Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Making Heads and Tails out of Coin Collecting 5
Chapter 1: Welcome to the World of Coin Collecting 7
On Your Mark, Get Set, Go: Starting Your Coin Collection 9
Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe: Deciding Which Coins to Collect 10
I Pledge Allegiance: Turning Your Attention to U.S. Coins 10
I’ll Take That One, and That One, and That One: Buying Coins 11
Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow: Selling Your Coins 12
Chapter 2: Understanding Numismatics 15
Admitting Your Numismatism 16
Discovering How Cool Coin Collecting Can Be 16
Collecting versus Accumulating 17
Collecting Various Types of Coins 18
Gold and silver coins 19
Commemorative coins 20
BU Rolls 21
silver certificates 22
Getting Excited about Collecting Today 22
50 State Quarters 23
Sacagawea dollar 24
New commemorative issues 24
Error coins 25
Chapter 3: Arming Yourself with Knowledge 27
Gaining Knowledge Before You Buy 27
Understanding the parts and purpose of a coin 28
Putting the book before the coin 28
Mix and mingle 31
Affecting a Coin’s Value 32
Age: Good for wine, good for coins? 33
Condition: Pumping them up 33
Demand: Demanding high dollar 34
Rarity: Hunting for treasures 35
Supply: Giving them what they want 36
Deciding What to Collect 37
Staying focused 38
Thinking long-term 38
Chapter 4: Storing Your Collection Correctly 41
Holdering Them the Right Way 42
Keeping Away from the Cleaning Products 47
Removing dirt 47
Handle with kid gloves 48
Wash your hands before touching 48
Ask before removing a coin from a holder 49
Watch out for the holder 49
Handle a coin by the edges 49
Keep your mouth shut 50
Hold a coin over a soft surface 50
Keeping Them High and Dry 51
Keepin’ ’em dry 52
Using a desiccant 52
Securing Your Stash: At Home and on the Road 52
Deciding between a home safe and a safe-deposit box 53
Carrying coins in your car 54
Carrying coins on a plane 55
How comforting is your inn? 56
Dealing with a robbery 56
Insuring Your Investment 57
Part 2: Ancient to Present Day: Choosing Coins for Your Collection 59
Chapter 5: Showing Their True Age: Ancient Coins 61
Ancient Coins — of Gods and Men 62
Deciding Which Ancient Coins to Collect 62
Ancient Greek coins 62
Ancient Roman coins 63
Biblical coins 64
Byzantine coins 65
Understanding How Age Affects Value 65
It’s All Greek to Me! 66
Knowing Where You Can Get ’Em 66
Chapter 6: Making a Safe Bet with U.S. Coins 67
Discovering a Finely Tuned Market 67
Understanding Why U.S. Coins Are So Popular 68
Recognizing Desirable Coin Characteristics: Liquidity,
Liquidity, Liquidity 70
Chapter 7: Globetrotting with World Coins 71
A Few Hints for Beginners 71
Collecting by country 72
Collecting by denomination 72
Collecting crowns 72
Collecting by date 73
Collecting topically 73
Recognizing the Hot and Cold Countries 73
Understanding That Grading Standards Are Not All the Same 75
Obsession with quality is okay — to a point 75
Extremely Fine is not Extremely Fine is not Extremely Fine 76
Chapter 8: Exploring the Wild Side with Rare, Expensive, and Esoteric Coins 77
Looking for the Best of the Best 78
Collecting Finest Known coins 78
Checking Condition Census 79
Recognizing Odd and Curious Money 80
Investigating Tokens, Medals, and Miscellaneous Coins 81
Hard Times tokens 81
Good For tokens 81
Civil War tokens 83
Washington medals 84
Collecting by Die Variety — the Spice of Life 84
Part 3: Focusing on U.S. Coins 87
Chapter 9: Colonial Coins: America’s Ancients 89
Recognizing a Colonial Coin 90
Locating Foreign Coins Used in the American Colonies 90
French coins 90
Irish coins 91
British coins 91
Spanish coins 92
London elephant tokens 93
Appreciating How Colonies and States Expressed Themselves 93
Massachusetts 93
New Jersey 94
Connecticut 94
Vermont 95
New York 96
Virginia 96
Collecting Privately Issued Coins and Tokens 97
