I've been looking for rare and valuable coins in my pocket change since 1992. Over the years, I have come across many cool coins in circulation, including old Lincoln wheat cents, Liberty and Buffalo nickels, wartime silver Jefferson five-cent pieces, silver dimes and quarters, 90% silver Kennedy half dollars, foreign coins, and many other valuable...
As a 30-something coin collector, I'm not necessarily representative of the median age of coin collectors and coin investors. In fact, I'm probably a good 20 years younger than most of the people I see enjoying the coin shows I attend. But I'm by no means the youngest guy on the bourse. In fact, I'm a good 20 years older than many of the so-called ...
I recently celebrated my 25th coin collecting anniversary – I'm now in my second quarter century as a coin collector, and so far I'm loving the hobby more than ever. I didn't know in 1992, when I first began collecting coins, that I'd still be enjoying this hobby so much so many years on, but I know I'm not the only person who's been in the hobby t...
Are you looking for new coins to add to your coin collection? There are various avenues coin collectors use for finding new coins to add to their collections, and below I'll describe the various common methods you can use to find new coins for your collection. Circulation – This is where most coin collectors start looking for new coins. From pocket...
Have you seen the advertisements offering new 2018 American Gold Eagle coins? They're already popping up, and it begs the question: is now a good time to buy gold coins? Should you buy 2018 American Gold Eagles? It's all a matter of what your investment strategy is. Of course, 2018 gold coins are popular as gifts, and there's always that crop of in...
Is it wise to buy junk silver coins when silver bullion prices tumble? Many bullion investors want know, especially when the metals market behaves as it has recently. Silver prices go up, then they go down. When silver prices go down, bullion investors do one of two things: Some silver investors panic about losing money and sell off some of all of ...
So many people want old coins for their collections, but the problem is many of them are so expensive. Some of America's early federal coins, which were first officially minted in 1793, are worth thousands of dollars each. So what's a collector on shoestring budget to do when he or she wants to buy examples of early American coins? There are severa...
Many coin collectors wonder when they should stop collecting one type of coin and try building different coins. The answer isn't always so simple. The decision to abandon collecting one set of coins for another happens on a case-by-case, individualized basis, but almost always happens when one of the following scenarios occurs. #1 – When The Coin S...
People love collecting quarters. These days, it seems just about everybody is checking their change for the newest quarter designs. But what makes quarters so appealing for coin collectors? Here are five reasons people love collecting quarters. #1 – There Are So Many New Designs There are so many awesome designs on quarters these days. Since 1999, ...
If you shop for coins online or from dealer advertisements in magazines and newspapers, then you've likely come across a few familiar marketing phrases with each of the coin ads you've come across. Some of the phrasing is legit, such as "our business is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau" or "Member of the Professional Numismatists Guild." In f...
Is the intense summer heat getting you down? Maybe it's time to chill off with a cool hobby like coin collecting. Yes, I said coin collecting is a cool hobby. And, you know what? It is! In what other pastime can you learn about history, art, national and world governments, social movements, and still have the potential to actually make money if or ...
It's happened yet again. Last night, somewhere in the United States, another of Grandpa's Morgan dollars was scrubbed with baking soda, and those old Lincoln wheat cents that turned up in change at the grocery store were dropped in a vinegar bath. Oh, this didn't just happen to me, but I've seen it all before. A lot of folks ask me about their old ...
It seems like everywhere I turn, coin collectors are talking about Morgan dollars, pre-1933 gold coins, and Lincoln cents. But Jefferson nickels? Why isn't the hobby abuzz over the nickel bearing the face of the third United States president? Jefferson nickels are certainly popular enough in commerce. Hundreds of millions of Jefferson nickels are m...
Many folks visit Coin Values asking about the value of their old wheat cents. I think a lot of these visitors believe they've hit the jackpot when they find an old Lincoln wheat cent in circulation and then come here wanting to know whether their 1941 penny is worth either hundreds of dollar or thousands of dollars. How disappointing it must be for...
Many coin collectors spend much of their time and energy looking for the best deals out there. For some, saving even five or ten percent off the prices of basic coin supplies is worth the effort in searching for the best deal. And, I don't really know any silver bullion stacker who isn't on the prowl to eek out a cut-rate bargain, saving 1 or 2 cen...
I know many folks who buy rare coins because they have the money and want to earn more of it through reselling their coins down the road, when their investments may increase in value. But I also know many individuals who have bought rare coins and didn't make all the money they expected to. Or, they wound up inadvertently buying counterfeit coins....
Type set coin collecting has been a favorite pursuit of many United States hobbyists for years, and one of the most popular type sets that collectors build is the 20th-century coin set. For those who don't know, a 20th-century type coin set consists of one coin bearing each design produced by the United States Mint during the 20th century. The spec...
Perhaps you're a coin collector from the days of the 1950s or 1960s, when you could still buy Morgan silver dollars and Peace silver dollars from the bank for face value. Or, maybe you recall the 1970s and early 1980s, when Eisenhower dollars and Susan B. Anthony dollars were circulating widely and could be readily obtained from banks and other pla...
In 2015 alone, gold coins with a collective worth over 50 billion USD were sold. This number is rapidly rising. If you are a professional investor or a private citizen saving for retirement, gold coins can protect your portfolio from losses incurred due to economic downturns. While that is a tempting reason to buy gold coins, it's important to be c...
I've been a coin collector since 1992, and over the years I've seen many rare coins go up in value. Others, meanwhile, have dropped in price. What's going on? Why don't all rare coins go up in value? Why do other coins continue increasing in price? Should you gamble with investing in coins? Before I answer any of these theoretical questions, rememb...
