Somebody talk about coin collecting with me

[Droopy]

Coin collecting is my new hobby. I started last year. The best coin I have right now is a 2008-W Silver Eagle Proof coin in U.S. Mint packaging. Not only is it a beautiful coin, it has doubled in value since I bought it, according to The Greysheet. I also have 2 presidential dollars that are error coins. I paid more for those than I did the Silver Eagle, but I haven't seen anything about their value since then. I remember there being about 25,000 of them in existence. If you have any information about those coins I'd love to hear it.

I guess I've actually been a coin collector since I was a young boy now that I think about it. I just haven't been serious about it until now. When I was about 8 my grandpa gave me a couple of coin collecting portfolios. One was for wheat pennies and another was for Mercury dimes. Over the years I would get a wheat penny back in change and then add it to my collection. Just from watching my pocket change over the years I have almost filled the wheat penny portfolio from 1941 to 1958, including a 1943 steel penny. I've only managed to obtain 2 Mercury dimes, though. Also, from looking through pocket change, I have acquired a 1906 Indian head penny, a 1920 buffalo nickle, and a 1955 quarter that is solid silver. I also have several foreign coins that I've obtained from change.

Alright, how about you? What's your favorite coin? What is your most valuable coin? What are your coin collecting goals? Right now I'm interested in Morgan silver dollars. I want to obtain one coin from each year the Carson City Mint minted the coins in AU condition or better.

[TZ]

1. My dad collected coins for a loooong time...

And his favorites were the Morgan silver dollars. He had some REALLY nice ones I remember- I think he had one in mint conditon that was worth $10,000 at the time (about 15 years ago). Oh and he nearly killed my mom when he found out she had a Morgan Dollar and had a hole punched in it to make it into a necklace..Sacriledge!:)
The indian head penny and buffalo nickle are nice but sounds like they aren't in mint condition so might not be worth much.

I don't know anything about the error coins but by nature ususally those increase in value over time. Well worth holding on to, IMO.
:hi:

On edit: He sold his collection a while back, but you being in the same general vicinity..Its possible you could get a hold of some of his old coins..:)

[Droopy]

4. Yeah, all of the coins I've gotten back in change aren't worth much

because they have been in circulation and worn down for so long. They are more interesting conversation pieces than anything.

You can get a nice looking Morgan Silver dollar for less than $100 now days, but if you want a mint state coin you are going to shell out some money. I'm participating in an online auction right now and the Morgan I'm going after has a book value of $240 in mint state condition. But there are varying degrees of "mint state condition." The highest value for the coin I'm looking at in near perfect condition is $500. I've seen a few from different years going for nearly $2000.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. I've got a collection of wheatstraw pennies stashed back around

here somewhere in a box with some ofther stuff. Have some silver dollars hanging out, too. :shrug:
My Grandma was into coin collecting years back. Thanks for the memory.

[Orrex]

3. Not quite a coin, but...

While digging a garden for my mom about 20 years ago, I unearthed a half-dollar-sized medallion from the 1939 World's Fair in surprisingly good condition.

My grandfather was a very serious numismatist and amassed quite a valuable collection. I remember looking at his framed pieces in a hallway in his house. The face value of the stuff was at least several hundred dollars, and I asked the first question that occurred to my 10-year-old brain: "What if somebody steals them?"

"Let them," he said. "The valuable stuff's in a vault."

Until that time I had no idea that coins could be worth so much, or indeed that that they could be worth more than their face value.

Cool hobby--good for you!!

[TZ]

5. My parents have a coin they bought for me in a safety deposit box

A special moon landing commemorative since I was born EXACTLY a month before the moon landing. With the 40th anniversery comming up, I bet its worth something now...

[Orrex]

8. Neat-o! I wish that I knew anything at all about the hobby

But what I know about it would barely be worth my $0.02.

[Droopy]

6. Thanks for the story, Orrex

Yep, coins can be worth a fortune even though their face value may be only a few cents. A $5 gold coin in decent condition can be worth thousands of dollars. And your grandpa was very smart to get a safe. My collection isn't worth a whole lot, yet, but when it starts creating some value I'm definitely getting a safe.

[Chan790]

7. I was never a collector of any sort until I started working retail.

I have (in-circulation rather than collectible quality) a bunch of wheat pennies (literally 100s), 5 or 10 badly-degraded buffalo nickels, an Indian-head penny, all of the Presidential $1 coins thus far, a few Susan B. Anthony $1 coins. Every time I saw interesting currency at work, I'd switch it out for equal face-value from my wallet in my backpack.

I've got bills too. 2 $10 silver certificates, a 1950 $20 bill and a 1942 $5 bill. I assume those have not additional value beyond face, but they probably will be rare beyond belief in another 40-50 years. Paper currency isn't durable.

