Family Coin Collecting: A Great Home Activity For All

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The Lincoln cent - the wheat Penney - the perfect coin for the kids collection. These are a couple of our best examples - they are just like new.   My daughter Becky Proudly shows off her Lincoln cent collection that we picked out of our old bags of wheat backed pennies. The Buffalo Nickel - a beautiful coin that shows off our western heritage. The perfect coin for a Nevadan to collect (these are Dad's).

 

Although huge amounts of money can be invested in collecting American coins, we really don't have much money invested in our little coin collections. In my opinion it's really not necessary. We don't do it as an investment or anything - its really a family activity. The kids get a big kick out of it. When I was a kid, you could sort through change and find coins minted in the teens and twenties. Now days you have to buy bags of wheat cents. Not to worry, they are inexpensive. When I brought the first bags of wheat backed Lincoln pennies home, I didn't know if the kids would be interested, but they dove in and  really had fun. It was like a treasure hunt and the blue Whitman collection folders, like Becky is holding, are almost exactly the same as when I was collecting coins as a kid. We have also collected and sorted through old nickels, both Jefferson and Indian Head or buffalo nickels.  I especially like those Buffalo nickels myself, but with all the Washington "statehood" quarters, there is a lot of interest in Washington quarters as well.
 Collecting coins that are a century or more old gives one a special feel for the history of our nation. You wonder about the history these heavily worn coins have seen. These old coins also say so much about our nation, honoring Liberty and freedom above all. In the same way, today's politically correct coins which exclusively promote the politicians of the past tell of the foibles of our own modern USA (what subject could possibly be more dear to our self-absorbed and narcissistic federal politicians when they are trying to decide what should appear on our coins than the aggrandizement of politicians like themselves).
 There are many types of coins to collect - error coin collecting, ancient coin collecting, international coin collecting, silver coin collecting - there are just so many ways to approach it. There really is no right and wrong way to collect coins, in spite of what many so called experts say. You have to decide what your goal is. Do you want to have a family hobby? Well, inexpensive wheat cents are an easy way to get started. Do you want to invest significant money in coins hoping that they will go up in price? Investment guides want you to buy the very highest grades of uncirculated coins, but sometimes regular old circulated coins appreciate significantly in price as well (circulated means the coin has some signs of wear). I have certainly seen the prices of the circulated buffalo nickels I purchase go up steeply in price over the last five years. In the end, its all up to you! I recommend that you buy the coins you like.

 

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Perhaps the most beautiful US coin ever minted, the St Gaudens $20 gold double eagle. I sure wish I had a few of these, but I don't think I'll be finding any of these in our rolls of pennies or nickels!

Want to learn more Family coin collecting information? Interested in coin prices or coin clubs? Check out these links: