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How To Clean Coins

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 21:14:39 +0000

Serious coin collectors will tell you that you shouldn’t clean your coin collection because they prefer that “natural look.” Unless you have no interest in ever selling the coins, and don’t care about lost value, absolutely do not clean them.

Professional coin dealers and collectors are very adept at spotting coins that have been cleaned. Don’t mistakenly think that the coin will be in better shape after you’ve cleaned it. Cleaning leaves clues on the surface of the coin and may affect the value from 25-75% or even as much as 90%.

However, sometimes pieces that are dug from the ground are in such poor condition that to even identify them they must be cleaned. This often happens with ancient Roman coins. One way to remove the dirt and grime without removing the patina (natural coloring) is to soak the coin in trumpet valve oil for two or three days and then brush them with a firm, yet soft, toothbrush. You may need to repeat this several times.

Coins should be handled by the edges to avoid putting fingerprints on the flat surfaces. Avoid silver and other metal polishes – even jewelry polishes. They are much too harsh and will leave tiny scratches on the coin’s surfaces.

Don’t let anyone handle your coin collection, just handling coins can reduce your coin in valuable. Keep them protected in protective cases.

Verify that your coin is not valuable. You can look the coin up in a coin price guide. For modern coins, you’ll need to know the date and the mint mark, if one is present. If you can’t make out the date, or if the coin is so stained or dirty that you can’t tell what it is, try looking at it with a magnifying glass. If you can’t tell if the coin is valuable, check with a coin dealer (or two, for verification) before cleaning.

Cleaning won’t improve their grading (the standards used by coin collectors and dealers to evaluate a coin), so you should usually let them be. If, however, you’ve just got some old coins around that aren’t worth much more than their face value, but which you would still like to make more presentable, you can usually clean them up pretty nicely without damaging their surfaces too noticeably.

Here are some methods you can use to clean your coins:

Vinegar and Salt

Get a glass of vinegar or lemon juice. Add about a teaspoon of regular table salt and mix.
Place your pennies in the vinegar or the lemon juice. Make sure they are not on top of each other.
Leave the pennies for around five minutes in the glass of vinegar or lemon juice.
Take the pennies out, and wash them off. Let them dry for around five minutes so they will no longer be wet.

Ketchup/Tabasco

Locate a cup and ketchup. This also works with Tabasco sauce.
Put enough ketchup in the cup to cover up the coin.
Put the coin in, and wait three minutes.
Wash pennies off in hot water.

Coca Cola

Get a can or bottle of Coca Cola.
Set pennies in a dish so that they are not sitting on top of each other.
Put just enough Coca Cola in the dish to cover the pennies.
Leave for about 5-6 hours (for better results turn the coins over halfway through the process).
Take the pennies out and wash them off with warm or hot water.

Eraser

Get a dirty penny.
Next get an eraser.
Rub the penny with the eraser as if you were trying to erase a mark on paper.
Then flip the penny and repeat steps 1-3. This will take about 10 seconds per penny.

How Grade Coins

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:56:46 +0000

Grading a coin is the process by which its value is determined and set. The grade of a coin is important to both sellers and collectors of coins. If you are a coin collector or have coins to sell, you should know how to grade a coin.

The primary purpose of grading a coin is to determine what the coin’s market value is based on how well the coin was originally struck, how well the coin metal itself has been preserved, and how much wear and damage the coin has suffered since it was minted.

A range of grades are used to describe the condition of coins. Valuation of a coin is impossible without a sound knowledge of the grading of coins. For this there is no real substitute for experience. However, the following is a guide to the main grading scheme used for UK coins (please note that the UK standards are higher than for US coins):

Poor: Inscriptions worn off, date illegible, only outline of design visible. (US: AG-3)

Fair: Date, legends and denomination (if any) legible, type recognisable. Very little detail visible. (US: VG-8)

Good (G): (A US grade, better described as Mediocre) Inscriptions and date considerably worn but legible.

