Hello Collectors,
I have been using a digitall album (I also use the same program to digiltize my photos for safe keeping) to catolog my collection with just the pics. No imformatiom to grades or anything else except which and who certain coins(s) go to upon my demise, just the coins images. I am however, thinking of switching them to a 'coin collector's' software program.
Does anyone use such a software program? Which do you use? Easy to use?
Help appreciated, Thanks.

I currently use a program called Coin Manager by Liberty Street Software ( www.libertystreet.com). It is a great program but is limited because it only has entries for U.S., Canada Great Britian. To enter other Countries coinage you will need to add them manualy. My collection is rapidly growing and now contains coins from all over the World. At this point I am looking at change over to Coin Assistant by Carlisle Development Corporation (www.carlisledevelopment.com). They have database upgrades that include World Coins, Ancient Coins and Euro's.

I have seen couple discussions on "Best soft for coin collecting". Conclusion: old fellow MS Excel is the best!

I have tried many softs, but still using Excel.

Thank you for your input, guys.
I'll check out Liberty. I'm not famillar with Excel.

Excel is the way to go (if you can get your hands on a "free" copy). It can do anything these other programs can do and its a lot more flexible.

I use Hartberger book and pages and 2x2's
The medium pages that have 12 coins to the page

In Word you can do tables ; so I created a matrix of 4x3 ; I scanned the coins and numbered the pages

The wordfile with inserted scans and the real book are identical in visual appearance

To the wordfile I added weight and personal grading and rarety factor

I have catalogued my coin collection for years using a spreadsheet I wrote. I have not seen any of the cataloguing software.
I have done this for so long that I first worked on Q&A an old Dos program, then I moved it all over to LOTUS 123 and now i have it in Microsoft Excel:

I think my feilds are thus:
Currency Type: (Coin, Bullion Coin, Bullion, Federal Reserve Note, United States Note, etc.)
Date:
Face Value:
Grade:
Current Value:
Content:
Mintage Quantity:
Mint Branch:
Quantity on hand:
Collective Face Value:
Collective Current Value:
Place Purchased:
Date Purchased:
Price on date of Purchase:

I have to agree with you ... partially. I use MS Access. Similar idea, though. That way I can customize my catalogue exactly how I want it. I also use it to input current trend values and mintage numbers into my database and created a routine that prints me out a "want list" with approximate prices for grades that I can keep in my pocket. And as I add more coins to my database, it's just another click of a button to get a new "want list".

MS Access is certainly a little more tricky than MS Excel, but also more flexible. I'm a computer programmer for my career, so I've got good knowledge to be able to do the tasks I need.

Now with all that said and done, I know that I still need some renovations on my database. My data is stored very generally at the moment, rather than specifically. My "to do" list on my database is still pretty long!!!

I used to write everything down in a notebook, date bought, price paid etc. but then I thought I really have no intentions on selling most of my stuff. And if the day comes where I HAVE TO sell, it wont matter much if I make or lose $$$, because I'll need whatever I get.

So i just try to remember the larger purchases, anything under $100 it doesn't matter that much to me. I'm just enjoying the coins.

I developed my own catalog using FileMaker. I followed the formats of a variety of commercial applications, but revised them to meet the needs of my own esoteric collecting topics. Using a database allows me to design a variety of reports for different purposes such as tracking expenditures, values, purchases by years, limiting reports to a single collecting topic, producing inserts for 2x2s, etc.

If I collected US by date or type, I would go with one of the commercial, prepopulated databases.

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Is Excel the same as Corel'sQuatrto Pro?

Not being a sophisticate like you guys/girls I just use Word, import a picture of the coin from my stash on 'My Pictures' on my computer, add the blurb below and Bob's your uncle! I print in A5 format and have a handy catalogue as a result!

I use a program called Numismatist's Notebook


Its a free program, but only covers US coinage. Its easy to use, and you can upload pics of your collection....

I use iPhoto for pictures and Excel for the info.

Yes, it's very similar. If you've used Quatro Pro you already know how to use Excel.

