A friend wants to start a collection of money from countries around the world,how does she get started?

Question

she mants small denomanations of bills or coins.

Answer 1

Gilfinn has a nice answer, I will just expand. I would also suggest that she find a good dealer that has "bulk lots" of world coins for sale. When you go to a coin dealer he has the expense of having his shop, so if you just pick a few coins out, they are much more expensive than if you just buy a large group, (per coin that is). I would go to a dealer such as Frank Robinson or Bob Reis and buy 10, 20, or 50 pounds of mixed world coins, (also available will be large groups of world currency). Then I would get a copy of World Coins, the standard price guide for world coins from Krause Publications, (many times you can find it cheaply on Ebay or a discount book store). This book will be the best money you can spend, since it will let you tell where the coin is from, how many they minted, and how much it is worth. Most world coin collectors I know use their book so much it falls apart from use! There is also an equivalent book for world paper money.

Answer 2

I've been collecting foreign coins since I've been a little kid. To get started, find a local coin shop. They'll usually have a basket or box full of what they call "junk money", or "funny money". They'll usually let you pick through it to find they coins that look good to you, and they will be very inexpensive. From there, you can start to look at more expensive foreign coins for investment purposes if you like. I also ask the clerks in the stores I frequent if they have any foreign coins. I usually offer them the denomination that most closely matches the size they want to get rid of (i.e. if it's about dime size, I offer them a dime for it). I've gotten some really nice coins that way, including an old Mexican peso that I gave 50 cents for that turned out to be worth about 350 dollars. You can also check out antique shops, coin shows, and garage sales.

Answer 3

if you're near a large metropolitan city with an international airport you can easily find currency exchanges in the airport.

I'm in Las Vegas and I was surprised to find that even most of the larger casinos will exchange international currency.

Answer 4

Go to a bank,a larger one like Wavhovia or BankAmerica. They sometimes have

foreign currency on hand.