It’s a coin that’s been struck twice, creating the appearance of two images on a coin instead of one. If you’ve ever seen a double-printed page in a book, you know what a double die coin looks like. The more you read, research and brush up on the subject, the more of a coin expert you’ll become. One of the best is this one from Fun Times Guide, which has several articles on evaluating valuable coins. The good news is there are many online portals where you can learn about rare coins for free. The best way to quickly identify rare and valuable coins is through practice. That means they’re a treasure chest for rare and valuable coins! Even better, there’s no cost to you except the face value of any coins you keep! You can return the rest for cash (or more coins) or use them to make any other purchases. They roll the coins or take them in already rolled from customers without looking at the coins first. This method may take the most time, but the chance of finding a rare coin is relatively high. Go through rolls of coins from your local bank. However, there are several other methods to tell if the coin in your hand is worth a mint. We’ve talked about using the metal and age of coins to determine their value. These are some of the most important elements to value. Age doesn’t guarantee rarity, and an old coin might not be in high demand. Decent copies of some ancient Roman coins can be had for around $20, and those are hundreds of years old. While it is possible to find extremely old coins that held their value, some old coins are relatively commonplace. It’s easy to get swept up in looking for the oldest coins you can find, but that might not yield the biggest rewards. While newer coins are often made of inexpensive alloy metals that don’t accumulate value, older pieces often accumulate worth based on their components alone! Age isn’t everything While that might not be a huge number on its own, it can add up quickly. Because the price of silver has increased greatly since the 60s, silver quarters are now worth close to four dollars each. The government changed the coins to cheaper metals to save money on manufacturing, but the old silver quarters can still represent a great find for you. Quarters made before 1965 contained 90 percent pure silver. Though the common eye might not differentiate between a quarter made in 1963 and one made in 1967, there is a big difference for collectors. One of the simplest ways to identify valuable coins is to look at what metal it contains. While we aren’t all going to be professional coin collectors, here are our top tips for identifying valuable coins. In reality, a lot of coin collecting takes place in homes and self-storage units when people realize that they’ve been holding on to something that has surprising value. Coin collecting conjures up images of people scouring the ground with metal detectors hoping to find a piece of monetary history. She is also the co-author of "The Geek Gap" and vice president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Minda Zetlin is a freelance writer covering business, money, tech and collectibles. You never know, one of your pennies could be worth the price of a nice dinner - or a whole lot more. With so many rare coins out there, being a "penny pincher" might not be such a bad thing after all. Additionally, they can help get your coin certified by a grading service and guide you through the entire selling process. Some auction houses offer free evaluations. If you think you've found a valuable penny, Stone suggests consulting a professional. If you think you've found a 1943 Bronze Lincoln, the Mint suggests testing it with a magnet first. Heritage auctioned a similar one - in slightly lower grade - for $186,000 earlier this month," he said.ĭue to its value, some counterfeits were created with steel cores. "A nice circulated example, like Lutes' coin, could sell for around $150,000 to $200,000. Stone estimates that 15 to 20 are known to collectors today, although it's possible that there are a few that have not yet been accounted for. Today, the 1943 bronze Lincoln cent is described as "the most famous error coin in American numismatics" - and the odds of finding one are astronomically against. "The few bronze coins that were struck went unnoticed and got released into circulation." At least, that's what was supposed to happen.Īs fate would have it, "some of the old bronze planchets got stuck in the big tote bins that the Mint used to feed the coin presses at the end of 1942," he said. Mint switched to making pennies from zinc-coated steel planchets, instead of the usual bronze coin blanks, Stone explained. In order to preserve copper for the war effort, the U.S. "The most valuable Lincoln cent sold privately in 2010 for $1.7 million," said Stone. Only a handful of these bronze pennies have been discovered, including the one found by Lutes.
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