Found it but I can only find formats for Mac's not PC's I use a program called MyStuff its a basic home inventory program


Cancel that found a PC version

Its a great program for being free. Lotsa good features.....

In France, we have a free software (JGF Monnaie) created by Jean de Griffolet.
It is available in English for some months.
There is lists (Euros, French fifth Republic, Canada...) that you can download on his site.



You can also create your own list of your collection : every coin has its information (Scan, face value, commercial value, weight...). Like Excel, it is possible to sort yours lists by criterion (Country, date...).
JGF manages your exchanges, your purchases and your (personnel not professional !) sales of coins.
Finally, the lists can be printed !



Today, JGF count more than 350 users.

Address where to find JGF Monnaie : jgfmonnaie.info.

Good night !

try http://www.openoffice.org/ it's free and can handle windows, Mac or Linux. it's open source software so it's completely free. . . . . . Personally I shelled out for ms office 2003 with my Student discount.

Not only is Excel the way to go since it is so easy and flexible but what I really like about Excel is you don't have to go around adding a program to any computer to use it. Probably the greatest amount of computers on Earth have MS with Office or at least all the ones I've ever heard of or seen. Using Excel for coins means you can simply download your collection onto a 3 1/2", CD, DVD, flash card, etc., etc. and go anywhere and just put your info on the system, do what ever you want, redownload, delete from the computer and your on your way. It has been really great doing that. Everywhere I've ever worked has MS with Excel so it is easy to play with my coin statistics whenever I want.

I have to agree on the excel statements. It's everywhere. A friend of mine went to all of the trouble of making an excel skin/form for his collection info. It's nice but so far he's modified it about 100 times.

MS Access is the way to go if you know how to make a database. This is what I have done and it looks similar to the French software referred to earlier.
If Access is not your thing then MS Excel would be the obvious fall back unless you know of a software program that is to your liking.

This how I am cataloging my collection.
It is a Digital Album (you know...just like the ones we all have for our photos, stuck in the closet, drawer, garage, etc).
Anyway, I found this software program and I started to scan my family photos as a backup from the hard copies into the album. (I'm afraid of loss of the hard copies do to a fire or by other means.)

Then my Coin Collection started to grow and I couldn't keep track. So I created a seperate album for the coins. And the result became this as shown in pics. As you can see in the images each page is numbered and can be filpped to see next page. This album will copied on a CD which can be viewed, zoomed, printed, etc.

I've considered a 'Coin' related program that most of you suggested and decided to stick to my 'Digital Album'.
Excel and the other suggestions are a bit too complicated for me. And I do appreicate your help and suggestions. THANK YOU ALL!



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What do you all think?

Mila Cent, you have to be kidding. If an old, old man like me can figure out Excel, anybody can. When I was a kid there wasn't even TV and I can actually hook up a DVD player. It took me longer to hook up this comoputer than learning Excel.

Carl
I have a problem [I think it's called ADD] so it is hard for me to sit in front of the computer and try to understand it all. Once I understand one part I lose it when I go to the next. It's very frustrating.

I think it's a cool way of doing it

my only problem with excel/access/... is that i'd have to do it. i haven't found any excel or access templates that would be a good starting point, and after a day of supporting someone else's computers i don't want to sit down to more programming tasks at home.

I don't even bother with a spreadsheet or software or anything anymore. I go right to the source. I put all the coins into flips, write all the needed info on the flip, put it in a page and put it in a folio. Then if I need to check if I have a coin I pick up the folio and it is alphabetical by country, then denomination an voila!

I do take pics of everything and those are backed up on DVD's with the rest of my photos.

With iPhoto, you just drag and drop the images into an album and you can resize or reorder them. Very easy to use ...

Hi,

I previously reviewed the coin collecting software Exact Change. I have used Coin Manage, Coin Collectors Assistant, Coins Plus, and various other software on trial basis over the past couple of years. I have designed my own database and used Spreadsheets. A database may be the very best to go if you know Access (or databases) very well. A spreadsheet can certainly get the job done too. If however, you are looking for the best ready to use software available then Exact Change is more than worth the asking price in my humble opinion.

