Here's the question we'll talk about in lesson three: Hundreds and hundreds of coins from all the world and all of history...which ones should you collect? Tough question! But one of the best things about collecting is, it's all up to you. You get to pick!
You can collect coins that other people value, or coins that you like...different coins or similar coins...whatever makes you glad!
Maybe you've already thought about what kind of coins you like most. If you want to enjoy your hobby, you should collect coins that interest you! But if you're not sure, keep reading. This chapter is the place to get some ideas.
There are many kinds of coins to collect. Some you can find in your pocket change, while others are made just for collectors. Here's a quick and easy guide.
|
|
|
|
These days, the Mint can make only two special commemorative coins per year by law. Ideas for these coins are submitted to Congress, which votes on the subject to commemorate. Sometimes a qualified organization or project will receive some of the money made from selling the coin. Many people might take part in the design process, but the Secretary of the Treasury is the one who picks the final design. |
|
|
If you want to know what others have chosen, the most popular kinds of collections are types, dates, and themes.
Here's a matching game to see if you really know your stuff. Just click on the case icon.
Once you've picked a kind of coin to collect, the next step is to find coins you like that are in the best condition you can find. Let's look at where to find coins, how to judge their condition, and how to organize them.
A good coin detective learns about the best places to look for his or her favorite kinds. And the search is half the fun! See if you can figure out which of these places would be most likely to have the kind of coins you're looking for. Just move your mouse over the picture and descriptions will pop up.
Activity TimeSee if you can guess where Plinky found her coins. Click the case icon. |
Once you settle on a type of collection (more about that later), you need to be diligent in your search. If you don't check your change every day, some valuable coins might slip right through your fingers—literally!
Here are some tips on how to do that. Have a separate pocket or purse compartment where you put new change. At the end of the day, go through all the coins, keeping the ones you don't have and the ones that are in better condition that the ones you do have. Upgrading an old coin is almost as much fun as finding a new one!
Most young collectors don't have a lot to spend at first. Later on, you'll find that some coins can be quite expensive. Would you believe that someone would pay a million dollars for a nickel? A Liberty Head nickel from 1913 is that kind of coin. But don't worry if you can't afford that much—most collectors can't.
Besides, there are so few of those rare coins that they're hardly ever for sale, even for a million dollars! Many have a permanent home in museums like the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and the American Numismatic Association Museum in Colorado. If you live near a museum like that, go by and check out the collection!
If you find a coin that you think might be a treasure but you're not sure, you might want to have at least one professional look at it. I say "at least one" because grading and valuing coins is not an exact science, so different experts may see the coin differently. You can find dealers and collectors in the phone book under "Coins," "Coin Dealers," or "Hobbies."
Generally, coins tend to be worth more to collectors when they're old, rare, in excellent condition, and made of precious metals like gold. But sometimes a coin's value is surprising. For example, some ancient coins may sell for just a few dollars while some worn-out 1909 wheat pennies sell for a whole lot more! So the law of supply and demand applies to collecting as much as a coin's age, rarity, and beauty do. Click the dictionary to learn about the law of supply and demand.
They say "you can't judge a book by its cover," but with coins, the outside is all you usually get to see. The "cover" tells pretty much the whole story.
Judge the design—whether it's pretty, or interesting—and the finish—it should have a bright luster (shine) unless it's very old. It should be free of scratches, nicks, and dents, and its pictures and letters should be clear.
If you find a coin that hasn't been struck correctly, don't throw it out! Most error coins and misstrikes are found before they ever leave the United States Mint—that makes them rare. The few that do make it out are often cool additions to a collection. Mistakes that have been found include impressions that are off-center, coins that were stamped twice, and coins that have the front and back stamped on the same side.
When a coin is shiny, find out why! If it's uncirculated, then shine is good. But coins can also be made shiny by being buffed or whizzed, and that's not good.
A coin is buffed through polishing—people buff coins to make them look like uncirculated or proof coins, hoping they'll be worth more. They whiz them by using a wire brush or burnishing wheel to create the shine. That poor coin! Both buffing and whizzing wear down the coin's surface, which a good detective can see. Instead of making the coin more valuable, buffing and whizzing can actually make it less valuable.
So you want to be sure about a coin's condition before you collect or buy it—or even sell it. Judging a coin's condition is an important part of judging its value, so dealers and collectors have come up with a system for judging a coin's condition. That system is called "grading."
But you know a lot about grading—you probably have taken many tests in school that were graded! You know how teachers do it; here's how collectors do it.
To pass the test, coins are inspected for wear and tear. When U.S. coins are graded, a scale is used that was created by the American Numismatic Association (ANA). Keeping this standard is one of the reasons that Congress picked (chartered) this nonprofit group in 1912.
This grading scale uses numbers from 0 to 70. It also uses terms to describe how a coin looks:
Every valuable coin has been copied—sometimes for study but sometimes to cheat people. As a good detective, you want to be able to spot a phony. Sometimes that's not easy to do, but sometimes it's very easy.
Some private companies make "unofficial" issues called "rounds" or "proofs." These aren't spendable because they're not made by the United States Mint. The "Hobby Protection Act" of 1973 says that all copies must be marked as copies. If your coin has the words "replica" or "copy" or the letters "R" or "C," it's a copy and has no value for spending or, probably, collecting. You and your parent or guardian can find out more at the consumer awareness pages of the United States Mint's Web site (www.usmint.gov).
Another clue will call for your trusty magnifying glass. If the surface is pitted, especially around the edges, it usually means that the coin was poured from molten metal into a mold, at the wrong temperature. If it has a seam around the edge, that means the poured sides were fused together. Real coins don't have a seam because they are cut out of a single piece of metal. The cut-out piece is called a "blank" and, after its rim is raised, it's called a "planchet."
Do you think you know what coins look like? Find out by clicking on the case icon.
You may be surprised how big your collection gets after just a little searching, inquiring, and buying. Now, what do you do with it?
A big pile of metal doesn't look like much of a collection—and the coins rubbing against each other is not good for them anyway. Neither is storing them in a big glass jar.
What we need here is some organizing!
Before you store your coins, you should organize them. As we learned in Lesson Two, coins have many parts, different features or characteristics. Most collectors pick one or two characteristics and organize their collections by them.
For instance, if you pick the date as your characteristic, you would organize them by date. If they were all Jefferson nickels, you could be finished organizing—or you could pick the mint mark as a secondary characteristic and organize them by mint within each year. If you have nickels and dimes, you might want to separate them. Hey, now you have two collections!
You'll be surprised how quickly you forget your coins' history. So, as soon as you get a new coin, write it down! Keep a notebook for notes on each piece. Describe the coin, where you got it and from whom, how much you paid for it, and the date it joined your collection.
If you sell or trade one, update your notes with the new information. These notes are the coins' "documentation." You can also put these notes on cards or labels that stay with the coins they describe.
Help the Inspector figure out what kind of collections he has. Click to solve case 1.
Now, once you collect a high-grade coin, you'll want it to keep getting a good grade, right? That means treating it right. How do you do that? Find out in Lesson Four, where I'll gladly explain about handling, cleaning, showing, and storing your precious prizes.