Collecting coins can be an extremely educational and healthy hobby. Sometimes this hobby has been known to convert into a fortune if you are lucky enough to get some valuable coins that are extremely rare. Cataloguing your coin collection is necessary to ensure that the collection does not become a coin dump.

Software or applications like excel can be extremely helpful in managing, structuring and cataloguing coins. You can also use a notebook or index cards if you are most comfortable with that. It is important that you identify the manner in which you want to index the coins and the manner in which you want to collate them. Some of the most important aspects of coin cataloguing include the country of origin, the date and the mint marks. Some also prefer to include the metal that the coin has been made of.

Other areas that you may want to index include the shape, circumference and weight of the coin too. Make a personal note about the condition of the coin, where it was purchased from and the grading that the coin gets based on the gradation systems that are available.

With digitization in place many people like to keep a digital copy of the photographs of their collection so that they will know what they had in case there is a theft. Some people feel that cleaning up their coins is a good idea to make them shine and look good. This is something that you should never attempt to do.