Very Good (VG): A US grade, Fair in UK. Considerable wear over the whole coin, and high spots worn through. Coins in this or the previous grades are really only collectable if extremely rare. (US: VG-8)

Fine (F): Worn over whole area, but only the highest spots are worn completely through. (US: VF-20)

Very Fine (VF): Detail clear, but obvious evidence of very limited circulation. High spots worn but detail remains. Traces of mint lustre may linger amongst the letters of the inscription. (US: EF-40)

Extremely Fine (EF): Slight wear on high spots on close inspection, and all other detail clear and sharp. Much mint lustre may remain. May appear uncirculated to the naked eye. (US: MS-60)

Uncirculated (Unc): No wear at all, although it is possible for the design not to be fully struck up in the minting process. There may be bag abrasions. Older coins may be tarnished or toned.(US: MS-62 to 65)

There are two higher grades seen in dealers lists:

Brilliant Uncirculated (BU): Usually implies full mint lustre.(US: MS-67)

FDC (Fleur de Coin): Perfect mint state, with no abrasions or marks, and full lustre. Usually applied to proof coins only, or coins from sealed mint sets. (US: MS-70)

Proof: Not a condition, but the coin has been struck using specially prepared dies and blanks, and the minting process has been carried out usually twice with extra pressure to ensure the die is filled. Normally the fields are highly polished, with the design matte, however matte proofs where the whole coin is matte are known (especially the 1902 GB proofs), and sometimes even the design is polished (especially from the early 1970′s for UK proof sets). Proof coins usually have very sharp edges.

Many coins fall in between grades, and so terms such as ‘nearly VF’, ‘good VF’, ‘gem BU’ are encountered.

How To Store Coins

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:44:45 +0000

Coins should be stored individually. Storing coins together, in a jar perhaps, will cause the coins to scrape against each other. As well as marking the coins, they will also tarnish each other.

The cheapest way to store coins individually is paper envelopes. The envelopes should be made from acid-free paper. The acids in normal paper will discolour the coins over time. Acid-free 2″ x 2″ paper envelopes are available from coin shops.

Better then paper envelopes is plastic is plastic flips or re-sealable plastic bags because these allow you to look at the coins without handling them. If you use plastic envelopes, make sure they are made from mylar or another plastic that does not contain PVC. PVC will discolour or damage the coins over time. Plastic envelopes suitable for coin collectors are available from coin shops. If the top of the envelope is open, not sealed, to allow the coin to be inserted, this is only suitable for temporary storage because air and moisture can get in and corrode the coin.

More expensive are coin albums. These are available from coin shops with plastic album pages but the PVC-free ones can be expensive.

Still more expensive, the serious coin collector with a valuable collection can get their coins slabbed, or encased, in hard plastic. This is done by a professional who also grades the coins at the same time. This is really out of the scope of someone just starting a coin collection unless they happen to have a really valuable coin.

In conclusion, coins should ideally be stored in air-tight containers that are both acid-free and do not contain PVC. Exposure to the air oxidizes metal, changing its color. This might not reduce the value of your coins but does affect their appearance.

Placing packets of silica gel in coin storage areas will also help to control atmospheric moisture.

Coins, Paper Money, Or Stamps?

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:03:44 +0000

Coins and stamps are tangible reminders of years gone by. Yet, while coin collecting is flourishing as a hobby, stamp collecting has gone by the wayside. Many families who inherit stamp collections are more interested in getting the collection appraised than continuing the tradition. You can’t collect something if you don’t know what it is.

Stamp collecting dates back to 1840, when the first stamp was issued in England. One of the earliest indications of stamp collecting is an advertisement from an English newspaper in which a young woman sought used stamps as a way to wallpaper her room. Soon, post offices discovered stamp collectors as good sources of revenue. From there, an unprecedented surge began.

There are no rules about stamp collecting. Some people collect stamps from a certain country while others focus on a motif, such as flowers, ships or buildings. Stamp collecting is a wonderful hobby because the collectors vary from those who have next to nothing to millionaires.

Unfortunately, stamp collecting has simply lost its appeal to younger people.

Coin collecting, on the other hand, is at its peak popularity. Rare or modern coins offer history that collectors can hold in their hand, and every period during the past 2,500 years is reflected in coinage.

