Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Collect what interests you. There are no rules to collecting US coins. You can focus on state quarters, discontinued coins, even one of each variety. It is important to have a passion for what you collect. Very often people start collecting one thing then move on to others. Collecting coins can be very addictive.
Begin by finding one of each coin you are collecting. This is a popular way to gather state quarters or presidential dollar coins. Getting one of each kind is simple and satisfying. You can usually do it by looking through circulated coins.
Collect coins by year. This is one of the ways people start seriously collecting US coins. Find one coin from each year in the series. Modern cents started in 1909, nickels in 1938, dimes in 1946, quarters in 1932, half dollars in 1964, presidential dollar coins in 2007. At this point you may need to buy coins to fill holes in your collection. Some dates are rare. You can buy specific years from coin dealers or on Internet auction sites like eBay.
Take note of the mint marks. Most US coins have mint marks and many people collect coins by both date and mint mark. There are tiny letters indicating which mint made the coin. You may need a magnifying glass to see it. A small "P" stands for Philadelphia. If a US coin does not have a mint mark it was also made in Philadelphia. A "D" stands for Denver. An "S" stands for San Francisco where proof sets are minted. A "W" stands for West Point where silver bullion coins are made. There are other marks for mints no longer operated by the US government. Coins can start getting very expensive for some rare year and mint mark combinations.
Put your coins in an album or individual coin holders. This is a great way for you to look at your coins while protecting them. When you start paying serious money for coins you need to care about quality. Coins are more valuable when they are in better condition. Brilliant Uncirculated coins have no marks or wear. If you have any of these coins it is in your best interest to keep them that way. They should always be in a protective covering and should never be touched. The oils in your hands will leave fingerprints on an uncirculated coin. Handle them with padded tongs or wear gloves. Absolutely never clean a coin even if it is dirty. Cleaning a coin makes it virtually worthless.
Consider collecting discontinued US coins. Before we had our current coinage with presidential portraits, we had other cents, nickels, dimes, half dollars and dollar coins. The US government also used to make half cent, two cent, three cent and twenty cent coins. You can see them all in a coin reference book or on the Internet. These old coins are also popular to collect. Some are classics like the Buffalo Nickel, Mercury Head Dime and Morgan Silver Dollar. These series also contain some of the great rarities of US coin collecting like the 3 legged Buffalo, 1916-D Mercury Head Dime and 1895 Proof Morgan Silver Dollar. These can cost thousands of dollars each.
Try collecting a type set. If don't want to spend so much money and time gathering every coin in a series, try getting one from each series. A type set has one example of each type of coin made. It can be all the varieties of a single denomination or every coin ever minted by the US government. This is simple and can be done relatively cheap. You can focus on getting the nicest example of each coin instead of all the coins.