Coin Collecting on a Shoe-string Budget

Probably everyone at one time or another has collected coins. Some people save old wheat pennies they find in change and throw them in a jar. Other people collect state quarters, and some others collect certain coins like nickles or dimes, and try to build a complete collection over time. A lot of folks think coin collecting is the hobby of king's and truthfully, it's often called that. A king may be able to build a giant collection of coins, but I promise you, that the small collection a young boy has that may only be worth a couple of dollars, is worth just as much to that boy as a King's coins are worth to him.

I can tell you right now, anyone can collect coins and you don't have to be rich. In fact I have quite a large coin collection, and I have had a very low paying job all my life. There are a lot of ways someone can build a great coin collection over time, while still paying the bills.

Coins are so neat looking, I remember when I was a young boy, my grandad would go upstairs and open a safe we had, inside was a metal drawer containing some old Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars. My grandad would let me sit and play with the coins often. I would hold one by the edge on the table top and flip it on the side with my finger and the coin would spin wildly around on the table like a toy top. The coins were frosty silver or whitish colored and were beautiful to look at, they were large and heavy, not like the little coins we have today. I often wondered how many folks actually carried these things around in their pockets everyday, it only took a few of them to weigh quite a lot.

After my grandad passed away back in 1969, my dad sold the old silver dollars, I don't think he really wanted to, but my grandad had left the family farm pretty deep indebt, so dad had an auction and sold about everything except our house and the barn, to pay off the huge bills. It wasn't too long after that when dad got bitten by the coin collecting bug. At first it wasn't coins but paper money that got dad started. I remember dad saw an ad in the back of some magazine, where a guy was offering to pay $2 for every dollar bill you sent him that had a certain treasurer's name on it, that name was: " Joesph W. Barr ". My dad looked in his wallet at some dollar bills he had, and sure enough he had one that had the signature " Joesph W. Barr " on it. Dad took the dollar from his wallet and kept it in an envelope in his old roll top desk, and after checking his money for several days afterwards, dad found some more of them. Sometime later dad mailed the dollar bills to the address in the magazine ad, and sure enough he soon got a check for the dollars plus an extra dollar each. Dad continued searching and sending in them " Joesph W. Barr " dollar bills for awhile, then after a period of time, the guy no longer was accepting them.

Dad then started buying a few Indian head cents and some buffalo nickels. Then as he got older and money seemed to get a lot more tighter, dad quit buying coins and turned to a new hobby, doing sweepstakes. But by this time, I was hooked, I just loved the look of the old coins, the silver ones and the old copper large cents, they just seemed so neat compared to the boring coins of everyday use. Now as I am writing this article, I stumbled across an interesting article about the " Joesph W. Barr " dollar bills from the 'American Numismatic Association' it said, the following: "At one time, it was speculated that the notes signed by Treasurer Joseph W. Barr would eventually hold a high numismatic value since he was in office for only 23 days in 1968-69. However, during that period, a total of 484 million notes were produced with his signature. The high quantity produced dictates that the notes will never be considered rare in our lifetime. Interestingly, in 1995, numismatic author Alan Herbert stated, "A $1 Barr note deposited in an interest-bearing account in 1969 would have been worth over $4.00, figuring 6% interest compounded annually. A circulated Barr note kept in a safe-deposit box for 26 years is worth $1 today."

So that explains why that guy probably quit buying the " Joesph W. Barr " dollar bills, it seemed they might of been collectible for a little while, but they just never caught on. Today you can still buy them on eBay and other places, sometimes for slightly more than $1.00. Oh well, it is something that has stuck in my mind every since I was a little boy, I will always remember dad checking his wallet for " Joesph W. Barr " dollar bills. Now as I wipe the tears from my eyes, yes I am sad to say dad has been gone a few years now, and I still miss him very much, especially when I sit here alone and think about the times we spent together in the years gone by, oh well, at least it's always great memories when it comes to you, dad.

Now as I regain my mental composure, if I ever had one, I want to say that I never lost the desire to collect coins. And as I got old enough to work full time, and live on my own I started and built a fairly large coin collection. I didn't have much money as I never went to college or trade school, and I have always had a job working as a laborer, so I had to fine ways that I could build up my coin collection cheaply.

One day, I was looking in the back of a Coin collecting magazine that I had purchased at a local news stand, and I found an ad where you could join a coin collecting approval service. They would send you certain coins once a month, and you could select the ones you wanted to buy and keep, and if you didn't want them all, just mail the others back to them, and the next month they would send some other coins for you to examine. What made this program better than the other approval services I had often seen was, you could tell them what type of coins you were interested in, and what price you were willing to spend monthly. I selected miscellaneous U.S. coins, everything from old large cents from the 1800's to silver mercury dimes and buffalo nickels etc. And I chose to only spend $20 a month, for me this was perfect and for about a year or more I stayed in the program and over time I got a nice bunch of coins from them, then something happened and the company folded or went out of business, as I never received any more coins from them and I no longer saw their ad in the magazines.

Overtime I discovered other cheap methods to aquire some nice coins, one of the methods I still use, is something that anyone can do to start building a nice coin collection. Just start searching and examining your pocket change, I still find wheat pennies and silver war nickels, and many pre 1960 nickels, and sometimes a silver coin in pocket change. One time about two years back, I was at a local store and got some change back, I noticed two of the quarters I received looked kinda white in color, examining them closely after I got back home, I discovered they were both pre 1964 silver Washington quarters. I figured somebody must of needed money to buy some cigarettes or milk or something, and must of used some of their old coins, I was just lucky enough to had been there at the right time and place to get them in my change.

One place to find a lot of nice coins is to go to different banks and buy rolls, search through them carefully, and you will be surprised of the neat finds you may come across, plus just add a few out of your pocket change to replace the ones you want to keep from the rolls, and you can turn them back into a different bank for some different rolls of coins to search through.

Another place that is fairly good for finding some rare coins is at local flea markets, be careful though as many of the folks at these places are very aware of a coins value, and they often ask for much more then what the coins are worth. Read up on the coins you are interested in buying, or better yet, take along a pocket coin price guide with you when you go to buy coins, it's better to be thrifty then foolish.

Anyway, now after collecting coins for fun over the years, I have almost every Lincoln cent that was made from 1909 up to present, and I have every Jefferson nickel from the first one that was made in 1938 to present, and I have a nice sized wooden chest full of miscellaneous U.S. coins, including silver dollars, mercury dimes, buffalo nickels, Large Cents and many more unique and rare coins. I figure the coins will make a nice gift someday, something to leave to my daughter and her children, and maybe I can spark that fire in them, that my dad started in me, the joy of coin collecting. So start checking your pocket change today, you just never know what rare finds you may come across.

There are several different types of computer software that are made for coin collecting. One program that stand's out is ' Coin Collector Professional ', it is made for any coin collector, from novices to professionals, and it cost under $20. ' Coin Collector Professional ' may be downloaded and tried for free at this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/ccp

Copyright © 2006

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

Robert W. Benjamin has been in the software business on the internet for over 5 years, and has been producing low-cost software for the past 25+ years. He first released software on the AMIGA and C64 computer systems in the late 1970's-80's.

RB59 Software
http://www.rb59.com/software

Coin Dealer Ethics - Elderly Lady and Her Jar of Coins

The idea for this week's Coin Dealer Ethics discussion was sent in by Sandy B. in Corpus Christi, Texas. She wrote:

Hi,
I'd very much like to learn ways of handling coin dealers who try to scam female customers, especially women who are just starting a coin collection.

Thank you,
Sandi B.
Corpus Christi, Texas

Sandy's message reminded me of a scene I witnessed at one of those local coin shows in Las Vegas, Nevada, run by Bick International. It was the last Bick show I ever went to, because I ended up getting thrown out! The scenario below probably won't be of much help to Sandi and her efforts to gain advice on how women should handle coin dealers, but I'll have an article written next week in response to her question.

Here's this week's scenario:

I was standing at the table of the only coin dealer at the show who had any ancient coins in pick boxes, a wonderfully friendly fellow by the name of Roy Comnick (of Comnick's Coins in Prescott Valley, AZ.) An elderly lady, probably at least 80 years old, came up to the table of the dealer next to us (whose name I don't know.) This dealer had a prominent sign that said BUYING COINS.

The elderly lady, (who we'll call "Agnes,") was carrying a good-sized jar of mixed U.S. coinage, mostly pre-1850 silver and copper coins such as large cents, half cents, etc. She asked the dealer with the BUYING sign if he would look at her coins and tell her how much they were worth.

