AN OVERVIEW OF

NUMISMATICS

PrestonE. Thomas
NUMISMASTERY:  www.numismastery.weebly.com
 Introduction
A hobby is any activity a person likes to do in his spare time. But you already know this.
As it is commonly said, “An idle mind is the devil's workshop”, so those who get busy in their
favorite activity never get bored in their free time. Hobbies vary from person to person. Hobbies
take different forms, are of different kinds, and they can be indoors or outdoors. Some are costly
and some are cheap. Pursuing a particular hobby is a matter of personal choice. 
When I was very young, I would see the occasional man metal-detecting at a park, and
wonder, "how could someone do something for this long that is that boring? He isn't even
listening to music!"  I often have wondered the same thing when I see someone devoting lots of
time into something I do not appreciate.  I read in the news about people who buy one coin for
thousands of dollars and scratch my head.  I mean, I could buy a lot of video games with that
kind of money.  I have to admit, I kind of looked down upon those who pursued collecting.  I
thought of it as a massive waste of time and money, and I could not imagine anyone seriously
collecting dirty, old slabs of metal.  Allow me to fast forward to the present.
My name is Preston Thomas, and my favorite pastime is coin and currency collecting,
more professionally known as numismatics. It is also one of the oldest hobbies of the world and
is also called the “hobby of the Kings”, known for the fact that in the old times it was only done
by kings and the elite class of society. 
My journey.  Wow.  It is crazy, because it feels like I have been collecting my whole life,
but somehow, I managed to fill my time with other things for 9 years before discovering the best
hobby in the world.  It all started some years back.  My sister, an avid reader, had just moved to
college, and I would often go through her old books to find some interesting story to get lost in. 
I pulled out a book for further examination, when a small 4x5 box fell out of the bookshelf and
hit the ground with a high jingling noise.  Being the curious, nosey younger brother I am, I
investigated.  Inside were a few coins including Peace, Morgan, and Ike dollars, a few silver
coins, and some old nickels.  I was over the moon and knew that I was holding something
important.  I ran to my dad, and as it happened, it was actually my grandfather's collection.  I
begged my dad to let me have it, but he was reluctant.  He took it to his boss at the time, who
happened to be an avid collector.  With the appraisal of $42, my dad did some thinking.  His
father gifted him with the collection when my father was my age, and he decided to pass it down
to me in a similar fashion.  I do not think he had a CLUE what that one simple act would mean to
me, and how it would set the course of the rest of my life.  After he gave me his collection, I
started keeping them in my money box.  After that, I always used to wait for new interesting
coins to show up in my change.  In later weeks, I heard my mother speak about coins that HER
father gave her, and how she knew she still had it somewhere.  I was very determined, and spent
days tearing the house apart for it.  I can only remember a few things which are as rewarding as
the time I pulled that box out of a long-forgotten drawer.  Inside were numerous goodies
including 15 American silver eagles.  There was way too much to list, but I estimate it to have
had a value of $200 on the current market.  There were coins, bills, tokens, and anything any
budding numismatist could dream of.  That was a massive catalyst in my numismatic maturity,
and I dove into numerous online collecting resources. Unfortunately for me, I did all the wrong
things.  I mainly turned to Cointrackers.com for my information, and as you experienced
collectors know, coin trackers is far from the best resource.  To give you an idea of how naive
my 9-year-old self was, I made sure all of my wheat cents sat in vinegar for at least 24 hours and
HAD to be sure that all of my coins were free of any type of grime.  Yes, I cleaned all my coins. 
I had no idea that it was wrong, so I did it very often.  Eventually, I turned to semi-decent
sources, and corrected myself.  After this turning point in my coin collecting life, I was far from
experienced, and I made more critical errors. I did not recognize this and felt like I was on top of
the world.  In my euphoria, I considered myself a self-taught expert who knew everything there
is to know.  To give you an idea of how little I knew, I evaluated a wheat cent at $1 (when it is in
actuality, rarely above $0.15 in average condition) and just recently uncovered some old flips
containing a coin with a self-grade titled “MS 30” on a coin that was probably an MS63 or so.
For those not familiar with the grading scale, the grade “MS30” does not exist.  I had no idea
about anything to be totally honest, but genuinely thought I knew everything.  It is very strange. 
However, I had recently found a friend and converted him to the hobby.  His numismatic
knowledge accelerated faster than I thought, and he surpassed me fairly quickly.  I didn't like this
too much seeing as how trading him was my only numismatic income, and he now had the upper
hand on me.  This drove me to learn more, and to learn more accurate information.  I did some
real research and learned a few things.  I sort of gave up at that point and took a break from
numismatics for a few months.  When I came back, I came back as a more mature teenager
(contradictory, I know, ha-ha), and dove back into the online community, more specifically,
YouTube.  I got a few mail trades under my belt and grew in knowledge.  But all the doors
opened to me in the summer of 2020 when I had my first job.  I got a steady flow of money and
spent a lot on eBay.  Some purchases were amazing, others I would grow to regret.  But I learned
from my mistakes and moved on.  Then I joined the ANA.  That may have been the best thing I
ever did for my numismatic growth.  I learned SO much, made lots of connections, took some
courses, and exponentially increased my knowledge.  Here we are now, and I am making a
course for other people interested in numismatics but who don't know how to start.
So how do we begin our collection from scratch?  Everyone has to start somewhere.  I
was fortunate to have a pretty easy start.  Well, here I would love to answer this very question
that has baffled beginners and made many of them leave the hobby before they even start.  First,
you are tasked with one thing.  Research.  If you want to get into this hobby, by all means, go
ahead.  But you must learn some of the basics first.  Maybe watch some YouTube videos on the
subject or read some books.  The ANA (American Numismatic Association) has some amazing
resources on YouTube that are more than worth checking out if you are a beginner.  Once this is
completed, familiarize yourself with different varieties and errors that can be found in pocket
change, and make a quick trip to your local back.  Buy a box of cents for $25 and go through
them, pulling out the valuable ones that command a premium.  Consider keeping a few and
selling/trading the rest for new goodies.  Repeat the process with more coins, and pretty soon you
will have a nice start.  Once you begin selling coins on eBay, you can reinvest your profits back
into the hobby and the cycle will repeat.  Work your way up the numismatic ladder and enjoy
yourself along the way.  Remember, numismatics is not about monetary gain.  It is all for fun,
and appreciation of art and history.  
Since I found my two grandfathers’ collections, all things related to coins have become
my favorite hobby. This pastime has given me information about different countries of the world.
I have come to know about the important, distinct personalities of different countries, whether
that's a currency note of one Lac IDR of Indonesia to Nigerian Naira, it's really exciting to have
them and keep them safe. This hobby has made me responsible to take care of important things at
a very young age. I have also learned a lot about the different currencies on my foreign vacations
and usually collect some of the local currency for my collection.  It has also taught me this lesson
that “a life without hobbies is like food without salt”. 
 But more important to me are the coins from America.  It is very fascinating for me to
hold these time capsules of history, and contemplate where they have been, and who might have
held them.  As an example, you might be interested in this story from history.  Shortly after the
United States was born, we were struggling with $85 million of debt. This, in addition to the fact
that the government was still unable to tax the people, led to our inability to mint silver coins. 
We needed money to buy the silver, money to buy a place to melt it, money to pay people to melt
it, plus the cost of the needed machinery to melt the coins.  The brand-new president of the
country, George Washington, came up with a rather unconventional alternative.  Upon leaving
his house to another long day in the office, he snuck into his kitchen and stole some of his wife's
fine silverware.  He gave it to the head coin guy, and he melted it down, and this was the silver
that became the first few coins minted in New America.    
It truly is as William Wooden once said, "Coins are the footprints of nations".  I have
greatly enjoyed straining my pocket change to try to find the rare, valuable, and abnormal, but
soon that was not enough.  I began to go to the bank to get boxes of coins, to the point where I
was going through $50 of pennies a week.  Then that wasn't enough either.  I got into the
business and bought and sold coins online.  Who knows where I will go next?  Sure, the
wheeling and dealing involved in buying/trading coins is a large reason to love this hobby, the
main thrill comes from anticipation.  You never know what great historic piece you will come
across in a coin store or in rolls from a bank.  I even go through all the change I ever receive.  I
mean, hey, who knows what kind of valuable coins are lurking in YOUR pocket?

-CHAPTER 1-
Why Coins?
Among all the questions asked to me about my “strange” fascination of paying large
sums of money for other pieces of money, I am commonly asked the question, “why coins?
Why not shoes, baseball cards, or heck, even seashells?”. So, let me break this down to you in a
way I hope you will understand. Sure, there is always the thing where certain pastimes appeal to
some and turn off others. This cannot be helped; however, I can give you some clarity on the
topic of why I (and other collectors like me) chose this hobby to direct the current of our lives.
A respect and basic understanding of history is required in a field like numismatics.
Every coin tells a story, and some are more important than others. It is interesting to hold a
penny from the mid-1800s and realize what a difference it was back then. In those times, a
penny was the “peoples” coin. It was most commonly used, much like the $1 bill today. If you
were to buy a loaf of bread in central New York City in 1858, you would likely pull out a penny
or two to pay for it. It was the most heavily circulated, and therefore tells the bigger story. As
you hold it in your hand, your mind wanders to who held that coin. Perhaps a beggar used it to
buy a meal after it was given to them while panhandling in the street. It could have been used as
payment from Carnegie to one of his steel manufacturing employees. One simply does not
know, but it is very fun to entertain those theories.
Imagine holding in your hand an ancient coin of Alexander the Great. Thoughts of the
man and his life come vividly to mind. The study of coins brings us in close contact with
economics, geography, art, religion, and most definitely history.
In fact, it was around this ancient time period during which coin collecting was first
started. The Romans admired and imitated Greek coinage, The Roman historian Suetonius tells
us that Augustus, on solemn occasions, presented his friends with a coin of a foreign state or
prince. It is likely that the hobby is as ancient as the coins themselves. The 14th century Italian
humanist Petrarch was asked by Emperor Charles IV to compose a book concerning the lives of
illustrious men and to place the emperor’s name on the list. In response, Petrarch send the
monarch a collection of gold and silver coins of celebrated men, along with this message:
“Behold to what men you have succeeded! Behold whom you should imitate and admire!
To whose very form and image, you should compose your talents! This invaluable present I
should have given to nobody by you: it was due to you alone. I can only know or describe the
deeds of these great men. Your supreme office enables you to imitate them.”
What a lesson this holds for all who might try to draw inspiration for their collections!
Without the testimony of coins, the world would never know that the Roman emperor Antonius
and Faustina had a son named Galerius Antonius, of that the emperor called Silbannacus existed.
Vaillent, in his 1681 history of the kings of Syria, set the first important example of
fixing dates om ancient history through a chronological organization of coins. Since then, the
technique has been used by historians and archeologists.
Despite popular opinion, it is very hard to “strike it rich” in numismatics. There are a
select few who have been extremely successful in the business, however they are (in general)
exceptions to the rule. Numismatics is less about the money, and more about the journey you
take along the way. You can make a modest living in the hobby if you explore the right avenues,
but most likely not climb the financial ladder too high.
The wonderful thing about numismatics is that it can be approached in so many different
ways. I know many collectors who are not as interested in the history of coins, but who will
spend hours on end studying the designs and studying the life of the engravers. They uncover
interesting traits for each person and reveal hidden meaning that is commonly overlooked by the
people who use coins every day of their life.
Coins offer you a greater appreciation of history, and you can see common themes in the
designs which directly correlate to the world in which they were minted.
It was 1864, and the Civil War has just concluded. The nation it left in its wake was
broken, divided, and had little hope. The period known as “Reconstruction” began under the
Lincoln Administration, and they tried to come up with a plan to reunite the American people
and make them realize we were fighting for the same cause. The economic changes in 1864
warranted a new denomination of coinage, and congress passed a bill approving the mintage of a
“2-cent penny” to be made of copper. Under the direct influence of Lincoln himself, a new
motto would be making its debut on this coin. On the reverse (backside) of the coin, right above
the proudly displayed Union Shield, were the words “In God We Trust”. This motto later was
expanded to be included on every US coin, and remains this way to date. Lincoln wanted the
motto to unite the American people under God Himself. It has been debated how big of a role
this played in reconstruction, but we can all agree that it indeed had a role of some size.
In 1915, William Wooden, a prominent collector in his day made a statement which has
been recorded to read “Coins are the footprints of nations”. This is true in its entirety. Coins are
metallic capsules of the economic progress of our great nation. In the very beginning of our
nation’s coinage in 1792, there was much upheaval and debate on the subject of the composition
of the penny. The fineness of the copper used was always in question, and very few people
believed in the federal government to produce coinage. The Continental Dollar of the 1770s had
been a major economic failure, and the US hoped to prevent this issue from occurring again by
composing the coin out of its value of metal. So, one penny would contain exactly one cent
worth of copper, and each dollar would be $1 worth of fine silver or gold. As time goes on, you
can see the size of the coins reduce in size along with the economy. Pennies started out as big as
an Ike dollar, and did not decrease to the size we are familiar with until 1858.
Numismatics provides super unique historical stories which appeal to certain
personalities. A personal favorite of mine is the story of the government official and the dead
rat. The story goes something like this… The year is 1933, and President Wilson has just
officiated the gold act. This required all US citizens to return and exchange their gold coins for
face value. Gold coins were dramatically worth more than their face value due to a rise in the
bullion market. The federal offices were flooded with millions of gold coins to be melted down
into bars which currently reside in Fort Knox. With this many gold coins in such a small space,
security was tight. There was less worry about people getting in, as there were people leaving
their jobs with pockets full of the newly illegal materials. The exits where very well guarded
with scanners and metal detectors (which were highly advanced for their day but were far from
the technology we take for granted today). We hear numerous accounts of a man who hollowed
out his prosthetic leg with coins (which was already made of metal, so he could bypass the metal
detector). His plan was well thought out, but the weight of the coins was more than the
prosthesis could handle, and it detached from his stump right before he got to the door, spilling
coins out everywhere. He tried to run, but… he was a leg behind (bad pun, I’m sorry). We
know of another man who purposely broke his arm on the job after pocketing a few coins so he
would be rushed out the door without being checked by security. He would have gotten away,
but his guilty conscience made him return the coins the next week with his story. Among those
greedy men was an especially smart man (who online records leave anonymous). He saw many
try to sneak out with coins and saw many fail. He spent his day poking and prodding the security
of his workplace, but never had the guts to take advantage of the opportunities. That all changed
one day when he noticed a dead rat lying on the sidewalk outside of the building. He took notice
of it but didn’t think much about it until epiphany struck while he was filing some papers. A
plan was forming in his mind, but it all depended on if the rat was still there when he left. Much
to his pleasure, the rat remained where he saw it that morning. He picked up the rat and took it
home. He gutted the rat and sewed up all the major holes in its skin but one. He took the rat to
work in his pocket and stuffed it with a handful of gold coins. He threw the stuffed rodent off
the second story balcony and watched with glee as it landed on the grass below. He went back to
work with confidence that no one would find his treasure, because surely, no one would touch a
dead rat! He would leave work with a tinge of worry that it had been discovered, but it remained
where he threw it. He took the rat home and enjoyed his newly found riches. He repeated this
process for a week and sold his coins to the highest bidder. One day he got careless. By this
time, the rat was getting fairly ripe, and was not as sturdy as it used to be. He over-stuffed it a
bit, and carelessly threw it off the side of the building, not bothering to check if it landed safely.
The rat exploded on impact, spilling gold coins galore on the surrounding field. It was soon
discovered by security, and the man was arrested when he went to claim his coins.
The stories coins have to tell is a major part of what makes them appealing to collectors.
Wouldn’t you love to be able to own a coin that we know he stuffed in that rat? Besides the
whole part about it having been inside a rat, I would pay a lot of money to own that coin.
Numismatics is separated into a few major branches that are worth mentioning:

General Numismatics – The collecting/studying of coins.

 Exonumia – The collecting of tokens, medals, and other things in the distant family of
coins.

Currency – The collection of paper money as opposed to coins only.

MPC – Military Paper Currency is the collecting of coins/currency that is directly tied to
the US Army.
It is not uncommon for collectors to fit under multiple, if not all, of the above-mentioned
categories. Currency is the most common outside of general numismatics, closely followed by
Exonumia. MPC is significantly rarer for people to collect, but the ones who do are extremely
knowledgeable about their craft.
-CHAPTER 2-
Beginning Your Own Collection: Where to Start
You viewed this book filled with questions, wondering if numismatics is a hobby for you,
if it is really as nerdy as it sounds, and most prominently, how on earth you might be able to start
a collection from scratch. If you are not already there, I would recommend that you check out
my numismatic course, Numismastery 101, at www.numismaster.weebly.com where I dive into
more specific info about how/where to start your very own collection.
There are many different ways one can go about collecting, and many collectors feel that
their biggest enjoyment of numismatics is found in the way we can collect what we want, and
how we want, and no one can tell us not to. In general, there are five main ways numismatists
collect coins, however you may feel the freedom to create your own. I will explain these to give
your mind a point of reference for you to decide what kind of collector you are. The most
common ways we collect can be summed up as Denomination Collecting, Series Collecting,
Type Set, Date Set, and Topical Sets. In order to store your collection (I will go into more depth
on this issue in a different chapter) the most widely used option is a coin folder. It usually folds
into three “pages” containing holes form-fitting to the coins it is meant to hold. The company
Whitman has offered these for sale for years, and usually produces products with high quality.

Denomination Collecting – In this form of a collection, you would accumulate coins from the
same denomination. For example, I am mainly a denomination collector, and I collect US Cents.
This means I have a collection that ranges from 1792 to the present day consisting of “pennies”
or rather, one cent coins. This form of collecting is very broad and can be done in many
different ways. The one consistent thing is that it always consists of coins with the same
denomination (one cent, etc.).

Series Collecting – This way of collecting is a more specific category of Denomination

Collecting. As opposed to collecting coins of the same denomination, here you are collecting
coins within a specific series. For example, you could be fascinated with Buffalo Nickels (1913-
1938) but don’t find any other nickels that interesting to collect. Then you may decide to
assemble a collection of a Buffalo Nickels, one for each year and mint mark. Since this form of
building a collection is much more specific, it has less branch-offs, however it is great because it
refines your collection to be more in line with your personal interests.

Type Sets – By far the most widely accepted form of collecting, Type Sets are very fun to
assemble. In a Type Set, your main goal is to obtain one example of each series (and, depending
on how thorough you are, each major variety) of a specific group. Most major collectors charge
themselves with putting together a US type set, which exhibits one specimen of each series of
coinage the US mint has coined from 1792 to the present. While this can get expensive to
assemble, it is a major accomplishment. If you are a Denomination Collector, you might think
about building a Type Set for your specific favored denomination. If you collect nickels, you
would put together a set with one example of each series of the 5-cent coin.

Date Sets – This one is right up there with Type Sets in popularity. Many collectors double up
on these forms of collecting, and most who have a Type Set also possess a Date Set. Date Sets
contain one example of a specific denomination, series, country, etc. for each year and mintmark.
In modern times (1909-1990) this would be three coins for each year. One minted in
Philadelphia, one from Denver, and one from San Francisco. (After around 1990, San Francisco
only minted Proof coinage, which is not meant for circulation. Therefore, they were left out of
coin folders).

Topical Sets – This one is perhaps one of the least popular forms of accumulating a collection,
and therefore is the most commonly misunderstood. Assembling a Topical Set is fairly simple.
A Topical Set is a collection of coins who feature similar/associated designs. A popular Topic
Set is made up of all US coins which feature different animals. I know of a few collectors who
work tirelessly to assemble a set of world coins which feature dogs and cats. A collection like
this is rarely “completed”, rather, added to as time goes by. I personally do not practice this
method, but there are those who get a sense of fulfillment from it.

Like I mentioned, it would simply be impossible to try and explain every kind of
collection collectors have assembled. But these main categories hopefully will be enough to help
you distinguish where you personally fall on the great spectrum which is numismatics. Before
we progress on the topic of growing your collection, I feel the need to draw in one major
difference between types of collectors. This main distinguishing factor separates all
numismatists into two overarching categories: The “Specialist”, and the “Dignified Hoarder”.

The Specialist – This numismatist will pick his form of collecting, and rarely expand his/her
collection outside of that. He/she may pick multiple different collections (for example, he/she
may have a complete US type set, is working on a Date Set for all post-1900 US coins and is
compiling a Topic Set of coins featuring Cars as a main design element). However, he/she will
never buy or seek out coins that do not have an immediate place in any of his/her collections.

The Dignified Hoarder – These collectors are those who take the approach of “general
accumulation” to numismatics. This is the kind of collector I personally tend to be. While I
have many different Type Sets, Date Sets, and Series Collections, I always buy coins that do not
have a place in those collections if the price is right. Sometimes I might sell a coin to flip a
profit, but I hang onto anything cool that finds its way to my hand. This approach is less focused
on “finishing” a particular set, and more geared towards those with a fiery passion for all things
numismatic.
 So now we know the basics of the different ways there are to collect, but we are still
lacking some crucial pieces to the puzzle. Obviously, we need a place to start. How do we
actually start our own collection? I, like many others, was fortunate enough to inherit a small
collection to kickstart my hobby. For those who are less fortunate, I have good news! It is not
only simpler than you might think to start from scratch but can be relatively inexpensive if you
try to make it so. Depending on your financial situation, it may be easy or hard to begin. For the
intents and purposes of this book, we will assume you have almost no spare money to pour into
your new hobby. Even if you have loads of cash ready to go, I still advise you follow these steps
to allow time for you to make a commitment to this hobby before dumping money into it, as well
as learn the market so you do not make poor spending decisions.
First off, your job is to do some research, and learn all you can about what you are
signing up for. But you are already here, so it looks like you are ready to go. The most common
way for new numismatist to begin is to do what we refer to as “coin roll hunting”. And yes, it is
exactly as exciting as it sounds! I am not being sarcastic; most collectors who started out this
way (myself included) still coin roll hunt no matter how far their collections and financial
situations have improved. Coin roll hunting (CRH for short) is where you go to your local
bank/coinstar and walk out with large quantities of coins. You then go through every coin in the
roll (or box if you get a lot of coins) and “cherry pick” the valuable coins, or the coins you need
for your personal collection. You will find that about 90% of the coins will be nothing special,
so you can return them to the bank for cash when you are done. This is super-efficient, because
you are “purchasing” the coin for face value, but as soon as you add it to your collection, it
accumulates more value to you. Of course, the rarer coins in any type set or date set will not be
found in circulation, so you will need to purchase those. If you would like to, there IS a market
for certain coins still obtainable in circulation, so you can sell those for a higher price than their
intended (face) value. For example, the mint at West Point dumped about 10 million quarters
into circulation in 2020 which feature a special seal commemorating the 75th anniversary of the
second World War. This sent collectors into a frenzy of CRH, and they sell for about $12 in the
current market in Feb. 2021. That’s a massive profit of $11.75 per coin. Clearly, CRH is an
invaluable tool to beginning collectors. For a list of coins you can find in circulation that have a
premium (extra value) you can view a printable spreadsheet at my website,
www.Numismastery.weebly.com.
Sadly, as with any form of investment, nothing comes free. CHR will only get you so far
before you need to actually invest money. Once you have gotten your feet wet in numismatics
through CHR, I recommend visiting a local coin shop (LCS for short) and purchasing some
lower end coins. The important thing here to remember is to set a budget. Both a budget on the
particular coin you are looking for (if there is one), but more importantly, a budget for the entire
visit. Speaking from experience, it is not healthy to your financial situation to spend $500 on
coins in one browsing station. Decide beforehand on a personal numismatic budget (either
monthly or per visit) and stick to it. Do your research before buying anything, and try to be sure
not to overspend. If you are purchasing from a LCS, there is little to worry about when it comes
to authenticity. Most LCS abide by a strict code of ethics, and it is extremely rare to come across
a counterfeit piece. If you do run into this issue, most dealers will give you a full refund no
questions asked. If you do not have a LCS nearby (like me) then do not worry. This is
extremely controversial, but my advice would be to look online. eBay is especially prominent in
the coin market, but there are precautions that must be taken into consideration. Just as you
would when buying anything online, look at the reviews. Both the item reviews and the seller
reviews are equally important. Make sure they have loads of recent good feedback, and you may
have a level of confidence. Double check that the seller accepts 30-day returns, so if there is an
issue with the authenticity of the piece or anything else, you can return it no questions asked. Try
(in most cases) to avoid purchasing items from China, especially Hong-Kong, as they are known
for selling counterfeits. It is always a good idea to purchase coins which have been graded by
one of the leading TPG (Third Party Graders) to add another layer of security to the authenticity
of the specimen. Once all these boxes are checked (as well as any others you might want to see)
then you can buy with relative confidence. If you buy with PayPal, then you are backed by the
PayPal buyer protection, which will refund you. If worked right, buying online can be very
rewarding. In almost every investment market, there is a popular saying which reads “If it is too
good to be true, then it is!”. As the buyer, you need to do your research, and never buy a coin
that is ridiculously underpriced.
You can also check local pawn shops (which are nice because they will usually let you
negotiate), “hoarder shops”, and antique stores for coins. It’s worth mentioning that purchasing
coins from places like these requires a certain amount of experience and knowledge in order to
attest to the authenticity of the coins. Most pawn shops (depending on their reputations) are safe,
but local owners of antique shops may know nothing about coins and will sell counterfeit coins
without realizing it. Once you gain a year or two of hands-on experience, you should be able to
tell a counterfeit coin from a real one with no issues. Before looking for coins in these places
which generally leave the door open to negotiation, I recommend reading a book or two about
negotiating. I found this astronomically helpful in my numismatic pursuits, and this particular
piece to the grand scheme of coin purchases has become one of my more refined skills. Buying
coins at the lowest price is great, as long as you are nice and understanding about it. If you have
a nice LCS, it is equally important to try and grow a personal relationship with the owner (or
anyone else with the authority to give you personalized discounts). Do not try and gouge them
for every last penny. Give them some room to grow a profit, and they will treat you the same
way in the future.

-CHAPTER 3-
Numismatic Supplies
Almost as important as the coins themselves are then things that you study them with. As
a collector with just a few years shy of a decade of experience, I can personally attest to the
things that are actually useful as opposed to the collector “fads” that are quite common, but do
not do you much good. Supplies can be separated into three categories: storage, research, and
authentication.

