Do You Have Any Have Collectable Coins?

By: Uchenna Ani-Okoye

Old coins that is. Try looking under that old dresser, or up the attic where grandma or grandpa's things may be stashed away patiently waiting for you to discover them. Who knows, you might find a coin there, an old coin that - at today's rate - may be worth a few dollars; probably three or four or five, even ten times what the coin was worth back then.

A penny a day, is worth okay

Fortunately or unfortunately, there was a shortage of copper during the year 1943 and all pennies made at that time were minted using steel. There were however, some Lincoln pennies that were incorrectly minted on bronze that turned out to be blanks. A few years or decades later -these bronze pennies became a rarity and are valuable. The steel ones though, because of their commonality, are worth only between one to three dollars each.

Be aware and be wary as there are schemes where gullible coin collectors are sold coins that are copper plated in an attempt to make these pennies appear to be bronze. Also, keep your guard up anytime someone offers you a circa 1943 penny made out of a metallic white alloy.

Old coins are good coins

Coins, specifically the silver dollars made and circulated between the years 1878 and 1935, are worth between twelve dollars and twenty five dollars for the circulated coins. The coins that were not in circulation are worth considerably more.

Meantime, those quarters, dimes, or half dollar coins made and circulated prior to 1965, are usually made out of ninety percent silver and therefore worth as much as today's silver (with an additional premium, albeit small, put on the coin's face value).

Wrong pennies are right

There is a Lincoln penny issued in 1972 on which the date and the letters on it appear to have been doubled. This rare coin is currently worth about sixty dollars, assuming the pennies are in standard condition. The Philadelphia Mint during that time period accidentally misaligned the die used in minting the coins causing the portrait of Lincoln to look like it was doubled. Fortunately or unfortunately, eighty thousand of these were circulated before the error was discovered.

In summary, coin collecting is similar to collecting bits of history and trivia from the past. In addition to the face value its worth as a treasure - pennies, dimes and coins - often are worth more in the long run.

Author Resource:-> Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs



For more information and resource links on collectable coins visit: Rare Coins

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The History of the 1943 Steel Cent

By: Keith Scott

From 1909 to 1942, the Lincoln Cent was composed of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. That all changed in 1943, as for the first and only time, a coin was made out of steel, which was quite a contradiction from gold, silver, copper or bronze.

Even before the United States entered the war, there were inklings that the cent, as well as the nickel were in trouble. The nickel was made out of 75% copper. Copper was in huge demand due to its use by defense contractors in the manufacturing process of various supplies and equipment needed in case of the US going to war.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the rumors only grew and in January 1942, The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine reported that Treasury officials were giving serious consideration to using different metal contents for some coins. The first step occurred on January 23rd, 1942, when the Treasury ordered the removal of all but a trace of tin from the cent from the already small amount that had been in use. The existing supply of strips and planchets were used and it is speculated that cents produced in 1942 were produced of both metal compositions. This small change was expected to save 100,000 pounds of tin.

Throughout 1942, there were repeated attempts and pleas to the public to turn in their cents and nickels. Even with these pleas, the shortages continued and for the last six months of the year the mint scaled back production of cents and nickels. During this time, experiments were conducted with various metal compositions, fibers, plastics and even glass.
On December 18, 1942, Public Law 77-815 was enacted. This law called for the melting of more silver dollars and for the authorization of metal substitutes for the one cent and five cent coins not to go beyond December 31st, 1946. The nickel had already seen its change utilizing more silver in its content. The Treasury wasted no time and on December 23, 1942, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. ordered that all cents produced after January 1st 1943 be comprised of low-carbon steel coated with zinc. The zinc plating was to provide a thin coating to prevent rust and was to be no more than .001 inches thick. The same diameter of coin was maintained, but the weight was reduced from the standard 48 grains to 42 grains, due to the use of a lighter alloy. It took some time to produce sufficient supplies of planchets and production commenced on February 23, 1943 at the Philadelphia Mint with the Denver and San Francisco Mints beginning production the next month.

On February 27th, the first delivery of cents was made to the Treasury and within a few weeks, the steel cents were in circulation. Although the Treasury Department assured the public that the coin, after being in circulation for a while, would gain a distinct appearance, many people noticed the color resemblance of a dime. Complaints continued to pour into the Treasury. For example, due to there magnetic property, many mechanical devices treated the new cent as a slug. Back then, there were quite a few uses for the cent and this was a big deal.

