The beginner's guide to collecting coins

Perhaps you just found a Wheat Penny in your pocket, and now you’re thinking “Hey that’s pretty neat, what if I have more of these?” You rush home and dump your whole change jar on the kitchen table, sifting through to try to find something interesting.  Pretty soon you look up and it’s been hours.  Your mind is swimming with dates and denominations. Coin collecting can be addicting. 

Maybe you found some error coins in your jar, or maybe even a mercury head dime.  Maybe you didn’t find anything at all, but you still enjoyed looking through your coins on the thrill of “Maybe this one will be something!” 

I definitely understand the excitement, that first scenario happened to me just the other night actually.  I was supposed to be in bed for an early day, but instead I dumped my whole coin jar on the floor. 

While I didn’t find much worth anything, just a wheat penny and a bicentennial quarter, I did find some neat looking coins that made the experience fun.  One quarter I found had been completely worn down (intentionally) to the point where it was the color of copper.  Who did that? And why? 

It’s pretty neat thinking about the lives our nation's coins have seen.  Of course maybe it’s just been sitting in a jar for most of that time, and really didn’t see anything until it ended up in the cupholder of my car.  Not the nicest place for sure, but I suppose it’s not the worst place it could be.

Beginner Coin Collections

Beginning to collect coins may feel a little daunting at first, but really you can start just by checking out the coins in your pocket. 

Here are a few simple collections to get you started.

Coins to Collect For Beginners

• America The Beautiful Quarters (2010-2021)
• 50 States Quarters (1998-2008)
• Wheat Pennies (1909-1956)
• Kennedy Half Dollars (1964-Present)
• Mercury Dimes (1916-1945)
• Morgan Silver Dollars (1878-1904, 1921)

Soon you’ll get a feel for how the coins look with different amounts of wear, and it will be easier to pick out specific years you’re looking for.

There are a number of typical collection types for coins, you can do one, some or all of them.  As many as you’d like!  Or you can come up with your own type of collection.  After all, as a collector, you put the value on them.  If you want to collect a dime from the Denver Mint every year, excellent!

Where to Buy Rare Coins

Other than sifting through your change jar, you can also collect coins by purchasing from dealers, or on coin marketplace sites such as Coinsforsale.com, or eBay.  You can also try auction houses such as Heritage Auctions at HA.com. These coins are generally going to be in a nicer state than what you’d find in a pocket.  If you’re looking to buy bullion, mint state, or proof coins, this is where you’d go.

Types of Coin Collections

• Series/year.  This would be a collection of coins containing all of the mint marks and dates of a specific coin. For instance the America the Beautiful Quarters series would include a quarter from each year since they were first issued.

• Mint Mark. This could be a collection of coins from a specific mint, such as D for the Denver mint.

• Date. A set of coins that are all from the same year.

• Theme.  A theme set would be if you wanted to collect coins from any country that had a specific item on them, such as lighthouses.

• Errors.  An error coin set is fairly self-explanatory.  These are coins that have visible errors, such as an overdate (This happens when they reuse an old year of a coin die, carving in a new date.  This usually leaves a small remnant of the previous date in the die.)
  
  

Storing And Caring For Your Coins

Once you’ve found the coins you’re looking for, it’s important to keep them protected from the environment, and maybe you want to display them!  Show off your hard work!

There are a few different ways you can store your coins, but before I get to that I just want to briefly talk about cleaning coins.

Don’t do it.

Seriously.

A cleaned coin is very easy to spot, a nice and shiny coin that exhibits a lot of wear just looks...off.  If you’re getting your coins professionally graded, it can also actually lower the grade of your coin.  Which means if someday you try to sell that coin, you most likely won’t get as much for it.

When handling your coins, (especially highly graded coins) wear cotton gloves and hold the coin by the rim.  This is the safest way to handle a coin without damaging or putting fingerprints on it.

How To Store Your Coins

• Flips.  Small, see-through, plastic holder that can also hold an identifying card.  Try to avoid anything with PVC, as it will ruin your coins. Best for temporary storage. Reusable.

• Folders.  Folding Cardboard with slots to press the coin into.  These are okay for beginners, but since one side of your coin is exposed it can age in a holder like this. It’s also possible to lose a coin since there’s nothing but pressure holding them in.

• Albums.  The nicer version of the folder, these usually have plastic sheets in them that allow you to view both sides of the coin, while not exposing it to the air.