Exact change comes on a DVD, primarily because the program contains over 19,500 images. It is suited for both U.S. and World coin collections and in the case of me, who has U.S. and World coins and a Swiss shooting medal collection it is above the rest!

Exact Change has the capability of the user adding categories and customs reports (along with many pre-defined ones). It has all the bells and whistles of the major programs plus more.

To top it all off Exact Change has customer service that I believe is second to none. They answer your questions promptly and usually the next day. They have frequent updates which by the way are FREE forever! At $79.00 including free updates I don't believe there is a more reasonably price Coin Collecting Software program out there. Recently Wildman Software (Exact Change) introduced a bundle for $159.99 that includes the new Krause 3 DVD set of World Coin Catalogs.

I'm not affiliated to Exact Change in any way; I just want everyone to know that this company is for real...real customer service and designed by numismatists who listen to USERS for input and suggestions. The software is very well put together, easy to use and since the updates are part of the package you never have to pay again after purchase.

Ken, from another coin collecting forum site, who has been so gracious to offer free Excel templates to members there and visitors to his website has a Coin Software summary page where he compares various software packages: --He states Exact Change at $99, it is $79 at this time.
http://typesets.wikidot.com/commercial-coin-inventory
Exact Change also gives a comparison of software:
http://www.exactchange.info/compare.htm

And yet! Since technologies went far these two years this topic was created, now I can transfer and use Excel files in my phone. So my catalog is always with me! I wondering if any other soft can be used in mobiles.

Exact Change now has a trial version of their software for anyone to try. It has a few limitations; these are specifically stated on their download page.

Give it a try and see for yourself what a great program it is:
Exact Change Trial Version

OpenOffice spreadsheet (part of the OpenOffice suite) is free, runs on multiple operating systems, and can do just about everything that Excel can (including reading and writing the Excel file formats). http://www.openoffice.org/

Totally agreed. And if you are not comfortable with Excel and you have MS Word you can use the table function and get 99.9% of Excels power.

I have been using Word for about 12 years to catalog my coins and have never had a problem. I can determine within minutes where I bought a coin, what I paid, how it was described and how NCG or ANACS graded it. It helps to sort out the honest dealers from the others.

Are there any other software engineers on these forums? Would be an intresting project trying to fit every ones needs with a single application

Basically I use NumisDat, a German language coin collection software (4D based) for Mac and Windows. Costs €29.80 but I got it for less. Convenient, flexible ... except that I have not entered many coins yet. Cataloging coins is quite time consuming, y'know.

Christian

I am a part-time professional SW developer specializing in database-oriented applications (server-side and client/server). I have tried to put together a relational DB design which would cover all the bases WRT coin collecting, but it isn't practical IMHO. People who collect by type have totally different needs than others who collect errors, varieties or toned coins, for example. Extensibility is extremely important for the variety collector because new varieties are constantly being discovered. There is no practical way of cataloging error coins, AFAIK because every error coin is basically unique. Although I have reservations about keeping huge collections in spreadsheet form, it isn't a bad choice for most people who might have only a few hundred coins to manage. Major problems arise when you have several thousand coins and/or transactions to keep up with, depending on how things are set up.

There really isn't any getting around entering lots of data about countries, coin series, metal composition etc. by the user unless you want to deal with megabytes of data of which 99% is never used (think: the entire Krause-Mishler catalog on a DVD, which is already available). If all I ever collect is one or two countries and maybe three or four others on an occasional basis, then I should be able to enter only the countries/types which interest me. Performance of queries would suffer otherwise.

Also, for collectors who are also dealers or frequently buy as well as sell coins, there should be some reporting tools for transactions etc. if only for tax purposes. This can become quite complicated, especially as each country has its own particular set of tax laws. At the least, there should be an interface for exporting the data to existing reporting tools such as MS-Access or OpenOffice.

It seems to me that there are as many ways to record a collection as there are collectors! And, like the collectors, they will stay diverse, without agreement, like in fact the types of collection