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Message:: [QUOTE="Hobo, post: 1211829, member: 11521"]Coin collecting (by the masses) really began in 1858 - after the Large Cent was discontinued. Because very few people collected coins up until that time you could put together a nearly-complete set of Large Cents (and Half Cents) from circulation. Like State Quarters, lots and lots of people were trying to put together a date set but they were frustrated because they could simply not find a Large Cent dated 1815. The reason was - no Large Cents were struck in 1815 but most people did not know that. There was no Red Book back then that would have told them there were no 1815 Large Cents. Unscrupulous people altered the date on 1845 Large Cents to 1815 to sell to collectors "so they could complete their set".[/QUOTE]