What Types of Coins are Good for New Collectors?

 

Many who are just getting started in coin collecting ask themselves this very question. Here are some tried and true suggestions for beginners who would like to build a coin collection:

Rare Pennies and Cents;

Many collectors start off with the Wheat Penny. This is the longest-running coin series in United States history. Lincoln Cents were first minted back in 1909 for the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. Although the design has changed several times, the coins have been continuously minted since 1909. A complete collection of Lincoln Cents from 1909 to date numbers about 300 different coins. This is a great starting point as many coins are relatively inexpensive in circulated grades.

Morgan Silver Dollars;

Another great series to collect is the Morgan Silver Dollar. These coins have great appeal and are some of the most collected coins worldwide. While many are very accessible even for beginners, there are a few expensive coins in this collection – 1889-CC, 1893-S, 1895 – that would set you back thousands of dollars for even low-grade examples. Morgan Dollars were minted in Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City and Denver.

U.S. Classic Commemorative Coin Collections;

There are 50 basic types of coins, which include quarter, half dollar and dollar coins, and every design is different. All coins were minted between 1892 and 1954 and all are silver. Commemorative coins were minted to celebrate grand and trivial events alike.

Buffalo Nickels;

One of the more popular coins to collect are Buffalo Nickels. These unique coins are a historic callback to the Old West, and many collectors aim to have a complete set of the nickels. Some of these coins have exceptionally rare variants with errors, such as the three-legged buffalo or the raised ground reverse. Nickels produced by the San Francisco mint are highly sought after for their rarity. Alternatively, common buffalo nickels are relatively easy to come by, but the rare ones are much more interesting to pursue.

Roosevelt Dimes;

After President Roosevelt’s death in 1946, the U.S. Mint designed a tribute coin in his honor. Today, you can collect dimes from date, mint, and strike. Avid collectors of the Roosevelt Dimes strive to find a set of fully struck coins as well as full torch sets. Unlike other collectable historical coins, these dimes only have one rarity: the 1982 No Mint Mark variety.

Kennedy Half-Dollars;

Another tribute coin to a beloved leader, the Kennedy Half-Dollars have many different varieties that make them highly coveted collectables. When first issued after Kennedy’s death in 1964, these coins were made with 90% silver. Because of the high precious metal content, this initial version is the most desirable. In 1965, the silver content was reduced to 40%, and then eliminated entirely in 1971. Notable rarities in this series are those with unique mint marks and special editions, such as 200th anniversary of America’s independence which featured a special reverse design. Source

The $200 Million Coin Collection

 

The Pogue Collection will likely be the most expensive coin collection ever sold at auction. The face value of the 681 coins? $969.14.

Then & Now- United States Mint

"Then & Now" Part 1: looks at the early years of the Mint, featuring 1940 documentary footage from the US National Archives​.

 

How to Start Your Coin Portfolio

When you start coin collecting, it’s best to focus initially on bullion value. Though investing in rare coins can be very profitable, it is more difficult to gauge what the collector market for a particular coin might look like five or ten years down the road. Investing in modern bullion coins, such as Canadian Maple Leaf silver coins and American Gold Eagles, is a great way to get started. These coins all contain high-grade gold or silver, making them excellent precious metal investments. At the same time, they’re also handsome coins, which is an important factor for any coin collector.

Some older coins can be good stores of bullion value as well, though in some cases there’s also some numismatic value involved in the price of the coins. For example, American quarters and dimes minted prior to 1965 contain 90 percent silver and are frequently purchased by coin investors for their metal content. Ordering a mixed bag of junk silver coins is a good way to fill out missing dates in your collection while simultaneously investing in silver metal.

