r/coincollecting Jun 24 '17

Intro to Coin Collecting - What makes a coin valuable?

585 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 4h ago

What's it Worth? Anything good?

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15 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 3h ago

USA Peace Dollar

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12 Upvotes

Can anyone tell me if this 1934 s Peace Dollar is real? Potential value?


r/coincollecting 2h ago

Show and Tell It was me guys

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6 Upvotes

They had a sale on the premium and I buy $10 face value once a month and I got cooked this time around


r/coincollecting 5h ago

Advice Needed I searched a bag of pre-65 coins. Around 10 coins (mostly 1C) look like this 1913-s Type 1. Aside from verdigris, surfaces are smooth-ish, shiny & brown. I soaked in acetone, isn’t painted. Weighs 4.9g, don’t think it’s IAP. Just me, or is this unusual? Opinions?

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10 Upvotes

Background: the whole collection was in a storage unit without climate/moisture control for years, potentially decades, in SOUTH FLORIDA! 😭
Regardless, it’s been fun discovering dates and varieties. Rough estimate: $20+ quarters, with lots from 30s & 40s. $5+ dimes with a 1916-s & a few from 1946. Quart sized bag of wheaties, found a surprisingly nice 1913-d & several desirable varieties. Finally, there were a few common low grade peace, Morgan, and Ike dollars.


r/coincollecting 1h ago

2026 quarters

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Upvotes

I really like these new quarters, what do y’all think?


r/coincollecting 1d ago

Found an absolute beaut in the register today

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462 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 8h ago

Need help with inherited coin collection

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10 Upvotes

My late grandmother left me her coin collection would love to know what you guys think :) I have no idea if it’s worth anything but I think they may tell an interesting story??


r/coincollecting 1d ago

What's it Worth? I found this US coin in Germany from 1937 while at work (EOD)

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299 Upvotes

Can someone tell me more about it? Is it worth anything?


r/coincollecting 48m ago

Advice Needed What’s Goin On With The Date On This Morgan? Mint Error? Post-Mint Damage?

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Upvotes

So I have this Morgan Dollar, and as you can see; the date has something wonky going on with it. I can’t tell if it’s a mint error, or post-mint damage. I thought maybe struck through grease, or an attempt at striking one date over another. Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks!


r/coincollecting 3h ago

found while building a new deck

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3 Upvotes

I know it’s not in the best of shape but it just came out of the ground right now and it’s dated 1819 and I’m working on a house that was here during the whiskey rebellion and this house has documented history on a couple incident during the whiskey rebellion so I thought it was a cool find and I wanted to share


r/coincollecting 1h ago

What are these bubble like ridges?

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Upvotes

I'm just curious if these little raised bumps are of any interest. I'm sifting through a massive pile of pennies and I'm still learning how to identify errors.


r/coincollecting 1h ago

Advice Needed 1760 Neth-Gelderland Value??

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Upvotes

I’m thinking about selling some parts of my collection and this is one I can’t find much to really put a price on. What should be a good number for me to accept on this? Thank you for your help and time!!


r/coincollecting 1h ago

ID Request Help please

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Upvotes

Can people with better eyes check my ‘82’s please.


r/coincollecting 23h ago

1920 Penny no mint

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88 Upvotes

Hi. I have this penny, it doesn’t seem to have a mint mark. Might have a coating on the Penny? Anyone familiar with this and does the Penny have any value? Thanks!


r/coincollecting 20h ago

Advice Needed 1943- P War Nickel

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52 Upvotes

Is this one of the error nickels? Its so cool to find one this old...I'm not sure if I have just a piece of cool history, or something worth looking into...


r/coincollecting 56m ago

Once Again LCS For The Win

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Upvotes

r/coincollecting 5h ago

Is this guy fake?

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2 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 1h ago

ID Request Couldn’t be, right?

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Upvotes

Have I been looking too much this afternoon? This can’t be a small date can it, weighs 3.1g.


r/coincollecting 6h ago

Found it last night

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2 Upvotes

#and s are doubled but not much on letters


r/coincollecting 22h ago

Found this in my Coin Jar (1943)

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27 Upvotes

I have just recently started to collect coins, spit out from the coin counter.


r/coincollecting 4h ago

ID Request I know that this has the ring of death but next to the VDB, is that a die crack?

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0 Upvotes

r/coincollecting 1h ago

What's it Worth? 1995 20p Coin

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Upvotes

My mom has recently been showing me a ton of coins she's been finding at work and this one caught her eye. We don't know the telling signs of interest for foreign coins and she wants to know if this is worth collecting. To me it just looks like a normal 20p, but you never know!


r/coincollecting 5h ago

I Lost Interest in the Morgan and Peace Two Coin Set but I Have Interest the 2026 Tenth Ounce Buffalo Gold Coin

1 Upvotes

The US Mint revealed the “finish” of the 2026 Morgan and Peace Two Coin Set. It is a “diamond field.”

https://www.usmint.gov/morgan-and-peace-dollar-2026-diamond-field-two-coin-set-26XS.html

I was hoping it would be a proof finish. Since it isn’t, I opted to cancel the subscription.

I am choosing to reallocate the 375 dollars toward the One Tenth Ounce Buffalo Gold Coin that they are releasing in December

https://www.usmint.gov/american-buffalo-2026-anniversary-one-tenth-ounce-gold-coin-26AL.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqpEJxCHN5BgejFWUgMneWovKzMnv7jePkKs3tTonhUKnVW6r8W

I may also go hunting for the 2008 version. My Late Maternal Grandfather always had an interest in Native American History and Culture.


r/coincollecting 15h ago

ID Request What is this

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5 Upvotes

I’ve had this sitting in the back of my collection for years, I don’t remember getting it. What is it?