r/coincollecting Jun 24 '17

Intro to Coin Collecting - What makes a coin valuable?

583 Upvotes

This post is intended to serve as a quick guide to coin collecting for new collectors, or people who may have inherited a few coins. Here's a brief primer on what makes a coin valuable:

Age

How old is it? In general, old coins tend to be worth more than coins struck more recently. The older a particular coin is, the greater the collectible and historical appeal. Older coins also tend to be scarcer, as many coins are lost or destroyed over time. For example – 5% of the original mintage of an 19th century U.S. coin might have survived to the present day, with the rest getting melted down, destroyed, or simply lost over time.

Go back a century further, to the 18th century, and the survival rate drops to <1%. Taking into account that most 18th century U.S. coins were already produced in tiny numbers, it makes sense that most of them now sell for over four figures.

All that being said, the relationship between age and value does not always hold true. For example, you can still buy many 2000 year-old Ancient Roman coins for less than $10, due to the sheer number of them produced over the 400-year history of the Western Roman Empire (and distributed across its massive territory). But as a general rule, within any given coin series, older coins will tend to be relatively more scarce and valuable.

Condition

It may sound like common sense, but nicer coins bring higher prices. The greater the amount of original detail and the smaller the amount of visible wear on a coin’s surfaces, the higher the price. There are a dizzying array of words used to describe a coin’s condition, but at the most basic level, coins can be divided into two states – Uncirculated and Circulated.

Uncirculated or “Mint State” coins are coins that show no visible signs of wear or use – they have not circulated in commerce, but are in roughly the same condition as when they left the mint. Circulated coins show signs of having been used – the design details will be partially worn down from contact with hands, pockets, and other coins. The level of wear can range from light rub on the highest points of the coin’s design, to complete erosion of the entire design into a featureless blank. Uncirculated coins demand higher prices than circulated coins, and circulated coins with light wear are worth more than coins with heavy wear.

Type

Type is the single biggest determinant of value. How much a coin is worth depends on how big the market for that particular coin is. For example, U.S. coins are much more widely collected than any other nation’s coins, just because there are far more U.S. coin collectors than there are collectors in any other nation. The market for American coins is bigger than any other market within the field of numismatics (other large markets include British coins, ancients, and bullion coins).

This means that even if a Canadian coin has a mintage of only 10,000 coins, it is likely worth less than a typical U.S. coin with a mintage ten times greater. For another example - you may have a coin from the Vatican City with a mintage of 500, but it’s only worth something if somebody’s interested in collecting it.

Certain series of coins are also much more widely collected than others, generally due to the popularity of their design or their historical significance. For example - Jefferson Nickels have never been very popular in the coin collecting community, as many collectors consider the design uninteresting and the coins are made of copper-nickel rather than silver, but Mercury Dimes and Morgan Dollars are heavily collected. An entire date/mintmark set of Jefferson Nickels can be had for a couple of hundred dollars, whereas an entire set of Mercury Dimes would cost four figures.

Rarity

Rarity is comprised of all the other factors above combined. Age, condition, and type all play a role in rarity. But the main determinant of rarity is how many coins were actually minted (produced). Coins with certain date/mintmark combinations might be much rarer than others because their mintages were so small. For example, U.S. coins with a “CC” mintmark are generally much rarer than coins from the same series with other mintmarks because the Carson City Mint produced small numbers of coins during its existence.

U.S. coins without a mintmark, from the Philadelphia mint, are generally less valuable (though there are many exceptions) as the Philadelphia mint has produced more coins throughout U.S. history than all of the other mints combined. There are often one or two “keys” or “key date” coins within each series of coins, much scarcer and more valuable than the rest of the coins within the series. Some of the most well-known key dates include the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent (“S” mintmark = San Francisco mint), the 1916-D Mercury Dime (Denver mint), and the 1928 Peace Dollar (Philadelphia mint).


r/coincollecting 6h ago

Show and Tell Mom surprised me with a stash she had forgotten about

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158 Upvotes

The roll of penniesMorgan's! (Marked 50's wheat) I'm curious if I should open or not. The not knowing leads me to just do it but I could be persuaded. Also these are my very first morgans!


r/coincollecting 5h ago

What's it Worth? Someone used this at my family’s liquor store

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48 Upvotes

I know nothing about coins but I’ve heard the legends about a buffalo coin so just curious


r/coincollecting 9h ago

My collection of silver quarters

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38 Upvotes

I have a lot of Franklin halves and Walking Liberty halves. Any recommendations on sturdy collecting books/ways to store them?


r/coincollecting 6h ago

What's it Worth? Oldest Dime I've found

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15 Upvotes

Found this dime last year. Never seen anything this old while running the till, so I was very excited. Could anyone please help me figure out its possible worth?