Some coins, such as American silver dollars, exist somewhere on the borderline between being bullion investments and numismatic investments. These coins are common enough that they don’t have immense amounts of collector value, but at the same time, they sell for prices that are higher than their raw bullion value. These coins aren’t necessarily the best investments from a growth perspective, but they do hold their value reasonably well. Since coins that fall into this category tend to be older, they’re also a great deal of fun to collect for those who love the historical appeal of numismatics. Pre-1933 gold coins also fall into this category, though their bullion values are of course much higher than silver coins.

Finally, there are many coins that are predominantly numismatic investments. Though the bullion value of the metal is still factored into the overall price of these coins, their scarcity causes their collector value to make up the bulk of their final cost. If you wish to invest in coins predominantly for their collector values, it’s important to know exactly which coins will be most in demand among collectors.

Typically, rare dates and mint marks are two of the largest contributing factors to a coin’s numismatic value. Rare minting errors can also add to the value of a coin. If investing in coins purely for their numismatic value, it’s important to deal in certified coins only. Certified coins are those which have been inspected and graded by a recognized organization, then placed in a protective holder.

One last factor to keep in mind is that, contrary to popular belief, a coin doesn’t necessarily have to cost thousands of dollars to be a good investment on the basis of its numismatic value. One of the best examples of an affordable coin that is mostly valued as a collector piece is the 1950-D Jefferson nickel. Considered a key date and mint mark pairing, a 1950-D nickel can sell for $70 or more in uncirculated grades. Though extremely high compared to its face and bullion values, the numismatic value associated with this coin makes it reasonable for collectors on a budget. 

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History of Gold Prices

 

The current Gold price is much more than the price of a commodity. The price of Gold today is the result of being the most important Precious Metal for thousands of years. Looking beyond the Gold price chart, you will discover a tale that goes beyond the value of a bar of Gold in an investment portfolio.

You will discover Gold became much more than currency for the earliest humans and to this day maintains an important place in science and medicine, as well as jewelry, clothes, homes and palaces.

JEWELRY: THE FIRST GOLD CURRENCY

About 4,000 B.C., the first recorded use of Gold to fashion decorative objects was found in present-day Eastern Europe – probably mined in the Transylvanian Alps or the Mount Pangaion area in Thrace. About 1,000 years later, the Sumer culture of southern Iraq created sophisticated jewelry, with some styles still worn today. Around 500 years after that, Gold jewelry was buried in the First Dynasty Egyptian King Djer’s tomb in Abydos.

THE FIRST GOLD COIN VALUES

With large Gold-bearing regions, Egypt was considered a wealthy nation as Gold became the recognized standard of a trade by 1,500 B.C. Also around this time, the Shekel became the standard Middle Eastern unit of measure. Made of about two-thirds Gold and one-third Silver, imagine the current Gold and Silver prices for these first Shekels. About 400 years later, China legalized little squares of Gold as currency. The first coins we know of to be made purely from Gold weren’t produced until 560 B.C. in Lydia, an Asia Minor kingdom. By 50 B.C., the Romans had produced a Gold coin called the Aureus.

The current Gold price is, in part, built on this rich history of civilizations turning to Gold as standard money. Gold makes great coinage because it doesn’t readily oxidize and therefore doesn’t lose its weight, maintaining the Gold coin value. Other metals like iron would rust away or, like copper, gain weight from oxidation.  As a result of the historical Gold values, finding new sources of Gold became part of conquests as early as 344 B.C.

CONQUEST: THE PRICE OF GOLD

In 344 B.C., Alexander the Great led 40,000 men across Hellespont on a massive military conquest and took control of large quantities of Gold from the Persian Empire. By A.D. 1511, Gold would be a driving force behind trips to the Americas. Spanish King Ferdinand commanded explorers in 1511 to “Get Gold, humanely if you can, but all hazards, get Gold.” By 1700, Gold was discovered in Brazil and was responsible for almost two-thirds of the world’s output just 20 years later.

THE AMERICAN GOLD RUSHES: HISTORICAL GOLD PRICES

The first Gold Rush was in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, in 1803 after a 12-year-old boy found a 17-pound Gold nugget in Little Meadow Creek. He used it as a doorstop for three years before his father took the rock to a jeweler who bought it for $3.50 and later sold it for a 1,000-fold profit.