Stamps disappear and become part of the ground. A coin can be dug up and, while new varieties of stamps are not really being discovered, new types of coins from all over the world are still being found.

While improperly stored coins can degrade and lessen in value, paper money can be damaged by handling, sunlight, or water. All are subject to flood, fire, or other natural catastrophe.

A stock certificate with 35% of it burned away is just as good as a mint one in terms of its value on the exchange. In fact, as long as ownership can be proven, it often doesn’t even matter if the physical certificate exists.

You can insure against these problems, and go to great lengths to assure proper storage conditions, but all of this costs money and adds to the cost of the investment, often for many years before there is going to be any return at all.

Today, coin collecting is one of the world’s most popular hobbies. Amateur collectors enjoy coins for their beauty, rarity and the stories behind them. Added to this is the excitement of searching for and finding specific coins and the challenge of identifying unfamiliar items.

Why is coin collecting thriving and stamp collecting dying? Coins are still being used and are still fascinating. It is an investment as well as a hobby. Coins continue to go up in value while many stamps are at the peak value they will ever receive. Furthermore, many are going down in value.

It’s amusing that people who collect coins, paper money, or stamps, always want some sort of “return”, at least somewhere in the back of their minds. These same people think nothing of buying a car for $20,000 and selling it three years later for $5,000.

Enjoy your hobby, and consider whatever you invest in it to be pleasure money, the same way you would count money you spent going to ball games, or dining out, or buying new clothes. Then, whatever you or your heirs get out of your collection is pure profit, whether it is more or less than what you originally paid.

After all, if you spend $20 a week going to the movies, you don’t expect to get anything for your $1,000 a year collection of ticket stubs, do you?

As far as investment in paper money in general, I would not consider it. If someone is buying notes and thinks how much will I be able to get when I sell it again, this person has the wrong hobby. Enjoy collecting for the pleasure and for the beauty of the notes as well as for the fun of it.

I believe there is room in both the collecting of coins and paper money for both collectors and investors.

The important thing to remember in investing in coins or banknotes is rarity and desirability.

So I believe there can be a case made that both collecting and investing in banknotes and coins are valid, and valuable activities.

What Is An Un-circulated Coin?

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:29:16 +0000

You may have heard the terms proof coin and un-circulated coin, but what’s the difference between these two? To understand the difference between a proof and un-circulated coin, let’s first answer the question, “What is an un-circulated coin?”

Un-circulated means a coin has not had any wear, such as the wear a coin might experience when it is used in commerce. Handling a coin, as well as improperly storing a coin, can result in wear on the surface of the coin. This wear, even if very minor, will cause a coin to no longer grade un-circulated.

When coins are minted they often bump into each other and receive small nicks and abrasion marks during the production process. These marks also occur as coins are transported in large canvas bags. These marks, sometimes called “bag marks”, are more noticeable on larger coins, such as half dollars and dollars. Typical “bag marks” do not keep a coin from grading un-circulated. However, they can be an indicator of how high of a grade the un-circulated coin might receive.

Current accepted grading standards provide for a range of un-circulated grades, from the grade of MS-60 to MS-70. MS60 would be a lower grade (yet still) un-circulated coin with normal bag marks for that type of coin. Anything below MS-60 would not be considered un-circulated. MS70 would be the perfect “ideal” coin. Some coins are rare in grades MS65 to MS70, and even unheard of in MS70 grade. (The attribute “MS” stands for “mint state”.)

A newly minted proof coin is also un-circulated, however it is the way it is made that causes a difference in appearance and qualifies it as a “proof”. To understand this, let’s look at how coins are made. Coins are produced when two dies strike a blank piece of metal with tremendous force. One die is engraved with the front (obverse) design for the coin. The other die has the back (reverse) coin design on it.

A proof coin is made with a specially polished and treated die! By treating the die in a special way, the coins it produces have a different appearance. Modern technology allows the high points on the coin design to be acid treated (on the die). The background (field) design of the coin die is polished, resulting in a mirror-like look on the coin it strikes. This gives the finished coin a frosted look (frosting) on the raise parts of the design, with a mirror like finish on the background. This contrasting finish is often called “cameo”. On some older coins a cameo appearance is quite rare. The attribute “CAM”, when added to a coin’s description, means cameo appearance. “DCAM” means deep cameo, and indicates the cameo appearance is strong and easy to observe.

