I never got into collecting coins but I do have a 1957 Quarter that I stumbled upon in a field behind our first house.
I remember seeing it in the grass and thinking it looked awfully gray.
That’s because, during this time period, quarters were made of 90% silver. The coin is pretty beat up and worth about $5 or $6.
It sits on my desk as a reminder that you never know what you’ll find when you aren’t looking for something – which is pretty much my internet career! 🙂
Buffalo nickels: How to start building a collection [CNN Style] – “Millions were made, so rather than rewarding finders with the promise of riches, the coins simply offer a window into US history. ‘When you hold a 1913 buffalo nickel in your hand, you are holding the form of payment used to watch short films at nickelodeons,’ said editor of CoinWeek, Charles Morgan, referring to an early type of movie theater that charged 5 cents for entry.”
Did you inherit a coin collection you don’t want? Our boy J has your back!
How to Sell Your Inherited Coin Collection [Budgets Are Sexy] – “Here are the best ways to sell a coin collection, ranked in order of getting the most profit for them, but also proportionate to the amount of *time* you want to spend too ;)”
I remember reading about how you could “invest” in junk precious metals (specifically copper) by way of old nickels. Miranda has an explanation:
Coin Hoarding Idea: Nickels [Miranda Marquit] – “While people are looking for older pennies, the relatively high copper content of current nickels might make them well worth hoarding right now, as long as you think that there is a chance that the nickel could be abolished at some point in the future as well.”
Finally, I leave you with this counter-argument against (modern) coin collecting:
Modern coin collecting fun but useless for preserving wealth [Mighty Bargain Hunter] – “A coin collection that stores value better has coins that are rare and in good shape, with precious metals like silver, gold, palladium, or platinum.”
Collectible items, or at least those that go up in value, need to be rare. A lot of the newer coins, much like baseball cards in the 80s and 90s, are produced at such a scale that they are easy to find. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun!