Does anybody know a place to get "grab bags"?

Hello Numista, I was looking around the internet at different websites and I notice several of them offer some grab bags. I was wondering if they are a good way to get a collection started or if they were all just a scam. Basically I have a few different coins I had come across (wheats/buffalo nickels) and have just recently been very interested in coins. I am a college student so I don't have a ton of money to invest into this. If anybody here would be willing to make one that might fit my needs I'd be happy to pay a fair price if somebody is kind enough to invest in somebody that is new the hobby :)

Any advice would be appreciated! Some stuff I'm interested in are (mostly lower end US coins): Indian head cents, wheats, steel wheats, Liberty nickels, Buffalo nickels, wartime Jefferson nickels, silver Barber dimes, silver Mercury dimes, Roosevelt dimes, silver Washington quarters or perhaps anything like these that are not exactly expensive but are still cool.

I suggest checking out local (small) coin shows. I've seen dealers sell grab bags and starter sets there.

Verweis : "Cerulean"​I suggest checking out local (small) coin shows. I've seen dealers sell grab bags and starter sets there.

​Thanks Cerulean. I go to school in a corn-field town with no local events happening. My hometown does have a coin dealer but they have a reputation for being rude to customers and have been rude to me in the past.

When I started collecting (about two years ago) I bought five pounds of world coins off eBay for something like $35 shipped. That gave me a good assortment of coins to start with, plus a bunch of duplicates for my swap list here. It sounds like you're more interested in focusing on US coins, but I'm you can buy bulk lots of US coins as well.

If you can find a good coin shop, they often have "junk bins" of world coins for anywhere from 10 cents to $1 each, and I have built the greater proportion of my collection from the bins at my local shop! I focus mainly on pre-1950 coins, so every month or so I go to the shop and spend an hour or two sifting through the coins picking out everything old and interesting.

For US coins, shops will often have bowls of different types of coins: Indian head cents, Buffalo nickels, wheat cents, etc. And most shops buy and sell "junk silver" and you can usually pick up a bunch of silver dimes, quarters, and halves for just a little over the current silver price. I completed a folder of silver Roosevelt dimes entirely from those buckets, and I'm working on a Washington quarter folder as well (there are a few dates that won't show up in the junk silver bucket, but only a few).

Verweis : "Jesse11"​When I started collecting (about two years ago) I bought five pounds of world coins off eBay for something like $35 shipped. That gave me a good assortment of coins to start with, plus a bunch of duplicates for my swap list here. It sounds like you're more interested in focusing on US coins, but I'm you can buy bulk lots of US coins as well.

​Thanks for the great information! The place where I'm currently going to college doesn't have a local shop unfortunately. My home town does have a local sports card/coin hybrid shop but it is run by some bad owners who don't treat their customers well (myself and other customer experiences). So it looks like local shops are out of the question for me.

Bulk lots of US coins don't seem to be common, or at least I haven't been looking in the right places online. Do you have any suggestions for assorted US coin lots? I do like other stuff and think I like WWII era German coins, coins that are shaped weird as well as ancients like the widows mite.

+ 1 to eBay. When I had started, I also was a student and combed this site for something new and cheap for me

Verweis : "Binitarly"​+ 1 to eBay. When I had started, I also was a student and combed this site for something new and cheap for me

​Thanks for the response. eBay is great but shipping prices are just killer. I used to pay $20 for 2 pounds shipped and now I can get 5lb bags for the same price from dealers. Anything special happen for you to just now join Numista?

Verweis : "gridironshowcase"​

Verweis : "Binitarly"​+ 1 to eBay. When I had started, I also was a student and combed this site for something new and cheap for me

​​Thanks for the response. eBay is great but shipping prices are just killer. I used to pay $20 for 2 pounds shipped and now I can get 5lb bags for the same price from dealers. Anything special happen for you to just now join Numista?

​Make sure you select the "US sellers only" option. I think that might save some shipping costs from international sellers.

Verweis : "gridironshowcase"​​Thanks for the response. eBay is great but shipping prices are just killer. I used to pay $20 for 2 pounds shipped and now I can get 5lb bags for the same price from dealers. Anything special happen for you to just now join Numista?

just tired of read-only mode ;)

Try Craigslist and Facebook yard sale groups, post an add that you buy coins. Pay about 70% of value to cover your mistakes. I’ve gotten good coins this way. Also made some mistakes, lots of liars out there.
Once I swapped $40 in wheats for $40 in silver, I trusted the guy and didn’t take a close look. His silver was all slicks and only about half the weight, $20 in silver, then silver fell from $40 to today! So I lost pretty bad on that one. Another lady got me, she had a pile of foreign bulk and a bunch of silver dimes. After I got home I noticed that all the really dirty dimes I had assumed were silver, about one third of them were 1965! So be careful!

Verweis : "redsmithstudios"​Try Craigslist and Facebook yard sale groups, post an add that you buy coins. Pay about 70% of value to cover your mistakes. I’ve gotten good coins this way. Also made some mistakes, lots of liars out there.
​Once I swapped $40 in wheats for $40 in silver, I trusted the guy and didn’t take a close look. His silver was all slicks and only about half the weight, $20 in silver, then silver fell from $40 to today! So I lost pretty bad on that one. Another lady got me, she had a pile of foreign bulk and a bunch of silver dimes. After I got home I noticed that all the really dirty dimes I had assumed were silver, about one third of them were 1965! So be careful!

​I'm sorry you got burnt on that. What are some positive stories you had?

This was recently https://en.numista.com/forum/topic59208.html

Also I had beginners luck on Craigslist, it was about 2010 I had a guy bring me 55 pounds of common foreign bulk coins. I paid $200, and I had no idea how good of a deal it was. Craigslist has gone way downhill ever since Facebook has buy, sell, trade pages.

I have also gotten many other really good deals, but it’s a lot of work, constant hunting.