The dealer produced a felt tray and asked the lady to pour her jar of coins onto the tray, which she did. I could see the Bust Dollars and Half Dollars, high grade Large Cents, and a scattering of smaller silver coins that I couldn't quite make out. The dealer got out his loupe and looked at a few of the coins closely and asked the lady where she got them as he examined them. She said they belonged to her father and that she had run across them while going through some old family trunks in preparation for selling her house. She said she brought them to the coin show to get an appraisal and sell them since none of her children had any interest in them. The dealer (who evidently wasn't listening) asked her if she wanted to sell them, and she replied, "That's why I'm here."

While all of this is going on, I stood there watching with some interest. I've seen what happens when people bring in their jars, bottles and boxes of old coins, and I was waiting to see if this lady would be treated any differently. We weren't dealing with Wheat Pennies and worn out Mercury Dimes here! This was obviously auction-quality material that needed more than just a quick 3 minute assessment before counting up the face value and buying the silver at bullion spot price.

After 3 or 4 minutes, the dealer made a sort of grumbling sound and said that her coins weren't exactly in mint state and that copper isn't a precious metal, but "how much do you want for them?" The lady replied that she didn't know; she had brought them in to have them appraised because she didn't know anything about coins. The dealer responded that he didn't have time at this busy show (it was actually quite dead) to do full appraisals for free, but if she wanted to sell them to name a price and he'd take it or leave it.

The lady seemed a little uncertain here, and began rounding up her coins to put them back in her jar when the dealer spoke up again, "Lady, your coins are not in mint state grade. You can take them around to every table here, and nobody is going to pay you more than I will, assuming they're even buying. Do you see any other BUYING COINS signs in here? Save yourself the time and trouble and just name a price. I'm having a good show; I'll probably pay what you ask."

It's worth pointing out here that her coins were likely worth thousands of dollars each. This was one of the most remarkable rip-offs I had ever witnessed, and my heart starting pumping faster and my palms were getting damp as I saw where this was going.

The little old lady looked up hopefully into the dealer's face, and tremulously asked, "Do you think they're worth as much as a thousand dollars? I'd probably take that, they're nothing to me, I didn't even know I had them until last month."

I saw the coin dealer's pupils briefly dilate, and old poker-playing tell that lets you know your opponent has just made a BIG hand. He knew he was getting a huge gift, and as my blood starting rushing faster through my veins, in response to the outrage I was feeling, the coin dealer said, "Lady, a thousand dollars is a lot of money for these coins. Why don't I give you $700 in cash and we'll call it a deal." He was a masterful pro at this rip-off business, and already had the cash out of his pocket, counting off the hundreds while the lady watched uncertainly.

This was the point at which I finally lost it. I said to the lady (who knew I had been standing there watching the whole time,) "Ma'am, your coins are worth several thousand dollars EACH probably. Don't take his offer! Take them around and get some other offers first!" I would have said more, but the dealer had practically jumped across his table and gotten in my face and said, "This is none of your business. Get out of here." Then, turning to the lady, this dealer (who had never seen me before in his life) said, "I know this woman, she's a real shark. She hates to see anybody else make a sale. I'll give you the thousand dollars for your old coins, but that's a GIFT, take it or leave it now."

I told the lady, "Leave it! Go get more offers! Your coins are EARLY BUST DOLLARS, those are very valuable coins!" At this point, the coin dealer shouted for the bourse chairman, for security, and for the police, all in one long shout. Heads everywhere turned our direction, and several people in police or security uniforms came running from everywhere at once.

The coin dealer pointed at me and demanded that they throw me out. He said that I was interfering with his business and intimidating his customers. One of the security guards reached behind his belt and produced a set of handcuffs, and I got the point. By this time, a man that I presume was the bourse chairman came running over and rather anti-climatically told me to leave the show and that I wasn't welcome there again. I protested that this dealer was about to steal from this woman, but by then a security guard had me by the arm and was hustling me toward the exit, a little more forcefully than strictly necessary since I wasn't struggling (just shouting) and I had bruises on my arm the next day.

I do not know whether that lady sold her coins to that charlatan or not. I tried to find out who he was after the show, by calling the bourse chairman's office and enquiring about who was in that spot, but I didn't have the booth number and I hadn't bothered to pick up one of their flimsy little show programs.

There are two sides to this debate, regarding the actions I took that day. One side says that I was right to try to warn the lady (although I could have perhaps been more discreet or handled it differently once I saw the value of her coins.) The other side says that I had absolutely no right at all to say a single word; the transaction was none of my business and it was wrong of me to interfere.

What do you think? Should I have spoken up? What would you have done? Share your thoughts via the comments link below and next week we'll have a look at your responses.

Follow-Up - You can read the follow-up to this column, where we look at some of the readers' responses about the elderly lady and her coins.

View the original article here

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Buying and Collecting Ancient Roman Coins

Ever wondered what Emperors like Constantine the Great, Nero or Julius Ceaser looked like and wanted to hold something in your hand that may have been held by one of these Emperors or someone living during that time.

If you are a collector with a low budget, particularly a coin collector then you should seriously consider taking up the hobby of Roman coin collecting.

There are a number of reasons why I prefer collecting Roman coins then other antiques including other ancient coins. Firstly there are a wide variety of Ancient Roman coins to suite your tastes. This is largely due to the vast time and area that the Roman Empire covered. From as early as 27 BC to 496 AD there were many millions of coins minted spanning a large area of the globe featuring coins that reflect the time from when they were created.

Also its great to have a real portrait of an Emperor in your possession. Many emperors came and went and it was customary to inscribe the portrait of the emperor on the coins that were minted during their reign.

Roman coins are the most inexpensive of all Ancient coins. Other ancient coins include for example Greek, Barbaric, Celtic, Parthian, Nabathaean, Islamic, Indian and Chinese. This can come as a surprise to many considering how ancient these coins are. Yet they can be even cheaper then some of the modern day coins that coin collectors collect. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly as already stated the Roman empire was large and so there were a lot of coins minted. Many Roman coins are therefore not as rare as many believe. Another reason is that there are few collectors of ancient coins then modern coins. This makes the demand for them lower.

There are also less forgeries of Roman coins then other coins particulary modern day coins. This is largely due to the fact that they are less rare and expensive.

Another reason Roman coins are great to collect is that they do not just have historical value but also artistic value. These coins were cleverly and beautifully crafted and tell a story from the time and area that they were minted.

Unlike most coins today Roman Coins had intrinsic value being comprised of precious metals worth many times more then their weight in that metal. These precious metals include Gold, Silver and Bronze. This can make the coins more special and increase the value of the coin should you choose to collect the more expensive Roman coins.

Factors that determine a coins worth
The price of a coin ranges significantly due to a number of factors. The two biggest factors being the condition the coin is in and the grade of the coin.

The condition of a coin can depend on how corroded the coin has become while it has been in the ground or how it was stored. The grade of the coin is determined by how the coin was minted when it was manufactured. These coins were minted by hand and so do not always entirely circular or detailed. A coin can be less detailed and of less value if it was struck by dies that were worn down. Determining the grade of a coin can be tricky and sometimes you simply have to go with how appealing and detailed the coin is to your own eyes.

Another factor that determines a coins worth is its rarity. Surprisingly rarity is less of a factor in determining an ancient coins worth then modern day coins. Modern day coins will be worth a lot if there were few minted, or few in circulation. Given the large number of collectors this is more of a factor with Modern coins. This would drive up the cost of a rare coin if collectors are trying to complete their collection.

With ancient Roman coins there were a larger number and variety created and so each collection will be different and rarity will be considered less of an issue. There are rare ancient coins of course. Some emperors were not around for long enough to have many coins minted during their reign and hence they will be harder to find and cost more.

Sellers of ancient coins will often use terms such as scarce, rare or very rare to describe a coin. Just because someone describes a coin as rare does not mean that it actually is. Unfortunately, some sellers will attach this label to ancient coins to attract novice collectors who do not know better. If someone describes a coin as rare or scarce does the person explain why the coin is rare? Does he give it an RIC number and explain the variety? If you are new to collecting ancient coins, you should not jump on a coin just because is it described as rare.

If you build up a collection of ancient coins you will be able to tell for yourself if a coin is uncommon, scarce or even rare.

Price of different Roman coins
Truly rare coins that are sort after will not sell for much less than $100, and often for much more. Hence, a coin of Constantine described as rare with an asking price of just a few dollars is very unlikely to be so. There are sellers on eBay who claim that their coin is rare, or they have only seen one in 10 years, but there is another one just like it being offered on eBay by someone else.

To give you an idea of the variation of price for Roman coins, for $5-10 you can buy decent quality coins issued under a number of the late-3rd and 4th century AD emperors.

For about $10-20, you can collect a coin from the more famous 1st and 2nd century emperors, and of many later ones in very nice condition. In fact, for $20 a coin, you can quite easily assemble a collection of more than half of the emperors (over 50) in very nice condition with clear portraits and readable legends.

On top of this, there are numerous varieties available for each emperor. Of course, just as with modern coins, you can buy ones that cost much more; ones that are in better shape or are more scarce, but if you are just interested in decent coins and history then you may not have to look any further.

