I read below where Lincoln pennies are very collectable..Why??

Maybe its just that I love older coins but I just can't understand the appeal. Is it just for Lincolns in primo condition or even in circulated? I have a ton of wheaties I have dug while metal detecting. Some are in great shape. None real rare but I do have a 1909 VDB but no S mint mark. Darn!!

 

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I don't know that I can answer it, but I'll try.

As far as small coppers go, I actually only collect small cents from 1857-1933 -- I don't collect anything from 1934 onward -- and currently I'm trying to get all of them in XF/AU condition. In my case, I "inherited" a lot of hand-me-down well-circulated Lincolns from my dad when I was maybe 6 or 7, which is what got me started. I expanded to Indians after that, and while I was a kid it was still mostly G/VG coins. Eventually I started working through college, which let me expand to Flying Eagles and expand my horizons to F/VF coins.

Well, we all grow older and if we're fortunate as I've been, disposable income increases a bit. So then I started working up to XF/AU coins throughout. One at a time I bought tougher dates like the 1864-L, 1869-1872 series, 1909-S Lincoln, 1924-D and 1931-S, all in XF/AU grades. Years ago it was a major struggle to raise $300, for example, to buy an AU 1871 cent.

It was less than a month ago that I finally decided to pull the trigger, eat the big bucks and start going after the keys which remained an empty hole for more than 30 years. So in the space of 72 hours at the beginning of this month, I snagged an NGC XF-40 1877 cent (my avatar) and a PCGS AU-50 1914-D. I'll eat ramen noodles for a month, but I don't care.

The point's not to brag about my recent purchases, but to show what can come from humble beginnings in filling a cheap "penny album" with any coin. The time was once when something as simple as a VG 1917-D cent could really get me stoked. But we evolve and grow.

The bottom line is that we all collect what makes us happy.

 

Good answer. Thanks

 

What makes them a top collectible?

Easy answer. When older collectors started, the Lincoln cent offered an easy set with the exception of a handful of coins. Most were readily available in circulation, and were cheap if bought over the counter at the local shop. Whitman albums made the Cent a family activity. Weekends could be spent searching through rolls for that illusive 09-S vdb or the 31-S. This trend has continued throughout the years. Prices are still cheap enough to allow new collectors and young numismatists enjoy the hobby.

 

I started on wheat cents, which is why they will always a special place in my heart. Sorting through them is a great family activity and talking about what was going on in America and other parts of the world based on the date of a penny is interesting and sparks the interest of kids. It's a great way to learn history because no matter what part of the world you're talking about, coinage is always a common denominator.

 

I suppose what many people fail to realize, is that putting off this month's house payment, in order to enhance your coin collection, doesn't make good economic sense to most collectors.

Now, what I consider to be "most" coin collectors, are pretty much the same as I would consider "most" Americans. They go to work, pay their bills, support their family, invest something for the future, and if there's anything left over, they buy something that makes them happy.

This is where the Lincoln cent really shines.
You see, after all the bill collectors get through with the average American's paycheck, there's usually not a whole lot left.
So how much can he/she spend on coins? (I'll bet a lot of dealers have asked themselves this same question) LOL

To put it simply, Lincolns are cheap.
Now, I'm not talking about a few key dates, or a few overly hyped varieties, but rather the series as a whole.

The face value of a cent is virtually nothing. So, it doesn't cost anything to collect them from circulation.
And to buy them? Well a complete set of regular issue, uncirculated Lincoln Memorial cents can be purchased for something like $10. Circulated sets sell for half as much.

Now, how available are they?
Well, consider this. Some 360 billion Lincoln Memorial cents have been minted. That's more than all the other coins produced by every other country in the world, combined, from antiquity until the present.

So, why are Lincolns collectible?
Think about it.

 

Well said. Lincolns are often a "gateway coin" to collect since they can be started very cheaply and at a very young age by just about anyone.

 

I agree with what Ziggy29 said 100%. I started off with a penny collection that my Grandfather and I started 30 or so years ago. They are a cheap way for kids to start the hobby. I've already started my daughter off with her penny books. It doesn't cost much of anything to get a few rolls of pennys and sit down with her (and soon my son) and look through them. She loves it when we find some coins to fill the holes in her books. If she decides not to continue the hobby, well then I'll give them to my son and see what happens with him.

Dave