The new cent was so much hated by the public that the Treasury was moved to issue them only when bronze-copper cents were not available. Still, demand for cents for business was so great, that the public was forced to use them as that was what was available. In the fall of 1943, the Treasury announced that no steel cents would be produced after December 31, 1943 and that the mint would produce cents from the pre-war alloy, but without tin. These cents, from 1944 through 1946 were to be known as shell-case cents, as the metal generally came from spent shell-casings. It was also announced that there would be no recall of the steel cent.
After the war, the Treasury did begin recalling steel cents for the next 20 years. Although not publicized, coins were to be returned to the treasury in the normal course of business. By 1950, steel cents were becoming scarce and by 1960, nearly non-existent. By this time, steel cents had deteriorated quite a bit. The Mint had coated the steel strips before punching leaving the edge of the coin subject to rust and corrosion. Even though a recall was in effect, the Mints own records indicate over 930 million remained in circulation.

By the end of 1943, the three Mint facilities had produced 1,093,838,670 of the one-cent coins. The copper released for the war effort was enough to meet the combined needs of 2 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 1,243 flying fortresses, 120 field guns and 120 howitzers, or enough for 1.25 million shells for our big field guns.

Author Resource:-> Keith Scott has been a collector for over 30 years. His website has US coins for sale. He also writes Coin Collecting Articles for fun. Visit his websites for a history of US coins, metal market updates and news about your favorite coins.

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How To Value Collectible Coins

By: Lee Dobbins

Coins have been always been a part of our country's history. Prominent people are featured on them. A change of government is sometimes accompanied by a change of currency. The look and feel of these coins reflects the advancements in technology as scientists find more complex metal combinations.

Coins being of historical value is one of the many factors why people collect them. Beauty and variety also contribute to the collector's growing numbers.

To be a collector, you must be aware of how to ascertain the worth of your coins. Who knows, you might just be holding on to a very rare artifact, or one that would cost millions on an auction or bidding.

First step in being a coin collector is to look up literature. You need to be in the know of what coins are available out there, where to get them and how to get them. This is extremely valuable to one who'd see the coins as a form of investment.

You also need to determine four things before you take a coin to your collection. You need to identify them, have them authenticated and examine them for damage. This would be vital points to consider in collection coins.

To identify them, you need to look at your coins very thoroughly and note the shape, the colors, and the writings. You also need to verify which country issued that coin. If there is no denomination on the face of the coins, it's just a token or probably a medal.

Authentic coins should be treasured and prized. They're hard to find, especially if they are rare, limited issues. A lot of fakes and counterfeit coins are available in the market, so beware!

The value of your coin will depend upon its grade. Coin catalogs usually have their own, specific grading guidelines but here's a general list of them.

• Mint State Perfect Uncirculated (MS-70) is an uncirculated coin. It should show no apparent damage and be in top shape. It is considered to be the best quality of coin possible.




• Uncirculated (MS-60) is another uncirculated coin having a few scratches on contact marks and that have lost some of its sheen.




• About Uncirculated (AU-50) is a coin which has evidence of light wear on most parts but still retains at least half of its original sheen.




• Extremely Fine (EF-40) is coin wherein the coin design is lightly worn off but the features can be still distinguished and are still quite sharp.




• Very Fine (VF-20) is another coin wherein some of fine details like hair or eyebrows are mostly worn off. There is evidence of modest wear on some points of the design but all major parts are still clearly etched.




• Very Good (VG-8) is a coin wherein even though the rim is still clearly visible, the design is almost worn off and only few details of it are clear.




• Good (G-4) are coins that are heavily worn but the design and the legend are still visible. Much of the details are gone.




• About Good (AG-3) are coins that are very heavily worn that some of the lettering and the original design are not discernible anymore.

Damaged coins come across frequently in the course of a collector's quest. Most collectors steer off coins that have undergone cleaning or re-polishing. Corroded, scratched and drilled into coins are also a big turn off. Although it's sometimes hard to find one, it's better to find an untampered specimen.

The question on most beginners minds is this: How much do I get paid for a particular coin. The answer is: It varies everywhere. It depends on the qualities of the coin as well as the guide the buyer is using. For a general idea of pricing, here's a quick list.

1. U.S. wheat cents (1958 and earlier) that were in circulation goes for a few cents to 3 dollars each.




2. 1943 "steel pennies are very uncommon and of high value 1943 cents set on a normal bronze planchet. They are tested to determine if it attracts magnets and if so, it is plated using copper. They are sold for 5 to 50 cents if circulated, and up to a dollar or two if not in circulation.




3. Silver dimes, quarter and half dollars from 1964 or earlier are composed of almost 90% silver. So their amount depends on their silver content.




4. Silver dollars from 1935 and up are collector favorites and can be usually be sold for more than their value in silver . The less common the date, the higher the pricing goes.




