I Have An Important Question.

Value of any coin is misleading. By that I mean anyone can say a coin is worth xxx but just try to sell it for that. So in other words, value really means very little unless you have a place to sell. It is sort of like that program on TV called the Antique Road show. They are always saying something is worth xxx at the right auction. Now try to find that right auction. Same with coins. Unless you can find the right buyer, the value of a coin is worth only what you like it to be.

Don't get your self overwhelmed with the hobby in general .We all had to start from the beginning at one point in our lives . The first thing you do is decide what kind of coins you would like to collect . Then buy reference books on it . If your coin of interest is U.S., pick up The Red Book " a guide to u.s. coins "" which most of us find very informative . Lastly study and learn how to grade your coins . PCGS photograde is a good online resource , also a book called " The Official American Numismatic Association GRADING STANDARDS for United States coins ". Good luck and have fun .

to CCF!

An important observation: Good titles get responses. Bad titles get less response or sometimes outright silliness.

and yes, a Red Book is a great tool.

@Finn....I bought a roll of forever stamps this week.
They are up to 50 cents now.

Such as what? The one piece you mention, the 1999 WAM is a variety. Except for extremely high grade coins I don't really know of any Lincoln Memorial's that have significant value if they aren't errors or varieties.

This is the common belief but it simply isn't true. There are simply no statistically significant hoards of coins made after 1964. You can easily prove this to yourself by getting a handful of something like early 1970's quarters. If there were large hoards then the coins in these hoards wouldn't wear and when they were released they would stand out as being high grade. such coins aren't there so there are no large hoards. Ask your local dealer how much of this stuff comes in the shop. He'll tell you almost nothing does and when he's forced to buy the rare accumulation of such coins he pays face value and puts them in his cash register.

Price guides list all moderns as virtually worthless but nice high grade clad sells on ebay for sometimes significant premiums. Price guide editors are worried about their customers and their customers mostly hate coins made after 1964. Listing them at face value is safe.

There are also almost no rolls of many of the post-'64 coins. Despite looking hard for 45 years I haven't actually seen a roll of 1969 quarters since early 1970.

Most of the cent coins from '59 to '64 can be found nice in circulation but not 1965 to 1972 cents. Pennies are worthless now days (they cost more to count than their face value) so they don't circulate and billions are sitting out. But this does not apply to nickels before 2000 or any clad at all other than non-circulating halfs and dollars as well as bicentennial quarters. It applies much less to states coins.

"Buy the book before you buy the coin."
Best quote I ever heard and heeded.

Every time a penny is used it has to first be dug out of a pocket or purse and then counted and tendered. The individual who accepts it has to also count it and put it in place with the other pennies. Then it will be counted again to be deposited in the bank, counted at the bank, and then counted and rolled to be shipped back to the store or given to a customer at the bank. Each time it's counted there is an individual waiting for it and sometimes two or three such as at the store.

The average household income in the US is 4,500,000 pennies per year. Many people throw them away to save the trouble of hauling them about. It would be good to throw them out but then the mint will just make a new one at a cost of about 3c to replace it.

The few price guides that list clad quarters for a premium list them at all the same value. The '83-P sometimes sells for up to $20 in AU but it will list at 28c just like the dreadfully common '98-D.