Once in a while you might want to spend a bit more on a scarce emperor, or something that really arouses your interest, or a coin in truly nice condition. But then again, you might be attracted to cheaper coins that are not fully cleaned or legible, which can add to their mystery.

So, to summarize, buy coins that you find interesting and that appeal to you. No two coins of the same type will be exactly the same; choose the one that you think is better value for your money. Look around to see if a nicer looking coin might be also affordable if that is what you really want, and hence save yourself the trouble of replacing it later or regretting that you bought it in the first place. Do not worry about rarity too much!

Ashley is an avid collector of Ancient Roman coins and provides general advice on how find genuine Roman coins for sale on Online Auctions.

7 Most Common Coin Collecting Themes

Coin collecting has been the hobby of many people for many years. If you refer to history, the first coin collectors were kings and emperors of different kingdoms all over the world. Some of the first known coin collectors are the Roman Emperors and King Farouk of Egypt.

Nowadays, instead of simply collecting coins, modern coin collectors collect coins according to a theme. Some of these themes are:

1) Country Collection

2) Year Collection

3) Error Collection

4) Subject Collection

5) Type Collection

6) Composition Collection

7) Period Collection

Country Collection

Country collection is one of the favorite coin collecting themes. Coin collectors who collect coins from different countries do their best to get their hands on current or past coins from as many countries as possible. This type of coin collecting would most likely be never ending since many countries keep on changing their currencies.

Year Collection

Year collections focus more on a specific coin and denomination. Under year collection theme, a coin collector will collect his coins by year. For example, an enthusiastic collector of the Lincoln cent may collect all Lincoln coins from the date it was first created in 1909 up to the present.

The challenge in year collection is to complete the collection in terms of year. Once a collector has completed the set of Lincoln cents, he will move on to another type of coin and start over again. Many enthusiastic coin collectors who collect coins by year will be able to complete several sets of coins during their lifetime.

Error Collection

Error collections are coin collections that are more focused on coins with mistakes on them. The mistakes on these coins may be either be very obvious or not at all. Older coins will usually have more mistakes because coins were minted by hand before the 19th century.

Common errors are found on coins are double dies, overdates, double strikes, repunched mint marks, off metal coins, displace coins and clipped coins.

Another very interesting error is mule. These coins are very interesting because each side of the coin has a different denomination. Coin collectors usually desire coins with errors because they are very unusual. These kind of coins can seldom be found them nowadays as minting has become fully automated.

Subject Collection

Subject collections are the collections where collectors collect coins which have a specific subject like a ship or animals marked on the coin. To expand the subject collection, the collector would have to do a lot of research to find out which countries have coins with the subject of his collection.

Type Collection

Sometimes coin collectors collect coins which are designed in a particular way. For instance, a coin collector may collect certain coins which have a hole in the center. There are some countries which create coins with a hole in the center. This collector will collect coins from different countries but with holes in the center.

Composition Collection

Even the coin composition can be a coin collection theme. Some coins are created with a combination of 2 or more metals. There are international coins which are composed of different kinds of metals. Some countries make their coins bimetal and some may use more than two combinations of metal for their coins.

Period Collection

Period collections are collections based on the period from which the coins were created. Some collections consist of coins from the Victorian era. Other collectors may go as far down history as the Byzantine or Greek period for their collections. There are several periods which can be the bases for period collection.

Initially, coin collectors might have started collecting coins because of having extra coins after a holiday trip overseas or because they like the design of a certain coin. As the collectors' interest increase, so will his appetite for more variety or more specific coins.

Although there are different kinds of coin collecting themes, most coin collectors are generalists and they simply prefer to have a little bit of everything.

In reality, coin collecting preference is all up to the collector and does not have to depend on a certain theme. Whatever a collector fancies in a coin can be the basis for the collection.

Many collectors strive to surpass each other by procuring the most sought after coins available. Coin collecting has now become a sort of competition for the collectors. Most collectors wish to outwit and outshine others with their collection of coins. However, there are also coin collectors who are just proud of having a unique set of coins not found in any other collector's collection.

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit rare coin values to learn more about famous coin collections such as disney coin.

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The Sheldon Scale for Grading Coins

The Sheldon Scale is the primary system in use for determining the grade of a coin.? The possible grades range from Poor-1 to Mint State-70 (usually expressed as MS-70).? Every possible number in between is theoretically available for describing a coin's state of preservation, but in practice only certain points of the scale are used (such as EF-45, but not EF-47.)? Learn more about the Sheldon Scale for grading coins.

View the original article here

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Coin Collecting Myths - Part 2

In the previous section we dealt with some major coin myths dealing with investments, performance data, grading and the predictability of the coin market today. In Part 2 our focus will change to cover myths related to more basic coin issues and the ties to building coin collections with metal detectors.

Myth #1: Never clean a coin!

Cleaning of coins is never encouraged unless you know what you are dealing with. True collector (specimen) coins should not be cleaned. There are several classes of coins that proper cleaning techniques will enhance and generally improve their markability. Ancients are not graded by the same standards as our coins today and dug coins will generally profit from proper cleaning. Many dug coins of modern time can stand some cleaning. I toss thousands of coins into my coin tumbler each year. Most are coins that are pretty rough looking and just to put them into circulation or to use them in trade, cleaning is a necessity. I also clean 90% of my nickel finds as dug five cent pieces are almost always darkened and will be enhanced by proper cleaning techniques. I have never or will ever clean fine and better copper, nickel, silver, or gold coins. Cleaning a rare or valuable collector coin could cost you thousands of dollars in resale potential.

Myth #2: Never buy a coin sight unseen.

Some years ago this was probably the best practice. Times have changed in the coin market. With the advent and development of several quality grading services, slabbed coins are fairly safe purchases for collectors who are not interested in having just premier coins in their collection. Pedigree coins should be examined to insure you are getting the best coin for the big bucks. Ebay and other selling sources now have such quality listings with details and quality pictures, making your purchase somewhat safe. I have had to return a few coins for refunds from these sources. But the process is much easier than the days of purchasing by mail from coin magazines and coin newspapers. I still like taking my coins to coin shows to sell as well as being able to see up close, coins that I would like to purchase. The fourth of July weekend always means the Clearwater, FL Coin Club Show. I made a nice profit on a 1908 $20. 00 Gold piece with a nice heavy bezel. I paid $500 and sold it for $930. But the fun of the show was buying the last coin I needed to complete my Indian Cent Collection. I found both the 1908 S and the 1877 cents with metal detectors. I asked every dealer there if they had a 1909 S. Only five dealers had one or more of this date. This is a coin that I would not buy sight unseen and, due to numerous frauds for this date, I recommend only coins that have been slabbed by a major grading service. It is easy to be taken on this coin. I used my profit (and a little extra) from the gold coin to walk out with a VG 10 that looks like a Fine 12, graded by America's oldest grading service ANACS.

Coin Myth #3: Coin dealers cannot be trusted.

I do not trust every dealer that I know, but the good outnumber the bad. I have favorites that trust has been established over many years of buying and selling. A good way to check them out is to take a coin that you have had appraised to several different dealers and check their offer on buying your coin. If the offer is at least 65% of the value of the coin, that dealer is likely okay. Another way I check them out is to take my scrap sterling or gold metal detector finds, and see what each offers. They need at least a five percent margin over the buy price for that day. If 14K gold is going for $900 that day and the dealer says he will give you $840 or higher, he or she is likely an honest dealer. A five percent margin that day would make your ounce of 14K gold worth about $855 max. Good, honest and trustworthy dealers will want to establish a relationship with you the buyer/seller. My favorite of all times is a dealer named Dale. I made my first purchase with him back in the early 70's, and though he has gone into semi-retirement and moved more than 50 miles north, I sold him my gold piece and bezel without comparing other offers at the Clearwater coin show. His wife went throughout the show floor to the other dealers to find a special silver bezel I needed while I was selling the coin and bezel to her husband. Great customer service from a fine dealer!

Coin Myth #5: Quality coins are impossible to find.

Though it may seem tougher to find certain types of coins, many unusual and error coins are the product of billions of coins being minted to meet the consumer buying and selling needs. I found a 2004 Roosevelt Dime error coin last year in money turned in for my children's ministry missions project. It was copper on the obverse as the final layer was missing. Many of this type of error coin have been bringing over $250 on Ebay recently. I got a 1976 Proof half from a roll I picked up from a local bank recently. The 50 States coin series has many very interesting coin errors. This makes for collecting varieties of the same dates. Finding MS 66 and higher grade coins are not difficult when checking early release date bags. I purchased a quantity of the 1995 cent rolls and found more than 20 varieties. This was a fad purchase and though I did alright then, beware of those offering high prices for these rolls, boxes, or bags. The price for these varieties have fallen about 85%. It is still nice to find different varieties of this and other coins and occassionally someone finds a new variety which can be slabbed and worth a premium price to purchasers.