5. Susan B. Anthony dollars are worth about one dollar.




6. Bicentennial quarters, half and dollars are usually worth what's on their face value.




7. Coins in commemoration of the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana are spotted to cost from $5 to $30.




8. A coin with two heads, tails or those that have different designs of two coins have no value to collectors because they are coins that have been change to introduce a novelty item.

There are also the kinds of coins that are made by mistake. These are called 'mules' and are often produced because of an error in pairing different dies. Expect rare coins like these to cost a little higher than most.

So with these things in mind, have fun in making your own collection grow. Who knows what part of history you'll discover by finding rare specimens.

Author Resource:-> Lee Dobbins writes for http://collecting.leisure-webzone.com where you can learn more about coins and other antiques and collectibles.

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Collector Coins: A Hobby of History

There are many different hobbies with which one can find enjoyment, but one of the most popular is coin collecting. People have collected and hoarded coins for as long as mankind has been using them. It was not until the modern age, however, that collector coins become common enough for the hobby to reach its current levels of popularity.

In past eras collector coins were most likely held for the value of the bullion itself rather than any aesthetic value. There were certainly some people who collected and exchanged coins from far-off places, but unlike today's money, which is largely symbolic with little or no inherent value, early ones were made with actual gold, silver and other precious metals. Coins, and money in general, were much more scarce and more valuable in past centuries than they are today. Coin collecting was once known as "The Hobby of Kings" during the Renaissance and earlier, because the endeavor was mostly limited to noblemen: people with enough disposable wealth to own money and not have to spend it all.

Nowadays, coin collecting is so widespread that it has become known as the "King of Hobbies." It has a very broad appeal and its proponents collect for all sorts of reasons. Coin fans know no age boundaries. Collectors range from the ten-year-old kid with a jar full of loose change to history buffs with a collection of ancient and rare coins. Just about every nation in the world has pieces in circulation and out, so it is a hobby that can easily cross cultural and language barriers.

Many collectors simply collect for the fun of it while others take it quite seriously. Some even manage to make a successful living doing it. Most cities of decent size will often have at least a couple of coin dealers who are usually quite knowledgeable in the field of numismatics, the systematic study of currency.

Numismatists are not always collectors, but some level of numismatic knowledge is helpful for owners of potentially valuable collections. The field also includes an extensive grading system that is used to rate the condition and value of collector currency. Of course, the exact makeup of a coin collection can vary widely. Many hobbyists have very generalized collections from all sorts of eras, nations, or commemorative events. Others might specialize in a particular area. For example, one collector might try to acquire every year of the Wheat Penny while another's collection features every national version of the Euro coin. For some, only the rarest specimens will do; these can get quite

Author Resource:- Author is a freelance copywriter. If you would like to learn more about collector coins, visit http://www.davidlawrence.com/.
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How To Value Coins Using A Coin Value Guide

One of the most important pieces of information that a coin collector will want to know is how much a coin is worth. By knowing what a coin is worth will affect what they are willing to pay or sell it for. Plus it will help you to look and appreciate your coins much more. There are plenty of US coin value guides available both off and online. But some are certainly more accurate than others. However, what should be remembered is no one guide is foolproof. All the guides available will only provide you with an approximation of the market value and actual coin prices. So if you really want to know the market you should also see what coins are actually selling for.

A great place to look for such information is on auction sites such as eBay as well as various auction houses such as Heritage, Teletrade, Bowers and Merena and Stacks to name a few. Also you could take a look in your local and national coin shows as well as local coin shops to see what prices they have. But below are details of some of the more common US coin value guides that are in use today.

1. US Coin Digest
This is much like the Red Book but it includes coin pricing for more grades. Where in the Red Book has only pricing for six grades of the Morgan Dollars in the US Coin Digest it has pricing for 11 grades. It also contains a bit more background information in relation to coins in general.

2. Greysheet
This is officially called the Coin Dealer Newsletter and is an expensive subscription periodical ($98 per year). It is most commonly used price guide to be used by dealers when setting their own prices. However, it does contain wholesale prices also (so it is a wise choice for the more savvy collectors out there). The prices in this are based on coins graded according to industry standards. But they also include pricing for properly graded raw coins when compiling their figures. However, the biggest weakness of this publication is that it ignores the current state of grading services.

3. Numismedia Price Guide
This is an online service and is similar to the PCGS Price Guide. But the prices on this site can be somewhat higher than those that appear in printed guides. However, this site has been a subscription service since 2003 and costs $96 per year for you to be able to see the pricing of grades above MS-60.