[Orrex]

9. I have some older bills that I likewise acquired during my time in retail

I have a bunch of $1 silver certificates and a selection of other bills that I can't quite recall now. I think I have a $10 from like 1937 or something.

While working at a Hardee's in the early 90's, I spoke with one of our older customers who had a lot of pre-standardization bills that were physically larger or smaller than conventional bills. Very nifty!

[Droopy]

10. That's one of the funnest ways to collect

And I'd be doing the exact same thing if I was working as a cashier. As it is, I always inspect my change. You never know what you might find.

[fishnfla]

11. our late f-i-l beqeathed a bunch of old coins to our son

we haven't a clue as to their worth

[Droopy]

12. I'd see about getting them appraised

If they are just loose and floating around in a box or in maybe a few portfolios they probably aren't worth much. But if they have been protected and categorized, then they could be worth a lot.

[fishnfla]

14. some are clunkers in a box, some are well kept

there is a guy at the flea market who is suppossed to be a big coin guy, but he gives me the creeps

[Lars39]

18. I had an estate collection appraised for free from a reputable dealer

this past year. He was registered, certified, or something. You could always call and see what an appraisal would cost.

[mrbill]

13. favorite coin - 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter

Still cannot see how that one slipped past the censors.

Most valuable coin - 1909 SVDB Lincoln in XF.

Goal - get a 1931-s Lincoln and complete the 1909-1958 set.

Been collecting since 1963 when i got my first driver's liscense and a subscription to coin world. Would drive to small town north texas banks and buy rolls and/or bags of coinage and then spend the weekends mining the swag. Then off the the local coin club auction once a month to sell off the marginal finds, replenish the treasury, lather, rinse and repeat and keep the good stuff.

Times have changed.

[Droopy]

15. Cool

How do you collect your coins now days? I started by buying from online coin dealers and the US Mint. I'm still going to buy for the Mint, but not so much from the online coin dealers. I think I'm going to buy from auctions and the small time coin dealers at flea markets.

[mrbill]

16. only coins recently have come from estate sales

mostly mining pre 1964 silver for better grades, no luck, then the price of silver took a nose dive.

might be time to work on the us half-cent and large cent aquisitions.

the type set also needs some work.

[RoyGBiv]

17. This if my favorite ...

It's not my most valuable coin, but I got that one when I was 14 at a pawn shop in a lot of coins that were supposed to be just a bunch of wheat pennies. So, it was an actual find.

I don't actually do much active collecting any more. My OCD kicks in, and I can spend small fortunes if I don't check myself. Ebay was a decent source early in the days of Ebay. Since then it's been taken over by commercial coin traders who tend to overprice things, and there's a lot of dishonest people out there. Other than proof and mint sets, I won't buy a coin from anyone now unless I've actually seen it in person. The last coin I bought from an Ebay seller was a uncirculated Franklin half-dollar that would have been worth about $200 except there was a huge scratch on the obverse side that the seller failed to mention.

I have the coin collecting merit badge from when I was in Boy Scouts. At the time I was told (don't know if it was true) that you could count the number of people with that badge in Oklahoma on two hands. I did all that without spending anything, just using stuff I got from change or traded with some local pawn shop owners. Pawn shops and estate sales were my main sources back in the day.

[Droopy]

19. Is that a photo of your actual coin?

It looks pretty sharp, especially when you consider the age.

I had not considered pawn shops. I'm like you when it comes to collecting coins and OCD. When I first started last year, I spent $900 in the space of about a week. Then I realized what I was doing and slowed down. I got some gift certificates for coin dealers and some cash from my folks for Christmas. That set me off again, only this time it's not all my money. I also save my change for a year and cash it in in January. This year that meant $480. I used to used that money to gamble, but now I'm going to buy coions with it.

[RoyGBiv]

20. Coins are at least a better gamble ...

No that's not an actual photo. I looked around for one that was close to the actual condition of my coin, which is rated "very good." (Mine has more definition in the feathers of the eagle and the wreath on the obverse, so it's a bit better than that.) I don't have pics of any of my coins and keep them locked up most of the time now. The difference in value between very good and excellent is about $100, which is irritating. But, then, I never really did it as a money-making thing. Value is just kind of a way for me to keep score with myself.

I dunno if pawn shops are a good source anymore. This was 20 years ago when I would frequent them, and it seemed like all non-chain pawn shops had a coin cabinet somewhere. Then again, at one time, the retail chain TG&Y had a coin collecting section with actual coins for sale, and you could buy potassium nitrate from the chemistry section for your chemistry set. Times have changed. Just asking about potassium nitrate now will get you on a watch list.

I digress.

I used to get the Red Book every year when it came out to value my coins. I'm told this guide over-values things, but as I said, my use for it was more of an internal score keeping thing.

[BlueJazz]

21. These are one of my Favorites