Coin Myth #5: Silver and gold coins cannot be found today.

Don't tell me that it is hard or impossible to find silver and gold coins. As a metal detector user with over 15,000 silver finds and 1868 and 1915 gold coins, I know that there are still millions of good finds like this buried and still in reach of my search coils. Research pays off big in this, the only hobby that pays you to participate. I have over 30,000 wheat pennies, nearly a thousand Indian Heads and six thousand plus Mercury dimes, just to name a few of my more valuable modern coins dug out of the newest "circulation", Mother Earth. This is probably one of the greatest coin myths today. Check out a treasure magazine like, Western and Eastern Treasures, and see the incredible finds that go on daily.

Larry Smith is an avid coin collector and metal detector enthusiast. He's been collecting coins for over 50 years. Larry is giving away his ebook, "Coin Collecting With The Home TOwn Advantage" FREE for a limited time. You can get your copy and start building (or expanding) your own collection right now.

Get the ebook (and TONS of other great FREE content) by visiting his blog now:

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Touted as a return to Sam Raimi's horror-movie roots, Drag Me to Hell is indeed closer in spirit to the director's Evil Dead pictures than to his Spider-Man films. You got your gypsy gargoyles with rotted dentures, your upchucking corpses, your flexible two-way orifices--yes, Raimi's definitely back in the saddle. There's even a story: a sad loan officer (Alison Lohman) turns down the aforementioned denture-wearing gypsy for a loan extension, which leads to an evil curse and a date in hell in three days' time. A séance, an animal sacrifice, and a session in a storm-tossed graveyard will make the 72 hours pass very nervously, thank you, along with assorted scares. Justin Long plays Lohman's upper-class boyfriend, and Raimi fills the rest of the cast with some unusual and unfamiliar types. Along with the giddy horror-comedy that bursts out of the movie every 10 minutes or so, there's also an underlying mood of pity: Lohman's character is something of a hard-luck sad sack, who does enough wrong things to make her seem like a truly abject individual, well outside the heroic model of most multiplex offerings. (Lohman's own little-girl-lost quality adds to this feeling.) But don't let that get in the way of the fun-ride aspects of this goofy enterprise: Drag Me to Hell is a bunch of Z-movie gags wrapped in top-drawer production values. --Robert Horton

Stills from Drag Me to Hell (Click for larger image)

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Coin Grading - A Technique You Must Master

Main purpose of this article is to give you an insight on coin grading and guide you further into understanding everything related to this subject.

For Coin collectors, there is always the need to have more coins, to have good coins in the collection. It is always easy to buy new coins for your collection but you need to make sure that the coins you buy are valuable. If you ever need to sell them this will make sure you can do it without many problems. Following the coin grading system is probably the best way to find out the economic value of your coins.

Coin Grading is essentially the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, the fundamental factor in its value. Coins from diverse countries have different coin grading systems but for the most part they are similar. Although Coin grading has evolved over the years to a system of finer and finer grade distinctions, the coins will be given dissimilar values depending on what the coin dealer or coin collector's Knowledge of coin grain is like.

It normally takes many years before coin collectors or dealers gain enough experience about coin grading. Because of this coin grading will always be unsure about the value of coins. As of 2006 there are four major grading services:

- PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service)

- NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation

- ANACS

- ICG (Sometimes criticized for its grading of modern coins)

I highly encourage you to look for expert advice before making any significant rare coin purchase.

Although if you want to learn more about the basic of coin grading there are very excellent coin grading books available that deal with the subject. Reading books like that should help you understand the different coin grading systems used in the industry. Using the books as a reference guide you should try to give a coin grading to the coins you have in your collection. This process should help you understand the diverse values that have been given for the coins.

As i wrote earlier, coin grading is uncertain and you will find that no tow coin dealers agree on all of the points. Thus it is good to remember what the various letters and symbols in coin grading mean. For example "Uncirculated coins" will often be given the rating of Mint State. This means this is a very good find for coin dealers and collectors. Even those coins will be categorized from the best to the worst.

Here are a few of the coin grading values:

- (Uncirculated or mint state) the coin grade is near perfect. The range of this grade is MS60 to MS70. MS70 is perfect.

- (Almost Uncirculated) the coin Grade is almost perfect, there is almost no sign of wear and tear

- (Extremely Fine), only a light dusting of wear on the highest points

- (Very Fine) the coin grade shows little wear with the major features of the coin very sharp in detail.

- (Fine) There is a moderate to considerable even wear on the coin.

- (very Good) Well worn, and shows slight detail on the main features of the coin.

- (Good) Very worn features, mostly flat in appearance.

- (About Good) Very heavily worn with lettering, details, and dates worn smooth. The worst possible condition of a coin.

Understanding what these various coin grading values are will help you with your coin collection. Very Soon you will know the various prices that are given to different coins.

I hope the information above was useful.

Visit our ?coin-collecting-tips.com? website to learn more about coin collecting. Find more information about coin grading and other aspects of coin collecting. Read our Beginners guide How to Become a Coin Collecting Expert.

Two-Headed Coins

One of the most common questions I get asked is about two-headed coins.? Someone finds the coin in circulation, so they're sure it has to be genuine!? They look at the edge, and don't see a seam, indicating that the coin was two "heads" halves that have been joined together.? If the two-headed coin is a fake, it has to have this seam, right?

Well, no...? In fact, most two-headed coins are very cleverly put together because they are intended to be examined by spectators during a magician's show or during some other display of clever coin manipulation (such as tossing a coin to see who buys the drinks.)? One thing all two-headed U.S. coins have in common is that they did not come from the U.S. Mint this way!

Learn about how to detect the joined halves of two-headed coins, so you can authenticate these cleverly deceptive marvels for yourself.

View the original article here

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Piano Favorites

Whether or not you saw the film Tous les matins du monde, you owe it to yourself to either discover or revisit its soundtrack, which features the music of two great figures of 17th-century France: Saint Colombe and his pupil Marin Marais. Saint Colombe, about whom little is known, was a great viol player who was acclaimed for his improvisations. Marais became a member of the famed court orchestra under Lully (some of whose music also appears on the disc) at a very young age. One of the joys of this recording is the sound of the bass viol, an instrument rarely played by itself, especially in such a virtuoso manner. Jordi Savall is the undisputed modern master of the instrument, and he shows us why on this program. As an added bonus, two outstanding vocal pieces are sung with endearing purity, flawless technique, and impeccable intonation by two perfectly matched sopranos. --David Vernier

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What About Cheerios Pennies?

I recently wrote about the Cheerios Dollars, which are the Sacagawea Dollars that were put into 5,500 lucky boxes of Cheerios cereal back in early 2000. These coins are fascinating because they were struck from a different set of dies than normal Sacagawea Dollars were struck from, and they're currently worth as much as $10k each because very few of them have come onto the market.

I should have foreseen the email avalanche I was about to be buried under! Although almost nobody can turn up a Cheerios Dollar these days, there are 10,000,000 Cheerios Pennies out there, and I feel like I've heard from fully half their owners! Most of them want to know how to get the $10,000 their coin is worth. I've had to break the bad news to these folks, that only the Cheerios Dollar coin is valuable. As for the Cheerios Penny? Well, it's not so bad that they might as well just go spend it, but as long they keep it on that little card, it's worth a few bucks on eBay. Then again, if they keep it on the little card, it'll probably get PVC damage from the plastic sealing it in. (Or are these cards made from archival-quality packaging by some chance? Does anybody know?)

I actually had a bear of a time finding a decent-quality photo of the Cheerios Penny on its little card. I finally tracked one down on an interesting site called X-Entertainment.com. The site is run by a fellow who collects (among other things) the junk that manufacturers put into cereal boxes for the kids to find. He has a page about the Millenios special edition collectible box on which he states that the Cheerios Penny and Dollar coin premiums were actually placed into five different kinds of cereal! Can anybody confirm this detail, and tell us which five cereals were included in the promotion?

Update: Reader Fred says (in the Comments below) that there were five different flavors of Cheerios, and that the coins were found in boxes of them all. The flavors included Honey Nut Cheerios, Team Cheerios, and maybe Frosted Cheerios. Fred also tells us that he used a metal detector on the boxes of cereal at the stores to tell which boxes might have the larger (dollar) coins in them! How devilishly clever! Thank you for sharing, Fred! :)

Photo by Matt C. of X-Entertainment.com, (used with permission.)

View the original article here

Coin Collecting Opens The Door To The Past

Coin collecting or numismatics is probably one of the most popular hobbies in the world and also one of the oldest. Many individuals at some point in time have collected coins. If you want to start a coin collection, a lot of research and study should be devoted to the hobby of coin collecting.