So as you can see from above there are plenty of different US coin value guides available not just in book format but also online also.

Author Resource:- For more information all about coin collecting values visit http://www.find-coins.com where will find useful tips, articles and resources to help you find old coins.
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How Can I Buy Coins on eBay Without Getting Ripped Off?

EBay is the topic of many conversations in the coin collecting community. Amongst the collector community is the question of can I buy coins on eBay without getting ripped off. The answer is unequivocally YES. The caveat is to proceed with caution. In this article we will explore the things to look for to find honest sellers so that you can protect your self. Here are several tips to keep you from getting ripped off and bidding on auctions that are with worthy sellers.

User Feedback: While it seems obvious you want to deal with someone who has a high user feedback, the fact is that this area can be quite misleading. How? Many people who buy coins and then feel ripped off are for some reason reluctant to leave negative feedback for fear they will also receive negative feedback. When looking for a reputable coin dealer on eBay, feedback ratings can be a useful guide, but dig a little deeper. A dealer/seller with 10,000 positive feedbacks does NOT mean s/he is a good dealer. Read the feedback. Not just the negative feedbacks but the positive as well. Many positive feedback entries will have underlying negative information in them that could clue you into how the dealer treats others or the quality of the merchandise s/he sells. For example, a recent positive feedback entry for a seller stated: Grading seems off mark but happy with deal and easy to work with CO. Thanks. Another positive feedback for a different seller stated: Not quite as expected but OK for the price. These particular dealers have thousands of positive ratings but the ratings are rife with negative connotations in the positive feedback. Check for statements such as slow shipping, not packaged well, not like picture, not as described, etc.

Dealer Business or One Time Seller: Is the seller you are looking at a long-time eBay seller or someone that is trying out eBay to sell their inherited collection? Actually, this area may not make much difference as there are some long-time dealers who I think are crooks while I have been able to pick up some good deals from new sellers. But beware, short-term sellers/new sellers may be looking to unload some junk, take you for your money and then not deliver.

Shipping Policies: Some sellers will attempt to hide the shipping cost and will ultimately overcharge for shipping for extra profit. This of course is disguised as Shipping/Handling. All sellers will charge for shipping and handling, it is the degree to which they will charge. For example, I have seen sellers charge $7.00 for shipping a $2.00 penny with insurance being extra Always pay close attention to the shipping charges as well as the method of shipping. Some dealers will only ship UPS adding significant cost to you. Generally speaking, insurance is not included in many transactions. Please note, it does cost dealers for the packing materials, trips to the post office, etc. Many dealers will look to handling charges to offset some of the fees they have to pay to eBay. Sellers can pay anywhere around 10% of the selling price for listing fees, transaction fees, final valuation fees, etc.

Return Policies: An important factor to determine before bidding on an auction is to read the fine print, especially return policies. Return policies vary from no returns at all to full return privileges. Some sellers will offer you the option to return an item but will NOT reimburse shipping charges. If you bought a $2.00 coin and paid $7.00 for shipping, you are out the $7.00.

Assigning a Grade: Many dealers will suggest a grade for the coin they are selling. It is easy to overgrade a coin, as you always hope for the best. Some sellers will make statements such as "It looks like a MS-65 but I am not an expert." Others will make a statement such as, "I am not a coin grader but it looks good to me." Another good one is stating they are of average circulation. Average circulation means many different things to many different people. Average circulation for Barber Halves means they are all in AG-3 or so while average circulation for Franklin Halves would indicate they should be a higher grade as they are less worn. Be wary of these descriptions. It is unfortunate, but many so called uncalculated coins selling on eBay are AU-55 or AU-58.

Graded Coins: Most people feel safe when buying a graded coin. The feeling is that since it is graded by a third party, I should be getting what I am bidding on. NOTE: All grading companies are not created equal. There are some sellers on eBay that sells tons of coins that are graded MS-70. If you really research the feedback on these items you will find out that in the opinion of many of the buyers, many of the coins are no where near MS-70. If you research further, you will find out the seller is the person/company that also is the grading company.

Contacting the Seller: If you find a coin you want and the auction does not end for a few days; try contacting the seller for more info. Do they respond quickly and with the information you want?

Item Description: Read the description over and over to look for the slightest deception. For example, when buying bags of wheat cents, a common statement is "unsearched by me". That's great. Maybe his buddy searched them, or he bought them as searched. I would stay away from that item. Also, match the description to the picture. People do make mistakes. If you see a picture of a Morgan Dollar with a mint mark of "S" but the description says it is a "CC", contact the seller. If you do not get a response, stay clear.

