The Collector's Choice

For serious collectors, it is important to keep accurate records of the entire collection along with meticulous details and facts. Coins and stamps in particular, if properly cared for, can become valuable collection pieces and it is important to keep records. The Collector's Choice is an application designed to let users form a custom database of their entire collection, with areas to add every conceivable piece of additional information.

The developer has clearly gone to great lengths to make sure that the application can record every piece of information about your collection. The interface is staggering with the amount of menus, submenus and hidden tabs, so much so it can be difficult to navigate at first.

More effort could be taken to streamline the interface, so users aren't bombarded with information from the very first moment. That being said, the program is clearly for serious collectors who might appreciate the painstaking detail that is on offer. There is no quick way to fill the database in, the application features no templates of common coins or stamps, every field must be manually filled in, so The Collector's Choice is not for the faint of heart.

Since users could simply use a spreadsheet to make an amateurish form of database, a program needs to offer more. The Collector's Choice is far superior to a simple lists in the vast array of detail it offers, but also the support features it includes.

The Collector's Choice includes a way to upload two images for each item, both a back and a front image of a particular piece. The customization available is also impressive, users can rename most of the field text and adapt it to a particularly collection. While the application is clearly designed to support coin or stamps, it could easily be adapted to include comics and trading cards. A print feature is also available, allowing users to print out sheets of information, making it possible to produce a hard copy of the entire database.

The Collector's Choice is not a program for those who have a casual interest in collecting. The database takes time, patience and dedication to get the most out of it and use it to its full capacity. For those who do want to catalog their entire collection though, The Collector's Choice is a perfect tool for doing so in great detail.