The ideal initial amount is 0 (zero), you earn some coins in airdrops, giveaways or doing some simple tasks online and then you build your portfolio from there.
That's how you really learn to navigate in bitcoinland.
If you have enough money to invest, money your can afford to lose, then just buy bitcoin every month, sit on it, and in a few years you'll have a nice sum of money.
Is it really possible for newbies to earn any significant amount of coins through airdrops or giveaways? I mean actual Bitcoin, not some obscure ICO that gives away a few of their tokens.
I tried some faucets and stuff myself when I first started, but quickly found out that they weren't worth the effort and I just bought some coins for a couple of hundred dollars after a few days.
I've never lost any, so it can't be too hard for a newbie to learn about Bitcoin after making a small investment.
Though this was before the fees were so high, so I guess you could make some mistakes with that now.
Of course it is, just keep accumulating and don't expect to retire after a month or a year, but after 2 or 3 years, those accumulated coins will be worth quite an amount of money, of course it requires to learn how to trade, don't keep shitcoins forever, but some are good projects and value will increase a lot.