Storage – Arguably the most invaluable out of the three, the way you store your coins can either
be in the most beautiful of displays for all to see, or it could be the downfall of your prized coins
to chemical damage. One of the most common and professional ways for new collectors to store
their coins are in 2x2 flips. These are cardboard pieces with a form-fitting hole in it covered
with clear scored mylar. You put the coin in the little window and fold the carboard over it,
stapling it in place. This is a safe way for coin storage; however, some argue that the staples
interact with the coins, and damage them. I have been using 2x2’s my entire numismatic life,
and never experienced that firsthand. A company by the name of BWC makes high quality flips
as well as pocketed plastic sheets which hold 16 2x2 flips each to be stored in a 3-ring binder.
This is the form of storage I have personally grown to favor.
On a similar to the commonly quoted numismatic proverb “Never clean your coins”, the
saying “beware of coin killers” is very prominent on almost all numismatic platforms. Polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) is a chemical compound that was commonly used in coin holders up into the
1980’s. however it can still be found today. PVC damage leaves a green residue on coins that
cannot be reverted. It makes plastic malleable and soft. In the numismatic world, we have a
saying that goes like “the harder the holder, the better”. Rigid holders often lack the damaging
chemicals that can be found in softer/cheaper holders. BWC holders are sure to be PVC free.
I previously touched on coin folders, and how they were useful for storing different forms
of collections. They are a nice way to store your coins in an organized, compact manner, yet
they are ready for display whenever you need. Due to the large success of the business Whitman
which produces the folders, these coin folders are often referred to as “Whitman’s” even though
there are other companies who produce them.
For coins that you don’t care about rubbing up against each other, I have found tackle
boxes extremely useful. All the little compartments are just perfect for organizing your
numismatic items. I have a fairly large collection of world coins which I don’t especially care
about the condition of. I have them organized by country in tackle boxes. Coins with a large
premium above face value (such as that 2020 quarter I spoke of) should be treated with special
care and placed in a 2x2. Low grade wheat pennies from 1940-1958 (which can be easily found
in circulation today) would be perfect for tackle boxes. Coins with a high grade and a high value
(generally above $22 over what you paid for it) it might be worth looking into getting it graded
by NGC or PCGS. I will go more in-depth to the processes of this in a later chapter.
The best thing about coin storage is that you can get creative. Do not be afraid to
customize your coin storage to fit with your personality traits. I chose to store my coins as a
massive display in my closet so my family can walk in and view it anytime at their leisure. Just
make sure to make your collection extremely organized so you can easily identify what
everything is at first glance.
While we are on the topic of storage, I have one other piece of advice for you. It
is a great idea for you to keep an inventory log of all the coins you own. You can choose to
remove coins you have sold, or let it be a permanent record of all the coins you have had in your
possession. Along with the coin, it would be wise to write what you bought the coin for. If you
acquired it in a trade, include what the price was. This ensures that you always sell a coin for
more than your bought it. This way, you not only protect your investments, but can make a bit of
money on the side.

Research – This category is extremely important. As a collector you need all the resources you
can get. Key to any numismatist is some form of a catalogue. The most commonly used price
guide for “raw” coins (coins which have not been slabbed and graded by a TPG) is the Red Book
and the Blue Book. They come out with a new issue each year and have been publishing them
for 75 years as of 2021. The Red Book outlines every coin from every year and mint with a
price for several “milestone” grades or each coin. These values are representation of the full, fair
market value for the piece. It is important to note that the Red and Blue books will always be off
on silver coins. The price of silver fluctuates daily, so you have to do your own research on
those. The Blue Book is the exact same thing; however, it is not based on retail pricing. The
Blue Book quotes you a price that you can expect a dealer to pay for the coin. The dealer will
most likely sell the coin at retail, or just slightly above, and therefore will purchase it lower. If
you compare prices in both the Red Book and the Blue Book, the Blue Book prices will be
significantly lower. Both are important to own, but if you only have enough money for one, I
recommend the Red Book. You can just subtract a bit if you are curious as to what at dealer
would pay.
For evaluating TPG coins (preferably by NGC, PCGS, and possibly ANACS) you can
access a price guide on the official NGC and PGCS websites with every coin at every possible
grade. Keep in mind, these prices are based on full retail, and only for coins in slabs from that
company. The silver price is automatically updated on the daily, so you never need to worry
about silver content. PGCS also offers a feature where you can see what the specific coin last
sold for at auction. They have expanded their catalogue to include NGC graded coins as well. It
is also important to note that PGCS has been known to lowball their prices, and NGC has been
known to highball. In moments of doubt, the fair market retail is usually right in the middle, or
slightly in favor of NGC.
It is always a good idea to start a numismatic library, whether that is online or physical.
If you have specific numismatic interests, read up on them, and buy some good books on the
topic. I have quite a lot of books on US Large Cents, which has been a recent fascination of
mine. Online resources are also a viable way to get your information as long as they are from a
reputable source. Anything from the ANA, NGC, PCGS, or the US Mint is trustworthy.
Anything else warrants research into the accuracy of their information. Attending coin shows is
also a very good resource but is not always easily accessible. The ANA published a book called
ANACS Grading Standards, which goes into heavy detail about how to grade individual coins
starting in 1792 and going to the present. It has full color pictures for reference, as well as
giving advice on what to look for when grading a coin, yourself. When used in tandem with
either the Red or Blue Book, it is very useful.

Authentication – There are several important tools of the trade that numismatics everywhere
needs. The most necessary ones are a scale that measures to the 100th of a gram, a 5-7x
magnifier (or a jeweler’s loupe), a coin scope for intense magnification of a coin’s surface, an
electric set of calipers (not necessary, but nice to have on hand), a few strong magnets, a soft mat
to hold coins over, a powerful light (preferably incandescent) and a box of latex gloves.

Scale – All metals have a different density, therefore counterfeit coins made from a
different metal will have a different weight than their authentic counterparts. A scale will help
you confirm the authenticity of your coins if you know what it is actually supposed to weight.

Magnifier – More commonly used than an average magnifying glass is the jeweler’s
loupe with a magnification of 5-7x. The best loupes have three lenses, each adding a higher
level of magnification when used on top of each other. This allows for easy on-the-go access to
magnification. A coin graded at a perfect MS70 has absolutely no contact marks or visible
defects at a 5x magnification. This makes a 5x loupe invaluable in coin grading.

Scope – I was able to find a multitude of functional coin scopes with a USB output for
your computer for around $20. However, if you are going to go all in with numismatics, it
would be worth it to invest in a higher end model for around $150. It allows a sharper image,
with much higher quality that will not have to be replaced in 5-7 months.
 Calipers – Going back to the weight of a coin… In order to make a coin weigh the right
amount when the base metal is heavier or lighter than the authentic coin, one must adjust the size
to fit more/less metal in it. Calipers will measure the diameter and thickness of a coin with no
issues. This, used in tandem with the scale, is a sure sign that your coin is authentic.

Magnets – While they are generally not used, magnets are nice to have on hand. Certain
coins, such as the 1943 steel cent, are highly magnetic. If you have a high grade 1943 steel cent
that makes you question its authenticity, a magnet would give you a quick answer. But, of
course, make sure you do not allow the coin to slam against the magnet, as this would result in
massive damage to the coin. Simply restrain the coin, and guide the magnet above the coin,
testing for attraction.

Mat – this is fairly self-explanatory. Anything would do, as long as it is soft. More often
than not, I find myself using a towel or a blanket on top of my hard surfaces in case I drop the
coin. This would prevent the coin from accumulating wear, contact marks, and scratches from
the collision. Naturally, it would be a good idea to invest in a more professional solution if you
are in front of a dealer.

Gloves – Your greasy fingers will leave irreversible marks and damage on coins. Even if
you hold a coin by its edges (which you ALWAYS should). A box of medical gloves is about
$12 at my local store and comes in a pack of 100. I re-wear my gloves 4-5 times before either
cleaning them or throwing them away. It is totally worth the investment.

SPOTLIGHT: The “Racketeer” Nickel

In 1883, the mint struck a new 5 cent coin. It would later be known by numismatists as
the V-Nickel, and had a portrait of Liberty on the obverse, and the Roman Numeral “V” (5)
which gave the coin its name. When it was first released, the mint did not specify the word
“cents” anywhere on the coin, just the massive “V”. Even worse, it was about the same size of
the $5 gold piece, even with a similar design. Considering this was back when $5 was an
average man’s weekly wage, it wasn’t long before people were exploiting this for profit.
One racketeer in particular was especially bright and used his smarts in the worst way
possible. He went straight to work, and gold plated a nickel. He would employ another man,
Josh Tatum, to spread the coins into circulation. Before I continue, it might be important to
mention that Josh was a deaf-mute, and never spoke. He would use the coins for one or two cent
purchases, then set the nickel on the counter. While some were not fooled, and gave him three
cents in change, many clerks would play him $5 in change, not five cents!
So, was it fraud?... or just a clerk’s error? The man was eventually caught and put on
trial with Josh, but no one was able to testify that Josh told them it was a $5 coin, so neither
could be charged with fraud or counterfeiting.
In fact, this idea of gold plating nickels was so common that the mint was forced to make
a design change. In the later held of 1883, they added the words “cents” onto the design, where
they would remain until the design was discontinued in 1912. They caught themselves, but it
was after 5.5 million coins without “cents” were in circulation. This led to two varieties of
nickels minted in 1883. The 1883 “No Cents” and the 1883 (With Cents). Due to lower mintage
numbers, the 1883 (With Cents) is usually worth more in higher condition.
Today it is still possible to find gold plated 1883 “racketeer” nickels, although they
usually have a hefty sum attached. Many would argue that it is worth it to own a piece of
numismatic history as important as that. Who knows… it could have been one that was passed
by Tatum himself! Most don’t even know, but the word “Josh”, meaning to joke or tease
someone, actually was derived from Tatum’s ability.
So, is this incredible story true? Well… I wouldn’t Josh you!

-CHAPTER 4-
The Ins and Outs of Grading and Preservation
In my Numismastery course I go into every detail of coin grading, and the little trade
secrets therein. I recommend you access this free material for additional information on the
subject, and study up if you find this book insightful.
TPG is a massive contributor to the coin market. Sometimes you will find yourself
seeming to pay more for the slab that holds the coin than the coin itself. The demand for slabbed
coins is much greater than “raw” coins due to the assurance that the coin is 100% authentic. The
major TPG companies include NGC, PCGS, ANACS, and IGC. Many collectors like IGC,
however I stay away. In fact, I try to avoid ANACS as well. I only fully trust NGC and PCGS
due to their high grading standards. IGC has occasionally graded counterfeit coins as authentic,
and a coin graded MS63 from IGC was graded AU57 by NGC. Grades projected as higher than
life give you a false sense of value and accomplishment, but in reality, any potential buyer with a
very basic knowledge of coin grading would recognize an over graded coin and would stay away
from the high prices of the over grade. I mainly try to stick with NGC due to the fact that they
are very conservative with their grading. PCGS, while their holders look MUCH cooler, are very
liberal with their grades and designations. Not near as much as ANACS or IGC, but still more
liberal than NGC. I love to see my coin graded as conservatively as possible, and if me or my
buyer recognizes it as a higher grade, then I will ask a higher price. But it is best to be overly
cautious than overly lenient.
As you might know, depending on your level of knowledge, coins are graded under 11
designations on a scale of 1-70. 1 being the worst, and 70 being totally flawless. Proper
numismatic grammar requires you to always put the designation before the numerical grade. If
you just say “My 1950 penny came back from NGC as a 70” then no one will take you seriously
because that is seen as unprofessional. You instead should say “My 1950 penny came back from
NGC graded at MS70”.
In order to figure out if your coin would be worth sending into NGC (or your TPG of
choice) you have to take a few steps. First, you need to add up all of the costs involved. All
TPG companies require you to buy a membership before you are able to send in coins directly
for submission. I get a year free because of the ANA, so I do not know the cost. Then you must
add up the different “tiers” for your coin. For example, NGC charges $14 for every modern
(post-1955) coin. If it is a minting error, special variety, etc. then it is an extra $12. They stack a
$10 shipping and handling fee on every submission, so already you are looking at $36 (not
including a membership fee). Then you need to add up how much you got your coin for. Here is
a perfect real-life example that happened to me my first time. I had bought a 2004 Illinois
Quarter which was missing the clad layer on both sides. This is a very rare minting error, and I
knew it commanded a hefty premium. My friend sold it to me for $30 because he did not collect
errors and found it in circulation for 25 cents. He made a healthy profit, and it got me a bucket
list coin. So, I spent a total of $35 with tax and shipping, and new I could get a lot of money by
sending it in to be graded. In its current raw state, it was worth about $100 on the current
market. I self-graded it to be about a MS64BN by NGC standards, and found that its slabbed and
graded market value would be about $150-300. So, my total investment into the coin included
submission fees would total $71 (since it was modern, and an error, plus $10 shipping from
NGC). I knew on the low side (if it graded MS62) I could get $150, but if it was an MS64 like I
thought, then I could get up to $300. Either way, I would turn a massive profit. So, I knew it
would be worth sending it in. Sadly, a dealer saw an image and expressed concern that it was
not the actual error, so I am waiting on further authentication before I pay the submission fees.
NGC also offers you a platform for private/public online displays of your collection
called the Registry. Every coin graded by NGC is assigned a serial number for easy auction
tracking for their price guides. This also opened the doors for an innovative idea. You can set
up collection “sets” on the NGC registry and add your coins to them using the serial numbers.
This allows for them to have annual competitions for who can assemble the best set. This means
the most complete sets with the highest grades will win. They award the top 3 sets of each
category 4 times every year. The winner receives $500 of NGC credit along with some special
perks. This gives motivation for people to more actively pursue their numismatic interests as
well as draw in more people to NGC.
You can study all you want, and don’t get me wrong…. that’s great. But the only way to
master coin grading is lots of practice. There are a few online resources, but coin grading is not
an exact science. For years people have said that coin grading is an art form. In our weekly
newsletter, the Loupe, we have a section every time called “Guess the Grade”. This provides
you with an amazing opportunity to refine your grading skills so you can do the same thing in the
real world. You can subscribe to that on our website.

In order to fully understand coin preservation, we must analyze each composition

commonly found in US coinage and look at their weaknesses.

Copper Coins – Copper coins are by far the most easily damaged. In addition to
spotting and tarnishing, copper coins, especially earlier issues, may form a green crust known as
Verdigris. To put it simply, if not properly stored and handled in a safe manner, copper coins are
by far the most difficult to preserve in their original mint state. Although listed as put copper by
the mint to appease the public, the copper making up early American copper was rarely pure.
The metal came from nearly every imaginable source: copper nails, pots and pans, and even (in
some instances) melted down cannons from the Revolutionary War. This accounts for the wide
range of colors and toning we see in early copper coins in uncleaned, original condition. It is
important to remember that the main enemy of copper, especially in their original “red” state, is
moisture. Store your coins in a dry informant, as there are no coins which like moist
environments. Always take the time to examine as many coins as possible before making a
purchase, and keep in mind, the higher the grade, the higher the maintenance. Whether
assembling a set of Lincoln Cents, or add a nice 2-cent piece (which by the way, is the hardest
coin to obtain in its full “red” condition), color is all important, and should be the deciding
factor. My best advice for anyone with a low/medium budget would be to try and assemble a set
of copper coins in the XF to AU range. MS coins, especially copper, is very expensive, and
requires a lot of maintenance.

Nickel Coins – Some of the issues that present themselves to copper also affect nickel.
The alloy that makes up nickel coins is usually 75% copper, and only 25% nickel. Three-Cent
Nickels and 5 cent pieces are especially vulnerable to flyspecks and are most likely to tarnish
when exposed to air and moisture. It is also important to be especially vigilante with nickel
coins to make sure they are not cleaned. Cleaned coins, especially nickel, with exhibit a chrome
look, which suggests that it has been dipped in a coin cleaning solution. The most sought-after
color for nickel coins is a rich, lustrous, golden hue. It is most prominent in MS graded Buffalo
Nickels and early Jefferson Nickels. More often, the coin will have a silverish gray color
referred to as “steel grey”.

Silver Coins – Most of the silver coins produced are minted with 90% silver and 10%
alloy referred to as “clad” (usually copper mixed in with other elements). Silver coins are
naturally resistant to most forms of atmospheric damage; however, they are known to tarnish
fairly easily. Silver coins are, however, very easy to tone. Generally, they exhibit what we call
“Peripheral Toning” which occurs when the coin was stored in a cardboard 2x2 containing
sulfur. Toning is not considered damage, and many collectors (including myself) find it
attractive. Some sellers might try to enhance the look of their silver coins by tarnishing the
surface, and all manners of cleaning. It cannot be stressed enough for you to examine every coin
carefully when buying from an uncertified dealer.
Unlike copper, silver coins will not be significantly harmed from dipping it in a cleaning
solution, however it has the possibility of dulling the surface, and giving it an unnatural,
undesirable toning. The phrase “brilliance is best” does not always hold true in the field of
numismatics.

Gold Coins – There is not too much to say concerning gold coins in this regard. Gold is
nearly immune to all forms of atmospheric damage, corrosion, and tarnish. However, like silver
coins, the US mint composes them of 90% gold, and 10% clad. Any forms of spotting and
imperfections can be blamed on the copper content of the clad, which is unevenly spread out
inside the coin. In time, gold coins may display a dull luster, or exhibit a molted film. This is
usually due to improper handling and preservation.

Coins are slabs of tough metal, but care has to be taken to keep them that way.
Remember, proper handling and storage of your coin will ensure that others can enjoy the coins,
and the entire hobby, as well.

-CHAPTER 5-
What Gives a Coin Value/Kinds of Coins
The main contributors to the overall value of a coin can be summed up as condition,
rarity, demand, and composition. There are also several nuances you will discover as you dive
into the coin market and gain firsthand experience.
Condition – I cannot stress enough the importance of condition when evaluating a piece.
The ability to personally grade a coin is invaluable and is a skill you must learn. Of course, the
higher the condition, the higher the price.
 Rarity – There has always been some debate as to consider the original mintage to
determine the rarity of a coin, or the surviving population. This is especially true with gold
coins, seeing as how millions where made, then melted down in 1933 under the Wilson
Administration. The current general consensus is to count the surviving population, both overall
and within certain grades.

Demand – There is another saying that goes “Your coin is only worth what other people
will pay for it”. You can quote all the Red Book prices you want, but your coin is only worth
what a dealer or fellow collector is willing to pay for it. This is why being active in the coin
market is instrumental in being successful in the hobby. You need to be able to witness the
trends for specific coins for yourself, and then use your experience to speculate where they will
go in the future. This way, you can be sure not to overspend on new acquisitions.

Composition – If the coin is made of a valuable metal (commonly made up of gold,

silver, and platinum) then there is not only added value due to the price of the metal, but also a
bit of added demand to the coin for investors.

There are countless other factors, but in general, if there is anything about the coin that
makes it unique, it has a premium. Whether that is an error, variety, or special history, there is
some collector out there who will want to own it.

There are millions upon billions of coins the US has produced in its existence, and all can
categorize into three main groups: Business Strikes, Proofs, and Commemoratives.
Business Strikes are coins that are made in the conventional way coins intended for
circulation are minted. So basically, these are coins which are not proofs, or any of its different
finishes. A Business Strike is a perfectly normal coin.
A Proof coin is a coin that was struck from a pair of polished dies. Back when the mint
was making Proof coinage for functionality, they would use the Proof method of minting to test
the quality of their dies. The polishing of the dies would give the coin a mirror finish, and in
some cases, gave the raised design elements a frosted finish. This frosted finish is very desirable
as it adds a contrast between the design and the mirror-like background. This contrast is called
“Cameo” and is separated into two designations by NGC: Cameo, and Ultra Cameo. Cameo
Proofs have subtle contrast, while Ultra Cameo (Also called “Deep Cameo) displays heavy
contrast. In more modern times, such as post-1930, Proof coins were made in mass numbers
from the mints (most commonly San Francisco) exclusively for collectors. Currently, there are a
multitude of varying finishes for proof coinages. The list includes Reverse Proofs, Burnished
Proofs, Enhanced proofs, Matte Proofs, and many more! It is fun (as well as expensive) to
acquire one of each finish for one entire year. Proof coinage can be collected individually as
well as in Mint Sets. Mint sets usually contain one proof of each coin minted in that particular
year. It is common for collectors to try and obtain a mint set for every year beginning in 1910 to
the present.
Commemoratives, or affectionately called “commems” by collectors, are coins not made for
circulation, but to commemorate a specific event, person, or to raise money for an event. This
was first thought up by the US mint in 1892 when the Chicago World Fair was looming around
the corner. The Mint made a coin commemorating the Colombian Exposition of 1692, marking
the 400th anniversary. These coins were sold at the Chicago world fair to raise money. There
was a Half-dollar (one of my personal favorite coins) as well as a dollar. Both were made of
silver, mintages where in the 9 million range. The half-dollar was also minted in 1893 in fewer
numbers. This was also the first time an engraver of the US mint engraved a historical figure on
a coin, and not a model from his imagination. After this, commems began to be minted quite
frequently, and remain popular to this day. Many commemoratives are made in Proof finishes,
but some are only available in Business Strike form. More popular commem designs are also
available in other Proof Finishes. Collecting commems opens lots of doors for defiant ways you
can collect. Most commonly, collectors will try and accumulate one of each commem designs
and fit them into a type set. In actuality, the possibilities are endless.

SPOTLIGHT: The 1892 Chicago/Columbian Exposition 50c Piece

Commemorative coinage was not an idea that was created along with the US mint in
1792. In fact, it was by total coincidence that the mint issued its first commemorative coin
exactly 100 years after its creation, 1892. In 1893, the Chicago Exposition was being held, and
millions of people attended. It has even been said that nearly ¼ of the nation’s population was at
the Chicago Exposition (27 million people). The mint released this coin not only as a 400-year
commemorative to Christopher Columbus, but to raise money for the exposition. It was minted
in both 1892 and 1893.
The Chicago World Fair was a very important event in American history. It was there
that the first Ferris Wheel was ever used, and they had bands play music (all members inside one
car… Plus the instruments!) while the wheel was in motion. They hired Tesla to light the fair
with over 200,000 of his new lightbulbs using his AC current, rather than Edison’s DC current.
In fact, this sole event gave Telsa and his sponsor complete control of the electricity market, as
everyone grew to trust his “dangerous” AC power, leaving Edison and his DC power in the dust.
These coins sold for $1 at the event, and nearly 2 million sold (out of around 6 million
produced). They also sold a quarter at the event. In fact, the quarter sold for $1 as well!! It’s a
wonder that any sold at that price, with the half dollar being considered legal tender, so you are
literally getting more money for your money.
The commemorative was designed by Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber (who designed
the “Barber Dimes” (1892-1916). Because there were no known accurate portraits of Columbus,
Barber was forced to use his imagination for the design. However, while it may not be
historically accurate, it represents a landmark in US coinage where we looked past the
commonly accepted culture and tried something new. This set the stage for more and more
commemoratives to be struck in later years, and they are still being struck to date.
Although attempts to sell them after the event were made, no one seemed to be interested,
so some were melted down. Eventually the mint stopped melting them as it seemed wasteful,
and they dumped the leftover coins into circulation. Nowadays, the circulated 1892 half dollar is
considered common, and you can find it at nearly every local coin shop. In 1893, the mint struck
about 1.6 million more, making them even less challenging to obtain.
Up to that point, no US coin had depicted a historical figure as opposed to an artist’s
model.
 -CHAPTER 6-
Error Coinage/The Modern Minting Process