In the early 1800s, the Gold from the North Carolina Gold Rush supplied the U.S. Mint’s Philadelphia branch with the Gold needed to produce domestic Gold coins. In 1792, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, used almost 1/20 of an ounce to create the American dollar, making the Gold bullion price about $19.39 for a regular ounce. The $20 Gold ounce price remained the same until 1934.

The California Gold Rush is the best-known Gold rush in American history. Gold was first found in Los Angeles in 1843, but the real rush came in 1848 when John Marshall found Gold flakes while building a sawmill, Sutter’s Mill, near Sacramento. This began what was the most famous rushes of the placer mining technique, which ended in 1860. Placer mining, also known as panning for Gold, is a popular way to separate Gold from gravel and sand in streambeds. By 1859, Gold was also found in the Comstock Lode area in Northern Nevada, along with Silver. The last Gold Rush of the century took prospectors to Alaska, where two prospectors discovered Gold while fishing in Klondike. Even with these big Gold rushes, the Gold ounce price remained at $19.39 per ounce.

THE PRICE OF GOLD TODAY IS BOOSTED BY TECH AND MEDICAL USES

Much of the 20th century included changes in regulations of Gold, including in 1933 when President Roosevelt prohibited Gold currency and in 1961 when Americans were prohibited from owning Gold. By 1974, Americans were again allowed to own Gold. The Gold ounce price began to fluctuate as various other policies took hold.

During the 1900s and into this century, Gold has been used for more than currency and trade, including a variety of scientific and medical devices, bolstering the demand for Gold. In 1927, a widespread French study showed Gold could help treat rheumatoid arthritis – something reaffirmed in 1960. In 1935, the Western Electric alloy of 69% Gold, 25% Silver and 6% Platinum was used in all switching contacts for AT&T telecommunications. At AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1947, the first transistor is created with Gold contacts pressed into a germanium surface and by 1960 AT&T was using Gold-coated mirrors in the newly patented laser.

Gold even contributed to space. In 1965, Col. Edward White wore a Gold-coated visor to protect his eyes from direct sunlight as he made his first spacewalk during the Gemini IV mission. Gold-coated visors are still worn today in space. In 1980, Gold-coated impellers were used in the liquid hydrogen fuel pump on the first space shuttle launch. These and other medical and scientific endeavors have used Gold to make advancements, and to this day, the reliance on this Precious Metal has helped increase the spot price of Gold.

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Items We Buy

If you have broken or damaged jewelry, don't throw it away! Bring it to our coin exchange dealer, and we'll give you cash for your scrap gold and silver. Martinez Coin & Jewelry Exchange buys all types of gold and silver jewelry and coins along with old sterling silver flatware. Please see below for examples of what we buy. We buy all forms of scrap gold and silver based on the current market price. We also buy and sell all types of U.S. coins, paper money, and some foreign coins.

Our buying process is completely transparent; we tell you exactly what you have and break it down in an easily understandable way. We don't try to confuse or hide any information. When selling your valuables, you want a trusted, reputable, and honest dealer, such as Martinez Coin & Jewelry Exchange, who pays top dollar.

If your item is not listed here, just ask! We may be able to work with you!

SOME OF THE ITEMS WE BUY

• Gold Watches
• Pocket Watches
• Sterling Flatware
• US Coins
• Gold & Silver Foreign Coins
• Bullion
• Bracelets
• Earrings
• Chains
• Broken or Damaged Jewelry
• Charms/pendants
• Rings
• Cuff Links
• Silver Jewelry
• Gold Teeth

What Is A Wheat Penny?

The Wheat Penny is a popular American coin to collect because its design and composition represent the course of American history. Learn more about what makes this coin valuable to collectors and why our team enjoyed collecting them.