionwally.com and at the National Online Newspaper, The Examiner where he writes an Antiques Column