Mott token 97
Brasher doubloon 97
Higley coppers 98
Distinguishing Quasiofficial Colonial Coins 98
Continental dollars 98
Fugio cents 98
Nova Constellatio coppers 99
Washingtoniana: America Goes Ape for Its First President 100
Unity States cent 100
1791 Washington large eagle cent 101
1793 ship halfpenny 102
1795 grate halfpenny 102
Liberty and Security penny 103
Chapter 10: Copper and Nickel Coins: Made for the Masses 105
Getting the Hang of Half Cents 106
Major types of U.S. half cents 107
Collecting U.S. half cents 110
Living Large with Large Cents 111
Major types of U.S. large cents 111
Collecting U.S. large cents 115
Seeking Out Small Cents 116
Major types of U.S. small cents 116
Collecting U.S. small cents 118
Taking on Two-Cent Pieces 120
Rounding Up the Three-Cent Nickel 121
Firing Up for the Five Cents (or Nickels) 122
Major types of U.S. five-cent pieces 123
Collecting U.S. five-cent pieces 125
Chapter 11: Silver Coins: Keeping Commerce Alive 127
Thrilling Yourself with Three-Cent Silvers 128
Major types of U.S. three-cent silvers 128
Collecting U.S. three-cent silvers 129
Hunting Down Half Dimes 130
Major types of U.S. half dimes 130
Collecting U.S. half dimes 132
Digging in for Dimes 133
Major types of U.S. dimes 134
Collecting U.S. dimes 137
Touring Around for 20-Cent Pieces 139
Calling All Quarter Dollars 140
Major types of U.S. quarter dollars 140
Collecting U.S. quarter dollars 144
Holding On to Half Dollars 145
Major types of U.S. half dollars 145
Collecting U.S. half dollars 150
Digging Around for Dollars 152
Major types of U.S. dollars 152
Collecting U.S. dollars 158
Chapter 12: Gold Coins: Concentrated Wealth 159
$1 Gold Pieces 161
Liberty-head gold dollar (1849–54) 161
Indian-princess gold dollar (1854–89) 162
$2.50 Gold Pieces 163
Turban Head $2.50 gold piece (1796–1807) 163
Capped Bust $2.50 gold piece (1808–34) 164
Classic Head $2.50 gold piece (1834–39) 165
Liberty-head $2.50 gold piece (1840–1907) 165
Indian-head $2.50 gold piece (1908–29) 165
$3 Gold Pieces 166
$4 Gold Pieces 167
$5 Gold Pieces 168
Turban Head $5 gold piece (1795–1807) 168
Capped Bust $5 gold piece (1807–34) 169
Classic Head $5 gold piece (1834–38) 169
Liberty-head $5 gold piece (1839–1908) 170
Indian-head $5 gold piece (1908–29) 171
$10 Gold Pieces 172
Turban Head $10 gold piece (1795–1804) 172
Liberty-head $10 gold piece (1838–1907) 172
Indian-head $10 gold piece (1907–33) 173
$20 Gold Pieces 174
Liberty-head $20 gold piece (1849–1907) 174
Saint-Gaudens $20 gold piece (1907–33) 175
Chapter 13: Commemoratives: Raising Money with Money 179
Commemorate This! 180
The Early Years (1892–1934): Commemoratives Under Control 180
The Age of Abuse (1934–54): Commemoratives Out of Control 184
Modern Commemoratives (1982–present): Money Coins 187
Circulating Commemoratives 188
50 State Quarters 188
Tips for Collecting Commemoratives 189
Chapter 14: Advancing to Oddball Coins 191
Understanding Pattern Coins 192
Collecting Pioneer or Private Gold 193
Finding Confederate Coins 195
Appreciating Proof Coins 196
Recognizing Hawaiian Coins 197
Identifying Error Coins 198
Part 4: Buying and Selling Coins the Safe Way 201
Chapter 15: Wheeling and Dealers 203
Finding a Good Coin Dealer 203
Localizing Your Efforts 206
Going to the Nationals 206
Going Global 208
Evaluating the global pros 208
Weighing the global cons 209
Surfing the Net for a Deal 210
Chapter 16: Grading and Authenticity, Rarity, and the Establishment of Value 213
Factors That Affect Grade 215
Eye Appeal 216
Circulated vs. Uncirculated Coins 217
Precision Grading 219
Consistency of Grading 221
Proofs, Patterns, and Specimens 223
Overgrading and Overpricing 223
Grading Guarantees 224
Authenticity and Originality 224
Rarity and the Establishment of Value 226
Market Demand and Survival Rate 228
Chapter 17: Foiling the Fakes 229
Resisting Temptation 229
Becoming Your Own Expert 231
