Tell Me About Interesting Coins

I would say anything WWII and earlier has historical merits. If you want pretty, dodge the presidents and go for the artistic early stuff (morgan is great).

- many people who like morgans also dig into Peace dollars.
- I like the Flying Eagle cent, no reason, just like the flying bird artwork.
- Ben Franklin is interesting... one of the few non presidents to make multiple appearances. I like his halves, which were sadly cut short.
- the gold coins are interesting, but beyond my hobby budget. Can you imagine paying for your lunch with a gold $10 coin and that being a normal thing to do?
- morgans go DEEP. People have traced some of them to what die in what mint was used for that year, and what defects it had. Ive spent a good 2 days on one coin trying to find cool stuff in it this month. You can do that a bit with anything but morgans had a lot of little things going on.

In your estimations what "rare" coins are worth the premiums?

It's really up to you . What interests me may not interest you and vice versa . Everyone has a different opinion on what coins are interesting .If your still unsure ,get a Red Book and pick coins that are of your liking .

Wouldn't have been that normal, the restaurant wouldn't have liked you much. Would be like going to McDonalds and paying for your Big Mac Meal with a $1,000 bill.

I 100% agree with justcarl. IMO, one undervalued area is classic proof coins. You can get a proof Indian cent or V nickel for a few hundred dollars, but their mintages are only the the thousands. Some of the older issues have mintages in the hundreds!

There are a few handfuls of MS-68 Morgans on ebay right now, selling in the thousands on up.... wouldn't it be nice to have a MS68 morgan?

I'd tell you to get a 1652 pine tree shilling but those are a little pricey. You could get a lower grade 1787 or 1788 Massachusetts colonial cent from anywhere from $100 to $300. I'd get a graded one since there are a lot of cast fakes out there people are selling as genuine. But, I'd do what Moxking said pick a year to honor someone in your family or family friend and put a proof or business strike set of your choosing together to honor them or even an event. Me, I'm starting an 1885 proof cent only so I can call it my Back to the Future set. Pick any year but make sure it's meaningful to you 1881 there's your OK Corral set whether business or proof strike. Make the year enjoyable to yourself for any reason and you'll have a lot more fun trying to put it together.

Back in the 1800's, the northeast was a prime region for counterstamping. It's been estimated that, prior to the Civil War, between 5-10% of circulating coins in the region were counterstamped.

Here's a PARISIAN VARIETIES / 16. St & B'WAY. N.Y. counterstamp on an 1875-CC half dollar. It's interesting to note that this girlie show, boasting long-legged can-can dancers, was only in business between 1875-76, so the coin was in virtually new condition when it was stamped. Possibly, it was carried to NY City at that time by a lucky miner. Fifty cents was then the price of general admission for the show. The stamped half dollars were likely given out in change for a dollar; this, to generate word-of-mouth advertising.




There are only a few of these stamped CC Mint halves known but at least a few dozen from the other mints. Stack's has realized over $1,000, each for two of these counterstamped CC's. It's all about the history, it seems!