Why Collect Coins?Written by Jon Gammon
So why collect coins? Answer is simple really. Coin Collectors, sometimes called Numismatists, enjoy collecting coins on various levels. Some collect coins for their rarity, some collect coins in hope that one day their collection will be worth a value. Some just do it for sure pleasure of having a hobby that is easy to do. Doing a little research and starting off small is greatest way to get started in this hobby. Learn all you can about coin collecting basics. There are many Coin collecting books and websites (like this one) out there, that will try to put a clearer understanding of what coin collecting is all about, and we are hear to teach you what you need to know about coin collecting. Coins have a history about them, when they were struck, why was design chosen for that time period. There are no reasons etched in stone that says you have to collect coins in any particular way. You collect way you want to, if you want to only collect pennies, then only collect pennies, if you want to collect complete sets of each of denominations of coins, then do that, or you can just collect coins that interest you. You decide what, when, and how to collect. Coin collecting basics is this, start small. Decide what types of coins you would like to collect. What would you like your collection to consist of? Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters, Half-Dollars, Dollars, Gold, Silver, Paper Money. It doesn't matter. Maybe you want to just collect coins from a certain time period that interest you. Whatever your decision, stick with it and work to completing your collection. Also remember that coins that were struck at different places have different mint marks. A mint mark is a letter that tells us where coin was struck. Each of coins that you wish to collect will have different mint marks, to complete a set you will want to have each of mint marks for that coin. Subscribe to a coin magazine, Coin World is a good one. They have a wealth of knowledge pertaining to collecting coins. Also visit a local coin dealer, not only will you be able to look at a variety of coins that dealer will be selling, they also can answer questions that you may have, they are there to help you build and understand coin collecting basics. Use that to your advantage. I guess you will need a nice place to put your newly acquired coins. Find yourself a coin folder to display your coins. And once you get into hobby more you can get some coin sleeves to house your collection and store them way you would want. The possibilities are endless with coin collecting, and learning coin collecting basics is first real step in progression of building a great coin collection.
| | Interesting Coin FactsWritten by Jon Gammon
Here you can find some interesting coin facts, from how they were made, to what they are made of. United States coins have been around since late 1700's, and they have made dramatic changes from then to now. The United States Mint is largest manufacturer of currency in world, and since its creation in 1792, they have become a very large entity with production of not only United States coins, but coins of other countries as well. One interesting coin fact is, How are coins made ? A design of a coin is made and lots of test models go into making a coin. Once a design is approved for minting, a plaster model of coin is made. When plaster model is finished, an exact duplicate of coin is made into metal and a tracing lathe is used to mill a master die. This die is then detailed and finished by engraver. This finished Master Die is now used to make duplicate dies for minting coins. These duplicate dies are tempered (hardened) to increase life of die. Strips of a metal alloy called Zinc is used to produce coins. The Zinc is plated with copper or nickel, for pennies and nickels. Dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars, are made with three metals. The outer material of these are made of same alloy used in nickels.
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