What Should I Collect

The first step is to pick the sport that you want to have a collection. The easiest thing to collect is sports cards. Sports cards can be picked just about anywhere.

Where to find Sport Memorabilia

The easiest place to find sports related items is at a flea market or garage sales. This can be inexpensive and easy to find. Other places would be auctions public and online auctions. Before buying anything expensive, make sure to get a certificate of authentication. If an auction is really too good to be true, it usually is.

The second thing to collect is autographs. If you are a big fan that goes to many games this is sometimes a simple way to get that favorite players autograph. Sometimes before games, the teams have autograph sessions.

There are more expensive items to collect like jerseys, baseballs, footballs, basketballs, hockey pucks, baseball bats, programs, and tobacco cards. The list is endless.

Whatever a person decides to collect it will be a fun and exciting hobby. Just remember to keep your memorabilia in a safe and dry place at all times. Another thing to remember is to insure some of the more expensive items as well.

When you do go up to the person, above all be polite. Celebrities get pushy fans all the time and you don’t want to be one of them. Ask for one autograph, maybe a picture if they’re willing and you have a camera. Speak normally – don’t overwhelm them or be overbearing. Smile and be friendly, but don’t be annoying. Don’t monopolize their time. You can chit chat for a few minutes while they’re signing – offer a compliment or two, they’ll like that – but don’t talk just to fill the silence.

Be sure to thank them no matter if they sign or not, and don’t take it personally if they don’t. They’re not obligated to give autographs. The last thing to remember when asking for an autograph is that if you run into a celebrity at a normal setting, they’re probably counting on doing their own thing and not being bothered. Follow their non-verbal clues and respect their boundaries.

EBay and other online auction websites are a great place to find autographs from a variety of players. When purchasing autographs online you need to make sure that you only deal with reputable dealers who have a lot of positive feedback. By only dealing with reputable dealers you can make sure that you are not scammed with a fake autograph.

An often under looked venue for getting a sports stars autographs is at book signings. Many famous athletes have written books. When they write a book many of them will travel around during the off season to help promote their book. Most of these athletes will sign a ball or jersey in addition to the jacket of their book.

In addition to the online auction websites such as eBay there are many other sports collectible websites where you can buy an authentic autograph of your favorite sports star. These sports collectible websites make it easy for you to buy a genuine autograph and have it delivered to you regardless of where you live.

These sports collectible websites are the easiest place to purchase an autograph when you are wondering where to get sports autographs, especially when you cannot go to a game in person.

The way to begin collecting coins for kids is to look at dates on coins. Start out by picking out coins that were minted on his or her date of birth. Then add coins that have special mint dates on them. If parents think ahead of time they can get uncirculated coins that were minted the year of the child’s’ birth when the child is born. These will be extra special when the child begins collecting coins on his or her own.

Purchasing sets of minted coins is a great collection to add to a child’s coin collection. Also the state coins are special to add. Purchasing any uncirculated coin is a special collector’s item. They can be purchased at face value.

Fifty-cent pieces are fun coins to collect. They are not as common as they use to be so many times they must be purchased at a bank.

Watching for coins that are old such as silver dimes and real old pennies is a lot of fun. They can be found just about anywhere if a person is lucky and really keeps his or her eyes peeled for them every time they get change when purchasing items.

Coin collecting is a lot of fun and a great hobby for kids.

During these early times, coins were collected for their artistic value. Contemporary coin collecting became popular during the 14th century and during this time it was considered a fad. It was extremely popular in privileged classes. The most noble, kings, and princes kept coin collections. During this time, coin collecting was often called “The Hobby of Kings.” That was because only the wealthy could afford coin collecting.

In America during the 20th century, rare coin collecting was becoming popular. During this time the American Numismatic Association was developed. Professional grading is very important in coin collecting because it reduces the number of counterfeits. Today the market for coin collecting includes the collecting of antique, foreign, and exotic currency. Today, coin collecting is often called the “King of Hobbies.” That is because it is known to be one of the most oldest hobbies in the world. There are a few reasons for collecting coins and some of them are for hobby, investments, or inheritance. Coin collecting today is often a very competitive activity.

Posters, postcards or any kind of paper items can be displayed in poster frames. When putting those items together pick a background to lay down first in your poster frame using either material like a shirt, bandanna, or sports material. This will make the paper items stand out more.

