Fun With Coins: 5 Ways That A Coin Collection Will Cure Your Cabin Fever When You’re Stuck Indoors

Wanna know how I make time fly when I’m stuck inside? I find new fun things to do with coins in my collection!

Yep, having a coin collection may just be good for your sanity — especially if you’re stuck indoors!

Coin collecting is one of the most popular of all the collectibles hobbies for good reason. Everybody can join in the fun of coin collecting without leaving the comfort of your home!

Not yet a coin collector?

No worries… You can dive into the hobby right now with just the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters you’ve stashed away from your spare pocket change!

Who knows?… You may have some valuable coins in your change jar and not even realize it!

I’ve made so many too-hot summer days, blistery cold winter weekends, personal sicknesses and flus, and other times that I was stuck indoors fly by rather quickly while passing the time with my coin collection.

In fact, I owe many long hours that I was glued to my coins, coin books, and coin websites to actually helping me start a career in numismatics. But that’s a different story.

Here’s how to have fun with coins when you’re stuck indoors…

#1 – Search For Rare Coins In Your Change Jar

You could easily find valuable and rare coins in the coins in your change jar!

And if you think I’m just spinning ridiculous hypotheticals…

Tell that to the unemployed woman who found a super-rare coin (a 1969-S doubled die Lincoln penny) in her loose change.

Or the guy who happened to discover the first known 1982-D bronze large-date penny while searching through bags of coins.

#2 – Look For Cool Coin Varieties In Your Collection

Ever thought to look through the coins in your collection for specific varieties?

It’s a great way to entertain yourself while you’re stuck inside.

What I’m talking about here is going through all of the coins you already own seeing if you have any:

• Doubled dies
• Die breaks
• Repunched mintmarks
• Lincoln penny BIE errors

These are really cool coins that often get overlooked when people are glancing through their loose change.

In fact, many coin dealers and other coin experts simply overlook varieties. Sometimes it’s because they have tired eyes. Or they didn’t know the variety could be found on the coin. Or they may not have known the variety exists at all!

There’s a numismatic sport called cherrypicking. In cherrypicking, variety experts look for coins at coin shops essentially labeled as normal but in fact contain something unusual. This is how many successful variety coin collectors have scored cool finds for “regular” price.

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#3 – Reorganize Your Coin Collection

Every time I take a few moments to look at the coins in my collection, I keep thinking to myself, “Gosh, I really need to reorganize this stuff!”

It’s really true… I could do such a better job of sorting my coins.

I’ve even got a plastic 2×2 row box full of mixed coins, medals, tokens, and other items — and I don’t really even know what’s in there. So, what do I do with it all?

And what about my type set? I’m sure I could find a better way to display those coins.

Maybe your coin collection could use some similar improvements, too!

The goal is making sure your coins are stored safely, organized in a sensible way, and easily available for viewing.

How do you do this effectively? As one collector speaking to another here, sort your collection in a way that makes sense to you.

And take note of what coin supplies you may need along the way. Build a shopping list of items that will provide safer storage and better organization for your coin collection.

#4 – Take Inventory Of The Coins You Have

If you’re organizing your coin collection as I suggested in the previous section, now’s the time to inventory everything that’s in your coin collection.

This isn’t a pointless task. It’s actually one of the most important things you can do as a coin collector!

Why? Because inventorying your coin collection helps you to:

• Know what coins you have and don’t have — This can make it easier to build a want list of coins you need to complete your coin sets.
• See what coins you have multiples of — You now know what extra coins you have and which ones you can sell off to buy more coins.
• Provide your insurance agent with a list of your assets — In case you ever happen to suffer property damage or loss, an inventory of your collection makes it so much easier to properly insure your coins.

I keep my coin collection inventory on paper in a safely held coin inventory notebook — because I like having a hard copy of this stuff.

#5 – Order New Coins, Coin Supplies & Coin Books For Your Collection

You’ve looked for rare coins, searched for varieties, organized your collection, and inventoried it. So, what’s left to do?

Buy more coins! Even if you’re stuck indoors and can’t go anywhere for a while, you can still add new coins to your collection.

And don’t forget to stock up on coin supplies and maybe a new coin book or two for your collection, too.

I love ordering coins and other numismatic items through the mail. Sure, I enjoy visiting my local brick-and-mortar coin store. But what if they don’t have what I need? Or what if I’m stuck inside and can’t leave the house?

Other Ways To Have Fun With Coins

• Making Coin Jewelry & Using Coins As Art
• Coin Roll Hunting: How To Do It & What You Can Find
• DIY Birth Year Coin Set Ideas
• 8 Ways To Collect Coins When You’re On A Budget
• Online Coin Games For Kids
• The Joys Of Being A Penny Collector
• Short Sets: How To Complete Coin Sets On A Budget
• 5 Good Movies Featuring Coins & Coin Collections