Fun With Coins
The Joys Of Being A Penny Collector
Some people go head over heels for Bust halves while others sing praises for Buffalo nickels. But, I? What coin is it that I love most? It’s the penny – more specifically, the Lincoln cent. Why did I become a penny collector? What is it about the little copper coin bearing the bust of our 16th … [Read More...]
Have a Silver Penny That’s NOT a 1943 Steel Cent? Here’s How to Find Out What You Have
A lot of people leaving comments here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins have been asking me about their silver pennies. Of course, many of these silver one-cent coins are 1943 pennies, which really aren’t silver pennies. They're actually made with zinc-coated steel. However, many of these … [Read More...]
Looking Through Penny Rolls Can Be Rewarding and Fun
Ever since I first started collecting coins, I’ve been checking penny rolls from banks and grocery stores for scarce and old coins. I don’t honestly know what prompted me to start doing that, especially as I was only a kid and no one had told me that searching rolls of coins is one of the most … [Read More...]
Coin Collecting 101
Collecting Fake Coins – A New Facet Of Coin Collecting That’s Gaining Attention
It used to be that you never uttered the C word or the F word in coin collecting; of course, those words would be counterfeit and fake, as in counterfeit and fake coins. Nowadays, many coin collectors use another term for these less-than-real coins that is a little more... ahem... politically … [Read More...]
What’s A Business Strike Coin?
If you have spent any time perusing coin listings on coin dealers’ websites or checking out online coin collecting forums, you have probably come across the term business strike. But what’s a business strike coin, and how does one differ from other types of coins, such as proof … [Read More...]
What’s The Lifespan Of A Coin? Find Out How Long Coins Last
Have you wondered what the lifespan of a coin is? When I started collecting coins at the age of 11, that was one of the first things I wondered – how long does a coin last before it is too worn to use? Not long after I started collecting coins in the early 1990s, my question was answered when I … [Read More...]
Rare U.S. Coins
The Ultimate Guide to the 1944 Steel Penny: Like 1943 Copper Cents, It’s a Coin that Collectors Crave
If you collect coins, you know about the 1943 steel Lincoln cent. But, what about the 1944 steel pennny? While the U.S. Mint struck more than a billion steel pennies in 1943, about 35 examples of the zinc-coated steel cent are known to have been inadvertently struck bearing the date … [Read More...]
5 Important Things I Learned About Buying Rare Coins
Buying rare coins isn’t monkey business! It takes a lot of money and even more guts to lay out hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a single coin, of course, unless you’re rolling in dough and have plenty of pretty pennies to spend on buying a pretty penny. However, having bought a few … [Read More...]
Lincoln Cent Varieties – Coins That Don’t Always Have a Place in the Typical Coin Album
As most Lincoln cent coin collectors know, collecting the entire series of pennies is not as easy as one may think. Certainly, the one-cent coin may be the lowliest of all currently circulating U.S. coinage as far as denominations go, and there may be tens of billions of Lincoln cents in existence … [Read More...]
Coin Values
Lincoln Wheat Cents: Values Of Key Dates
If there is one coin I have loved since I was kid, it is the Lincoln penny. This versatile little coin has been struck by the United States Mint since 1909, and over the years has become one of the most popular coins in the whole world. The values of many Lincoln cents far exceed their face … [Read More...]
What’s the Most Expensive Coin Ever Sold?
Did you hear about the 1794 United States silver dollar that auctioned for more than $10 million in January 2013? Now the most expensive coin ever sold, the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar was the first silver dollar ever officially minted in the United States. A coin that most collectors (including … [Read More...]
What’s the Value of Wheat Pennies? Find Out How Much Yours are Worth!
“What’s the value of my wheat pennies?” – that’s the main question I keep getting here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins, and I’m glad this is so, because Lincoln cents have long been my specialty. In fact, that’s the first coin I ever collected and the coin that I to this day still … [Read More...]
Coin Myths, Trivia & Facts
Why Collect Coins? Reasons For Collecting Coins In The Past & Present
Have you ever asked yourself why you collect coins? I mean, really – what keeps you motivated to stay in the hobby? What do you like about coin collecting? And, when is it that you first realized you were a coin collector? For me, my foray into coin collecting began when I found a 1941 … [Read More...]
How NOT To Clean Coins: Tips On Cleaning Coins
OK, as I always start every post I write about how to clean coins, I’m going to put this blanket statement out right now: I strongly urge anybody who wants to clean their coins to reconsider. Why? Because an improper cleaning can ruin a coin’s value, damage its surface, and deny future … [Read More...]
Six Fun Facts About Sixpence Coins
For many, sixpence coins are more well known as a part of cultural lore than as a once-important part of the British pre-decimal monetary system, as well as that of several other nations, including Colonial America. So, for being a being a somewhat diminutive 19 millimeters, about the size of a … [Read More...]
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