In a study of general minting errors and varieties, a vast knowledge of the modern
minting process is absolutely crucial. In any form of numismatics, the same understanding is
very important and quite useful in the hobby. Coin errors and varieties are commonly collected
among numismatists of all kinds. The mint has famously high-quality control for their coins, and
very little escapes for collectors to enjoy. Many valuable errors and varieties are so small that
millions of people handle the coin without noticing, opening the door for you to find them in
your own change. They vary in price from just a few dollars, to nearly a thousand!
Before we get into the details of what to look for in your change, we need to establish
two definitions for common understanding. While commonly used interchangeably, the words
“error” and “variety” have technically different meanings. The simplest, correct way of thinking
of it is as follows:
Error – An occurrence that does not repeat exactly.
Variety – An occurrence that DOES repeat exactly.
After the basics of the minting process is explained, I will be able to go into more depth of the
two meanings, but this will suffice for the time being. The minting process can be easily divided
into three parts: Planchet, Die Making, and Striking. There is a helpful mnemonic, PDS, which
corresponds to the mintmarks of the modern US mints, Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco.
Let’s take a look at each of them.
Planchet – This is the very beginning of the process. Raw metal is melted down into large strips
of desired thickness, called coils, out of the differing metallic alloys for each denomination. The
strip of metal goes through a process by which it is coated in a “clad” layer, which is basically
where another strip is layered on the top and bottom of the first. For example, if you were to cut
a quarter in half, you would see a copper-colored core. This is because the first strip is 100%
copper and is layered with a silver colored “clad” made of nickel. After around 1994, the mint
began hiring companies to do this for them and have altogether stopped producing coils
themselves. These coils of metal are shipped to the mint, where the actual coining process
begins. The striped are fed through what is called a “gang punch” which is a massive machine
which punches coin sizes “blanks” out of the strip. It is comparable to a massive hole-punch,
and the round cut-outs are fed on to the next stage. They are fed to the “Riddler” which
separated the round “blanks” from the excess metal strip, called “webbing”. The leftover metal is
sent back to the metal plant, and re used. The Riddler filters out miss-shapen blanks and is
supposed to prohibit “defective” blanks for moving on to the next stage: Annealing and cleaning.
The blanks are fed into a massive furnace of 1700 degrees, which is similar to a large
clothes dryer. They are spun around while being heated, and eventually exit the furnace. Then
they are quenched (cooled) before they pass the washing machine. Once cleaned, they move
through the dryer to remove any water or soap that might cause spots to form. The annealing
process makes the planchets easier to strike and reduce wear of the dies which strike them. The
washing ensures that no foreign substance is on the surface of the planchet that might interfere
with the production of the coins.
After the cleaning process, the blanks are fed into the “upset mill” which raises (upsets)
the edge of the blank. After this important step, the blank is referred to as a “planchet”.
Remember, a planchet has a raised edge, while a blank does not. Raising the edge increases the
coins’ ability to stack with other coins, reduces wear on the dies, and decreases wear during
circulation. For simplicity, blanks (no raised edge) are referred to as “Type I”, and planchets
(raised edge) are referred to as “Type II”. There are times where they are switched, which is
technically not correct, as the blank is produced first, therefore should be called “Type I”. But
this incorrect usage is the norm, not the exception. Planchets are easier to find in circulation than
blanks, so this is the root of the common error in type designation.
Once the rims are raised, the planchets are ready for striking. The “golden dollar” which
was introduced in 2000, however, has an additional step: Burnishing. Brass dollar planchets are
placed in a large tanks and tumbled with steel pellets to reduce tarnishing.
Die Making – It is common knowledge, even outside of numismatics, that the die is what
strikes the design into the coin. Little, however, is known about how they are made. The dies
have the inverted mirror image of the coin. Whatever design is recessed on the die with be in
relief (raised) on the coin.
The beginning of the die starts with the engraver. The engraver is hired by the mint to
design a coin for the mint to produce. While technological advances have dramatically changed
this process, I will be focusing on the process from the 1990’s and earlier, as the majority of the
errors and varieties you discover will be from those time periods. The engraver carves their
design into a 3D plaster (or epoxy) model which is roughly 15 inches in diameter, which will
eventually be transferred onto a coin or medal. The designs are rendered in relief, just like the
finished product. After all changes and corrections have been made, a rubber mold is created
from the original carving, and used to produce a second hard copy (called a “Galvano”) which is
also in relief. (Now, computers are used, and this process is skipped altogether). Since the
Galvano is much larger than the finished coin, it has to be reduced in size before it is engraved to
be used for making coinage. To accomplish this, the Galvano is put on a reduction lathe. The
first machines like this were used by the US in around 1870 and have been in use since (with
some modifications). The principle of the transfer reduction lathe is quite simple. A laser traces
the design of the Galvano and carves the design it “sees” onto the “master hub” which is the size
of the finished coin. The design is once more carved in relief, and at this stage, looks exactly
like the finished coin. The master hub is made of VERY strong metal and has one specific use.
The master hub (raised image, remember?) is placed into a “hubbing press”, which used
hydraulic pressure to smash the master hub into a softened cone-shaped piece of die steel. The
image is transferred to the steel die blank, making a “master die”. In order to fully transfer the
design, the master hub is pressed into the master die multiple times. This master die is in inverted
image and is used for the next process.
This master die is used to make several more working hubs. It is placed in a hubbing
press and used to make a few more hubs (which naturally are relief designs). In the same
process outlined above, these working hubs are used to make working dies. It is these dies
(inverted image) that are used to finally strike the coins. The mint needs just about 10,000
working dies for each denomination. Multiple hubs allow them to make more working dies
faster.
The obverse (front/heads side of the coin) dies are called the “hammer die” and are
placed above the reverse (back/tails side of the coin) die, called the “anvil die”. This will be
explained in the striking section. The die setter who assembles the dies into proper position must
take great care to make sure they are lined up. Not only in terms of left and right, but in terms of
360˚ rotation of the anvil die compared to the hammer die. They need to line up perfectly (or
within 5%) in order to be within mint standards. Note: only misaligned dies with 30%
misalignment are of interest to most collectors. Once the dies are made and in place, the striking
occurs.
Striking – Overhead conveyers bring the planchets into the coining presses, beginning the
striking process. The conveyer dumped the planchets into hoppers, which feeds them into the
actual coining chamber. This is where the dies are set up, with the hammer and anvil die. There
is a groove made to house the coin while it is struck, and this is where the planchet is fed. The
planchet rests directly on the lower (anvil) die. The hammer die slams down with almost a ton of
pressure onto the planchet, and the design is imparted on each side. In the mid-1800s, a “third
die” was implemented, called the collar. This is a ring that rests snug around the planchet,
holding the metal in its shape to prevent the sides of the planchets from expanding from the
pressure of the strike. Coins with a reeded edge (like the quarter) get their reeding from the
collar. After being struck, the anvil die raises, and feeder fingers remove the struck coin,
depositing a fresh planchet in its place. Think about it less as the metal being forced into the
recesses in the die, making the final image, and more of this idea: the pressure of the strike
causes a massive increase in temperature. This causes the surface of the planchet to become
molten, and the liquid metal flows into the recesses in the die. This is what causes the design.
Luster is the term we used to describe the way the light plays across the face of the finished coin.
Luster is evidence of the metal melting, as its very definition explains how it is the metal
exhibiting “flow lines” from the striking process.
A second set of riddelers are used to sort out misshapen coins and sorts them away to be
recycled. Coins are taken to automated counters, where they are bagged and distributed to the
Federal Reserve, who distributes them to banks all around the nation.
The specifics of coin mintage depends on the specific mint, and the quality of coinage
they are producing. West Point mints coins that are specifically made for collectors, so their
standards are very high (usually proofs). They polish their dies and tend to strike their coins
multiple times.

With the minting process explained, allow me to dive into more details regarding errors
and varieties. Like I mentioned, a variety repeats exactly, and an error does not. For example,
let’s take the process where the working hubs are used to make working dies into account. I
mentioned that most dies are truck with the hub multiple times before they are ready to be used.
In a few known instances, the hub does not have the same alignment on second strike, causing a
double image. This die will produce coins with the same doubled image, resulting in what we
call a “doubled die”. While this was an error on the part of the mint workers, this is considered a
variety, because that die will produce multiple coins with the same defect. The most common
example of the doubled die is the 1955 cent from the Philadelphia mint. Now let’s say the
planchet was incorrectly fed into the coining chamber, and only half of the planchet was resting
between the dies. This would mean only some of the planchet would get struck with the design,
resulting in an “off-center” coin. While many examples look the same, this does not repeat
exactly, so it is an error.
All errors can be attributed to having occurred in all PDS groups of the minting process.
It’s important to know how they occur so you know how to identify authentic pieces from those
that are commonly faked (like the 1955 doubled die). Many errors are valuable and collectable,
so I recommend you check out my list of common errors and varieties you can find in your
change on my website, www.numismastery.weebly.com, to see what you can find yourself!
 -CHAPTER 7-
A Brief Overview of the “Penny”

Hopefully by this point, you have a general feel for the hobby we call numismatics. Now
I would like to go over in-depth specifics of certain coins to provide you with some historical
context. I will dedicate this chapter to the coins the US has produced under the 1 cent
denomination. I just had to assign this its own chapter, as it cannot be summed up in a few short
paragraphs.
The Cent – Like I have mentioned before, the Cent, commonly called the Penny, is my
favorite coin to collect. Like many other numismatists, I “specialize” in the US cent. We have
gone over the fact that this was “the peoples coin”, and that it was circulated significantly more
than its numismatic counterparts. Because of inflation, we rarely use the penny today. I like to
draw a parallel between the cents of the 1800s to the $1 bill today. The cent was used in the
1800s much like the $1 bill is used today, only slightly more. Not only does this mean that a
“early American copper” coin was handled by more people, therefore adding more of a story to
its existence, but it makes it harder to find in its original Mint State “red” condition. A highly
graded Cent from the 1840’s in full red condition can fetch thousands at auction.
The first noteworthy Large Cents in US history began in 1787. Around this time, the US
Government did not mint its own currency, and all of that was done privately. Due to this fact,
the majority of the copper coins circulating at the time were significantly underweight, not nearly
containing one full cent worth of copper. (Remember, that was a decent amount of money back
then). To prevent another economic crisis, the government approved its first official coin, the
Fugio Cent. This coin, the design inspired by Benjamin Franklin, featured a sundial, the word
Fugio (“fly” in Latin) which gave the coin its name, and the slogan “mind your business”. This
motto was adopted in hopes that it would encourage the American people to be industrious and
use their time wisely. Unfortunately, the type of industrial spirit the Founding Fathers
envisioned for America never grabbed hold until 1875, after the reconstruction period which
followed the Civil War. The 1787 piece displayed 13 chains liked together surrounding the
phrase “We are One”, a plea for national unity. As you might have guessed, the chains were
representations of the 13 colonies bound together. Unlike most coins of the time period, this
coin had no denomination attached to it, just its weight in “pure” copper to back it up.
Unfortunately, the means by which James Jarvis (a copper coinage manufacturer for
Connecticut) went about production of this coin was unsteady, and he came short on several
contracts, which left a grand total of around 400,000 Fugio Cents minted, all of which were too
light to be used for circulation. They simply did not have the metal content needed to be worth
1/100 of a Spanish Milled Dollar (which was the golden standard in the late 1700’s). While
these coins never circulated, we have been lucky enough to find large storages of them, making
them more accessible to collectors… …for the right price.
In 1792 the government finally passed a coinage act, allowing the United States to have a
mint. During the several months preceding the opening of the first US mint in Philadelphia,
experimental coinage (called patterns) where privately struck in all denominations in hope to
gain some insight into what kinds of coinage designs would be used to represent America.
During this time, the idea of a one cent coin made of silver was the central topic of debate. After
exploring other options, the government decided on using a copper planchet. They were sure
that with better funding, they could make sure these coins were not rejected like their Fugio Cent
predecessors.
With the completion of the mint, as well as proper funding, the government began
production of the new copper cent in 1793. The coins produced were rather crude, but they were
still a source of American Pride. The coins were designed by Henry Voigt, who was employed
as a skilled mechanic, not an artist. They featured a bust of Lady Liberty on the obverse, with
the wind blowing through her hair. The obverse featured the same chain design as the Fugio
Cent, but with 15 links rather than 13, surrounded the words “One Cent” rather than the old
slogan.
The coin was harshly judged to say the least, and the general public had loads to say. The
mint received comments about how “the chain on the reverse is a bad omen for liberty [and]
Liberty herself appears to be in fright”. After such harsh criticism, the Chain Cent was replaced,
leaving only 36,000 that were struck. By nature, these coins are extremely desirable on the
current market, and are the most sought-after coins among Large Cent collectors.
Its successor was the Wreath cent, and it was received with a warmer spirit. The chain on
the reverse was replaced with a wreath, and the bust of Liberty was much more defined.
However, until its discontinuation in late 1793, the bust of Liberty was often referred to as “a
wind squaw with the heebie jeebies” and faced numerous counts of criticism. This early
discontinuation left only 63,300 coins in circulation. The bust of Liberty was then replaced with
a bust that appeared on the Libertas Americana medal, which was thought up by Benjamin
Franklin, and designed by Dupre, a famous French artist. The only change they made was to
switch the way Liberty was facing, so she would appear to face right on the Cent. Remember,
this bust was also used on the Half Cent in 1793 but was facing left; only the Cent was switched
to face right.
In 1795, the weight of the coin was adjusted to be roughly 3 grams lighter to
accommodate the changing economy. The design was changed a year later in 1796 when the
engraver Gilbert Stuart was charged with redesigning all US coins to have a better appearance.
He drew a design featuring Mrs. Anne Willing Bingham, a wealthy Philadelphian Socialite,
which became the Draped Bust design with a runtime of 1796-1807. This coin was produced at
a very dark time for the US mint. The Mint was being critically examined by the government,
who saw it as an expensive waste of time. During this era of turmoil, there were many bills to
abolish the mint that came from legislators. While all of these bills were doomed at the
beginning due to lack of support, the moral standing of the mint was very low. It was not the
dignified position it once was, and that American sense of pride was nearly gone. To make
matters even worse, a large number of unmistakable minting errors were exhibited in this period,
including a personal favorite, the 1/000 error (as opposed to 1/100).
in 1807, the mint hired yet another assistant engraver, John Reich. Reich’s arrival at the
mint was a great topic of controversy. The Chief Engraver, Robert Scot, feared John’s natural
ability, and saw to it that he was treated awfully. His promised salary was $600 a year and saw
no hope of a raise for a decade. Reich tried his best to take it to the best of his ability. He
blocked out the noise, and doubled his focus on what he loved: art. His coin, later to be known
as the Classic Head, featured a new bust of Liberty that his enemies would later call “Reich’s Fat
Mistress”. Sadly, these coins are especially susceptible to corrosion and wear, so most
numismatists will never see a sharply struck example.
In 1815, the British blocked trade to the US because of the War of 1812. Because of this,
no copper planchets for Cents could be obtained. For the first time in the history of its series, no
cent was minted in 1815. This leaves a hole in all date sets which many collectors would later
fill with altered coins with dates that have been re-done to look like an 1815 date.
1815 left, and so did the British blockade. Robert Scot began on a new design for the
cent, known as the Matron Head. Collectors agree that this work was inferior to his earlier issues
and is all around an ugly coin. Thanks to a few hoards discovered in the 1900s, Mint State
Matron Head cents are fairly easy to find in years 1816-1820. Later examples are harder to
locate in Mint State, but easier to find in XF to Fine condition.
In 1835 to 1839, the famous engraver Gobrecht along with lesser-known William Kneass
tried to make the Matron Head cent look more attractive. This work led to the creation of some
of the more hilarious and unfortunate patterns the Mint has ever realized. These utter failures
included the “Silly Head” and the “Booby Head” coin. They left a permanent bad mark on both
Gobrecht and Kneass’s record as US Mint employees. They ultimately decided on the best
design they had created, which would come to be known as the Coronet Head, or Braided hair
cent, which ran from 1839 to 1857.
By the early 1850s, large copper coins were costing more to produce than their face value
and were becoming a money pit for the US Government. They explored many options including
different metallic alloys, but all the good candidates were far too brittle for striking. Eventually
they settled on decreasing the size of the coin, ending the regime of the Large Cent.
The passing of the Large Cent made way for the ushering of a new era of heightened
numismatic activity. Once the small cents were introduced, collectors everywhere tried to
assemble sets of the obsolete currency and would continue to engage in this activity for the next
century. This increase in cent collecting opened doors for the numismatic club Early American
Coppers (EAC) to form, and it gained many members from the change to small cents.
In 1858, the mint hired Joseph Wharton to design a new cent. Very much was unclear in
the process, and Joseph tried to suggest ideas for economic growth. Using several connections to
Congress, his idea of a copper-nickel small cent was passed, and he began working on a coin that
would embody the sensation of American pride, which had been dwindling in the recent decades.
He decided on a beautiful bust of an eagle soaring in the sky for the obverse, and a wreath
surrounding the words “one cent”, which was the same reverse for the large cents, just on a
smaller scale. His coin would only run for two years, to be replaced by well-known Longacre’s
design.
Longacre was charged with making a new cent and met the challenge head on.
According to the legend, he featured a bust of his daughter, Sarah, on the coin. Numismatic
historians actively debunk this rumor, saying he re-used a design from the $1, $3, and $20 gold
coin. Either way, the design he chose was an Indian head on the obverse, wearing a traditional
headrest bearing the title, Liberty. The same plain laurel wreath reverse design was used but was
later changed to an oak wreath in 1860 and featured the Union Shield above the wreath to show
the Mints allegiance with the Union in anticipation of the Civil War. This design would be
actively used until its decommission in 1909. Today, the Indian Head Cent (IHC) is one of the
most actively collected small cent due to its embodiment of the American spirit, and its beautiful,
classic design.
The year was 1908, exactly 100 years since the birth of the famous president, Abraham
Lincoln. President Roosevelt charged the young and lightly experienced Victor David Brenner
to make a new design for the Cent to commemorate the birth of Lincoln. In an earlier year,
Brenner was trusted in designing a medal commemorating the Panama Canal, during which,
Brenner used a bust of Lincoln which Roosevelt had taken a liking too. In light of this, Brenner
used the same bust on the cent. The reverse featured two wheat stalks surrounding “United
States of America” along with the words “One Cent”. Roosevelt wanted to leave the motto “In
God We Trust” out of the design entirely because he thought it was “irrelevant” and in “poor
taste”. However before the coin’s completion, Roosevelt was replaced by Taft, and Taft refused
to allow the installment of the new coin without the motto. This was only fitting, seeing as how
Lincoln was the one who oversaw the addition of the motto in 1864 in the first place. The drastic
switch in plans for the motto set back die production for nearly a year. Brenner’s original design
featured his name (Brenner) on the very bottom of the reverse, right below the wheat stalks. At
the request of Treasury officials, this was removed as it was “too prominent”. They proposed the
replacement of even smaller V.D.B. initials, and this was agreed upon by Brenner. Production
began in 1909, and the Mint knew to expect the US citizens to hoard these new coins. They
grew a reserve of 25 million before releasing them to the public, however this was not enough.
Boys and girls, men and women, citizens of all ages flocked to the treasury to get their hands on
these new coins featuring one of America’s favorite presidents. Due to the large amount of
hoarding from 1909, many examples of 1909 VDB coins in BU condition still exist today, even
in roll quantities.
As with most things in the workings of the Mint, the VDB initials on the coin led to more
controversy. Some said they were still far too obvious and drew more attention to Brenner than
to Lincoln. Thus, in September of 1909, the initials were removed, and Brenner went uncredited.
It wasn’t until 1918 that the VDB was restored under Lincoln’s shoulder, barely recognizable to
the naked eye. They remain there to this day.
The Lincoln cent has been struck in each year, but not by each mint. In 1922, cents were only
struck at Denver, however San Francisco minted a few later in the year with the S mintmark.
They would continue to mint cents for circulation until 1955, and then the S mintmark would
never be seen on cents again until 1968, however minting of the Lincoln cent resumed there in
1965 with no mintmark.

