How to Collect Ben Franklin Coins

Decide how much you want to spend on Ben Franklin coins, and how much time you want to devote to acquiring them. For example, building a Franklin half dollar collection one coin at a time can cost as little as $10 each, but an entire set of regularly issued Franklin halves (35 coins) bought at the same time might cost in the high hundreds of dollars, depending on condition, and adding proof coins (14 altogether) will add a hundreds of dollars more to the total.

Decide whether you're interested in circulated, uncirculated, or proof coins--or all of them. Circulated coins were released to the public, and are worn; uncirculated ones never passed from hand to hand, and retain their original luster; and proofs were struck more than once and polished at the mint for a mirror-like finish. Uncirculated and proof coins are generally more expensive than circulated ones.

Consult a guide such as the widely respected "A Guide Book of United States Coins" (Red Book) to get an idea of the pricing of each date and mint mark for the Franklin half series, or scan online sites to assess how much sellers want for the coins. Franklin halves were issued from 1948 to 1963 and minted at Philadelphia (no mint mark), Denver (D) or San Francisco (S). The commemorative dollars are all dated 2006, the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth.

Choose a source for your purchases. Some collectors like the personal touch of visiting a local coin shop, while others prefer mail order or Internet purchases from coin companies or auction sites. Because Ben Franklin coins are relatively plentiful, all of these are likely to be good sources. Alternately, you can hunt for what you want at estate sales, flea markets and coin shows, though it's hit or miss with these.

Decide how you want to store your coins. This is an important consideration because Franklin halves are 90 percent silver and prone to tarnishing. Most collectors put them in albums designed to keep the coins away from air and light, but there are other ways to store coins, such as keeping them in airtight plastic tubes or stapled-shut cardboard holders with see-through mylar windows. A coin dealer will be able to offer you advice, considering your budget, on the best way to store your Ben Franklin coins.