OK, here’s the short list of the top 5 categories of valuable coins you should be looking for in pocket change, old jars of coins, inherited coin collections, and other places where you’ll have the chance of easily finding old and valuable coins:
- All wheat-back Lincoln cents (Before 1959)
- All nickels before 1960
- Any dimes and quarters before 1965 (these are silver)
- All half dollars before 1971 (these are silver)
- Any coins that appear to have mistakes — such as doubled dates, doubled images, or missing parts of the design
I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century. I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek. I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!