In 1943, World War II was in full swing, and all the copper was needed for the war
effort. In an attempt to reduce wasted copper, cents were made from steel in 1943. There were
no design changes, but the composition changed. The copper production resumed in 1944,
however some of the steel planchets remained in the striking chambers, resulting in a few
(extremely rare) 1944 steel cents. These can fetch over half a million at auction in high enough
grades. A similar thing happened in 1943 with copper planchets. Finding one of these rare coins
in your change, while unlikely, has happened, and is not dissimilar to winning the lottery.
In 1955, there was a significant double die, which proved to be the sole catalyst of error
and variety collecting in the 20th century. It was around this time that CONE and NECA formed,
and A Cherry-Pickers Guide was published. (CONE and NECA merged in 1993 to form
CONECA).
The Wheat-back design did not change until 1959 to once again honor our president for
his 150th birth anniversary. It was replaced with the Lincoln Memorial back, which remained
until 2008.
There was a lot that happened in the Memorial back series, and I am forced to overlook
some of those to stick to the intentions of this book. In 1960, there were two different varieties
of Lincoln Cents. There was a small date, as well as a large date. The different sizes led to some
very interesting varieties in 1960 cents, especially at the Denver mint. One of those is the d/d,
which is a large date struck on top of a small date. These go for around $8 in average condition
and can still be found in circulation. In 1970, the mint did the same fiasco, and led many
collectors to scour their change for the 1970-s small date, which can fetch nearly $20 in average,
brown condition.
The next significant change took place in 1982. Not only did the mint do a small and
large date again, but they also changed the composition halfway through the year. They
switched from a 90% copper, 10% zinc, to a 90% zinc plated in 10% copper. With two mints
(Denver and Philadelphia), two date sizes, and two compositions, this led to 7 common varieties
of 1982 cents plus a proof issue from San Francisco.
In 2008, the Mint once again commemorated Lincolns 200th birthday. The obverse would
feature 4 stages of Lincolns life. You see one design, intitled “Birth and Early Years” which
features his log cabin home in Kentucky. The second design, called “Formative Years”, shows
him sitting on a log reading a book. The third design features him in front of a government
building, and is called “Professional Years”, commemorating his work in the harsh political
climate before becoming president. The fourth and final design, “Presidency”, shows a bust of
the half completed National Capital building in Washington DC which would have been
completed under his administration if not for the infamous assassination in 1865.
In 2009, the memorial design was retired, and the current design, known as the Union
Cent, featuring a shield on the reverse was installed. The Mint says they have no current plans to
change the Lincoln Cent soon. The obverse currently holds the record for the longest run time in
US history of over a century. The runner up would be the 70 years of the Liberty Head $5 gold
Piece (1839-1908).

SPOTLIGHT: The Henning Nickel

Have you ever wished you had your own personal mint? Well… Francis Henning did in
1954. It did not lead him down the road to riches. Instead, it led him straight to prison!
Henning’s kept his machinery in a rundown building in Jew Jersey. He decided to
counterfeit nickels, because he thought that no one would look closely to a coin of such modest
value. And normally, he would be absolutely right. However, one small little detail would bring
about his downfall.
Previously to 1943 (the start of WWII) nickels minted in Philadelphia had no mintmark,
as opposed to the D and S of the other two branch mints. In 1943, the design underwent
modification as with the composition. All nickel was needed for the war effort, so nickels were
made out of silver. During WWII, the mint adjusted the nickel to have a mintmark from every
mint, including Philadelphia, and placed it above Monticello on the obverse.
Henning did not hear of this change in Philadelphia’s policy, and he did not include a
mintmark on his coins. He also minted them out of mostly copper, which usually would go
undetected, but due to the new 35% silver being used, it threw off its weight, which would also
lead to his downfall.
The Secret Service knew that a lot of counterfeit nickels were circulating, but they were
not able to pin-point exactly where they were coming from. They send noted out to bankers to
let them know of the bogus coins and asked them to save all specimens they came across. They
also made checks on the known ex-counterfeiters in the area, which included Henning.
However, Henning was able to throw them off his trail completely. They made more than one
visit to Mr. Henning, but nothing unusual was discovered. In the middle of May 1955, the Secret
Service had received a total of 14 fake nickels. All had been circulating around Camden, New
Jersey, just 20 miles away from Henning’s own private mint.
The Secret Service talked to a lot of local coin collectors, and surprisingly, got loads of
counterfeited coins from them. After that, the story hit the newspapers. Henning read the article
and scrambled to get rid of the evidence. He dumped over 200,000 nickels into the nearby
Copper Creek.
Months later, after following countless leads, the Secret Service arrested Henning in
Cleveland, Ohio, where he had run to escape charges. After his discovery, Henning’s
cooperated, and admitted to making a staggering $15,000 worth of nickels. He confessed at one
time that his dies must have gotten mixed up, and he used the reverse without the “P” mintmark
on his 1944 nickel. He confessed to using six different dies for his nickels. Only five dates are
known, so his counterfeits are still out there!
With his signature on a waiver of indictment, Francis Henning was sentenced to three
years in prison, and a $5,000 fine. He paid his debt to society and lived an uneventful life after
his release. Collectors, bankers, and citizens alike hoped that he would release the 6th date he
counterfeited, but he died in 1969, and took that secret to the grave!
But that is not the end of the story… About 100,000 of Henning’s nickels reached
circulation. The Secret Service only got about 1,000 of them, leaving 99,000 to be found! And
what happened to all the coins at the bottom of Copper Creek? Only 14,000 were recovered and
the rest, presumably, are still in the creek!

-CHAPTER 8-
A Historical Dive into Each Coin

I would like to take the next segment of this book to share the main designs of the common US
coins, and their engravers. I may stop and share some history as we go along! Let us start off
with the half cent:
The Half Cent – This is the lowest denomination ever struck by the US mint, and all
specimens are scarce.
Liberty Cap (left) – 1793 (Obverse design taken from Dupre’s Libertas Americana)
Liberty Cap (facing right) – 1794-1797 (same as above, but Liberty is facing right)
On this coin, the edge had “200 FOR A DOLLAR” engraved on the edge.
Draped Bust – 1800-1808 (Gilbert Stuart, and Robert Scott)
Classic Head – 1809-1836 (John Reich)
Braided Hair – 1840-1857 (Gobrecht)

Cent – I will skip this as we went over this in the last chapter.
 Two Cent Piece – (1864-1873) This coin has a short run-time of only 9 years. It began
in 1864 and was the first coin to feature the famous motto, “IN GOD WE TRUST”. It featured
the same design all years with a “2 CENTS” surrounded by a laurel on the obverse, and the
Union Shield on the reverse.

Silver Three Cent (Thrime) – (1851-1873) This is the smallest coin the US has ever
minted, at a 14mm diameter. It also kept the same design in its 22-year runtime of a star with a
Union shield in the middle of it on the obverse, and a III (Roman numeral 3) in a Celtic style “C”
on the reverse. While the same design was kept, in 1854 an olive sprig was inserted above the
“III”, and a bundle of arrows was inserted below. Longacre was the designer and engraver. It
was largely minted to allow the public to pay for the 3-cent stamp easier, but because of its silver
content, and speculation that it would quickly discontinue, it was hoarded by the public, and
rarely circulated.

Nickel 3 Cent Piece – (1865-1889) These coins were introduced in 1865 because their
silver counterparts were hoarded by the public, greatly reducing their circulation. They featured
a portrait of Liberty (designed by Longacre) on the obverse and had a the same “III” only this
time, surrounded by a laurel.

Half Dime – These coins featured the same designs of the larger silver coins of the
period, so forgive me if this gets repetitive.
Flowing Hair – 1794-1795 (Scot)
Draped Bust – 1796-1805 (Stuart)
Capped Bust – 1829-1837 (Reich)
Liberty Seated – 1837-1873 (Gobrecht)

5 Cent Piece – Called the nickel today, it was simply the 5 Cent Piece back then. In fact,
the cents of 1857 and 58’ were called nickels long before the 5-cent piece!
Shield Design – 1866-1883 (Longacre)
It had rays between stars on the obverse in 66-67, but they were removed in 67’
Liberty Head “V” – 1883-1913 (Barber)
Buffalo Nickel – 1913-1938 (Fraser)
Keep an eye out for the “3 ½ legged variety in 1936-D!
Jefferson – 1938-2003 (Schlag)
In 1942-1945, all nickel was needed for the war, so these were struck in 35%
silver!
Westward Journey (4 designs) – 2004-2005 (Nemeth, Houdon, Maletsky, Fitzgerald,
Weaver)
“Modified” – 2006-date (Franki)
This featured a new portrait of Jefferson, and the same reverse design of
Monticello.

Dime – Early examples closely follow the design of half dimes and weigh exactly twice the
weight of half dimes.
Draped Bust – 1796-1807 (Stuart)
Capped Bust – 1809-1839 (Reich)
 Liberty Seated – 1837-1897 (Gobrecht)
Barber (or) Liberty Head – 1892-1916 (Barber)
Winged Liberty – 1916-1945 (Weinman)
This are commonly, incorrectly called “Mercury” dimes. While the wings on
Liberty’s head make her resemble the god, Weinman had no intention of this. The wings were
supposed to be symbolic of free thought, and how true freedom, the freedom to think, could
never be taken away from anyone.
Roosevelt – 1946-date (Sinnock)
Made in silver until (and including) 1964.

20 Cent Piece – (1875-1878) This ran for only three years as the public hated its similarity to the
quarter, and they often got confused. The engraver, Barber, used his seated liberty design, and
used the Trade Dollar eagle for the reverse.

Quarter – Like most coin of the period, there was no mark of value on this coin until “25 C”
was added to the reverse in 1804.
Draped Bust – 1796-1807 (Stuart)
Capped Bust – 1815-1838 (Reich)
Liberty Seated – 1838-1891 (Gobrecht)
Barber – 1892-1916 (Barber)
Standing Liberty – 1916-1930 (MacNeil)
Washington – 1932-date (Flanagan)
State Quarters – 1999-2009
America the Beautiful – 2010-2021
Delaware Crossing Reverse – 2022-date

Half Dollars – This coin was late to the party, as they say. While its numismatic counterparts
were minted in 1792, this coin was not minted until December of 1794.
Flowing Hair – 1794-1795 (Scot)
Draped Bust – 1796-1807 (Stuart)
Capped Bust – 1809-1836 (Reich)
Liberty Seated – 1839-1891 (Gobrecht)
Barber (or) Liberty Head – 1892-1915 (Barber)
Walking Liberty – 1916-1947 (Weinman)
Franklin – 1948-1963 (Sinnock)
Kennedy – 1964-date (Gasparro)
All of these were 90% until (and including) 1964, then only 40% silver until (and
including) 1970.

