Information for Coin Collectors & Investors
January of 2013 saw a small growth in the value of silver, around 3.7%. During the same period gold actually dropped by 0.8% but analysts seem to agree that gold will see a steady rise overall. Today silver is at $31.78. You can buy one dollar face value of circulated 90% silver US coins for … Read more
Old coins hold a special place for me. My first memory of collecting coins is also a great memory of a time spent with my father. This old treasure my dad and I found in the garden that day sparked my interest in collecting coins and perhaps even learning about history. I was about nine … Read more
We hear a lot about gold and silver these days. If you watch news programs very much at all you will notice that a lot of the sponsors are selling gold and silver. Don’t be duped by these shysters! Gold and silver can be good investments, there’s no doubt about that. But the problem that … Read more
I have written and talked to people about the lowly copper penny for quite some time. US pennies minted before 1982 (and some struck during the first part of that year) are made of 95% copper. Later pennies contain only 2.5% copper. It takes approximately 115 pennies to make 1 pound of copper. If copper … Read more
Back in the “old days” U.S. dollars, halves, quarters and dimes were made of silver. Each one of these silver coins minted before 1965 was made of 90% silver and 10% copper. In 1965 silver was removed from the composition of the dimes and quarters. Half dollars from 1965 to 1970 were minted from 40% … Read more
Nickel Cents of the Civil War Have you ever heard the expression “he doesn’t have a nickel’s worth of sense?” Believe it or not, there used to actually be “nickel cents”. Nickel Cents were minted during a specific time in history, and the hoarding of them, along with gold and silver coins, in Civil war … Read more
Private tokens were first seen in the early 1860s. In 1862, many Americans, especially in the Midwestern and Northern states began responding to the hoarding of gold, silver, and nickel by using private minters. Private tokens were made locally. Since there was no real regulation on the use of other coinage outside that of the … Read more
Silver is a good investment right now, but if you aren’t careful the premium you pay will significantly reduce the return you will see and in some cases the spot price of silver would have to double before you can even break even. The premium is the amount of money you pay that is over … Read more
The America the Beautiful Quarter Program will feature 56 different US National Sites. The obverse or “heads”, of all will be the classic George Washington profile designed by by John Flanagan in 1932. The reverse, or “tails” side of the coins will honor a U.S. national park or other significant national site. The America the … Read more
2009 was the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. Four different versions of the Lincoln Cent were minted to celbrate the ocassion. All four were struck at both the Philadelphia and Denver Mints which means that there are 8 different versions that were struck for general circulation. The thing that makes these cents interesting is their relative … Read more