Coins have often been regarded as 'mirrors of history'. Other than the monetary value and worth of antique coins, they also possess historical value. Coins belonging to different ages have different stories to tell of empires and emperors.

Amateur coin collectors generally start their coin collection by collecting coins that belong to their own country, as this is the easiest and the most cost effective way to start a coin collection. With time this may give way to specializing in collecting coins that belong to a particular type. Coin collectors may specialize in coins of a particular country or of a particular period or metal. Commemorative coins, such as those released during sporting events or those that mark the independence day of a country, can also make an appealing collection. Coins with faults or defects are also popular among serious collectors.

As with any other hobby, the coin collection market is flooded with fakes and if you are not an expert in this field it is very difficult to separate the original genuine coins from the counterfeit coins. Before buying expensive coins it is a good idea to get the coin authenticated by reputable coin grading and coin authentication services. The condition of a coin is denoted by a coin grade. For a detailed study on coin grades, read Photograde by James Ruddy. Currently, the more reputable coin grading services are Professional Coin Grading Service, Numismatic Guarantee Corporation of America, ANACS and Independent Coin Grading Co.

The best places to buy coins are reputable coin dealers, auctions, coin shows or from other collectors, though you should avoid buying from the internet as it is hard to judge online whether the coin you are interested in is genuine or counterfeit. Coins may be stored in coin cases, coin trays and coin albums. However, you should avoid storing coins in jars, as keeping them in a jar may scratch the coins.

Amateur coin collectors may mistakenly think that cleaning coins is an important part of caring for the coin collection. However, the opposite is true; it is best that coins are not cleaned at all. Collectors prefer the original look of coins and cleaning coins may bring down their value. If your coins need any cleaning, you should first consult a professional or an expert. Olive oil or soapy water may be used for cleaning coins. Harsh cloths should never be used to clean, and tap water is a strict no-no as they contain minerals that may harm the coins.

If you want to start Coin Collecting [http://www.coin-collecting-hobby.info] visit coin-collecting-vault.info [http://www.coin-collecting-vault.info]. Susan also enjoys writing on a wide range of topics at home-and-family-hub.info [http://www.home-and-family-hub.info].

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Should I Buy Certified World Coins And What Are Slabbed Coins?

Third party grading and certification
PCGS? NGC? ICG? ANACS? NCS?

Third-party grading is catching on in world coins and there are some considerations for the coin collector. While third-party grading, otherwise known as certification, has been the standard in US coins for many years, it is relatively new to world coin collectors. A third-party grading service is not affiliated with the seller or the buyer and gives an independent opinion on the authenticity and grade of a particular coin you send to one of these companies. The act of having a coin put into a square hard plastic holder by one of the grading services is known as "slabbing." The hard plastic holder is air-tight and protects your coin from damage from the environment or mishandling by human beings. In general, this holder greatly protects your coin over the long-haul. While nearly all significant US coins are slabbed, the vast majority of world coins are not slabbed! The reason is that slabbing currently is an American habit, but catching on in other parts of the world rapidly.

Coin collectors should consider buying expensive coins already certified, especially if acquiring prized specimens from such places as eBay or unknown dealers. A coin slabbed by PCGS or NGC (the two grading services we recommend for world coins) includes a guarantee from these companies that the coin is genuine. Given the number of fake coins being sold on eBay seems to be growing, buying a coin on ebay already certified takes uncertainty out of the purchase decision. For example, a slabbed coin is, in general, not cleaned, repaired, damaged, scratched, or removed from jewelry. All of these conditions can drastically lower the price of a coin and may not be known at the time of purchase when looking at a small picture on the internet. Since this certification has costs (roughly $30 to $40 per coin), we recommend this only for more expensive coins such as those over $500-$1000. Due to the costs, you may find that certified coins may cost a bit more than uncertified coins (also known as "raw" coins) but with that extra cost comes peace-of-mind and a company guarantee should the coin be found to be not genuine.

The grading services do vary in quality and recently dozens of new grading companies have sprung up. For many years, PCGS and NGC have gathered the most respect from collectors and dealers. However, these companies do not generally certify ancient coins or some specialized items such as Islamic coins. ICG is the best company for these coins and we recommend buying them already certified. The remaining dozens of grading companies are generally not to be used due do extreme unreliability in grading standards and allowing cleaned, damaged, or even fake coins to be certified. This and all the while NOT providing a guarantee of authenticity offered by PCGS and NGC!

Many coins have been lightly cleaned or have some small problems. Literally millions of coins fall into this category, but they are rejected by PCGS, NGC, and ICG which slab only undamaged original coins. In order to get these coins certified as genuine, we recommend using ANACS or NCS. NCS is part of NGC and also does restoration. If you have valuable coins that have accumulated dirt, PVC, ugly toning, or other issues, we recommend you send them to NCS to be professionally restored, or in other words "cleaned" and then slabbed by NGC. We do not recommend you try to clean coins yourself. Inexperienced people have damaged many coins by trying to clean them and lowering their value by thousands of dollars.

When it comes time to sell your coins, you will probably get a higher price with certified coins. Other collectors and dealers will recognize that the coin is guaranteed to be real and has no problems such as cleaning (or other serious issues listed above) resulting in a higher offer price. It will also make selling your coins for the highest price easier for your heirs as the coins are identified on the plastic holder and have grades listed.

When buying raw (uncertified) coins, we suggest you ask the seller if the coin in question would certify at PCGS or NGC. If the answer is anything other than a quick "yes," you may need a further explanation of the coin's condition. It would be prudent to ask for a guarantee from the seller that a coin will slab before buying an expensive coin. Grading is highly subjective and a seller or dealer will have a hard time handing out guarantees of a certain grade MS-65 or MS-66 to be given by PCGS or NGC.

Having your coins certified is also fairly easy. Please see the respective company websites for further information on their services and prices. We recommend you ship all coins by US post office registered mail with insurance. Fedex and UPS may be faster, but they generally do not accept or insure rare coins, gold, or money in their packages. The US post office will give you full insurance for your valuable coins and with a much lower risk of being lost or stolen on the trip to a grading company.

If you are interested in purchasing certified coins, we have many in stock for sale today. We do also sell many raw coins that we can have certified for you. Our company will guarantee they will be certified or you do not have to buy them! The cost of certification will be added to your invoice and adds about 2 weeks to the order time.

You will find many people recommending certified coins and the benefits of certified coins are great to the collector or investor. Please contact us if you have any questions purchasing or selling coins as we are authorized dealers for PCGS, NGC / NCS, and ICG grading companies.

Clark Smith, Specialist in World Gold Coins,
csmith1541@yahoo.com
coinvault.com

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Velvety and glazed like a fattening pastry, this 1954 love story concerns three American women who make wishes for love in Rome, and end up having three romances. The cast is fine, but as for the film, what you see is what you get. There's no mystery to any part of this movie--like everything director Jean Negulesco made once CinemaScope entered his life (e.g., How to Marry a Millionaire, A Certain Smile), Three Coins is designed to lull rather than stimulate. (It did, however, win Oscars for cinematography and the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn title song performed by Frank Sinatra.) --Tom Keogh

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History Behind The Gold And Silver Coins

People in the older times do not use any form of currency to buy things they need. They just trade their goods at the market place and exchange things they have for things they want or need. As time pass, people began to learn the value of currency. They started to use money as instrument to purchase goods and services. Because gold has always been considered a valuable commodity, they minted gold coins as their first currency.

Gold And Silver Coins

Gold coins were first introduced between 643-630 BC. They were introduced by the Lydian King Croesus. People at that time used electrum, a pale yellow mixture of silver and gold which occurs in the Lydia naturally. People then do not know how to separate gold and silver. So in actuality, the first gold coin was a mixture of silver and gold.

They begin to learn how to separate gold from silver around 560 B.C. That was when the first real gold coins existed. While manufacturing gold coins, they also started to make silver coins. Silver coins worth less than gold coins. That is why rich people in the kingdom used the gold coins while the less rich working class used silver coins.

When King Croeseus was captured by the Persian army in 546 B.C, the Persians went through the kingdom of Lydia. They found the gold coins there. They were amazed at how the people of Lydia mint gold coins and decided to learn the trade. As they also considered gold as a precious metal, they soon adopted the use of gold coins.

As Persia was considered one of the most progressive nations in the olden times, the use of the golden coin soon spread quickly to other parts of the world. For the next several years, gold coins played an important role in the area of commerce. People from all over the world used gold to obtain good and services all over the world.

The use of gold coins however stopped in 1933. Countries all over the world begin to find it too expensive to use gold coins as their currency. Nowadays, some countries use gold-colored coins which no longer contain gold.

