As many of you know, my main source of coins is in circulation. I have the privilege of going through change looking for treasure. Three common coins that I collect every example that I can find are the 1960 penny, the bicentennial quarter, and the SBA dollar coin. None of them are worth more than face value unless they are NIFC. I just like the coins, so I hoard them. I was reading about the small and large date 1960-P pennies, and decided to look through my 1959-1960 stash and I found four small date 1960-Ps. Not in the best of condition, but still very cool. I was at work one night and saw a bicentennial quarter, and traded it out for a plain old quarter. I didn't think anything about it, but later on I looked at it for some reason and noticed that something looked very different. It had that certain hue that only silver has. I dropped it on the counter and it let out that tell tale 40% ring. I then noticed that the edge of the quarter didn't have the copper showing through. I posted to this very forum about it and they verified that it was a 40% silver NIFC business strike San Francisco-minted quarter. It has a little wear but not bad. It was broken out of a mint set and spent. The bicentennial silver quarter is the only 40% quarter the US mint has ever minted. Out of all my finds, this is one of my three favorites because of the oddity of finding such a coin (and the fact that it is silver). I read a few days ago about the wide rim and narrow rim 1979-P dollar coins. I was aware there were varieties, but this article I read got me curious so I went through my SBD collection and found one single wide rim coin. It's worth $60 in MS 63 condition, although mine is a higher end circulated coin. It's amazing what gems you can find if you get to look through lots of coins and you hoard them for years.
Bugo, you are indeed a coin collector whether you just hoad them or not. I too started out collecting circulated coins many years ago. I have since changed my tune to un-circulated coins in change and elsewhere. I find the quality of a coin is much more eye appealing to me and if the coin is going to be of any value in the future the best quality coins bring the higher resale prices. Good luck in your searches. Dave
For me, it was Canadian nickel dollars. Not so much the varieties, but the grade rarity coins. I still buy them in 5 gallon pails at face value (about $2000 a pail), pick out the 1974 varieties that sell for a strong premium and out of a batch of 2000 coins, I might find 2 that I would send to PCGS and a handful to send to a Canadian TPG (ICCS). The rest go to the bank, and get sent to the Royal Canadian Mint for their alloy recovery program. A bunch of coin dealers use me as their "bank" so I get to filter the coins prior to them being removed forever... Most of these, are from that process, which has been occurring since 2007. Someday, I am hoping they'll be worth considerably more, as the last voyageur coins of the Canadian dollar series... http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/alltimeset.aspx?s=82059
Guilty as charged. Thanks! I like coins in MS condition and I like coins with lots of patina. I really like the way '40s and early '50s nickels age. I don't collect them, but '60s and '70s pennies are beautiful when they turn that greenish color. I have recently been adding uncirculated coins to my collection, and even a few proofs. It's a fun hobby and can be an inexpensive one depending on what you collect.
Bugo: I was wondering if you ever thought of cherry picking. If you got the Cherrypicker's guide, you could hone in on some cool and sometimes valuable varieties that can be found in change. TC
Do you have a similar set of the silver dollars to show? That would be impressive. I don't know why, but the nickel ones just don't stimulate the senses. Yes, they're also available here at face value by the bag/bucket.
Nope. I don't collect silver dollars... for me, it was the thrill of the hunt. Yes, they are available at face value in MS-60 grades, but try find a MS-65 or better grade...
