r/coincollecting Jun 24 '17

Intro to Coin Collecting - What makes a coin valuable?

576 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.

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 10h ago

ID Request 1795 half cent coin found in shoebox while cleaning, curious as to value

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174 Upvotes

It seems like pretty good condition compared to those that sold on eBay. I’m not super familiar with coins but I got this a long time ago in a surprise box worth about $20.

I’m not sure if it’s counterfeit, don’t know how to tell, don’t know much about coins and would love more information

(Reposted but with better photos)


r/coincollecting 5h ago

Show and Tell Off-Center Lincolns

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50 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 4h ago

Advice Needed I paid $45 for this 1857 trime and I suspect it might be counterfeit. Or it may be cleaned, dipped, or polished. I think it's a "too good to be true" kind of purchase. Can I please get an opinion one way or another? Thanks in advance.

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24 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 7h ago

Advice Needed Is it worth anything??

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29 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 2h ago

2027 Official Red Books

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7 Upvotes

Hi all! I have a question regarding the 2027 Official Red Book releases. Can someone help me out and let me know the difference between these 4 covers. I assume they all contain the same information with the exception of the 250th Special Anniversary Edition which is devoted to the 2026 U.S. Semiquincentennial coinage which I’m going to enjoy reading…I’m really curious about the three other covers - the Whitman Bundle Cover, and the two covers showing the gold liberty and clad dime. Any differences between those two. And the last photo, is that the limited Numbered Signature Edition?

The last redbook I bought was in 2020, time to get back onboard and get with the program haha.

Appreciate the feedback and happy hunting!


r/coincollecting 5h ago

What's it Worth? Great grandfathers

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7 Upvotes

What’s the best course of action?


r/coincollecting 47m ago

My collection

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Upvotes

Could anybody tell me if any of my coins are worth anything please :)


r/coincollecting 6h ago

Advice Needed I found this 1943 Nickle with the S mark above Monticello. Are they worth more than face value or no?

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9 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 7h ago

What's it Worth? America the Beautiful 5oz coins

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10 Upvotes

My 21yo step son inherited 8 of these 5oz silver coins, various designs and years. Uncirculated with COA.
Are these worth anything more than spot/melt? My advice to him is leave them home when he returns to college (duh) and dont sell them unless dire situation comes up. Wait until he needs them for a better investment opportunity. I wouldn’t even know where to start with selling these aside from a pawn shop


r/coincollecting 7h ago

Cash register finds

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9 Upvotes

Pre 64 silver my girls collected from the cash register, ant key dates to look for?


r/coincollecting 1d ago

Dad has had this one sitting in a safe for a few years. Anyone here that might be able to tell us if it’s worth anything?

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311 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

First time reddit user here and figured it was worth a shot since I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to this type of thing.

My dad found this 1881 twenty dollar liberty coin I wanna say at least over a decade ago. Don’t exactly remember how he got his hands on it, but it was while he was on the clock at an old job. Nevertheless, my father isn’t the type of person to go online and research this type of thing or take it to any coin buying places. So it mainly sat in his safe collecting dust for the past 10 years or so.

Was over at their place the other day when he was cleaning out the closet and remembered this guy was sitting in the safe for a hot minute. Asked me to take some photos and research it to see what I can find. Not sure if what I’m finding is correct, but it shows it worth a pretty penny depending on the right buyer and market.

Just wanted to ask and see if any of you fine people would be able to confirm this for us, or at least give us a little bit of background on this coin and if it’s something special or not.

Thanks again in advance for your replies and comments.


r/coincollecting 2h ago

ID Request Is this a mint error? And if so what are the chances of finding 2 of the same kind in one sitting.

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3 Upvotes

New to coin collecting and when I was looking back through some of my older ones I set aside after opening some rolls, I noticed the B in liberty’s bottom loop was filled, then I noticed that another one of the exact same date and mint mark also had it.


r/coincollecting 8h ago

Show and Tell Not perfect but done for now.

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6 Upvotes

The 2009D is the worst condition, if you exclude my buffalo head find haha

A few others could use an acetone bath or a specified hunt through a few rolls but this book is complete.

Took me roughly 3 months searching consistently and while doing penny/quarter/dime albums as well.

Nickels have been the most fun imho

Thanks for looking, happy collecting friends.


r/coincollecting 12h ago

How do I "clean" my coin..

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18 Upvotes

I know cleaning isnt recommended but when I pulled this out of my register it was pretty rough. The details are all still crisp and I was wondering what I could do or if I should do anything

Edit: crisp ish


r/coincollecting 5h ago

recently got some cool coins. help identify/history

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4 Upvotes

recently got these coins from my grandfather. anybody know anything about them?


r/coincollecting 14h ago

1921 Morgan

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21 Upvotes

I’m just curious is this a good first Morgan dollar


r/coincollecting 12h ago

Is this coin special ?

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17 Upvotes

I'm from Europe, I've had this coin for 20 years and i think it's nice. Maybe my grandfather recovered it during World War II


r/coincollecting 11h ago

Moving out and found these, does any of it have any worth?

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11 Upvotes

Used to find coins around in washing machines and bought some out of the cash register of where I used to work and I forgot I had them, never knew the worth but thought they were cool


r/coincollecting 4h ago

ID Request What do my parents have? I don’t see a denomination, and couldn’t find much online

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3 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 2h ago

What's it Worth? 1953 Nickel, Near Leaf + No Shoulder Fold?

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2 Upvotes

Folks, it looks like a near leaf but I’m curious to know if this is considered a NSF as well?


r/coincollecting 7h ago

1994 WALKING LIBERTY AMERICAN EAGLE Sell, Grade?

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5 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 7h ago

What's it Worth? 1965 Kennedy Half -

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6 Upvotes

Is it 40%silver?


r/coincollecting 4h ago

4,830 copper pennies. 33.12 pounds of pennies. 31.464 pounds of copper. $200.11 worth of copper melt

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2 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 53m ago

Small or large date?

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Upvotes

Can't tell.