Silver (and related) Dollar –

Flowing Hair – 1794-1795 (Scot)
Draped Bust – 1796-1804 (Stuart)
Gobrecht Dollars – 1836-1839 (Gobrecht)
Liberty Seated – 1840-1873 (Gobrecht)
Trade Dollars – 1873-1885 (Barber)
Morgan – 1878-1904, 1921 (Morgan)
 Peace – 1921-1935 (Francisci)
Eisenhower – 1971-1978 (Gassparro)
Susan B. Anthony – 1979-1981, 1999 (Gassparro)
Sacagawea – 2000-2008 (Rogers)
Presidential – 2007-2016, 2020
Native American – 2009-Date
American Innovation – 2018-Date

-CHAPTER 9-
Paper Currency
In this chapter I will go over the rough history of paper currency and give you some
insight into what to keep an eye out for. There are numerous errors and varieties that note
collectors watch out for, so if this interests you, I encourage you to do some research. There are
a multitude of resources out there for note collectors.
China most likely produced paper money as early as the 9th century AD, however, the
earliest collectable example was made in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1398 AD). These notes,
described by Marco Polo, were made from fiber of a tree. Most known examples were found
under idols during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The notes are available from dealers, and often are
seen in auctions.
Although emergency notes were used by Spain in 1483, the fist money in Europe was
technically issued in Sweden in 1661. In fact, the idea of paper currency was a fairly new and
experimental one. The idea of paper, rather than a valuable metal, for currency was generally
unaccepted.
One of the first examples of paper money in North America was that made by the
commander of French forces in Canada, who, unable to meet his 1685 payroll, cut playing cards
in half, and used each piece as paper money by placing a denomination on it, and signing it as
the issuing authority.
When the troops of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay returned from Canada in 1690, they
received paper money made from copper plates. For nearly a century, other colonies also printed
paper money.
In general, each colony printed different designs and denominations, although that
changed in 1775. After that point, and until 1779, they printed Continental Currency, which
rapidly deteriorated in value, and was practically worthless by the end of the Revolutionary War.
The Bank of the United States was chartered in 1791 for a period of 20 years. It
“interfered with the interest of local banks” of the time period, and the charter was never
renewed. It was badly missed during the War of 1812, and Congress corrected their error in
1816 by chartering a second bank for another 20 years. In 1836, President Jackson had a feud
with the bank’s leader, Nicholas Biddle.
This led to a large period of time during which banks printed their own “scrip” or, paper
money, with varying degrees of backing. Some were still trusted, and others were commonly
avoided. Some $1 notes made by these banks circulated for 85 cents, while another circulated
for 50 cents, etc. Some were entirely worthless because the bank shut down or ran out of
funding. The latter of the three are called “Broken Notes” by collectors. Banks stopped printing
their own currency in 1866.
During the Civil War, both sides produced paper currency, and there were commonly
accepted. However, the value of the dollar decreased as the war went on, and circulation
decreased, and coins with intrinsic value were hoarded. This made way for the famous Civil
War tokens to begin circulating, which I will get into in a later chapter.
Before the war entered its second year, “demand notes”, which were redeemable for gold,
became commonly used, and quickly replaced the notes which had untrusted backing.
Large sized US notes were used until 1923. Then the size was decreased to the size it is
today. These bills featured red seals under the denomination, but this was replaced by a blue seal
in 1924. These bills were redeemable for silver, in the form of coinage.
This changed after 1958, and the notes were not backed by their exchangeability for
bullion. Now they are “backed” by gold sitting in Fort Knox.
So, let’s go over interesting things to keep an eye out for in your own change.
Starnotes – When the bill is printed, it is printed in a massive sheet containing multiple
bills. You will noticed that each bill has a distinct, identifying serial number printed twice on the
front of the bill. When the sheet(s) are damaged (misprinted, torn, etc.) they need to reprint
them. The computer algorithm will not allow a serial number to repeat, so the re printed notes
have the last piece of the serial number (a letter) replaced with a star. Some of these are
common, but some are extremely rare. There are plenty of tools online to look up your serial
number to find out if you have a rare one or not. The site I use is called My Currency Collection.
They have helped me discover some real rarities in my change.
Errors – There are many errors in the printing and engraving process, which are far too
numerous to list here. Keep an eye out for anything that looks unusual (such as an off-center
printing) and do some research. The odds are in your favor that someone out there collects your
item and will pay a premium for it.
Serial Numbers – Low serial numbers (such as: S00000009C) would fetch you
hundreds, maybe ever thousands at auction. Repeating serial numbers (like: S98989898C)
would command a hefty premium as well.
Sets – Much like coins, bills can be collected by date, type, and assembled into topical
sets. If your note is needed in someone else’s collection (or your own) it is worth pulling out to
see if you can get them to pay you a premium.
Note collecting is very popular, and nearly every numismatist collects a form of currency.
Forgiven currency is very popular, as it is commonly found to be beautiful, as opposed to our
“dull” currency here in the US.

SPOTLGIHT: How the Mint Laundered Money

Have you ever wondered what happens to all of those “dirty” dollar bills? These days,
they are simply shredded, but in the early 1900’s, money was scrubbed, ironed, and reissued…
almost as good as new!
Then, as now, many people were worried that dirty paper money might contain
“dangerous” germs. in 1903, one US treasury official suggested the banks launder their
money… Literally! The government itself eventually took action. in 1911, combination of
washing-and-ironing machines were installed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where all
paper money is printed.
 After two years if experimentation, the machines were moved to the basement of the
Treasury where sightseers were not allowed. They were described as “mechanical marvels”;
they ran on electricity and were easy to operate. It was estimated that around 35,000 bills being
washed a day would save the government $300 a day.
During WWI, the cotton-based paper for currency was replaced with linen, and the new
currency did not wash well. Thus, the government’s own money laundering scheme was
discontinued.

-CHAPTER 10-
American Numismatic Novelties
There are certain coins that even non-numismatists have heard of, that are SO rare, that
all are accounted for. These are known as Numismatic Novelties, which any collector needs to
be familiar with.
The 1913 “V” Nickel – What can actually be said of the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel?
More than 75 years after its emergence, it is still not known how, where, when, or why it was
struck. It is believed that only five exist. past caretakers of the coins read like a “Who’s Who”
of numismatics: B. Max Mehl, who was probably the individual most responsible for the coins
fame; King Farouk of Egypt, who owned two of them; Eric Newman; Henry Norweb; Abe
Kosoff; Colonel Edward Green; Aubrey Beebee; and now, the ANA. As the plot of many
famous TV shows, this nickel has even been the main plot point of Hawaii Five-O.
There has been considerable speculation regarding how the coins came to be, but perhaps
Mr. Taxay was the closest when he disclosed in 1963 that Samuel Brown, the first person to
display all five nickels, was an ex-curator of the mints collection. In Taxays view, the 1913
nickels were not trial pieces as other had argued, but rather were made by, of for, Brown as a
hoax.
Previously mentioned Colonel Edward Green, one of the hobby’s more flamboyant
figures purchased all five coins for 2,000 in 1924. Green ran ads offering 10,000 for another
1913 Liberty Head Nickel. As William Snydar, and appraiser of Greens estate wrote, “Naturally
kids went nuts when examining five-cent pieces whenever they saw them. The ad was probably
placed by Green as a practical joke… there was not supposed to be anymore Liberty Heads. He
was simply having fun, providing excitement, and attracting new collectors.”
From Colonel Greens estate, the coins went to Burdette Johnson, a St. Louis Dealer’s
dealer. Johnson enlisted a Dayton dealer, James Kelly, to offer the nickels to collectors. It was
at this point that all five nickels were sold off separately.
Clearly, all facts of the nickels will never be known. But… Isn’t it better that way? The
last nickel was sold at the Stack’s Bowers auction in August of 2018 in PF66 for $4,560,000.

The 1804 Dollar – Despite its marked date, this dollar was not struck in 1804. In fact, it
was struck 30 years after that. The 1804 Dollar is the most publicized rarities in the entire series
of US coins. There are specimens known as the originals, which have a distinguishable reverse,
of which only eight are known. Then there are the re-strikes with subtle differences on the
reverse design, seven of which are known to exist.
They were minted for use in presentation of mint sets. The first one to be owned can be
traced back to Matthew Stickney on May 9, 1843 in exchange for an Immune Columbia piece of
gold. Later, beginning in 1859, the pieces known as electrotypes and restrikes were made at the
Mint to supply the needs of collectors who wanted examples of this piece.
 Although mint records say that 19,570 silver dollars were struck in 1804, nowhere does it
say that they bore that date. This is because the Mint realized that dies are a lot of work and
money to produce, and they could cut costs by using 1803 dies. (Keep in mind, this was during
the time which we discussed where the Mint was being critically examined by the government,
as several bills were proposed to defund them).

1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle – In 1933, the government recalled all gold coins, as
their intrinsic value was much higher than their face value. The mint melted them down into
gold ingots which now reside in Fort Knox, backing up the paper currency you use every day.
The government announced this new law right before the Mint was to release the 1933 dollars,
but none had left the mint. The logical thing to do was to go ahead and melt down all the coins
they had made, and since none reached circulation, there were to be no survivors. Somehow, 13
escaped their fate, and ended up in various museums. Only one specimen left the governments
control, as it was given to King Farouk of Egypt as a gift. This coin would sell at auction in
2002 at Stack’s Bowers auction as Gem BU for 7,590,020.
To this day, only one is legal to privately own, however they legal reside in government
museums (such as the Smithsonian).

The 1909-S V.D.B. Cent – We briefly discussed this coin but neglected to get specific. As was
mentioned, Brenner’s initials below the wheat ears in 1909 caught the attention of the public and
was viewed as vanity. The San Francisco mint had only minted a small number of coins before
they received instructions to omit the “V.D.B.” entirely. To be specific, only around half a
million where produced, which is extremely rare by mint standards. After the instruction was
received, they removed the initials, and Brenner went uncredited until he died. After the death of
Barber in 1917, Morgan quietly restored the VDB under Lincolns shoulder in 1918, where it
remains today, barely noticeable with the naked eye.
According to the 2021 Red Book, even in G-4 condition, a 1909-S V.D.B. can fetch
$625.

The 1943/44 Cents – Coin stores nationwide are always plagued with the question “I have a
steel penny and have never seen one before. This means it is rare, yes?”. The answer,
unfortunately, is no. Over a billion of those pennies were struck in 1943. However, there are a
few gemstones that slipped out of the mint that can fetch thousands at auction. Because copper
is a war metal, all of it (along with nickel) was needed for WWII, so pennies were struck on steel
planchets. There must have been a few copper planchets left over in the hoppers and coining
chambers, because around three dozen copper 1943 cents are thought to have left the mint.
Some have sold for $200,000 in recent years. A similar thing happened in 1944, and a similar
number of steel 1944 pennies escaped. They run at a similar price. Many 1944 cents where
plated in steel and sold as novelty items and may be used to fool collectors. A simple test with a
magnet will authenticate the coin.

-CHAPTER 11-
Grading Coins Yourself
We talked about the pros and cons of presenting your coins to a TPG service but have yet
to discuss how to go about grading coins yourself. Again, the art of grading coins is exactly
that… and art. There is little consistency, and it all depends on what kind of grader you are. As
the Red Book editor, Ken Bresset, has famously been quoted, “Grading is really very simple.
You need only four things: 1) a good magnifying glass, 2) a good light, 3) a good memory, and
4) 20 years’ experience.” The more coins you look atm proving you have learned the basic
principles to build upon, the better you get.
Prior to the now-used Sheldon Grading Scale, coins were described as “pretty good”,
“rather poor”, “barely touched by circulation”, and “uncommonly fine”. As such, collectors
really had no idea what they were purchasing at auction until the held the coin in their hand. A
few notable numismatists, such as Howland Wood, tried and failed to install a uniform grading
scale. It was not until 1949 that William Sheldon installed the very successful 70-point grading
system. Today, coin grading has evolved to a level of sophistication far beyond the scope of
what any early numismatist could have imagined. As we discussed, coins are graded 1-70, 70
being a perfect grade.
Coins which have been circulated range from one to 58. Coins that are uncirculated, or in
their original mint state condition, are graded from Mint State (MS)-60 to MS-70, which is an
11-point grading scale. Today, all collectors (aside from the few exceptions) prefer these top 11
grades for their collections. In fact, the introduction of the Sheldon Scale caused the demand for
high-grade coins to skyrocket. In their “Grading US Mint State Coins” correspondence course,
the ANA considers a worn 1960-D half dollar, which sells for only a couple of dollars. The
same coin in MS-67, one of the very top grades, is valued at serval hundred dollars.
Older generation collectors could hardly be asked to pay such diverse amounts based on
the previously used descriptions “uncommonly fine” and “pretty good”. The 1-70 is grouped
into over-arching designations:
1 – Basal
2 – Fair
3 – Very Fair
4 – Good
5 – Very Good
12 – Fine
20 – Very Fine
40 – Extremely Fine
50 – About Uncirculated
60 – Uncirculated (MS)