Design Types of United States Coins and Rare Coins Collecting

arguest — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:43:42 +0000

Coin collecting is really a fun hobby that anyone who has the time can do. A coin’s history and its development may be discovered by collecting rare coins.

At one point in time, between 1838 and1933, the United States issued gold coins for circulation. The Liberty Head bust was utilized because the design till 1907. The design was then changed to the Indian Head and Saint Gaudens motifs till 1933 when the “Great Depression” started. This prompted the recall of the coins which makes it very uncommon to find any of them today.

The most valuable coin on the planet could be the 1933 Double Eagle. This was a $20 gold coin that was created inside the 1800′s after the California gold rush. This coin was not allowed to be utilized inside the 1930′s and when this coin was auctioned in 2002, it sold for nearly eight million dollars.

Given that gold coins are difficult to find, most collectors pick other rare coins.

One particular kind of collection you may contemplate could be the one created up of coins which might be flawed when the coin was minted. If you can discover a coin having a misspelled word, a incorrect date, off-center characteristics, or double-punched marks, these coins are valuable. Such mistakes can improve a coin’s worth from $50 to a $1000.

Coins that were only issued or circulated for short time frame also make great collectibles.

A coin collection is at its best if it is focused on a certain coin. A collector can select from pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars.

Another way of collecting is disregarding the kinds of coins but concentrating on a certain time period. Coins have different mint marks and collecting those that were struck inside the identical place also can be intriguing. The essential thing for hobbyists is to stick to the collection till it has been completed.

For a great begin subscribe to a coin publication such as Coin World or Coinage Magazine for details on the kinds of coins that you might need to gather. The web or a neighborhood coin shop also can aid expand the search for those rare coins that can’t be discovered in your locale or out of state.

Building a coin collection will take a lengthy time – months or even years. The United States has produced so many coins that it is difficult to keep track of them. By deciding on the coin(s) you want to gather, the challenge to complete that collection begins.

Rare British Coins?

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:35:48 +0000

I have a bag of old pre-decimal pennies, note on Ebay that they sell for all sorts of prices…… are there any that are really ‘valuable’ & worth keeping if I had one?I think a king was not on the throne for long once & so any coins in his reign should be worth something maybe…. not very good with history I’m afraid!

Are you checking your change?! And for how much would your sell your 20p coin?

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:40:28 +0000

London, July 4 (ANI): A punter was left ecstatic after he was handed out a rare undated 20p coin worth more than 7,000 pounds in change for his pint.

Lloyd Hefferman had been with his friends at The Botolph Arms pub in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, when bar staff gave him the coin, which was amongst others mistakenly released by the Royal Mint in Cardiff last year.

A handful of coins had already found takers on auction site eBay, with one fetching as much as 7,100 pounds recently.

"I had heard about the rare 20 pence pieces on the news that day, and was talking with my mates about how brilliant it would be to find one," the Telegraph quoted Hefferman as saying.

"When I was given my change I thought I would have a look to see if I had one, not expecting to find it and then I just couldn’t believe my eyes.

"I have had offers from friends and colleagues for up to 500 pounds, but won’t be selling it yet." eanwhile, a spokesman for the Royal Mint also said: "Last year there was an unusual lapse in quality control at the Royal Mint.

A batch of 20p coins were issued with mismatched sides. The result is a number of 20p coins have entered circulation without a date."

fine gold and essayeur fondeur coin?

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 23:11:29 +0000

I have a coin with the words fine gold and essayeur fondeur written on the coin I need help to find out how much it is worth please…. it is from 1990 I have serached all coins on isle of man and found no such coin.
It has Elizbeth the second on the front and also on the front it has Isle of Man 1990. On the back it has fine gold and essayer fondeur written on the back.
It also has credit suisse on the back of the coin.

How many pennys in a pound?

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:43:37 +0000

I’m not from england, but I like to collect coins, can someone tell me how many pennys to a pound, and are there any other types of coins in england?