National Park Quarters
For years and years, I have been traveling the country trying to see each and every one of America’s beautiful National Parks. I have a little book filled with stamps that’s sort of like a passport. There are 58 in total. It’s not a dream that’s merely a young girl’s dream either. Ever since John Muir advocated for the preservation of the wilderness of the United States, hundreds of thousands have flocked to these beautiful locations.
What I didn’t know was that my love of the National Parks was about to also expand my coin collection. Over the course of eleven years, there will be 56 different designs featuring these beautiful places. But now, with these great coins to look forward to, where are you going to keep them? There are now great coin holders that are folders that show off both sides of each quarter. They’re similar in design to the coin holders designed for the fifty states quarters that the United States Mint released in recent years.
If collecting quarters isn’t your thing, you can look forward to the National Park silver bullion coins which will be over sized and .999 silver. They will present a bigger canvas for these designs and will probably also have their very own coin holders.
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Common Coin Minting Errors
Hidden in your coin collection might be a very rare coin. It comes in the form of a penny. Don’t collect pennies? Maybe you should start.
There are actually several types of pennies that are considerably valuable. Here is a partial list.
In 1955, there was a significant double cast on pennies. It actually looks like President Lincoln is smeared or stretched. It does not have a mint mark on the front of the coin, and it is extraordinarily valuable even if it is in poor condition.
Depending on if you can find one of these coins in exceptional condition, the double eared Lincoln is very valuable as well. It actually looks like Lincoln has two ears on the side of his head in the 1984 minted coin.
Possibly one of the most valuable coins is actually the 1931 S coin. There’s almost nothing at all remarkable about this penny at all except that 1931 was a very sparse year for minting coins. This makes this particular penny highly prized and very valuable in any condition at all.
So you see, your coin collection may be hiding a gem of a coin! Be sure to check your pocket change before you spend it on a soda.
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Starting a Coin Collection
Beginning a coin collection does not have to be daunting or overwhelming. Collecting is supposed to be fun! You should get enjoyment from collecting and have it be a relaxing, enjoyable part of your life. Here are some tips to help you get started.
The first rule is: check your pockets. No, seriously. There could be coins in your pocket that are actually worth more than their face value. Check all of the change before you spend it. Double stamped or misprinted coins show up all the time and could be valuable parts of your coin collection.
Secondly, you should buy a book about coin collecting. Yes, this might seem a little counter-intuitive. Shouldn’t you be spending your money on coins instead of books? While this is true in the long term, coin collecting won’t be nearly as lucrative if you don’t know which coins to buy in the first place. This is where a good book about coin collecting can be helpful.
Lastly, you should start small. You’re not going to go out and buy a gold Spanish galleon the first time at an auction. You’ll probably start with smaller, domestic or lines of coins and work your way up to priceless artifacts.
Your coin collection will grow in no time with these tips!
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Coin Collecting Tips – The Cartwheel Effect
When looking to see if a coin in your coin collection is actually mint or if it has been cleaned and “shined up” to look mint, there is no debate on the best way to tell. Though it may sound funny, the way to tell is to see if the coin can do cartwheels. Yes, I said cartwheels.
When a coin is minted, the metal is actually changed on a molecular level to be poured into the dies (or molds) of the coin. The flowing metal, when it cools and is finished minting, has a fantastic luster. This can be attributed to something called “flow lines.” When the metal is poured, it is made to go a certain direction to be pressed. You can see under a magnifying glass the tiny flow lines radiating around the coin. This is obviously easier to see on larger coins. When held up to the light and rotated or pivoted, a band of light reflecting off of the coin will appear to spin or “cartwheel.” This effect can be seen without the use of a magnifying glass.
This effect is easier to see on the obverse (head) side of the coin. This is the best way to tell if your coin collection holds a mint coin or just a shiny one as once a coin has been circulated it loses that luster that causes the cartwheels.
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What Coin Holder is Right for You?
As a coin collector, you might have trouble knowing exactly how to care and house your ever growing collection. It is important to pick out the proper type of coin holder for each of your different types of coins. Didn’t know there were different types? Here are just a few of them.
There are coin folders and you’ve seen them everywhere. They’re usually used to house specific types of coins. For example, the 50 states quarters are generally stored in coin folders.
The second type of coin holder is the clear tube. These are generally used for your less valuable and heavily circulated coins. When you put these coins in the holder, they rub against each other, causing dulling, flattening, and scuffing.
Plastic holders are a great way to keep your higher end coins looking in as good of shape as possible. The clear plastic also allows you to see both sides of the coin. In a similar fashion, cardboard coin holders are a great way to keep the oils from your hands off of the coin while you’re looking at them. They’re also less expensive.
