The first thing to remember when looking for a coin to add to one's collection you must keep a few things in mind so you don't get ripped off.  1.)Never buy a coin that is in bad condition unless it is very rare.

2.)Older coins are worth more.  So if you see a coin in an auction for $0.01 that is from, say, 1900 and its in pretty good condition I'd buy it.  The older the coin, if its in good condition, the value goes up because they get more and more rare with each passing year.

3.)If you collect pennies then you want to really look for pennies that have an "S" on them.  The "S" stands for SanFrancisco and that is where that coin was minted, or made, and there is no longer a SanFrancisco mint so these coins are a must for a good penny collection.

4.)If you collect statehood quarters then you probably want to buy uncirculated individual coins for your book or map and probably the uncirculated set of  5 for the year.  Uncirculated means that it has been minted but has not left the mint until you buy it, its never been at a bank or spent by someone.  The uncirculated coins have more value and everyone should always try to get uncirculated coins because these will stay in nicer condition longer and be worth more every year than one that has been circulated.  The uncirculated sets of 5 quarters that I mentioned are the sets of the 5 statehood quarters released in a certain year and when you buy the uncirculated sets they come in vacuum sealed hard plastic cases containing the 5 quarters.  Since these will never leave the plastic they will collect even more value since they will never oxidize.

5.)Last, but not least you need to think about if the coin is foreign or from the U.S.  Coins from the U.S. are usually going to accumulate more value than foreign coins, depending on what country they're from, so I would try to collect rare U.S. coins if  I could.  However other countries do have higher valued currency, such as the U.K., so if you want more than just U.S. coins think about what country the currency is coming from.

     Well that should be a good guide for any collecters that are just starting and for more experienced coin collecters if you would like to contact me you can find me on my AIM from time to time, its woopdydoo56, so I can talk to you more in depth if you contact me, if you email me however I will not look at it and will regard it as spam or a virus so only contact me through AIM.