Many people turn their hobby into an investment. They collect coins. Collecting coins can be fun and educational; it's a good way to learn some history. Collecting coins as an investment is much harder and requires a good bit of knowledge and patience.
Old coins are graded by their quality. Proof coins are coins that were double struck to make them brilliant. Proof coins have never been circulated and are often in sealed cases to protect them. Uncirculated coins have never passed through the banking system - they are bought directly from the mint - and do not have damage of any kind on them. Almost Uncirculated coins come in a variety of grades depending on how much wear they have seen.
The value of the coin depends on many factors. For gold, silver and other precious metals, the first factor is their precious metal content. For example, US silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars prior to 1964 were 90% silver and had a content of 0.723 ounce of silver per dollar of face value according to Telesphere Numismatics.
Next, comes the scarcity or rarity of the coin. Coins that were minted in smaller batches or coins that were pulled from circulation and only a few escaped are worth more than those that had billions of examples minted.
Third would be the condition of the coin. The better the condition, the more the coin is worth, sometimes by many multiples. As a note of interest, coin collectors do not like coins that have been cleaned or polished. The patina of oxidized metal is seen as desirable by serious collectors.
Some people specialize in coins from the ancient world, some in coins from ship wrecks, some in coins from a given country, some only in gold coins etc.
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