Coins

The Last 2009 Lincoln Cent Design Is Being Released Today! Find Out How To Order The New Penny From The Mint

The big day has arrived! The fourth and final design of the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Cent series is being released at Noon Eastern Standard Time today.

The new 2009 Lincoln cent is called "Presidency" and shows the construction of the dome of Washington D.C.'s Capitol Building.

The symbolism behind this design is that the U.S. Capitol Building looks incomplete, which was the case for our nation during the time of Abraham Lincoln's presidency (1861-1865). After all, the nation was being torn apart by the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln had to maintain a steady hand to see that our nation would not remain divided. Under Lincoln's guidance, the Civil War ended, and the Union remained whole.

The U.S. Mint has also announced plans to release the new and permanent reverse ("tail's side") design for the Lincoln cent, which will start being used on the coin in 2010.

To order the new 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial cent, be sure to go to the U.S. Mint website, where orders for the new coin will be accepted starting today.

Elongated Pennies: Squashed Coins With Fun Designs

Have you ever heard of an elongated penny? 

Chances are you may have actually made one if you've ever visited a tourist hot spot or roadside attraction.

An elongated penny is simply a penny that has been squashed in a machine, producing a design on the coin and making the coin oval shaped and longer than it used to be.

Elongated pennies have been popular since the 1893 Columbian Exposition and, since then, have been made into hundreds of designs.

Elongated coins are fun to collect and, often, don't cost much either to make or buy. There is even a museum dedicated to elongated pennies.

It is common for an elongated penny to cost no more than $1 to make in person. Many older elongated pennies can be bought for less than $5 or $10 from a enlongated penny dealer.

Elongated pennies typically fall into the realm of coin collecting called exonumia, or novelty coin collecting.

Before You Start Cleaning Pennies With Vinegar, Baking Soda Or An Eraser...

It seems a lot of people are interested in cleaning pennies.

Many readers are leaving comments about cleaning pennies with vinegar and other things like ketchup, pencil erasers, and baking soda.

While those things may make coins (especially pennies) look bright and new, you should know that cleaning your coins will actually harm them.

How can cleaning pennies with something as common as vinegar, erasers, and baking soda hurt them?

It's really quite simple...

Continue reading: Before You Start Cleaning Pennies...

How Many Coins Come In A Roll?

How many coins come in a roll of nickels? What about dimes? Or dollar coins?

The answer to all your coin rolling questions can be easily found.

In brief, the 4 most common denominations come in the following roll quantities:

• Pennies: 50 coins (50 cents)
• Nickels: 40 coins ($2)
• Dimes: 50 coins ($5)
• Quarters: 40 coins ($10)

Not too hard, huh? It really is not. Remembering these numbers is easy after you make or break a few rolls yourself and get a feel for each.

Looking through rolls of coins is also a great way to find old, rare, and silver coins, too. So be sure to peel apart a few rolls from the bank to see what you can find inside!

How To Do Fun Magic Tricks With Coins

Let's take a moment away from collecting coins and instead focus on making them disappear... and multiply!

That's right, I'm talking about coin magic and coin tricks.

Coin tricks are really simple. In fact, coin tricks are among the first types of magic tricks most illusionists attempt to do (you know, before going into all that people-levitating stuff!). 

Of course, behind every illusion are the ingredients which make the "magic" happen.

Coin tricks typically involve:

• Two-headed coins (otherwise lumped into the category of novelty coins)
   
• Coins with the "wrong" faces (like a Roosevelt dime design on the back of a Lincoln one-cent coin)
   
• Several regular coins -- which the audience may not see all at once
   
• Foreign coins -- used to make United States coins "turn into" foreign money

Each trick, of course, has it own set of requirements, so you may not need all the coins listed above to get started with your coin magic tricks. This list should, however, give you some idea as to the types of things coin illusionists typically need to make their coin magic tricks successful -- and magical!

Learning Numismatic And Coin Collecting Terminology

Numismatic? Planchet? Doubled-die? 

What in the world do those coin collecting terms mean? 

While seasoned collectors throw around these words every day (and know what they are talking about, too!), new coin collectors and non-collectors usually have no clue what some of these words actually mean.

Thankfully, there are plenty of good coin collecting glossaries available that wil have you talking like a professional numismatist in no time.

Okay, so the first word you want to learn about is the one that I keep using, right?

No worries.

Numismatics is the study of coins.

To be a bona fide numismatist, it is generally true that you have to be more than simply a casual coin collector. You have to be somebody who takes some time to learn about coins, investing some bit of time and interest in learning about and studying coins and issues related to coins.

Coin Cleaning 101 - How To Clean Your Coins

A lot of new coin collectors (and those who don't know much about coins) think it is good to clean coins.

After all, isn't a nice, shiny coin better than a dark, dirty one? 

While that might seem to make sense to some people, it is actually true that you do NOT want to clean your coins.

Why? Because cleaning coins erodes away the coin's original color and tone -- which collectors and investors love. In fact, cleaning almost always results in ruining a coin.

So, now you may be asking yourself this question: "Is it ever okay to clean a coin?"

Yes, there are exceptions to the "don't clean coins" rule.

Mainly, if a coin is caked in dirt or debris, then it never hurts to wash off the coin with some clean, running water. Then, promptly pat the coin dry with a soft cloth.

If ever in doubt about cleaning a dirty coin, consult a coin dealer or another coin professional.

No Date Buffalo Nickels - Why Are Some Buffalo Nickels Dateless Anyway?

Buffalo nickels without dates (called dateless Buffalo nickels) may not be worth very much money, but they still are interesting to collectors and non-collectors alike.

It is important to know that no date Buffalo nickels once did possess a date. The fact is, the U.S. Mint did not make any Buffalo nickels without dates.

So, why are some Buffalo nickels dateless and others are not?...

Continue reading: Dateless Buffalo Nickels

Revealed: New Sales Data For Proof Buffalo Gold Coin

Wow! That brand new proof gold Buffalo coin is really popular!

It was just released on October 29, and - already - over 19,000 proof Gold buffalo coins have been sold by the U.S. Mint. Those figures were compiled as of November 1, so that is just a 4-day sales period.

Proof gold Buffalo coins are selling well, which was expected. But still, given the current state of the economy, it is exciting to see that a coin costing well over $1,000 can garner such strong sales.

While the sales may be interest from coin collectors, the sales could also point to heavy investor activity from those hoping to catch a good deal on gold before prices increase over the coming months.

Does this mean that gold prices will actually rise in the coming months? No one knows for certain, but what is true is that gold has been trending upward in recent months (with short-period losses here and there).

Still, with great uncertainty as to which direction the bullion market is going to go, it is best to be cautious when buying coins for investment purposes and instead focus on the enjoyment you get as a collector from the coins you buy and have.