Display cases in various sizes are great for items like trophies, bobble heads, sports cards, or anything you want protected from dust. A coffee table can be revised with a deeper top, made to like a huge display case that you look down into, and covered with a glass top. Fill it with pennants and buttons, guaranteed it will be a definite conversation piece.

Shelving is always a great choice. Add shelves the whole way around a room to display your mugs or anything that can be cleaned easily from dust.

Screw hooks in various sizes can display things like a bat hung over a doorway. Peg board is great, but paint it to colors of your favorite team, or a color that will work with what you want to show off.

Use your imagination, but keep some things in mind. Keep items from direct sunlight.. Consider kids and pets being in the area and some rooms may have moisture.

If you choose to wear it out, BE CAREFUL! Seriously, the fabric of these shirts can get discolored or damaged very easily. Follow the rules as if sitting on a new sofa. No greasy foods and no smoking. Fabric from jersey burn faster than a cotton shirt so think what a burning ash can do and greasy popcorn or chicken will put in a permanent grease spot.

Wash your jersey in cold water no matter what color. Practice hand washing the jersey but if you must use the machine set it to delicate. Use liquid over powder detergent because the powder leaves a residue. DO NOT use fabric softener or leaving in the washing machine because it cause wrinkles that will never come out and never use the dryer. Hang it up or lay it on something flat. Do not wear a backpack while wearing the jersey. The abrasive rubbing between fabrics can cause tiny little bubbles and avoid anything with Velcro because it can snag and pull threads.

If you like to collect them that is a lot easier to take care of. Most Jersey shops know how to properly fold them to be framed or place in airtight sealed box or bag.

The most difficult way is to hound them at the stadium. They are being asked to sign things the whole time when they’re not playing on the field. Athletes tend to stay away from large group of fans who maul them for autographs but if you can catch them outside they might be more willing to give an autograph. Through personal experience, I would get tickets to the games were they have All Star Recognition were they call the names of past players and they walk the field right up to their own seats passing through the fans.

I was able to get the late Reggie White’s autograph at Lambeau Field a year before his death. The easiest way to get an autograph is when athletes get paid to sponsor events and keep your ear out when they make an appearance. If you what to go the stalker route, hang out at the hotel they are staying at and “accidently” bump in to them. Who knows maybe they might invite you to a party. Yeah right and Brett Favre will make up his mind.

I remember the first time she asked what the coin was. At first she thought it was like a quarter just bigger and shinier. I told her it was One Dollar. Immediately she asked if she could have it to buy some candy with my reply being No No No with a smile.

After that day she started keeping her loose change like I did. It was some time after she wanted to turn her pennies into dollars, so we got some coin wrappers and I started to separate her pennies into 2 piles, one pile of pennies dated 1982 and earlier, the other pile 1983 and later.

She was curious why two piles. I explained to her that because of the metal content of pennies produced prior to 1983 that one penny was actually worth more then the other. I told her that copper is a precious metal that holds value and those pennies before 1983 was made of 95% copper where after they were made of 97% zinc. For her then coin collecting was a treasure hunt.

Today she has rolls of “copper” pennies that she keeps and the pennies made after 1982 she turns in for dollar bills. Today she understand the value of metal be it gold and silver. She now looks for dimes and quarters made before 1965 which had real silver in them.

The average collector may think they can simply look at a card and tell if it’s in good condition or not,but when a veteran buyer is considering paying premium value for the card, they’ll want a professional appraisal before agreeing to the transaction. To eliminate any questions about your valuable baseball cards, consider using a grading service.

There are four professional grading services that are mentioned the most by dealers and collectors as being the most reliable:

Professional Sports Authenticator, or PSA, started in 1991, is the most widely used grading service. PSA is the unofficial standard for grading cards, and their reputation is excellent. Not limited to sports cards, PSA is also
the leader in grading almost every type of collectible memorabilia.

Sports card Guaranty Corporation or SGC, formed in 1998, has quickly gained a sterling reputation for consistent, accurate grading. One feature collectors like about SGC is their grading scale of 10 to 100, as opposed to the other service’s 1 to 10 scale. This provides the buyer with a more concise score for “in-between” cards.

Global Authentication Inc. (GAI) is a relative newcomer to the industry but has rapidly attained respect throughout the industry, especially in the sports autograph field.

Beckett Grading Services (BGS) is a branch of Beckett Magazine, the “Bible” of sports card pricing guides. Their grading service provides the same excellent quality and professionalism as the magazine has for years.