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Coin Collector's Merit Badge
Coin Collecting Merit Badge

If you want to add this badge to your collection, be sure to talk to your scoutmaster before you begin.

You'll need to work with a badge counselor from the start.  You should also read your Boy Scout Handbook and the "Coin Collecting" badge pamphlet.

All ranks of Boy Scouts can earn a Coin Collecting Merit Badge.  Here's a look at the steps you must complete.

  1. Understand how coins are made, and where the active United States Mint facilities are located.
  2. Explain these collecting terms:
    1. Obverse
    2. Reverse
    3. Reeding
    4. Clad
    5. Type Set
    6. Date Set
  3. Explain the grading terms poor, good, very good, fine, very fine, extremely fine, and uncirculated.  Show the different grade examples of the same coin type.  Explain the term "proof" and why it is not a grade.  Tell what "encapsulated" coins are.
  4. Know three different ways to store a collection, and describe the benefits, drawbacks, and expense of each method.  Pick one to use when completing requirements.
  5. Do the following:
    1. Demonstrate to your counselor that you know how to use two U.S. or world coin reference catalogs.
    2. Read a numismatic magazine or newspaper and tell your counselor about what you learned.
  6. Describe the 1999–2008 50 State Quarters® Program.  Collect and show your counselor five different state quarters you have acquired from circulation.
  7. Collect from circulation a set of current U.S. coins.  Include one coin of each denomination (cent, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar, dollar).  For each coin, locate the mint marks, if any, and the designer's initials, if any.
  8. Do the following:
    1. Identify the people depicted on the following denominations of current U.S. paper money: $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100.
    2. Explain "legal tender."
    3. Describe the role the Federal Reserve System plays in the distribution of currency.
  9. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Collect and identify 50 foreign coins from at least 10 different countries.
    2. Collect and identify 20 bank notes from at least five different countries.
    3. Collect and identify 15 different tokens or medals.
    4. Collect a date set of a single type since the year of your birth.
  10. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Tour a United States Mint facility, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, or a Federal Reserve Bank, and describe what you learned to your counselor.
    2. With your parent's permission, attend a coin show or coin club meeting, or view the Web site of the United States Mint or a coin dealer, and report what you learned.
    3. Give a talk about coin collecting to your troop or class at school.
    4. Do drawings of five Colonial-era U.S. coins.

—Information taken directly from the Boy Scouts of America Boy Scout Handbook.

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