Silver Coins

For more than 170 years, the U.S. Mint was allowed to stamp a silver coin in different denominations. Different denominations of the silver coins include silver coin for dollars, half dollars, quarters and dimes. In 1965 however, a worldwide silver shortage resulted in the making of a silver coin against the presidential order. The silver coins went from 90 percent silver to 0 percent in dimes and quarters while they are only 40 percent in the half dollar.

The last half dollar silver coin made was the Kennedy half dollar. Currently there are no new half dollar silver coins being minted. Most collectors of the pre-1964 Kennedy half dollars are holding on to them. However, because there were so many half dollars in circulation, they are now considered "junk" coins by most collectors as they hold very little premium over face value.

The dollar silver coin was created in 1794 and discontinued in 1935. It was then resumed in 1971 with the non-silver Eisenhower dollar, which was later on replaced in 1979 by the Susan B. Anthony one-dollar coin. This was then replaced by the gold plated Sacagawea dollar.

Gold And Silver Coin Values

Just like other coins, gold and silver coin values are dependent on many factors, including the number of gold and silver coins created, their age, rarity, and the condition of the coins.

Age Of The Coin

Coin values are first determined by their age. The older the coin, the more value it will have. When determining coin values based on the age of the coins, tests will be carried out to verify authenticity and precise age of the coins.

Number Created

The number of the gold or silver coins minted is another factor which influences the coins values. Gold and silver coins that have millions of copies usually have lesser value than coins that only have a couple hundred copies.

Coin's Condition

The condition of the gold and silver coins may also influence their values. Coins that are in excellent condition will be much more desirable to collectors than coins that are damaged. The condition of the coins can influence the price considerably. That is why collectors find that it is much harder to sell a weathered gold or silver coin than a coin in good condition.

Rarity Of The Coin

The most important factor to determine gold and silver coin values is the rarity of the coin. Coins that are only left a few copies will have the highest value. Although many of the gold or silver coins may have been minted originally, in some cases the coins have been taken out of circulation. The few coins that are left will become more and more valuable as time goes on.

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Glossary of Coin Terms For Collectors

Every collector should know all the basic glossary terms when ever collecting coins, so that they will have a much better understanding when they are purchasing from private coin dealers, due to so many individuals becoming first time collectors a glossary of terms has been composited just for you.

An alloy is a mixture or two or more metals combined together to create one, which sometimes can be a less expense metal mixed with a much more valuable one. The American Eagle Bullion Coins are platinum, silver, and gold coins that were released by the United States Mint beginning back in October of 1986. An American Eagle Proof Coin is a proof quality bullion coin of platinum, silver, or gold where there production process has specially adapted coin presses, dies, and polishes that create the most remarkable clarity of any coin.

A nonprofit educational organization that helps encourage the study and collection of money throughout the world is the American Numismatic Association or (ANA). The process of heating blanks or planchets in a furnace that softens metal and then cooling slowly in order to toughen to reduce the brittleness is called annealing. Assay means to analyze or examine to determine the purity or quantity of gold, silver, or other metal within coins.

A mark created on a coin from the contact with other coins inside of a mint bag is called a bag mark. Bi-metallic is a coin that is comprised of two different metals that have been bonded together. Another word for planchet is blank, which is a coin design that is stamped. A bullion is platinum, gold, or silver in the form of bars or other storage shapes that include coins and ingots. Precious metal coins traded at current billion prices is considered to be a bullion coin.

Any coin produced for the general circulation is called a business strike. The portrait on each coin, which usually includes the head, neck and upper shoulders is called a bust. Clad coinage are coins that have a core and outer layer that consists of different metals. For instance, all circulating United States dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars have been clad since 1965. A flat piece of metal issued by the government and considered as money or currency is called a coin.

The collar is a piece of metal that restrains the expanding metal of a blank or planchet during the striking process. A specialty coin or medal issued in honor of an outstanding individual, place, or event is called commemorative. Condition is the physical state of the coin itself. A fake coin or any other piece of currency made to make individuals think that it is real is called counterfeit. Currency is any type of money, whether it is paper or coins, that is used as a way to purchase goods and services.

The variety of values in money is called denomination. Currently, United State coins are made in the six denominations, which are penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar. An engraved stamp that is used for impressing a design or image upon a blank piece of metal to create a coin is a die. Designer is the artist that creates a design on a coin, but does not necessarily actually engrave the design into the coinage die.

The edge is the outer border of a coin and is also considered to be the third side of a coin; this is not to be confused with the rim. Some coins feature lettering, reeding, and even ornamental designs on their edges. An artist, who sculpts a clay model of a design on a coin in bas relief is an engraver. An improperly produced coin that has been overlooked during production and then later released into circulation is called an error and collectors find these coins extremely fascinating.

Face value is the amount inscribed on the outside of coins. The portion on the surface of a coin that is not used for any design or inscription is the field. Grade is the rating that indicates exactly how much a coin has been worn during circulation. Tiny lines or scratches on coins that are usually caused by cleaning or polishing are hairlines. In case is opposite of relief and the part of the design that the coin is pressed into the surface.

Words stamped on a coin is the inscription and the current market value of the precious metal within a coin is its intrinsic value or bullion value. The date required to complete a collection, which is usually more difficult to find and afford is a key date. Legal tender are coins, dollar bills, or any other currency that is issued by a government as official money or currency. Principal lettering on a coin is a legend.

A metal object that resembles a coin, which is issued to recognize an event, place, person or group that has no stated value and is not intended to circulate as money is called medal. Medium of exchange is anything that people may agree on to have a certain value.

The United States Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver produce all circulating coins, while West Point now produces all the uncirculated coins. The mint is a place where coins are manufactured under government authority. The dull, frosty, or satiny shine found on uncirculated coins is a mint luster and a mint mark is a tiny letter that identifies which of the mint facilities struck the coin. Mint state is the same as being uncirculated and mintage is the quantity of coins being produced.

Any word, sentence or phrase that is inscribed within a coin to express a national principle is considered to be a motto. The study and collecting of things used as currency is called numismatics. A coin design that is no longer produced is said to be obsolete. Obverse is the front side or heads of a coin. If a coin has received a misalignment strike from the coin press and/or has pertains of its design missing is considered to be off-center. A new coin that is produced with a previously struck coin used as the blank is said to be an overstrike.

Pattern is an experimental piece that is usually a new design or metal. The blank piece of metal where a coin design is to be stamped is called a planchet. A specially produced coin made from highly polished blanks and dies that is struck more than once to help accent the design is called a proof. Proof coins always receive the highest quality strikes possible and are distinguished by their great sharpness of detail and brilliant, mirror-like surfaces. A complete set of proof coins including a denomination of each in a given year are called a proof set.

Any part of the design on a coin that has risen about the surface is called relief, which is the opposite of incuse. A restrike is a coin that has been minted using the original dies but at a later date. The back or tails of a coin is called the reverse. The machine that screens our blanks or planchets that are the wrong size or shape is called a riddler. The rim is the raised edge on both sides of a coin that protects the design on the coin from wear and is created by the upsetting mill.

Rolls are coins packaged by bank, dealers, individuals, or the United States Mint. A collection of coins that contains the date and mint marks of a specific design and denomination is considered a series. Slab is the nickname for some of the protective coin encapsulation methods. A process of stamping a coin blank with a design with the strength of the imprint being either full, average, or weak will affect the value of coins and is called a strike. A collection of coins based on their denominations is a type set.

The coin term uncirculated has three different meanings that applies to coins with the first being the manufacturing process which the coin is made, second, as a grade with the degree of preservation and quality of the strike, and third, the coin is not used in everyday commerce. A machine that raises the rim on both sides of a coin is an upsetting mill and variety is a minor change from the basic design type of a coin. A collection of all coins issued during on year is considered to be a year set.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about rare coins, stamp collections, and rare collectibles. Follow these links to find the best marketplace for: rare coins, collections.

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Coin History - Aid To Finding & Building Coin Collections With Metal Detectors

March 1781, The Articles of Confederation gave Congress the right to determine the value and the alloy to be used in any coin struck in America. This gave the states the right to coin money, and New Hampshire was the first to take action but few of the coins made it into circulation. Several states, such as New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York began coining copper coins. In 1793 the US Federal Mint opened for business producing half-cents and cents because they were desperately needed for everyday commerce in the young but growing new nation. These early colonial and US Federal Mint coins have been found by metal detector users by extensive research and also by luck. The low mintage level meant fewer coins were lost and the likelihood of finding them with a metal detector greatly reduced.

Many half-cents and large cents minted from 1800 to 1857, when the era of their minting ended, have been located by detectorists, with the majority of them being found in the eastern sector of the US. My personal oldest is an 1812 Large Cent found at a spring in Palm Harbor, FL. This spring was known to be a watering spot for wagon trains going through Florida in the mid 1800's and had become a favorite swimming and partying spot for teens in recent years. It was research that urged me to check it out and that 1812 cent was my reward. It was also the only non-modern coin I found as many others had hunted this spot before I did in the early 70's.

