The Coin Collecting Den

I hope everyone reading has a happy, healthy, successful 2010!

WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced the new design that Americans will see on the reverse (tails side) of Native American $1 Coins next year.  The design, based on the theme “Government – The Great Tree of Peace,” depicts the Hiawatha Belt with five arrows bound together, with the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $1, Haudenosaunee and Great Law of Peace.  The United States Mint will commence issuing these coins in January 2010, and they will be available throughout 2010.

The Hiawatha Belt is a visual record of the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, with five symbols representing the five original Nations.  The central figure on the belt, the Great White Pine, represents the Onondaga Nation with the four square symbols representing the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca Nations.  The bundle of arrows symbolizes strength in unity for the Iroquois Confederacy.  The design is by Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Thomas Cleveland.

Featured on the obverse (heads side) of the 2010 Native American $1 Coin is the familiar “Sacagawea” design by sculptor Glenna Goodacre, first produced in 2000.  Inscriptions on the obverse are LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST.  Like the Presidential $1 Coins, the Native American $1 Coins are minted in the distinctive golden color with the year, mint mark and E PLURIBUS UNUM edge-lettered on the rim.

As any serious (or would-be serious) coin collector knows, coins are graded on a 70 point scale meant to standardize descriptions of coin condition. All else being equal, a higher grade coin should be more valuable than a lower grade, and at the high end of the grading scale the difference can be substantial. For example, a 1924 Standing Liberty quarter from the Philadelphia mint is worth about $600 in MS-65 condition. Not bad, but the same type of coin in MS-67 condition is worth $2,400!

Obviously it is in every collectors interest to be able to grade coins, at least to a degree, in order to avoid over paying for coins and identify attractive bargains. Learning to grade is definitely not easy to do, however, particularly since the best way to become familiar with the differences between coins of various grades is to examine coins that have already been graded by an agency such as PCGS or NGC. Accumulating such a reference set is usually beyond the means of a novice collector, so what is an aspiring grader (like me) to do?

For the thousands of collectors in similar circumstances, PCGS has released their Photograde online photo reference sets. These photo sets show high quality images of coins graded XF45, AU50, AU55, MS63 and MS65. Images are included for nearly all series of circulating coins produced in the 20th century, including Indian Head cents, Liberty nickels, Barber dime, quarter and half dollars, Morgan dollars, and Liberty and Indian head $2.50 and $5 coins.

The good: The pictures are large and detailed, and definitely show the difference between the lower and higher grades.

The “bad”: Even with pictures, differentiating between MS-63 and MS-65 is tough-to-impossible, and no explanatory text is included to tell why the coins were graded as they were.

The verdict: Photograde isn’t sufficient to be a stand-alone grading tool. However, in conjunction with a reference such as the Red Book, the Photograde pictures can be an invaluable resource.

The Mint has released production figures for circulating coins through November 2009. Total production for the month was only 76.06 million coins, a decrease of nearly 80% from October and the lowest production in years.

These figures include the final mintages for the Zachary Taylor Presidential Dollar and the Northern Mariana Islands quarter. Only Lincoln cents, Presidential Dollars, and NMI quarters were produced during November. Cents and dollars were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, while the Denver Mint produced cents and quarters.

The table below shows coin production for both November and year to date.

November 2009 US Mint Coin Production Figures

Three denominations (Lincoln cents, Presidential dollars, quarters) featured multiple reverse designs that rotated over the course of the year. The table below breaks down the total production figures for the year by reverse design. Of note: It has not yet been confirmed if production of the Lincoln cent Presidency design has ended, so the table only lists totals for the first three Lincoln cent designs. By subtracting the totals for these first three designs from the totals through November given above, possible mintages for the Presidency Cent come in at 198.00 million Denver Mint coins and 129.60 million Philadelphia Mint coins, assuming no further production in December. These totals are substantially less than the first three designs.

The Mint has unveiled the images that will become the 2010 Presidential dollar coins. The four presidents, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchannon, and Abraham Lincoln will be released in three month increments throughout the year. The obverse designs on the Millard Fillmore and Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coins are by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart; the obverse design on the Franklin Pierce Presidential $1 Coin is by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Susan Gamble; and the obverse design for the James Buchanan Presidential $1 Coin is by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill.

Fans of the Walking Liberty half dollar, Franklin half dollar, and Kennedy half dollar rejoice! I’ve added pages for each of the 20th century half dollar coins to the main coin information area for your edification and enjoyment!

Stay tuned for more updates!

It’s taken a lot of time and effort, but I’m happy to announce the addition of a new section to the site: Coin information pages! These pages contain coin specifications, coin history and facts, and mintage information broken down by mint location. The first pages cover dollar coins, from the Morgan dollar to the newest Presidential coin designs. I will be adding pages for half dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies as well over the coming days.

Check them out!

Continuing the theme of collecting on a budget, I’d like to take a look at the US presidential dollar set that is currently in process. Beginning in 2007, the Mint began releasing dollar coins with the names and faces of past US presidents. Four are being released each year, with ten released so far, and 41 total currently scheduled through 2016.

Reasons to collect Presidential Dollars:

• Just like the state quarters, the dollars are being released in order of the presidents, beginning with George Washington. Another great educational opportunity for kids to learn about our presidential history!
• Dollar coins can be obtained at your local bank as they are released to make sure they are in great condition.
• The set will be continuing for a number of years, so the annual investment is small, and there will be more to look forward to for quite a while!
• Budget: 41 presidents = $41, one from each mint would be $82. Add a folder and you’re looking at about $90. While more than the quarter set, this expense can be spread out over a number of years, and $8 per year for the presidents is very manageable.

So you’re interested in starting a coin collection? Great! Collecting can be a fascinating, and potentially profitable, lifelong hobby. But for many would be collectors, including myself, while the spirit is willing, the wallet is weak. In this post, I’m beginning a series on ways to get into the coin collecting game on the cheap.

One popular and easy way to start collecting coins is the U.S. State quarters. This series began in 1999 and continues through the end of 2008, with each state getting its own unique design. In 2009, six additional quarter designs were released for Washington D.C. and the US territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The US quarters set is a great way to start for several reasons.

• Since the quarters were introduced in the order of states joining the Union, they are a great educational opportunity for kids to learn about the 50 states, as well as the often overlooked territories.
• The quarters are recent, so they are all in circulation. This makes them much easier to find compared to older collectibles. A quick search of your change or a roll of quarters from your bank is all you need to start!
• While easy to start, there are still enough different quarters to collect that the set won’t be completed in a day or two. Part of the enjoyment of collecting is finally finding the piece to complete a set, and collecting all 56 designs will take long enough to feel satisfying!
• Budget: 56 quarters is only $14. Double that to $28 if you decide to collect one from both the Denver and Philadelphia mints. Add a few more dollars for a nice folder to keep them all in, and you’ve started a great new hobby for less than $40!

US quarters are only one way to get started collecting on a budget. My next post will cover another great beginner set: the Presidential Dollars.