@Rick Hudson- welcome! I like that you kept your buffalo nickel find all these years. It was a childhood find more than 40 years ago that started me collecting, too, and like you, I've sentimentally kept my "genesis coin" all this time.
Thanks! Sure is a magical way for a kid to get excited about coins, isn't it? Now, if I had just kept digging in that spot, just maybe I would have found a 1943 copper penny. (One can dream. One must dream.)
Got that one from my brother 50 years ago, it developped a nice orange patina imho I think this orange blossom song on the harmonica played by Buddy Greene fits the token:
Lovely Trump-orange glow! Is it one of the first tokens from the 1950s, or the later larger cutout ones?
After identification, I have the appropriate 2x2 ready and put country, year, denomination, composition, and best guess at the grade on the holder. Best to do it while the information is at hand. Happy hunting!
From now on I sure will, thank you. At least on a file card I will. I like to keep all my coins without any covering so that I can feel them when enjoying. But the fragile ones I protect.
Hi Rick. You've had lots of expert advice. But you & I have got lots in common - I'm the eternal new kid on the coinage block !!! Still, allow me a piece of advice from "upstairs". Spend some time, observing a particular coin, both obverse, reverse and the surrounding edge. Make notes, written, mental or both about your impressions, maybe a portrait, wording, any unusual lettering or symbol, however minimal. Or anything unique or unusual etc. By personal study, trust me, you will learn, if not everything, a lot.
Bert, that sounds like excellent advice. Thank you for that. I've already started learning to look for seams (casting red flags) and IveI got no shortage of things to keep learning.
Looks like you're already making some progress, Rick. Just a word of caution - when you're casting red flags, make sure there are no bulls in the vicinity !!!
Hmmm, maybe I should also have said orange and yellow flags given the patina monkey business by some sellers. Very helpful threads here about that.