As a young man in my early twenties, I learned a history lesson that has impacted my metal detector use for nearly 40 years. If you want to find a specific type or dated coin, i.e. Standing Liberty Quarters 1916-1930, you need to research and find settlement or building activity information corresponding to that time frame. The 1916 SL Quarter is extremely rare. To find one that has a date on it is extraordinary as only 52,000 were released into circulation in 1916 and the dates on all issues from 1916 to 1924 wore off quickly by handling. Research county or city building records, read early histories of your community and yes, if possible, talk to elderly people who were raised there. To find a quality rare 1916 Quarter, the areas checked should have had building activity between 1916 and early 1920's. Looking in these areas will increase your chances of finding rarer tougher dates. I have found one with just a trace of the date and it was found on a researched school building site. This site also yielded a 1916 S Barber Quarter in VF, 1916 P & S Mercury Dimes in AU condition and a high grade 1916 Buffalo Nickel.

Silver coinage has great appeal to coin collectors and has a history worth investigating. The 1792 half-disme or half-dime is rumored to have been made from George Washington's own silverware. This was the year before the US Mint actually opened and the half-dime was struck by the US Mint from 1794-1873. It may seem strange to us today that our first 5 cent coin was not a nickel, but a silver half-dime as nickel production did not begin until 1866. These beautiful small denomination silver coins of several varieties are also tough to find because of age and size. Research again is essential in finding many of these. I have found six dating from 1841-1857 ranging from AG (about good) to fine condition. Five of the six were found in researched sites and the lower condition coins probably reflect the fact that 1860 is the earliest settlement date for this community and only 2,000 people lived here in 1900. By 1900 very few of the half-dime coins were in general circulation.

Other silver denominations that have been struck include the 3-cent piece or "trime" as it was known, the dime, the 20-cent piece, the quarter dollar, half dollar and one dollar coins.

Why would our nation produce a 3-cent Silver coin? Postage stamps cost 3-cents for many years and convenience was important to the public. That is probably the reason that a 3-cent nickel was produced too (the convenience issue is why many coins have short-lived production). I have used coin history in finding both 3-cent coins but the numbers are small because mintages were low and the silver coins only minted between 1851-1873 and the nickel version from 1865-1889. I have found enough of the nickel type (a larger coin) to have filled more than half of the spots in the coin folder. Grade levels for most of these coins are lower than average as nickel coins do not do well in the ground.

The 20-cent coin is the toughest silver issue to find in the ground. Only the flying-eagle cent had a shorter life. Production of this type was only four years with coins issued for circulation 1n 1875 and 1876. This is the only type coin that I have not located with a metal detector. Finding one is my biggest challenge because production in 1875 included 1,155,000 coins from the San Francisco Mint, 133,290 from the Carson City Mint and only 39,700 from Philadelphia. To make it tougher, the demand was so low for the coin that the mint director Linderman ordered Carson City to melt all that it had on hand after producing only 10,000 for circulation in 1876. 12,359 coins were melted down leaving very few of the 1876 coins escaping into circulation and only 15,900 were produced in Philly and none in Franny for that year. This is an issue that very few metal detectorist have found, but I will keep trying!

The most sought after and most collected silver coin is the Morgan Dollar. Minted from 1878 to 1921 many millions were minted and large numbers of them, singularly and in caches, have been found with metal detectors. There were none minted between 1905 and 1920 and 1893 - 1895 mintages were low but applying the same type of building activity analysis can lead to some good detector finds. An upper class neighborhood area where many of the homes were built in the 1880 to 1900 time-frame has yielded several Morgan Dollars for me. A very valuable 1882 S in AU condition with doubling on both sides is the best, but choice 1885 O and 1896 coins are also nice additions to my collection.

I have applied the research principle of coin history to building time with all 20th century coin types. Whether it is houses, schools, commercial buildings or industrial structures, I have found numerous valuable coins with this technique. A home built in 1909 turned in a 1908 S Indian Cent and a 1909 S Lincoln. A two story house built in 1890 and used as a high school turned up nearly 40 V Nickels including a 1885 and a 1912 D (plus numerous turn of the century Indian cents). A commercial parking lot from an early 1900's tanning business yielded a 1904 O and 1904 S Barber Halves with the New Orleans mint coin in XF and valued at $240. A school yard where the 1917 building was destroyed in 1964 yielded over 240 pre 1940 coins when the entire lot was leveled over a three month frame in 1978. Over 50 of those coins were Buffalo Nickels with 30 of them in the teen years. This is the same site mentioned above that turned up my rare 1916 SL quarter and as an unexpected bonus, the oldest of my metal detecting coin finds, an AD 69 Israel half-shekel.

I hope you have learned something about our nation's coin history and how it can help you to add many older valuable coins to your coin collection while having much fun with your metal detector. Here's to "diggin it"! Larry

http://MetalDetectorForCoinCollecting.com/free-report

Larry Smith is an avid Coin Collector and Metal Detectorist. With over 45 years experience, he's fast becoming a world renowned expert in the field. Larry has put together a free ebook sharing his advice, insight, and amazing stories. He also gives away a FREE dug coin on the 15th of every month. You can enter to win your own coin and get his free ebook right now by going to:

Metal Detecting And Coin Collecting Free Report

Coin Collecting - Factors That Influence the Value of Collectible Coins

The history of coin collecting dates back further than your mind can go. The wonderful thing about it is that anyone - old or young - can pursue this hobby. It is fascinating how diverse collections can be. You can either focus on collecting ancient coins belonging to one country or collect coins belonging to different countries. Going one step further, the collection can even be based on a particular series, a particular type set, a particular dye or even a particular grade of coin. Collecting coins that have errors due to the dies used, uneven designs, double strikes, and re-punched mints sometimes turn out to be worth their weight in gold.

As to the question, "why is this book offered free?" Simply put, there are too many other better books about rare coin collecting that were written by well-known numismatists (see the 'Suggested Reading' list below). Nevertheless, since its public release to the Web in 1997, this text has been read by more than a quarter of a million readers hailing from Australia, Europe, and the U.S. Numerous webmasters and editors from all sorts of hobby sites, including prominent search engines such as Ask Jeeves, InfoSeek, Lycos, and AOL, have selected this book for their particular venues dealing with coins and hobbies. As a result, Companion is widely read by thousands of new collectors each week.

Then there are those who like to only purchase very rare and expensive coins for investment purposes. Many people love to purchase brand new coins straight from the mint while others collect foreign coins only. The great thing about coin collecting is that there are no rules and everyone can collect whatever they wish.

Coin collecting and stamp collecting are often referred to as the twin hobbies. Both these hobbies are very popular, partly because you do not require any special skill to start the hobby and also because it gives you great pleasure and an immense feeling of satisfaction. You can start coin collecting anywhere and at any time and with the coins that you actually have. As you add to your collection, you can relive the history of the country through the coins. Of course once you gain interest, coin collecting is bound to pinch your pockets, but that of course may be true of any hobby.

Numismatics is the terminology used for the study of coin, notes, medals, but all coin collectors are not necessarily numismatists. Coin collecting in India is pretty lucrative as people are willing to part with coins to those who are willing to buy them. It is a form of investment for many Indians. The kind of coins you collect and the number of coins you collect depends on how well off you are financially. It can be quite an expensive hobby because rare coins could cost a lot. In fact the coin collecting market can be likened to the stock market where the share prices plummet one day and shoot up the next. The factors that influence this could be the ordinary forces of demand and supply.

Furthermore, the advent of the internet has been an amazing boon to collectors of coins the world over and collectors are able to find up to the minute information pertaining to value, rarity, and conditions of coins of all shapes and sizes. Online participation in the hobby of coin collecting is enormous, with individuals logging on to look up information about their coins, meet up on message boards, and find chat rooms where enthusiasts can get together to trade coins. You can also find collecting tips as well as many more different outlets to buy, sell, trade, and learn much more about the time- honored tradition of coin collecting.

There are coin shops and shows where you can find knowledgeable collectors who can help you find what you need and can give you advice on furthering your collection. Be wary of sellers at flea markets, antique shops, or other on-targeted markets where the seller may inflate their prices or sell problem coins to unknowledgeable customers. Many of these sellers are even less knowledgeable about coins than the beginning collectors they sell to. The same risk can come from mail order or online purchases. Knowledge is your best insurance when dealing with these dealers. Use businesses referenced in coin collecting publications or from other collectors who you trust.

You see, there's a little bit for everybody in the world of coin collecting. You don't even have to be rich anymore. If you can afford a penny, nickel or a dime a week you have started a coin collection. You see, don't let the fact that coin collecting was once a rich man's hobby scare you away. There are some really neet coins still to be found in your everyday pocket change.

