Archive for March, 2009
How to Start Collecting American Coins
One of the simplest ways to start collecting American Coins is to start with one denomination. In my opinion, the common penny is an inexpensive way to get started. It doesn’t cost much to gather a large group of coins to search through, and many people don’t pay nearly as much attention to pennies as they do the silver-based dimes, quarters, halves and dollar coins.
Start your collection with a $10 bill and a coin jar. Put the jar on your desk area at work, or a similar location at school. Let people know that you are collecting pennies for a hobby, and ask that they simply drop their pennies into the jar in exchange for larger denominations. Take the $10 to the bank, and ask to buy 20 rolls of pennies – hand-rolled if possible. While you’re there, ask for some empty penny wrappers.
Gather some plastic containers with lids. You’ll need about ten containers to start with. You’ll label each container with a decade, so 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990. Anything from the current decade can be wrapped and returned to the bank, unless you notice a unique marking on it, or unless you want to collect current decade coins just for fun.
You’ll notice that it is tougher to find coins issued prior to 1970, as most have passed out of circulation. That’s what makes them more valuable. Once you’ve sorted the coins by decades, it will pay to take a closer look at them afterwards to determine if there are any high-value coins in certain years. I’ll discuss more on that in my next article.
In the meantime, it might pay to purchase a good book on grading and pricing American Coins.
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Collecting American Coins
Collecting American Coins can be a fun and sometimes profitable endeavor. Going through collections of American Coins that are found in your family’s bins, drawers and boxes can yield some very interesting finds. In fact, many of them can still be found in everyday pocket change!
The Indian Head penny is one of the oldest American Coins still occasionally found in circulation. If you wish to purchase collection grade Indian Head pennies, they can be purchased in the $2 – $5 range.
A more common collectible American Coin is the wheat penny. These can still be found in circulation, and a collectible grade wheat penny can be purchased for under a dollar.
Another somewhat common coin is the Buffalo nickel (sometimes referred to as an Indian Head nickel). These highly popular coins can be purchased for under $2.
The beautiful Mercury dime is an American Coin that celebrates the nation’s ideal of freedom. Collection grade Mercury dimes can be purchased in the $3-$5 range.
Although the new State Quarters have built some great collections, they have little value beyond a quarter, since they are so new.
A great quarter for collectors is the Standing Liberty quarter. These were minted during the period of 1916-1930. These lovely coins range in cost from $10 to $20.
Similar in design to the Standing Liberty quarter is the Walking Liberty half dollar. Walking Liberty halves cost less than $10.
Another occasionally-found half dollar is the Franklin half dollar. These silver-issue American Coins are usually less than $10 to buy.
Kennedy half dollars were issued in both silver and sandwiched versions. While you can usually find newer issue circulated Kennedy half dollars at your local bank, uncirculated coins will cost less than $2. Even the silver issues can be had for under $7.
When the silver dollar was reissued in 1971, after disappearing from the mints for 35 years, it came in the form of the Eisenhower dollar. Although it was called a silver dollar, they were actually a sandwich style coin. Most Eisenhower dollars can be bought in collector grade quality for under $7.
A newer dollar coin, the Susan B. Anthony, was minted in two different time periods. The first was from 1979 to 1981. It was coined again in 1999, for only one year. Collection grade Susan B. Anthony coins can be purchased from $2 to about $7.
So buy a good book on the values of American Coins, and go through all the coins in the house. Maybe you’ll find something special!