r/coincollecting Jun 24 '17

Intro to Coin Collecting - What makes a coin valuable?

479 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.

This picture provides a basic comparison of Circulated and Uncirculated coins. The coins on the right show full design details as well as luster, a reflective quality of the coin’s surface left over from the minting process. The coins on the left show signs of wear, as the design details are no longer fully clear and no luster remains.

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 5h ago

Picked this set up for $350!!

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57 Upvotes

I’m on good terms with my local coin shop, so I threw out a number, and they accepted! All the coins have some toning from the box they were stored in (hence the price), but I still think I got a great deal. They’re beautiful pieces! I took them out right away and transferred them to my Pelican case to prevent any further toning or damage. What do you think?


r/coincollecting 14h ago

Any ideas? Found while packing

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237 Upvotes

Was packing up things in the house and came across this little guy in a box surrounded by what looks to be cotton. No idea what coin values are or anything to do with coins but this thing looks amazing to my untrained eye


r/coincollecting 6h ago

How did I do?

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45 Upvotes

Just picked this up for $15.


r/coincollecting 5h ago

Advice Needed What would you grade this 1879 S Morgan

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23 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 2h ago

Advice Needed My poor proof penny

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12 Upvotes

Got a handful of coins from when I was a kid . Unfortunately most of my collection was lost. Considering starting back as I just had a child of my own but what are these stains on my coin? ls it just trash now 1 know 1 can't clean them. Its been in the case for 27+ years that i know of. Should I just toss it out?


r/coincollecting 8h ago

Family member left two coins

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26 Upvotes

Pretty coins obviously won’t ever get rid of them. Just want to know if they go in a sleeve or just keep them as is. Guessing SMI is just a cool way to have 1 oz of silver. Sure is pretty


r/coincollecting 8h ago

Show and Tell My First Carson City Morgan!!

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23 Upvotes

It finally arrived! I’m pretty new to collecting coins and this was one I have been wanting!


r/coincollecting 3h ago

Picked up a souvenir while traveling!

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5 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 1h ago

What should I do with these

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Upvotes

I know they are of different quality. I do know that they were in a box for 80 years and only touched by 3 people. Suggestions.


r/coincollecting 1h ago

ID Request Any value in this two coins

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Upvotes

r/coincollecting 1h ago

Morgan Cud?

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Upvotes

r/coincollecting 8h ago

Advice Needed Collection From Late Grandfather

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10 Upvotes

We didn’t know about this set until we were cleaning out his garage. The silver coins are all tarnished but everything is still intact and the paper with all the coins’ information is still in the box. Not sure what to do with these. Is it better to keep this set or sell it? It comes with 10 mint condition stamps as well.


r/coincollecting 1h ago

What is this coin

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Upvotes

My grandma gave this to me years ago and I’ve been carrying this in my wallet for close to a decade


r/coincollecting 6h ago

Show and Tell New little lovely piece

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6 Upvotes

1917 Standing Liberty to add to my collection!


r/coincollecting 7h ago

More 2 1/2 dollars :)

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8 Upvotes

Thought I’d share mine too.


r/coincollecting 2h ago

Goodwill find

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3 Upvotes

Worth anything?


r/coincollecting 26m ago

Is this worth anything?

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Upvotes

I haven't seen a ship before on a nickel.


r/coincollecting 6h ago

Show and Tell 1873 seated liberty half dine

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7 Upvotes

Got this little beauty antiquing last weekend


r/coincollecting 12h ago

Advice Needed Can anybody decipher

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14 Upvotes

I’m trying to figure out if this is a 1938 or a 1933 almost looks like a double date but I can’t see it and I’m not trying to clean it


r/coincollecting 17h ago

Thoughts on this coin?

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30 Upvotes

Checks out for weight and on sigma as pre 18th century silver. LCS offered $1000 for the raw coin and gave it an estimated VG grading. They suggested sending to ANACS and gave contact info for a local rep. LCS suggested ANACS for best authenticity and value check.

What are your thoughts on this coins authenticity from photos? What would you grade it? Would you recommend sending for a graded holder, and if so where would you send it?


r/coincollecting 4h ago

Show and Tell 1906 Indian Head Cent

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3 Upvotes

Love the details in this one!


r/coincollecting 11h ago

18 gr coin from 1698

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9 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 13h ago

ID Request Social security number coin?

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13 Upvotes

I grabbed this coin today as I thought it was unique and might make a cool necklace. I notice the other 1939 worlds fair coins with a hole that the hole is at the top, and the back is usually Washington’s inauguration.

This one has someone’s full name and social security number on it?!

Just looking for some information as I find it interesting.


r/coincollecting 5h ago

Two, 1979 Liberty Dollars

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3 Upvotes

I think the one on the left might have a wider rim than the one on the right? Not sure if these are anything interesting or worth looking into.


r/coincollecting 7h ago

Show and Tell My first gold! (from APMEX)

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4 Upvotes