Table of contents for February 2023 in Coins

FOR QUITE a number of years, the fifty-cent piece was the largest circulating coin minted in the United States. In the twentieth century, and now in the twenty-first, there have also been plenty of years with silver dollars, or more recently with dollar coins devoid of any silver. But whether we are looking at a year in which the half dollar was top of the heap, or a dollar coin was, there is a long, hefty streak of years in which there were proof half dollars coined. Taking a look back at all these top-of-the-line halves might reveal for us some that qualify as wonderfully undervalued. Let’s see what we can find. Kennedy Halves The Kennedy half dollar is closing in on sixty years as a circulating coin, although most…

A new form of grading based on a 10-point scale was announced by Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) Nov. 16. The new system, named NGCX, is the first of its kind for coins. The 10-point grading scale has long been the standard for most collectibles, including comic books, sports cards, trading cards and more. For coins, NGC calls the new scale “intuitive” and “approachable.” For centuries, coins have been collected – for enjoyment, for study, as an investment and as a benchmark of achievement. In the late 1940s, a numeric scale of 1 to 70 was introduced by Dr. William Sheldon to describe the relative values of U.S. 1-cent coins. In theory, a coin graded 1 would be worth $1 and a coin graded 70 would be worth $70. The values…

While going through our home change cup in preparation for a nickel-dime poker game, I dropped a dime and heard the unmistakably lighter “ding” of silver. It was a 1954-S Roosevelt, somewhere between VG and F. The dime didn’t make it to the poker game; I was already a buck or two ahead. Patrick Martin St. Louis, Mo. I started collecting coins in 1955 and I’m still active. Here is my “Coin Find”: In 1970, we were helping an older lady friend clean out her storage room. There was a very old trunk in the room. As we were cleaning out the trunk, we found a small leather pouch. In the pouch we found a dozen coins. We showed the coins to our friend, and she said to keep the…

The past month has been a rocky ride for the U.S. economy, especially for the stock market. The precious metals market has had its ups and downs as well, taking bullion and bullion-impacted coin values with it. None of these fluctuations appear to have deterred collectors of these coin types. These fluctuations have not discouraged precious metal coin investors, either. If anything, investors appear to be viewing any downward motion as an opportunity to buy on the dip. Newly introduced U.S. Mint products continue to surge in demand as soon as they are released, be it non-circulating legal tender commemoratives made for collectors or traditional proof sets. The secondary market for these products is also stronger than it has been in the past. The circulating commemorative quarters continue to catch…

In this column, I’m going to talk about the lowly cent, or the penny as most people call it. I began my coin adventure collecting cents, Indian Head cents and, of course, the Lincoln cent. Back in my roll searching days, I was looking through the better part of 10,000 cents a day. This was in the mid to late 1950s, when good stuff could still be found. I can’t tell you how delighted I was when I found something like a 1910-S, or a 1926-S, or a 1931-D, or . . . you name it. Only don’t name the 1909-S VDB, as I never found one of those, or even one of the more common 1931-S. I did find a couple of 1914-Ds and a couple of 1909-Ss, however.…

CIRCULATION COINAGE Half Cent Cent 2 Cents Silver 3 Cents Nickel 3 Cents Half Dime 5 Cents Dime 20 Cents Quarter 50 State Quarters DC and Territories America the Beautiful Half Dollar Dollar American Innovation $1 Coin Presidents $1 (Gold) $2.50 (Quarter Eagle) $3 $5 (Half Eagle) $10 (Eagle) $20 (Double Eagle) COMMEMORATIVE COINAGE 18921954 Quarter Half Dollar Dollar $2.50 (Quarter Eagle) $50 MODERN COMMEMORATIVE COINAGE 1982-PRESENT Dime Quarter American Women Quarters Program Half Dollar Dollar $5 (Half Eagle) $10 (Eagle) $20 (Double Eagle) $100 Commemorative Coin Sets Uncirculated Rolls Federal America Non Denominated 50 State Quarters Listings are for rolls containing uncirculated coins. Mint Sets Proof Sets FIRST SPOUSE GOLD COINAGE $10 (Eagle) AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL SILVER BULLION Quarter…