If you have a remarkably valuable coin that needs heavy duty protection, I suggest you send it off and get it “slabbed.” This is a process that will seal your coin inside a heavy plastic case. In most cases they will also grade the quality of the coin when they do this and stamp it on the slab.
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What to Buy a Coin Collector
The holidays are coming and there’s always that one person on your list that you’re trying to find that perfect gift for. Luckily for you, if that person is a coin collector you have several options! You see, coin collecting is a hobby that always requires upkeep. There are always new coin holders to buy or even a new coin itself! But there’s so much more than that.
This year, why not purchase the coin collector in your life a Lighthouse USB Digital Microscope? It’s an amazing new addition to the collectors arsenal and especially useful for the modern day collector. You can do almost anything with this piece of equipment! If you want to shoot a short video and store it online, all you need to do is plug it in, install the drivers from the included CD and you’re off and running.
This microscope will make any coin view from 20 times to 200 times larger than actual size! If you see a mark you’d like to take a picture of, all you do is press the button and it saves it right to your computer. This piece of equipment is truly ushering in a new age of collecting and sharing that collection with others. It also makes the perfect gift for that special someone on your list.
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Surprises Hidden in Coin Collections
My grandmother had several collections. She collected stickers, stamps, rocks, baseball cards, and coins. When she passed, she left each of her children and grandchildren a small part of each of these collections.
Most of the coins in the coin collection given to me and my siblings were attractive and interesting but not worth any money. One day a few weeks ago, however, as I was packing to move. I took a moment to look at these coins again. In the storage containers I found the same amazing little coins that I remembered but there was one that had broken loose and was not in any kind of coin holder. I picked up this coin and looked at it. It was a Mercury Dime! All Mercury dimes are worth at least 10 times their face value but certain ones are worth much, much more.
It turns out that my particular dime was a 1916-D dime which is one of those ones that is worth much, much more than it’s face value. It’s amazing to find such a treasure in my collection. Especially when it was a complete surprise! You can bet, however that I’m getting a very special coin holder for this coin and it certainly won’t be kept loose any longer!
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Reassessing JFK in Coin Storage
Upon reading an editorial in the New York Times recently, after the 48th anniversary of JFK’s death, I was shocked to read that JFK’s presidency was slightly better than mediocre, and with only three quarters of it completed, would best be deemed unfinished.
His assassination vaults him into our coin collection and the forefront of American consciousness as a great president, as a man who, had he remained president, would’ve changed the course of history all for the better. Yet his goons planned the scaffolding for what would become the Vietnam War; his brinksmanship with Cuba could have been avoided entirely had he successfully invaded the Bay of Pigs; and his Civil Rights legislation, though important, wasn’t necessarily game-changing.
Often ranked with Ronald Reagan and FDR as one of the 20th century’s best presidents, it seems as though JFK’s heroic death is the one sure aspect that led him be incorporated into our coin storage. Perhaps in another generation, when those who can remember his assassination have largely passed away and his achievements will seem minor in comparison to those presidents before and after him, we may have another president who is better suited to be the face of the half dollar.
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Coin Collecting For Kids
Coin collecting or numismatics, as it is often called, is a great hobby for kids. It shows younger children the value of time and history by allowing them to feel layers of the past on coins that are fifty or a hundred years old. It helps put into perspective what our country has gone through during its history. The men on the front of the coins can also teach them about our Founding Fathers; great, courageous men who will be known for thousands of years. Older kids can learn about economics with relation to how coins circulate and become more or less valuable over time.
Best of all is that coin collecting doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby. It begins with searching through jars of change and being aware of what coins enter your pocket. Pennies are a great coin to collect because they are so common and cheap. All you really need is a method of coin storage, such as a folder. If your child becomes more serious, you can start investing in proof sets, and buy a coin holder for them.
If you want to begin your children’s interest in coin collecting, buy them a proof silver dollar. That should start them off.
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Future Presidents in Our Coin Storage?
What are the chances we could have the presidents on the obverses in our coin collection switched or replaced? Pretty small, I reckon. The pantheon of great presidents is intact and unless there is a WWIII, chances of change are pretty slim. Tradition is important to coins. It was different when we used to have allegorical figures on the obverses, such as Lady Liberty or the Indian or Buffalo. But honestly, the only person who may be moved around is JFK and that’s only because he ousted Ben Franklin.
But anything’s possible. Who knows what world-changing events could occur this century? I mean, a hundred years ago they had little idea that the biggest war in human history would occur and that the president who’d lead us through it would go down as one of the greatest, better even than the signer of our Declaration of Independence! Yet because the U.S. is arguably past its Golden Age it will be hard to honor another president in the same way we honor FDR or Lincoln. The past has secured them spots in our heart.
There will be great leaders ahead. The pantheon of great presidents can only grow, but will it be possible for future great ones to get into our coin storage? Only time will tell.
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