Coin and Paper Money collecting are very popular hobbies in todays world. People are beginning to take an interest in the coins and paper money of not only their countries but of those far and beyond their borders. So where exactly can collectors find the items for their collections, there are several sources which include money in circulation, private collectors, auctions: online and offline, dealer shops, shows and ads.

I actually started collecting because some money had just gotten out of circulation while I was home on a visit to Nigeria a couple of months ago. Like most people I had made a conscious attempt to make sure that all the soon to be obsolute notes were banked or spent before the last date for circulation. To my suprise though I found some notes in an old notebook a few days later. You can read more about it in my paper money collecting blog. The decision to collect came shortly after this via the internet. So I started up my collection with the obsolete notes and a copy of all the current bills in circulation I had in my possession.

Coin and Paper Money auctions are two fold as there is now both the traditional offline presence as well as the more popular online auctions that take place mainly on EBay,Yahoo and Amazon as well as a few smaller sites. I like the online auctions mainly because it is very possible to pick up some gems from these sites for a fraction of the money you would pay for the item otherwise.

Take for instance what happened with an EBay item a couple of months ago. A certain English paper money enthusiast who had agreed to his wife's proposal of redecorate the house, found himself unable to resist spending over £1,000 of the budget on two special £10 notes he found on Ebay. Obviously the wife was not very happy about this and after a couple of talks he got the message and decided to make an effort to sell his precious find at an auction offline and guess what, it sold for a whooping £6,600 at Spink last June!

Now this is an example of an item moving on from an online auction to an offline one. The offline auctions are usually in the same premises where other collector items are auctioned off all over the major cities in the western world. There are auction houses that may also specialise in coins and paper money. Your best bet as a collector is to ask your nearest Numismatic Society for information regarding the auction houses where coins and paper money items are featured.

Another important auction aspect are those organised as part of the Coin and Paper Money shows of various Numismatic Societies on a yearly basis. A lot of highly priced and rare items usally show up at the shows and the auctions are usually a highlight of the show as a whole. Again contact your nearest Numismatic Society for information about the next Shows and Auctions they may be organising.

This for me is the Creme de la creme of the coin and paper money market place. These shows are either local events made up of scores of dealers or a regional or national affair with hundreds of dealers represented. The coin shows have a vast array of national coins, world coins, paper money, bonds,certificates and other interesting items to showcase. Because of the share magnitude of these events they serve as a great learning ground for new collectors.

There are table after table of dealers and collectables to see, the floor of the coin show is usually refered to as a bourse, and the dealers are more than happy to show-off their priced items and answer your questions. You will most likely see one or two items you've set you mind on getting as well as be introduced to some future collection ideas. The bourse is a colourful collection of coins and paper money in its fullest glory, it is a collectors haven in many respects.

To find out where and when the current Coin Shows are taking place in your area or region check your Numismatic Magazines or do a search on the internet.

Another marketplace source for coins and paper money is the local dealer shops and their online counterpart. The most important advice anyone can give a collector is: make sure you check out the identity and legitimacy of the person you want to transact business with. A safeguard is to deal with people who are members of a numismatic society such as the IBNS. Most legitimate dealers are members of the IBNS so you can check up their status with the organisation. This way you will prevent yourself from being a victim of some fraudulent few who are operating on the guise of being genuine dealers. The reason why this is so important is you do not want to find yourself lumbered with a useless fake note or coin which you have just paid the premium price for.

Usually the dealers actually started out as enthusiastic collectors, this is very handy for the new collector, who usually will have a load of questions and help in starting off their collection. The dealer therefore brings a wealth of information with innate enthusiasm which the collector will find very useful. Also the fact that you get to handle and see the items and lots of them first hand before purchasing is very helpful. A list of dealers shops in your area can be obtained from your local numismatic society.

There are also a lot of online dealers today, some of them are extensions of local dealer shops but others only operate online. Again do not get carried away ensure that the site you are dealing with is authentic. Also do check out their return policy as you do not want a situation where the item has arrived and it isn't actually what you wanted, but it can't be returned as the site runs a "no returns" policy. The IBNS has a list of approved online dealers

This section will be updated regularly with any bourse events I get to know are coming up. Please go along and enjoy.

Sunday, October 21 Buffalo Numis. Assoc. Monthly Bourse Columbus Hall 2735 Union Rd. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, New York 716-908-3097 Admission free