How to Buy the Perfect Gift for a Coin Collector
Posted on August 17, 2021
Coins make the perfect gift for any birthday, Christmas, Father’s Day, or any other holiday celebration. For a coin collector, receiving a new precious metal coin is extremely exciting. Let’s take a look at some gift ideas for coin collectors.
A note on choosing a precious metal coin: While gold coinage might be the preferred precious metal for many coin collectors, it can be quite expensive. If you’re on a budget, opt for silver coins instead. They are just as desirable by collectors and come at a fraction of the price of gold coins.
Gift Ideas
For Beginners
Beginner collectors tend to gravitate toward the more common, easy-to-collect coinage. This includes things like coin sets, and pre-constructed gift-specific sets are a great way to purchase multiple coins for someone just getting started. Commemorative coins are also a good idea as they acknowledge a world event or person, giving the coin more meaning to their collector. They tend to be of a more limited mintage and date range as well, making them even more desirable.
Non-precious metal coins that are commonly collected like the Buffalo Nickel and 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin are options too.
Alternatively, you don’t have to purchase coins at all. Suppose you want to support your coin collector on their journey. In that case, it might be even better to gift them something that will support their hobby, like the official “red book” of U.S. coins or other numismatic educational material. A membership to the American Numismatic Association will likely be a big hit as well.
If in doubt, ask a few questions about the collection and give your loved one the opportunity to show it off. Listen for indications of specific interests like year or theme to help guide your purchase.
For Established Collectors
History and coinage go hand-and-hand. For established coin collectors, you can therefore start with ancient coinage or coins from around the world that would be desirable to your collector.
If you know that the collector enjoys American coins, think about more rare U.S. coins like the 1921 Morgan silver dollar. Other gift ideas range from membership to a collectors’ group where they can meet like-minded numismatic enthusiasts or a subscription to the U.S. Mint to receive the latest coin releases.
As previously mentioned, silver coins make a great gift for collectors. While there are a wide variety of silver coins to choose from, you can’t go wrong with the classics like the America the Beautiful 5 oz series of coins. An America the Beautiful coin representing the state your collector was born in, for example, makes a symbolic statement as well as contributing to the collection. For an even more affordable option, buy the classic 1 oz Silver American Eagle.
For Expert Collectors
The expert collector in your life will likely be quite particular when it comes to their coin collection. So it might not be a good idea to attempt to gift them coins themselves since you won’t know what to look for unless you are an expert yourself. Instead of giving the gift of coins that the collector doesn’t desire, opt for other gifts like:
- A gift certificate to their favorite coin shop or dealer
- Tickets to a coin show or expo
- Coin collecting merchandise or gear
- Coin art like hobo nickels
Every coin collector is different, and we can’t tell you exactly what the collector in your life will want, but hopefully, this gives you an excellent place to start. Remember there is a huge assortment of coins to choose from, ancient and modern, from around the world, at nearly any price point.
Whether they are just beginners or experts, your collector will always appreciate a gift to support their hobby in numismatics.