Finding Out about Repaired, Restored, and Recolored Coins 232
Cleaned coins 233
Curated coins 234
Dipped coins 234
Scrubbed coins 235
Erasered coins 235
Whizzed coins 235
Repaired coins 236
Recolored coins 236
Getting Duped 237
Scams 238
Misrepresentation 238
Overgrading 238
Undergrading 239
Cheap offers 239
Caveating Your Emptor 240
Saving the Day: Return Privileges and Guarantees 241
No return privilege 241
Return privileges 242
Guarantees 242
Slamming the Scammers 243
Chapter 18: Grading with the Pros 247
The Grading Process 248
Submitting coins to be graded 248
Grading 249
Encapsulation 250
Shipping 251
Numismatic Guarantee Company (NGC) 251
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) 252
Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) 253
The Other Guys 254
Restoration and Conservation 254
Toning 255
Spots 255
Metal 255
Means to an end 255
Chapter 19: Selling Your Coins Yourself 257
Knowing What to Expect 258
Deciding Whether to Sell Coins Yourself 258
Getting Ready to Sell Your Collection 259
Knowing what you have 259
Understanding that looks are everything 260
Getting the grading done beforehand 260
Pricing properly 260
Knowing Where to Sell Your Coins 261
Coin dealers 261
Coin shows 263
Direct marketing via publications or online services 264
Mastering the Art of Selling 266
Be assertive 266
Talk ’em up 267
Appeal to a need 267
Convey a sense of urgency 267
Stick to your pricing 267
Sell from the bottom 268
Remain patient 268
Keeping Good Records 269
Donating the Rest 270
Chapter 20: Going Once, Going Twice: Buying at Auction 271
Flying Like Bees to Honey 272
Seeking a rare flower 272
Getting stung 273
Preparing to Buy 273
Obtaining the catalog 274
Reading the terms and conditions of sale 274
Registering to bid 275
Studying the catalog 276
Choosing your battles 277
Setting your limits 277
Bidding 278
Reserving Yourself 280
Hauling Yourself to Online Auctions 281
Getting Internet versions of auction catalogs 281
Using eBay 281
Chapter 21: The Coin Auction Arena 283
Consignment Journey 283
If you are a seller 284
If you are a buyer 285
Heritage Auctions: “The Titan” 285
Top Performing Auction Houses 286
GreatCollections Coin Auctions 287
Legend Rare Coin Auctions 288
Stack’s Bowers Galleries 288
Lyn Knight Auctions 289
Goldberg Auctions 289
Kagin’s 289
David Lawrence Auctions 289
Chapter 22: Coin Investments, Taxes, and the Law 293
Investing in Coins in Theory 293
Dealing with Taxes 296
Sales taxes 296
Income taxes 297
Part 5: The Part of Tens 299
Chapter 23: The Ten Most Valuable U.S. Coins 301
1933 Double Eagle ($18,872,250) PCGS MS65 301
1794 Flowing Hair Dollar ($10,016,875) 302
1787 Brasher Doubloon EB on Wing ($9,360,000) 303
1822 $5 ($8,400,000) PCGS AU50 304
1804 Bust Dollar ($7,680,000) PCGS PF68 305
1787 Brasher Doubloon EB on Breast ($7,395,000) 305
1861 $20 Paquet Reverse ($7,200,000) 306
1794 $1 (Lord St Oswald) ($6,600,000) PCGS MS66+ 307
723 AD Umayyad Gold Dinar (£3,720,000-$6,029,400) 307
1804 $10 Proof Eagle (5,280,000) PCGS PF65+ DCAM 308
Chapter 24: Ten Favorite U.S. Coin Designs 311
1792 Silver Center Cent 311
1849 Double Eagle 312
1907 Ultra-High Relief Double Eagle 313
1822 Half Eagle 313
1785 Immune Columbia Constelatio in Gold 314
1776 Continental Dollar 314
1793 Wreath Cent 315
1809–36 Capped Bust Half Dollar, Second Style 315
1794 Flowing Hair Dollar 315
1808 Quarter Eagle 316
Chapter 25: Ten Ways to Get Your Kids Involved in Coin Collecting 317
Show Them Some of Your Favorite Coins 317
Show Them a Book That Illustrates the Coins You Own 318
Show Them Interesting Coin Websites 318
Start Them on Collecting the 50 State Quarters or the Presidential $1 Coins 319
Use Coins in a School Project 319
Take Them to a Museum 320
Take Them to a Coin Dealer 320
Take Them to a Coin Show 321
Take Them to a Coin Auction 321
Take Them to a U.S. Mint 321
Glossary 323
Index 331
Other versions by this Author