• 2X2s.  Small cardboard holders with a cellophane “window” to see your coin through, mostly commonly 2” by 2” which is why they’re called 2x2s. One-time use only. 

• Tubes.  These are made for holding a larger quantity of one type of coin.  Kind of like when you get a roll of quarters from the bank, but the tube is reusable.

• Slabs.  These are generally only used with coins that have been professionally graded and in a high quality state. They keep your coin protected in an air-tight capsule.  Not designed to be opened repeatedly, these are one time use containers.

How to Grade Your Coins

You’ve found some of the coins you want to collect, now you have to determine the quality of said coin.  Is it worth keeping in this condition? Should I hang onto it, but continue looking for a better quality coin? 

Make note of the things you notice about your coin.  Does it look very worn down? Does it have any of its luster left?  What Mint is it from? 

Grading a coin evaluates the wear it has gone through in its life.  Grading can be very subjective from person to person.  While that definitely sounds like things could get confusing, there are some recognized standards of grading that most people seem to agree on.

Grading Circulated Coins

Circulated coins are graded on a number scale from 1-59.  1 is the lowest quality, being worn almost totally smooth, and 59 is the highest, in near perfect condition.  Still circulated, but some of the luster is still visible and there’s only wear visible on the highest points of the coin.  Pretty simple right?

From there it gets a little bit more difficult,figuring out the grades in between, especially for your average beginner coin collector.  But It’s good practice to try to determine what grade your coin is, as you’ll get better and better with each coin you look at.

You will need a magnifying glass to grade your coins, preferably something that magnifies at least 5x.  I definitely suggest doing further research on coin grading, as it’s an extensive topic, and simply not something I can cover in this post.

Grading Mint State Coins

Mint state coins are coins that have never been circulated.  They’ve never had to sit 

In a cup holder for months, getting fast food drinks spilled on them and who knows what else.

A mint state coin should have absolutely no wear whatsoever. 

Mint state coins are graded on a number scale from 60-70.  A 60 grade coin generally means it shows some marks or scratches commonly called “bag marks” which are usually acquired from rubbing up against other coins or even the packaging they were in.

70 grade would be a perfect coin. This coin would be incredibly lustrous, fully struck, with no marks or scratches visible on the surface under 5x magnification. 

If you have a mint state coin, you absolutely should get it professionally graded.  There are a number of professional grading services out there, they all grade coins slightly differently so just do some reading and pick which one you think is best.

Coin Terminology

As you get more into collecting coins, you’re going to start seeing some words and terminology that you may not always hear in everyday conversation.  Here are a few of the definitions of those words to get you started.

Common Coin Collecting Definitions

• Bullion.  Bullion refers to coins that have been specifically made to be sold for their value in gold, silver, or palladium. 

• Blank.  A blank is the base of a coin.  A round metal disk that is passed through a machine to raise the rim of the coin.

• Planchet.  This is what a blank becomes after it has passed through the upsetting machine.

• Die.  The machine that stamps an image onto the Planchet.

• Circulation.  Coins you receive in cash transactions are circulated.  Circulation means it is being moved or exchanged.

• Doubled Die.  A doubled die is a coin that has been struck twice and shows a clear doubling of all or part of the image on the coin.

• Mint. A mint is a factory that strikes coins.  Some of the U.S. Mints are Denver, Philadelphia, West Point, and San Francisco.

• Mintage.  This refers to the number of coins made for a particular series, or year.

• Mintmark.  Marking on the coin indicating where the coin was made.  (D for Denver, S for San Francisco, etc.)

• Numismatics.  The collecting and studying of things that are used for money, such as coins, or paper money.

• Obverse.  The front side of the coin.  The Washington side of a Washington quarter would be the obverse.

• Reverse.  The back side of the coin. This would be the shield side on a Lincoln cent.



• Reeding.  The small grooves along the outside edge of a coin.  They help prevent counterfeiting, and make it so they can’t be shaved down without it being very obvious.

Coin collecting is a hobby enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people around the world and across history.  Whether you’re a novice, or an avid specialist hunting for the perfect coin, you can enjoy coin collecting at any age. 

As you come across more coins, you’ll learn which coins you want to look out for and your collection will grow.

Since coins are still being minted, and old coins are always being found, it’s a hobby you can enjoy for many years to come.

So what are you waiting for?  Dig through that old coin jar you’ve got stuffed in a corner, attend a coin auction, or pick up a metal detector and head down to the beach. 

Who knows? You may just find something special.