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How to Buy Coins on Craigslist
Both coin collectors and sellers can benefit from Craigslist, the popular classified ad-style website. Craigslist provides a free way for sellers to advertise merchandise, while buyers can browse the...
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What Is a Gem Brilliant Uncirculated Coin?
Have you ever received a coin as change and found yourself captivated by its luster, by the way light strikes off of its pristine surface? There is an allure to the "perfect" coin, and collectors, or...
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What Is Burnished Coin?
Coins are available in a variety of grades. Circulated coins are those that are mass-produced and circulated. Uncirculated coins are those produced in the same way as circulated, but never used. Proof...
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How to Buy Gold Coins From the US Treasury
Assuming you have the funds, buying gold coins from the U.S. Treasury is quite straightforward, although strictly speaking you will be buying them from the U.S. Mint, which has been issuing its...
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Difference Between MS69 & MS70
The Mint Scale grading system is one of many different coin grading systems in existence. The process takes into consideration polishing, scratches, rims and blemishes on a striking. The highest rating...
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What Does Burnished Mean When Buying a Coin?
A burnished metallic object has the characteristic of being smooth and bright. This effect is created by rubbing or polishing. Coins with this characteristic will have a bright matte-like finish,...
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How to Identify Oriental Coins
Oriental coins, which come from the countries on the Asian continent, are not always easy to identify due to the lettering system, age of coins or even odd shapes. Fortunately, there are ways to...
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How to Take Copper Plating Off Zinc Pennies
The humble penny has been made from many different metals over the years including steel, brass and bronze. From 1962 to 1982, American pennies were made of brass, a mixture of mostly copper and some...
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How to Clean a Buffalo Nickel
The Buffalo Nickel, which is also known as the "Indian Head Nickel," is a coin that, according to the United States Mint website, was produced from 1913 to 1938. While replica coins have been produced...
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How to Verify a Two-Headed Quarter
Two-headed quarters -- quarters with heads on both sides -- are often found in novelty catalogs, sold as gag or trick items. A "real" two-headed quarter -- one created by the U.S. Mint -- does not...
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The Best Coins to Collect
There is no one simple answer to the question, 'What are the best coins to collect?' The answer depends upon what kind of collector you are and your purpose in collecting coins. Do you only have a tiny...
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What Presidents' Faces Are on U.S. Currency?
Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Washington, Jackson and, on a good day, Grant: Coins and banknotes are some of the most common images of American presidents in our daily lives. But the familiar faces on...
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How to Know That My US Gold Eagle Is Real?
Since the Bullion Coin Act of 1985, the U.S. Mint has issued 22-karat coins made from gold mined in America. Known as Gold Eagles, they fall into two categories, American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins for...
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How to Value an Australian Gold Sovereign
The Australian gold sovereign, one of the rarest Australian gold coins, is a favorite among collectors and investors. In addition to the intrinsic value of the gold from which the coin is struck, the...
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How to Get the Best Price for Gold Coins
There are two markets for gold coins -- the numismatic market, which regards coins as miniature works of art, and the investment market which prizes their intrinsic, bullion value. The way to get the...
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Coins That Are Worth a Lot of Money
The value of a collectible coin is based on a number of major factors. The most important of these are rarity and condition, but demand also plays a major factor. The more demand there is for a rare...
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Which State Quarters Are Hardest to Find?
The U.S. Mint’s program to produce commemorative quarters for each of the fifty states drew coin-collecting enthusiasts, known as numismatists, nationwide. Nearly 150 million Americans have begun...
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What Are the Canadian Mint Marks?
One of the most prominent materials that reflects a nation's sovereignty is its currency. Beginning in the 1850s, Canada began to distribute its own money in partnership with the British crown. By the...
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How to Tell Silver Coins From Nickel Coins
For many centuries from the time of Classical Greece, silver was a crucial metal in striking coinage. By World War II, however, the increasing scarcity and bullion value of silver meant that this was...
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What Cleans a Penny Best?
Years of use will turn the shiniest copper penny into a dull, dingy coin. A wide range of methods cleans pennies and restores their metallic luster. Solutions for fresh-looking pennies include chemical...
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What Do the Different Letters on Coins Mean?
The meaning of the stand-alone letters on a U.S. coin is not always clear. Different coins have different letters and inscriptions on them, but virtually all the obscure letter combinations on U.S....
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How to Use Coca-Cola for Cleaning Pennies
Pennies build up dirt and rust over time. Soaking them in Coca-Cola can clean up the coins. The acidic nature of the soda eats away the dirt and rust, leaving a shiny penny. Don't leave pennies in...
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How to Tell the Difference Between a 1943 Zinc Coin & a 1943 Steel Penny
The 1943 steel penny is composed of a steel core with a very thin outer layer of zinc. A very small handful of copper-based pennies were minted during 1943 as a result of an error at the mint....
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How to Collect Foreign Currency
Collecting foreign money occurs worldwide, especially in developed countries such as the United States. People choose to collect foreign currency to add to their collection or to sell and make profits....
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What Are American Coins Made Out Of?
Throughout the history of the U.S., coins have been made out of a wide variety of different metals. Initially, coins had to be made out of precious metals that were roughly worth the face value of the...