You say you live in a little apartment then Coin collecting is for you. Your collection will fit into one corner of your dresser drawer, or in small blue coin folders and coins don't make any noise.

Most of today's coin collectors developed the hobby within the last twenty years. Nearly all of the commemorative coins issued in this time period has increased in value. Here are a few examples of coin investments which have some collectors smiling: the 1995 Tenth Anniversary of the American Eagle coin set (issue price $995.00, current value $3,600.00); 2000w $10 uncirculated bimetal Library of Congress coin (issue price $235.00, current value $1,100.00).

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Three Coins In the Fountain

Velvety and glazed like a fattening pastry, this 1954 love story concerns three American women who make wishes for love in Rome, and end up having three romances. The cast is fine, but as for the film, what you see is what you get. There's no mystery to any part of this movie--like everything director Jean Negulesco made once CinemaScope entered his life (e.g., How to Marry a Millionaire, A Certain Smile), Three Coins is designed to lull rather than stimulate. (It did, however, win Oscars for cinematography and the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn title song performed by Frank Sinatra.) --Tom Keogh

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New U.S. Mint Coins a Golden Opportunity

In April, the U.S. Mint revealed plans to strike in early 2006 new .9999 bullion coins to go after the growing world market for .9999 fine (24-karat) gold coins. Studies show that pure gold coins claim 60% of the world's gold bullion coin market, which is some $2.4 billion annually. The Royal Canadian Mint's Maple Leafs hold the number one spot for pure gold coins. However, problems with Maple Leafs have surfaced.

If the Mint avoids the problems that have developed with Gold Maple Leafs, it has a golden opportunity to grab an even bigger share of the gold bullion coin market. The U.S. Mint's American Gold Eagles are the best selling 22-karat gold coins in the world.

Despite being the world's best-selling 24-karat gold coins, 1-oz Maple Leafs' design and packaging leave them susceptible to damage. As a result, Gold Maple Leafs have fallen in disfavor among U.S. gold bullion coin investors. Indications are that gold bullion coin investors worldwide have the same frustrations with 1-oz Gold Maple Leaf coins.

It is nearly impossible to remove, inspect, and put 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs back in their tubes without scratching them, no matter how carefully done. Gold Maple Leafs have smooth, clear fields around Queen Elizabeth's likeness and sharp milled edges. As the coins are put back in their tubes, the edges scratch the fields--and sometimes the Queen's raised image.

And, Heaven forbid that a 1-oz Gold Maple Leaf is dropped on a floor or even a hard tabletop. But, most of the damage is done when investors handle the coins. If Gold Maple Leafs are handled roughly, as investors are used to handling Krugerrands and Gold Eagles, Gold Maple Leafs are easily damaged. Consequently, many badly damaged Gold Maple Leafs have come back into the secondary market.

Until a few years ago, Gold Eagles and Maple Leafs sold at the same markups over spot. But, as Maple Leafs, which investors have bought since 1979, started coming into the secondary market, problems surfaced. Now, to keep investors in the U.S. market buying Maple Leafs, the Royal Canadian Mint has to offer new (current year) Gold Maple Leafs at a half-a-percent below Gold Eagle prices.

Damaged 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs are such a problem that one important secondary market maker stopped dealing in the coins for a while. The head trader said he did not have time to discuss with buyers and sellers the conditions of the coins. Further, he said his staff did not have time to inspect each coin and classify it as to the amount of damage. It is commonplace for sellers to say the coins are in "perfect condition." Yet when Gold Maple Leafs arrive, they often are badly scratched or rim nicked.

Another major bullion dealer (perhaps the nation's largest) currently buys back "perfect" Gold Maple leafs from established dealers at a little over spot, which means investors receive less than spot if their dealers unload to this firm. For scratched or damaged coins, this firm pays less than spot, which enables the firm to send the coins to a refinery at a profit if the firm has no buyers for Gold Maple Leafs.

The secondary dealer returned to trading Gold Maple Leafs but buys all them only at prices that enable him to profitably melt the coins if they are really beat up. As noted, because of the problem with secondary market Gold Maple Leafs, the Royal Canadian Mint has to price Gold Maple Leafs below Gold Eagles to entice investors to take Gold Maple Leafs in the U.S. market.

Luckily--the free market being what it is--there are dealers who will take the time to evaluate Gold Maple Leafs and pay more for the ones in better condition. Still, the spread (the difference between what an investor can buy and sell for at any moment) on "perfect" Gold Maple Leafs is about $4 wider than on Gold Eagles. However, the U.S. Mint's new 24-karat gold coins need not be problem coins.

For example, the 1-oz Austrian Philharmonics and The Perth Mint's 1-oz coins are .9999 fine. Yet, these coins are not easily damaged during normal handling because of their designs and/or their packaging.

Philharmonics come ten to a tube and can be taken out and put back in their tubes without scratching. The Perth Mint coins come individually encapsulated in hard plastic capsules. As long as Perth Mint coins remain in their capsules, they maintain their perfect conditions.

Hopefully, the U.S. Mint knows of the problems with Gold Maple Leafs and will design its new .9999 fine coins and their packaging so that the coins are not easily scratched or damaged. If the Mint opts to go with packaging its new coins in tubes, as it does Gold Eagles and as Philharmonics are packaged, then the Mint needs to avoid milled edges.

Although Gold Eagles have milled edges, old U.S. gold coins ($20 Libs and St. Gaudens) were minted with lettering on the edges. So, lettering is not new to the U.S. Mint. With lettering, the edges can be smooth, making the coins less likely to scratch other coins in handling. Philharmonics, which are not prone to damage, have lettering on their edges.

[Over the centuries, mints learned to design gold coins to guard against "shaving," a process by which a small amount of metal is "shaved" from the edges. Milled edges that have been shaved are clearly detectible. Light lettering on the edges solves the problem as well. If no lettering can be seen on coins that are known to have been minted with lettering, then the coins have been shaved and no longer have their original gold content.]

As do Maple Leafs, Perth Mint .9999 fine gold coins have milled edges and carry a likeness of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse (front). However, to protect its coins from damage, The Perth Mint encapsulates them in plastic capsules. When Perth Mint bullion coins are removed from their capsules and put in tubes, the coins are susceptible to scratching as are Maple Leafs.

In going after a piece of the $2.4 billion .9999 fine gold bullion coin market, the Mint needs to consider the mindset of bullion coin investors. Bullion coin investors seek alternatives to paper money; they are not coin collectors. Bullion coin investors prefer coins packaged so that they can be easily stored and secured.

This means the Mint should package the coins twenty to a tube, which has become--primarily because of Gold Eagles--the preferred method. Five tubes conveniently total one hundred coins. Further, the tubes should be made of the same durable plastic from which Gold Eagle tubes are made. Hard plastic tubes, such as those used for Philharmonics, can and do break when dropped. Gold Eagle tubes, on the other hand, are virtually indestructible.

For protection against "shaving," the Mint should design its new coins with lettered edges. Lettered edges would make the coins much less susceptible to scratching.

The Mint is going after the bullion coin market, and bullion investors like to feel and heft their coins. Packaging the coins in tubes enables investors to more easily inspect their coins. Collectors, on the other hand, want their coins in as pristine condition as possible. Although capsules are excellent for protecting collector coins, coins individually packaged in capsules require more space for storage. The other aspect that the Mint has to consider is the coin's theme.

The Mint should make the theme something uniquely American, as it did with its American Eagles coins. For the Gold Eagles, the Mint chose a slimmed-down rendition of Augustus Saint-Gaudens' famed Standing Liberty, which he created in 1907 to grace a new Double Eagle ($20 gold coin). Nearly one hundred years later, the Saint Gaudens, which the coin is now called, is viewed as the most beautiful coin produced by the U.S. Mint.

For its Silver Eagles, the Mint chose A. A. Weinman's Walking Liberty design, which was used on half-dollars 1916-1947. Walking Liberty halves are among the most popular silver coins ever turned out by the U.S. Mint. Judging by the success of the Silver Eagles program (more than 128 million sold since their inception), putting the Walking Liberty on Silver Eagles was the right move.

Some may argue that the Standing Liberty and the Walking Liberty designs are being used in the American Eagles program, and, therefore, the Mint should go onto another design. However, the Standing Liberty and the Walking Liberty are immediately identified as American by the world's bullion coin buyers. Besides, is not Miss Liberty as much our nation's icon as is the eagle?

If the U.S. Mint avoids the problems that have surfaced with Gold Maple Leafs and offers gold bullion coin investors a strong alternative, then it has a golden opportunity to capture a big share of the .9999 fine gold bullion market. With the right planning, the Mint could shake the Maple Leaf's hold on the .9999 bullion coin market.

Bill Haynes heads CMI Gold & Silver, one of the nation?s oldest precious metals dealers. For more information about investing in gold and silver, visit http://www.cmi-gold-silver.com.