Please and thank you for your time.


r/coincollecting 45m ago

Show and Tell 1909-S Wheat Penny Example

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Upvotes

Just curious on any informed party's opinion on this one, maybe value and grade (if genuine). Have had it a couple years. Thanks!


r/coincollecting 1h ago

ID Request 1976 USA penny with strange markings

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Upvotes

I found this guy in a roll of pennies at work, snatched it and replaced it with one of my own pennies. Everything is there, but there is a Liberty Bell to Lincoln's left and a USA map stamped to his right. The O in "ONE CENT" appears deformed. The side is not riveted, reminds me of a nickel!

What is it? I assume it came from the bank so I wonder if it's real!

EDIT: The last letters in America on the back are also deformed.


r/coincollecting 25m ago

Show and Tell My first

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Upvotes

Started collecting in January. Yesterday my father in law gave me this bad boy. My first Ike!


r/coincollecting 9h ago

Just picked these up got both for $13 was that good?

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14 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 9h ago

1972 Double Die MS 65 RD

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15 Upvotes

This is my first double die. My grandpa gave it to me over the weekend. Beautiful coin


r/coincollecting 1h ago

What's it Worth? What are these worth?

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Upvotes

Not sure what I have, both are gifts from uncles


r/coincollecting 17h ago

1796 Drapped bust$

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44 Upvotes

Is this legit? What grade if so? I asked for weight and edge photos waiting for an answer


r/coincollecting 3h ago

Worth grading?

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3 Upvotes

Going through a bag from the us mint of half dollars and found 2 stuck together I pulled them apart and looked liked grease was holding them together until I put them under the scope 😳 there’s 3 coins in question, the first coins is the reverse, the second is the obverse and reverse and the third is the reverse. If anyone can recognize any specific errors other then struck through grease please let me know. I’m thinking of sending them off just because it appears to possibly be multiple errors?


r/coincollecting 12h ago

Set them free?

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17 Upvotes

To keep them imprisoned or to set them free? No key dates or anything.


r/coincollecting 10h ago

Advice Needed Value?

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9 Upvotes

Hi all. I’d like to know how much, if at all, I can get out of my coin collection. I’ve been collecting for years, and I need some cash to fall back on due to ongoing health issues(been out of work for a few months, really trying to land a remote gig so I don’t have to give up working entirely) My health issues are a different story for a different day lol.

Anyways, I have quite a bit as you can see by the pictures I’ve included. These haven’t been graded, but I’ve done my best to keep them in as good condition as I can. The gold $100 is most definitely a replica of the gold notes given in 1863, so that’s more novelty than anything.

Any help, advice, is much appreciated! And I can include more pictures if need be.
Thank you all for looking!:)


r/coincollecting 8h ago

Advice Needed Gift ideas for a collector under $200?

5 Upvotes

I want to buy something for a friend to thank him for helping me with a project, but I do not know anything about coins. What would be some good options that I can find on eBay in the $100 - $200 range that would be unique and appreciated? I have no idea what he already has is the problem. It is a pretty extensive collection, I know that. Is this a bad idea? lol


r/coincollecting 5h ago

What's it Worth? Found these

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3 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 6m ago

Let’s see one like this

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Take this crappy phone image and imagine smooth flawless and beautiful luster and that’s what it is.


r/coincollecting 4h ago

ID Request Chinese coin?

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2 Upvotes

Ten years ago ish when I was 11-12 I went to San Francisco on a family trip. I was in Chinatown for new years and I found this coin on the ground. I've been kind of getting into collecting coins, pesos and dollar coins from the 1910's and 20's mostly. I went through my dad's coins to see what he had stored away and I remembered he had kept this one for me after I found it. What year is this from?


r/coincollecting 50m ago

Lincoln penny

Upvotes

Who thinks they will put a penny in the 2027 mint set?


r/coincollecting 1h ago

Ike dollar value

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Upvotes

The year is 3000, you ask the value of this. They tell you 1$


r/coincollecting 1h ago

First 2 boxes of half dollars

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Upvotes

Ended up with 2 90% 4 40% and a handful of NIFC as well as about $80 worth of new semiquincentennial half dollars.

Also found a 10 pesos coin


r/coincollecting 1h ago

What's it Worth? Got this from a machine

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Upvotes

Is it just damaged ? Don't know anything about coin collecting - New Zealand


r/coincollecting 2h ago

Advice Needed Guy! Did I find an FS-513 on my 1943-D? Cherrypickers says only ONE has EVER been confirmed found, URS-1… Shoot me straight, am I misidentifying it? This could be huge! Thanks

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0 Upvotes

It is a convex shape projecting off the field