I recently wrote about the Cheerios Dollars, which are the Sacagawea Dollars that were put into 5,500 lucky boxes of Cheerios cereal back in early 2000. These coins are fascinating because they were struck from a different set of dies than normal Sacagawea Dollars were struck from, and they're currently worth as much as $10k each because very few of them have come onto the market.
I should have foreseen the email avalanche I was about to be buried under! Although almost ...
Full Article: What About Cheerios Pennies? - Susan's Coins Blog
Learning how to properly grade coins is perhaps the biggest challenge new coin collectors face. Understanding the proper grade for a coin is core to establishing its value. Whether your goal is to make more savvy coin purchases, or to appraise your own collection, being able to grade your own coins is a skill that is not optional. Although ...
Full Article: Coin Grading Made Simple - Susan's Coin Blog
Every once in a while, I come across a coin related site that is just so well-done and fascinating that I am eager to share it with everyone I talk to. SmallDollars.com is one of those sites!
Its entire focus is on the smaller U.S. One Dollar coins of the past 30 years, specifically the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, the Sacagawea Dollar, and the ever popular ...
Full Article: Those Wonderful Small Dollars! - Susan's Coins Blog
There are a number of fairly valuable U.S. error coins and die varieties in circulation today. These coins are overlooked by people because they have small distinguishing characteristics, such as a modest doubling of the coin image, or minute differences in the size or spacing of the letters in the legends. Learn which of your pocket change coins is worth a large premium over face value, and why...
Full Article: Most Valuable U.S. Coins Found in Pocket Change - Susan's Coins Blog
Have you ever wondered why some error coins are so well-known and worth so much money, while others are virtually ignored? Take, for example, the 1937-D 3-legged Buffalo Nickel. The missing leg was caused by a Mint worker being careless while cleaning a coin die; he accidentally erased part of the leg. This sort of accidental erasure is known to exist on most circulating coin types to a greater or lesser degree.
Why do we know about the 3-legged Buffalo Nickel, and why are specimens worth many hundreds of dollars or more?...
Full Article: The Most Hyped Coin in History - Susan's Coins Blog
When it comes time to find a local coin dealer, either to show him some coins to learn what they are and how much they're worth, or you want to sell some coins, you shouldn't go to the yellow pages first.
Many of the people listed under "Coins" in the yellow pages are pawn brokers, junk bullion buyers, jewelers, and others who don't collect or study rare coins; they just buy them cheap, often for the bullion value of the metal only...
Full Article: How to Find a Local Coin Dealer - Susan's Coins Blog
Many people like to start a coin collection for their children, or grandchildren, as a sort of investment for them. These collections are typically held by the parent or grandparent on the child's behalf, with the intention of giving them to the child at a certain age, or as an inheritance, although sometimes the coins are given directly to the children.
Full Article: How Do I Start a Coin Collection for My Children? - Susan's Coins Blog
Like many coin collectors, I got my start in the hobby as a child, by finding something strange or unusual among the daily pocket change.
As a kid in the '60s, Wheat Cents were plentiful, and my heart always skipped a beat when I saw a 1955 as I scrutinized it to decide whether it might be the 1955 Doubled Die or not. (Little did I know that had I actually found one, the doubling was so severe that it would jump right out at me!)...
Full Article: Rare Coins at Face Value! - Susan's Coins Blog
One of most important coin collecting books about U.S. coins is called Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins.
Often referred to as "the Breen book," this seminal tome was published in 1988. Its 768 pages are crammed full of numismatic minutia about every known U.S. coin, from the early colonial period all the way to the date of publication...
Full Article: The Breen Book - Online and Free! - Susan's Coins Blog