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How to Get Rust off of Pennies
Collecting pennies is a hobby some people enjoy. If you remove the rust from an old, rusty penny it may be worth more than 1 cent. There are dozens of ways to clean the rust off a penny, such as...
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How to Recognize a Denver vs. Philadelphia Mint
The U.S. Mint manufactures coins in four locations: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco and West Point. Coins have borne "mint marks" since antiquity when the ancient Romans imprinted a mint's location...
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What Are Junk Silver Coins?
Collecting U.S. silver coins is a great investment as well as a window into America's past. In many cases, a silver coin is worth significantly more than its silver content. This is because of the...
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What Coins Are Pure Silver?
To be considered pure, a silver coin must be created from 99.9 percent pure silver. Silver is a metallic chemical element that bears the chemical symbol "Ag" (Argentum). This precious metal, with an...
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How to Tell If a Silver Dollar Is Genuine
Silver dollars are among the coins that often have counterfeits due to their potential value. Modern coins in regular circulation do not use real silver the way old coins did, so they are a good...
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How to Clean Gold Found in the Ocean
You are on the beach and you find a gold coin or artifact that is crusted with dirt and coral. How to clean it? Most gold collectors will tell you to leave it as it is. Cleaning the item can cause...
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Ways to Tell If a Nickel Is Silver
Most nickels are made from an alloy of copper and nickel, and only two types of U.S. five-cent pieces contain silver. The first piece, known as the half-dime, was made from 100 percent silver. The...
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How to Tell a Fake Saint-Gaudens
St. Gaudens refers to a specific type of U.S. coin that the mint produced between 1907 and 1933. Some people believe the coin to be one of the most striking and aesthetically pleasing ever produced....
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How to Spot Fake Indian Head Cents
Fake coins are the bane of the collector's existence. Nothing is more frustrating than finding a key Indian Head Cent, buying it and then finding out that it is counterfeit. In order to tell if an...
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How Do I Know if My 1879 Silver Dollar Is Real?
Two different styles of silver dollar coins were minted in 1879, the Trade dollar and the Morgan dollar. The Trade dollar, a special coin minted for foreign markets, was thicker than the domestic...
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How to See if a Penny Is Worth a Million
Somewhere in the back of your mind is the thought of finding a great treasure. It could be buried in your backyard, hidden in a secret cave or jingling around in your pocket. In your pocket? Well, yes....
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What Are the Values of Indian Head Pennies?
Indian head pennies were minted by the United States government from 1859 to 1909. Nearly all of these pennies were minted at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, except for the years 1908 and...
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Differences Between Fine Silver Proof & Bullion Coins
The United States Mint produces coins for the general money supply, collectors and investors. It uses certain terminology to provide a shorthand identification of its coins. Collectors and investors...
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Which Country's Coins Have Holes?
A hole in a coin may seem like a defect to Americans, but coins minted with holes can be found elsewhere in the world. Although most of these coins are out of circulation, a few are still used in...
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Gold Plated vs. 18-Carat Gold
The allure of gold has been with mankind for centuries. However, all gold is not the same, and within gold processing different types exist, including pure gold, gold plating and gold alloys. 18-carat...
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Desired Properties of Nickel & Copper in Coins
Copper-and-nickel-composition coins have typically been used for the smaller denominations like 1-cent and 5-cent pieces, and more recently 10-cent and 25-cent units as well. Ideally, metals in a coin...
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The Effect of Vinegar on Coins
From Spanish doubloons and pieces-of-eight out of Davy Jones's locker to blackened pennies from a piggy bank, we want old and dirty coins to be bright and shiny again. Too Cleaning some old coins can...
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How Do I Know If My Atocha Coin Is Authentic?
The Atocha was a Spanish galleon en route to Spain in 1622 with bountiful New World treasures. Not yet on the high seas, it experienced the wrath of a hurricane, sinking off the Florida coast. The...
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How to Clean Corroded Change
Sometimes, after a great deal of use or after a long time of being in circulation, everyday coins get worn and corroded. However, you do not have to carry these weathered coins around with you -- you...
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How to Get Tarnish Off Pennies
You can restore tarnished pennies and bring them back to their former color and shine. Made partly of copper, pennies tarnish over time. Tarnishing happens slowly; this is why some pennies are more...
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How to Clean Burnt Coins
As a coin collector, you will come across coins with all sorts of dirt and grime that needs to be cleaned off before you can fully assess the value and characteristics of the coin. Another issue with...
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How to Acid Date Buffalo Nickels
Buffalo Nickels, also referred to as Indian Head Nickels, were in circulation from 1913-1938. The dates on Buffalo Nickels are printed below the neck of the Native American on the head's side of the...
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How to Polish Circulated Quarters
Polishing circulated quarters may not be in your best interest if the quarter is old or valuable. Polishing or cleaning old valuable coins can greatly reduce their value especially if harsh abrasives...
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How to Find the Worth of Old Currency Bills
Collectors across America enjoy trading, discovering, buying and selling old currency coins and bills. While many novice coin collectors overlook the possibility of old currency, bills, when kept in...
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How to Build a Copper Penny Sorter
While distinguishing between copper and zinc pennies simply involves looking at the date, sorting through large numbers of pennies can be a time-consuming and difficult task. Pennies minted after 1961...
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