Photos: If you are buying a valuable coin, do not consider buying it unless there are clear pictures, for both the observe and reverse. Yes, this applies to even PCGS graded coins. A MS-66 graded Walking Liberty Half might sound like an absolutely beautiful coin, but if it has ugly toning, maybe it is not the coin for you. Be wary of any high value coin that does not have clear close up pictures. A trick of many bad dealers is to intentionally have pictures that are slightly out of focus or at a bad angle to hide certain scratches or abnormalities.

Dealer Memberships: Many dealers will lay claim to belong to various clubs and organizations. Many of these claims will not guarantee that the dealer is honest. I can claim I belong to any club I want. That does not mean that I actually belong to it. Additionally, membership in many clubs does not require anything more than an email address. On the other hand, if the dealer claims to be a member of ANA, that could be better as ANA dealers are bound by a certain code of ethics.

Buying coins on eBay is a risky business, but by using these tips, the risk is no more than buying coins from your local dealer or by mail order. There are crooks in the coin profession at all levels. You must be on guard at all times to protect yourself and by exercising caution, you can be assured you are getting and paying for what you think you are.

As always, happy collection!

Author Resource:- Keith Scott has been a collector for over 30 years. His website has US coins for sale. He also writes Coin Collecting Articles for fun. Visit his websites for a history of US coins, metal market updates and news about your favorite coins.
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The Rebirth of Silver Money?

Is silver money? I wish I had an ounce of silver for every time I have encountered that question on the net! Rather than provide you with the technical answer (from an Austrian Economic and historical point of view), let me point out something really exciting. The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has set the standards for international currencies. AND silver, gold and platinum are listed by the ISO as currencies. The best quick resource for information regarding ISO 4217 is Wikipedia of course. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217 . Silver's currency code is a combination of X and its chemical symbol AG; hence its currency code is XAG. Following the same logic, gold's currency symbol is XAU. Each currency is assigned a 3 digit numeric code. Silver is currency number 961. Its standard is set at one ounce of silver. Therefore, SILVER IS AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CURRENCY and not just in the fervid imaginations of suburban gold bugs. I have even traded the XAG:USD currency pair at European brokerage houses and the XAU:USD at Forex.com. But is it money?

No silver is not money - yet (hold on and I will show you how we can make it money again). I can't go down to Starbucks and buy a large cinnamon dulce latte for 35 silver cents. The local barista would look at me like I had been smoking some shredded federal reserve notes in my Hope Bong. Yes, a cup of latte at starbucks would cost only 35 silver cents ($4.35 for a latte divided by the price of one once of silver on April 7, 2009 which was $12.30). In this crazy world of fiat currencies (read - legally counterfeit monies), currently headed by the red queen Ben Bernanke (off with all your heads dear readers), all currencies are volatile including silver. But silver has lost very little purchasing power relative to the toilet paper currencies (the founding fathers called it "rag money") like the U.S. Dollar and the British Pound. Since 1913 when the U.S. Dollar was turned over to the control of a private banking cartel (read trust) it has lost over 95 percent of its value. Great job guys. Yes, you Paul Volker and Sir Alan Greenspan (two previous red queens). A cup of joe was around 5 to 15 cents in 1913.

REMONETIZATION

WE THE PEOPLE can remonetize silver. Silver has been winning the Peoples Choice Award as money for literally thousands of years. This is much easier than immanentizing the eschaton ;-). Remonetization will take 3 steps.

Step 1 is to give the Silver Ounce - XAG a Symbol. Don't underestimate the power of a symbol.

Step 2 is to use Silver as a Unit of Account. (I'll show you how in subsequent articles).

Step 3 is to mint a coin metal silver currency. (Hint: real coin metal is 90% silver and 10% copper not that 99.9% tourist stuff that is currently being minted for the marks by most governments. Why 99.9% "pure", because they KNOW you can't use it as a currency because it isn't durable enough!)

Step 1 we need to launch a new symbol. In 1792 the US dollar $ originally represented 77 percent of an ounce of silver or 371.25 grains of pure silver ( the average silver content of Pieces of Eight or Spanish Reals). You see, originally the colonials' main currency was Spanish dollars. Our founding fathers keep their accounting records in Spanish Silver Dollars-Reals. Since the silver dollar symbol $ has been high jacked by the banking cartel to represent rag money in the form of paper federal reserve notes, we need a new symbol for the ISO silver currency.

Author Resource:- You can find the new Silver Currency Symbol at my new website Fibonacci Financial. Is this symbol just another pretty face or will it launch a revolution? Let freedom ring with the sound real silver money again.
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