No matter what your thoughts are on the results of the 2008 presidential election, you cannot deny the buzz around products featuring images of president-elect Barack Obama.

Among the memorabilia are new coin products that depict Obama.

It is important to know that these new Barack Obama coins may be great items for the history buff, presidential student, or fan of the new president-elect, but these coins are not official legal-tender products of the United States Mint.

Coins such as the Barack Obama coin generally fall into the categories of "novelty coins" or "rounds."

As the 50 State Quarters Program winds down in 2008, coin collectors everywhere have begun snapping up whatever they can in order to complete their collections of these famous collectibles.

While millions of people have been collecting 50 state quarters by pulling the coins out of circulation, others have been buying 50 state quarters proof sets as a means of collecting beautiful examples of the 50 designs the U.S. Mint produced between 1999 and 2008.

Those collecting coins from pocket change are probably wondering:

What kinds of coins can I find in circulation?

While it is theoretically possible to find any legal tender coin in circulation, including old and even rare issues, the likelihood of finding such coins in your pocket change is small (but not impossible).

This brings us to remember that the grand majority of the coins to be found in circulation today are primarily from among the cent, nickel, dime, and quarter denominations, and are usually coins struck from sometime during the last few decades.

Half-dollars have not been regularly seen in circulation in many years (but can be found at banks), and dollar coins have yet to reach their circulation potential -- many can be found at banks, some stores, and certain vending machines which operate for transit authorities and the U.S. Postal Service.

If you're collecting U.S. coins, you might feel a little limited in terms of what you can collect. After all, it seems to some collectors that there is just not a lot of variety in U.S. coinage.

However, there really is a lot of diversity in U.S. coins. In the United States' more than 200 years of coin production, our nation has seen many types of interesting coins.

If you find yourself a little bored with "typical" modern U.S. coins, then consider these 5 unique types of coins worth collecting.

New coin collectors looking to add silver coins to their collections need to know 2 things:

1. Silver coins have not been seen in general circulation since the 1960s, and therefore will be difficult to obtain without shopping for them at a coin dealer.

2. Many silver coins can be had for only a nominal mark-up over the bullion value, making some silver coins very easy to afford.

Mintage numbers are something that coin collectors must become well-versed in if they are to understand part of what makes a coin valuable, as well as what helps to make a coin rare.

The mintage number of a coin simply refers to how many coins were struck by the mint.

It does not, however, necessarily refer to how many coins still exist. After all, there are many coins which, over the years, have been minted in great quantity -- only to be later melted down or destroyed, either by the mint or by private interests.

There are also many coins which have inevitably become lost to time, either through burial or corrosion. There are also countless coins which have been lost through disposal, which can happen unintentionally or purposefully.

Therefore, a mintage number essentially acts as a means to help one understand how many coins the mint actually made.

It in no way solidly tells us how many coins of a given date or mint mark may actually be left, though there are any people who have estimated such numbers.

Here are 5 tips I have to offer, if you are on the way to your first coin show:

#1  You should get to the coin show early -- not toward the end of the day when business may be winding down and dealers may be closing up shop.

#2  Bring along a good coin value guide for reference. You are going to find many coin dealers there; find out who may be giving you the best value by wielding a current pricing chart for the coins you are hoping to acquire.

#3  There will be many coin dealers that you may want to work with again in the future. Don't forget to get their names, phone numbers, addresses, and websites/email so you can keep in touch and have a contact for buying coins from them in the future.

#4  Bring along a friend or family member to walk with, talk with, and even get a little help from. For instance, you may not be able to take all your purchases into the restroom with you, or you might need a snack but don't want to wait in long concession lines. A trustworthy buddy just may be the answer to having a more enjoyable time at a coin show and will certainly will come in handy when you need to be in two places at once, so to speak.

#5  Watch your back! There may be one or two undesirables walking the floor who are looking to follow someone (who may or may not have valuable coins on their possession) out to their car. If you suspect someone may be on your heels, ask for a security guard to follow you out to your car.

Now, here's what my very first coin show was like...

A lot of people just starting out in coin collecting ask these proverbial questions:

What is a mint set?

Is it anything like a proof set?

While the latter will to be answered in a different article, the answer to the former can be found right here.

World War II caused the United States and its citizens to ration certain materials with the purpose of keeping around important resources for winning the war. The United States Treasury and the U.S. Mint followed suit.

While most people are aware of the steel Lincoln pennies which were produced in 1943, fewer seem to know that the Jefferson silver nickels also spent a short period of time being produced under a special composition issue.

With nickel an important military material, the United States Congress required the U.S. Mint to begin striking nickels from a composition of copper (56%), silver (35%), and manganese (9%).

Here's more about those silver Jefferson "wartime" nickels.

In my years of coin collecting, I have sometimes wondered where my collection would have been without the service of coin dealers.

That's right, coin dealers, who as a group buy and sell all kinds of coins from all over the globe and from all time periods, have allowed me to span my collection far beyond the reaches of what U.S. circulation yields me.

Without coin dealers, my hopes of obtaining silver coins would be only a prayer, my ability to acquire coins struck before the 20th century would come only from hitting an old box of buried treasure, and my type collections would contain very few "types" of coins indeed.

Here's a little about my experience with buying coins from coin dealers.