Most people start a coin collection by accident. A coin arrives in change and looks different. A relative leaves behind a tin. A child is given a coin in a card and wants another one.

That is a good way to start. The collectors who last are the ones who followed something that already interested them.

Here is our advice from years of service here at www.mintcoinshop.com.au.

Pick a theme before you buy anything

A collection with a theme is easier to build, easier to finish, and worth more than the same number of unrelated coins.

Four themes suit new Australian collectors.

By year. One coin of each denomination for a chosen year. Simple, cheap, and a natural fit for a birth year or a wedding year.

By series. The Royal Australian Mint and The Perth Mint both run series that continue for years. The Lunar series runs on a twelve-year cycle. Wildlife series continue indefinitely. A series gives a collection a spine and a reason to come back each year.

By subject. Australian animals. Military commemoration. Sport. Coins tied to a film, a book or a band.

By metal. Silver, then gold. This is where collecting meets investing, and the two are not the same thing. More on that below.

Start with something inexpensive

An uncirculated coin in a card is the cheapest honest entry into collecting. It is a genuine mint product, it comes protected, and it costs less than a takeaway meal.

Coin rolls are the other good starting point. A roll is a sealed tube of circulating coins straight from the Mint, and it is how many collectors first learn to spot a good strike. The 2026 5c Circulating Coin Roll is twelve dollars fifty.

Understand what you are buying before you spend more

Three words describe how a coin was made, and they set the price more than anything else does. Circulating, uncirculated and proof. A proof version of the same design can cost ten times what the uncirculated version costs.

Read the finishes explained (/pages/proof-uncirculated-circulating-coins-explained) before spending beyond about a hundred dollars. It is the single most useful thing a new collector can learn.

The other word that matters is mintage. It is the number of that coin the Mint made. Lower usually means scarcer. What mintage means (/pages/what-mintage-means) covers how to read it and where it misleads.

Collect what you like, not what you think will rise

Coins do appreciate. Many do not. A coin bought because a forum said it would go up is a coin bought for the wrong reason, and it is usually bought at the wrong price.

Collect the ones worth owning even if the value never moves. That approach has never left anybody disappointed.

Protect what you buy from the first coin

New collectors lose more value to handling and storage than to bad buying. A fingerprint on a proof surface is permanent. Cleaning a coin almost always reduces what it is worth.

A pack of capsules costs less than ten dollars. How to store and handle coins (/pages/how-to-store-and-handle-coins) explains what to buy and what to avoid.

Keep a list

Write down what each coin is, what was paid, and the date. Photograph each one. A spreadsheet is enough.

This takes minutes now and saves an enormous amount later, whether the collection is being insured, sold or passed on.

Where to buy

Buy from an official stockist. Mint Coin Shop is an official stockist of The Royal Australian Mint, The Perth Mint and Agoro by New Zealand Mint, and sources directly from them. Prices follow the recommended retail price set by each mint.

That matters for two reasons. Every coin is new and genuine. And the price is the price, rather than a resale mark-up.

Start here

New releases each year: 2026 Coin Releases (/collections/2026-releases)

By mint: Royal Australian Mint (/collections/royal-australian-mint), The Perth Mint (/collections/the-perth-mint), Agoro by New Zealand Mint (/collections/new-zealand-mint)

Silver coins (/collections/silver-coins)

Storage and accessories (/collections/accessories)

Orders over two hundred and twenty-five dollars ship free within Australia.