Lighting is a very important piece to the puzzle when grading coins. Some lights can
wash out damage on the coins surface, while other light forms can produce the opposite effect,
and make all damage stick out like a sore thumb. Experts agree that Incandescent light bulbs of
60-100 watts is the best for grading coins eight to 36 inches away.
A loupe (preferable triple lens) at 5-7x magnification is recommended, as it allows you to
view the entire coin in one position. Higher magnification would make even the smallest
hairlines look distracting.
Before proceeding further, it is important to note that in order to better understand coin
grading and envelope the necessary skills, you need to examine as many coins as possible
firsthand. With experience comes understanding; with understanding comes confidence.
There are two main types of grading: technical and market. There are important
differences between the two:
 Technical Grading – While grading under Technical standards, a coin is considered
perfect until it leaves the mint. No matter what happens to the coin during the minting process, it
is considered an MS-70 until it enters circulation.
Market Grading – In effect, this form of grading attaches a market value to the coin
rather than a technical “grade”.
The differences can be a bit confusing but give the idea a second to take hold. Take the
following example into consideration: two 1944 Walking Liberty Half’s are being sold at auction
at MS66. The prices are the same for each, it is even a little bit below retail, and you need one
for your collection. One is weakly struck, and the mid-section of Liberty is completely flat.
However, they are both graded under Technical grading standards, so it qualifies as an MS66
(because it was weakly struck before it left the mint). The other is fully struck, and has
absolutely beautiful luster, and faint rainbow toning on the edges. Which are you more likely to
buy? The answer is clear: the second coin.
By market grading standards, the first coin would never grade as an MS66, and would
probably find itself closer to an AU55. That is because no one would pay an MS66 price for a
weakly struck coin when they could pay the same amount for a coin with better “eye appeal”. A
weakly struck coin that is technically an MS66 would sell at a similar price to an AU55, so that
is where a Market grading company would grade it at. In fact, a coin struck with rusted dies on a
defective planchet which is also struck through grease could grade as an MS70 under Technical
standards, even though no collector would pay that much for a barely identifiable disc. All major
TPG companies (NGC, PCGS, ANACS, and IGC) use Market Grading.
A coin with attractive eye appeal, luster, and maybe some desirable, natural toning will
be bumped up a grade or two higher, as there is a higher demand for these attributes.
To aid you in understanding factors that influence grades, ANACS released their grading
standards, and explained the main factors: luster, surface condition, eye appeal, and strike.
Luster
1 – Original
2 – Non-original or Impaired

Surface Condition
3 – Fewer-Than-Average Markings (the best rating)
2 – Average Markings
1 – More-Than-Average Markings
Eye Appeal
3 – Above-Average Appeal
2 – Average Appeal
1 – Below-Average Appeal
Strike
3 – Above Average Strike (full)
2 – Average Strike
1 – Below Average Strike (weak)
As reference, here is an ANACS chart that was used to grade a coin:
Obvers Revers Subjective Factors
e e
65 65 LUSTER 1 – Original
 65 65 SURFACE 3 – Above Average
64 64 EYE 2 – Average
APPEAL
65 65 STRIKE 3 – Sharply Struck
This coin graded finally as an MS65.
Notice how this coin has an identical grade for the reverse and the obverse. This does not
usually happen, and they often have different grades. It used to be that they would spell out each
grade (such as an MS65/63 for a coin with a higher-grade obverse) but this was lengthy for
catalogues. The grading companies also realized that all of the coins were selling at the price
expected for the lower of the two grades, so they arrived at a compromise. Now, it is a general
rule that the reverse can only hurt the overall grade, never help raise it. A coin at MS67/63 will
be an MS65. If the grades are significantly different, they usually split the difference. Here are
some actual split grades with their final grades.
Obvers Reverse Final Grade
e
MS-64 MS-66 MS-64
MS-65 MS-64 MS-65
MS-63 MS-65 MS-63
MS-67 MS-63 MS-65 (or MS-66)
AU-58 AU-50 AU-58 (or AU-55)
MS-60 MS-65 MS-60 (or MS-61)
MS-63 MS-60 MS-63 (or MS-62)
MS-65 MS-62 MS-64
AU-58 AU-58 AU-58 (or MS-62)
I recommend taking the time to review the courses the ANA offers on Grading, such as
their two correspondence courses on the topic. If you have the chance to stop by Denver, check
to see if they have any classes on grading available during your stay. They are incredibly
informative.
Now you have been provided with the basics you need, so it is time to practice! Look up
some pictures of graded coins and study them. Try to memorize them. Once you are
comfortable, try guessing the grades on new pieces, and see how you do!

-CHAPTER 12-
Civil War Tokens
Inside Exonumia, there is a fairly large number of people who collect civil war tokens.
Even if you find yourself not interested in typical Exonumia, I suggest you hear me out. Civil
War tokens had a direct impact on American coinage and tell a very unique story about history.
The Civil War was fought during the years 1861-1865. This war caused more changes in
our money system than all monetary innovations 1792-date. It was during this time that paper
money began circulating, as we talked about in a previous chapter. The new two cent pieces
began circulating, along with the Indian Head cent. Three cent nickels also made their debut in
these years. These changes not only brought a larger profit to the US Mint, but also had lasting
effects on our monetary system which linger today.
 Likewise, the Confederacy also issued coinage and paper money, all of which is
collectable today. The metallic issues of the Confederacy, although not numerous, are important
reminders of CSA history.
Like we discussed, this time period also saw large quantities of privately made paper
currency, which was largely untrusted due to the variances of backing and lack of intrinsic value.
Due to this fact, many private businesses made imitations of US currency with the proper
amount of copper (and other metals) for circulation, however they began using less and less
copper to save money. The government tried to increase its output of coinage, but as soon as it
was put out, it was hoarded by those in favor of the paper currency to force people to use it.
Civil War tokens, most of which were the size of the small copper cent, met with general
acceptance by Northern big-city residents. Three general types of tokens were produced during
this period: Patriotic tokens (patriotics), store cards (also called “tradesmen’s), and the military
“Sutler” tokens.
The patriotic issues generally had patriotic slogans and were produced mainly in New
York. Many of these had imitations of the Indian Head cent, which was very popular at the time.
The second type, store cards, had the merchants name and address on the token, and it was used
as a form of advertising. The third type was the Sutlers tokens, of which there are 500 varieties.
The “issue” of Civil War tokens totaled around 25 million, amply fulfilling the needs of
merchants. They were commonly accepted for the displayed value, usually one cent. It should
be mentioned that, by this point, merchants were making a tidy profit off of their tokens, as they
contained nearly 23/100 of a cent’s worth of copper. Merchants could by them from the source
for $7-10 for a thousand. Although these tokens were a good source of relief and confidence,
their irresponsible character attracted the attention of the Federal Government. However, the
Unions attempts to drown out these tokens with a flood of bronze cents and fractional currency
failed. Finally, in 1864 the government banned private companies from making their own
currency, ending an era that has only recently begun to be appreciated by numismatists in the last
30 years.
Most tokens of the era were struck in copper and were issued in 1-cent denominations.
However, tokens bearing values of 5 cents, 10 cents, 15 cents, 25 cents, 35 cents, 50 cents, $1,
and $5 were also issued. In order to inform the bearer that the Civil War token was emergency
money, “For Public Accommodation [sic],” “Pro Bono Publico (For the Public Good),” or
“Exchange” was usually inscribed on it.
In order to accurately price these prices, one should consult catalogues and auction
prices, as there are too many to even attempt to list. Because their production was largely left
unchecked, there are many different varieties, compositions, and rarities.
In fact, determining the composition of Civil War tokens (CWT’s) is the hardest part.
Collectors prefer off-metals because they are both different and considerably rarer than copper
pieces. The only positive way to know the composition of a CWT is an X-ray test, as everything
else, including specific gravity tests, are either destructive, or cannot be used due to lack of data.
Because X-ray testing is very expensive, it makes collecting CWTs difficult to collect. Even
CWT experts disagree on the composition of tokens.
The easiest way to collect these tokens is to assemble generic type sets, topical sets, and
sets based on the states in which they were minted. Due to their diverse designs and mintages,
you would find it nearly impossible to attain one of each design. How knows?... You might be
able to be the first one!
SPTOLIGHT: The Trade Dollar
The Trade Dollar was never intended for circulation within the United States. Instead, it
was designed to be used exclusively in our world trade, primarily with China and Japan.
Chinese and Japanese merchants in the 19th century accepted only Mexican pesos
(“Pieces of Eight”) because they were heavier and thus presumably contained more silver than
other silver-dollar-sized coins of other countries. Because of the great demand for these coins,
traders had to pay premiums of up to 15% to purchase them.
In 1873, Congress authorized the striking of the Trade Dollar. It contained nearly two
percent more silver than the standard Silver Dollar of the US. In order to convince the Chinese
to accept the coin, its weight and fineness was stamped on the reverse.
Even so, the Trade Dollar was never popular in the Orient (nor were the trade coins to
other nations). Failure in the Orient was followed by fraud in the American West. Congress
repealed the coin’s legal status, the only US coin ever to be dishonored. Unscrupulous
employers payed them out in wages. Workers were outraged when they found out that they were
not worth the face value stamped on them. Shopkeepers discounted them.
The workers cry eventually were heard, but the US Congress acted slowly. Mintage for
circulation was halted in 1878, but it was not until 1887 that the government redeemed
approximately eight million of the 37 million struck.

-CHAPTER 13-
Coinage Designs (with inspiration from Lee McKenzie)
All around the world, symbolism has been used to teach, inspire, motivate, and to shape
character. Some symbols are so distinctive that you know where it comes from. So distinctive
that you know the culture of the people it represents. Some are simply so distinctive that you are
reminded of the character of that people. Symbolism is so distinctive that it does not need
words.
In your time collecting and studying coins, no matter how brief it has been, you have seen
a coin with a woman on it. I want for you to think back to the first time you saw a lady on an
American coin, and you wondered, “who is she?”. Finally, somebody said that she is not a real
person… and it all began to come together in your mind. They whispered reverently, “her name
is Liberty”.
In this moment, the power of symbolism touched your mind and heart. You will find that
on earlier American coinage, allegorical personification was used quite abundantly to express
our energy and vitality. It expresses our highest, most noble abilities, and serves to both inspire
us, as well as lift us as a nation. As you think about the diversity of allegorical figures of Liberty
on our coinage, ask yourself… are they boring? From the beautiful busts of Reich, or the more
recent Barber series, these coined figures are most definitely far from boring.
The rapid succession of design changes for the early large cent shows a refreshing
renewal of ideas, and is evidence that Liberty, no matter what she looks like, is alive and well
within the hearts of our people. This diversity of designs who is a willingness of each successive
generation to embrace the ideals of liberty.
One of the most enjoyable pieces to the numismatic puzzle is to understand what the
artist of the coin, medal, or currency meant for the design to tell us. According to Lee
McKenzie, an avid studier of coin and medal designs, the best way to understand the use of
allegory is broken down into four simple steps:
 1) Study the artists and what they have said.
2) Gain an understanding of history.
3) Gain a basic understanding of the artistic traditions.
4) Look closely and completely at the design of the object you are holding.
Let’s use the following medal as a practice piece. This is the second issue of the Sansom
medal, minted in Philadelphia in 1805.

This medal is one of my favorites. Examine the medal using the four technices outlined
above, and continue once that is completed, and I will share my examination process with you.
Before I get into my personal anylysis, let me preface this with some history. Earlier in
1783, the American-born painter Benjamin West was in England painting the portrait of King
George III. When the King asked what General Washington planned to do now that he had won
the war. West replied, “They say he will return to his farm.” At the end of the Revolutionary
War, many people in America and Europe thought Washington would retain the reins of power
to become the leader of the new nation, or even king. When told by the American artist
Benjamin West that Washington was going to resign, King George III of England said "If he
does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."
I would love to direct your attention to the reverse of this masterpeice. Immediately we see a
Fasces. A Fasces (commonly confused with the torch) is a symbol of power. In anceint times,
the emporer of Rome would always be followed by two guards carrying a Fasces to dysplay his
power. In the US House, there is the Fasces. Which is interesting, because there are none in the
oval office.
What we see is the Fasces has been disgarded by Washington along with his sword. He
abandoned violence, and had no hopes of ruling over the infant nation as a king. This medal was
designed after Washinton resigned after the people wanted him to serve a third term, even though
the constitution forbade it. Just like on the Winged Liberty dimes (which we will talk about
later) the Fasces is paired with an olive branch, a classic symbol of peace.
One interpetation is that this design is representing what Washington left behind for the next
president, Adams. He left behind the Fasces (power), the olive branch (peace; to find the place
in the middle between power and peace), and the sword (ability to command the military).
You can see that by examining the medal or coin in this manner, it leads to greater
understanding of what the artist was trying to potrey to is holder.
 We see a numerous amount of diversty in not only the message of the design, but also in the
way the message is delivered. In the medal above, partly designed by James Reich, you can
imagine how different it would look if you were in charge of its design. What changes would
you make? How would you tell the story without using any words?
Sometimes, words are used alongside allegorical symbolism to provide us with greater
clarity, and awaken a deeper sense of ethos. Consider the following medal from 1834:

Think about what feelings it envokes, and what kinds of feeling the artist was hoping to
envoke in you. Feel free to examine this medal on your own. It was minted in a time where the
issue of slavery was huge, and it wasn’t looking great for the slaves. While the Civil War was
just around the corner in less that 30 years, slavery was still as deeply rooted in our nation as
ever.
In contrast, consider this medal from the same year, celebrating the abolisiton of colonial
British slavery, as designed by William IV:
 What is the good of collecting items of great meaning if you never take the time to learn the
meaning? Coins, while hsitorical and interesting, are truly capsules of art. No matter how hard
we try today to make art representing older times, we can never quite do it justice. These artists
and designers actually lived in the times they are depicting, and can give us deeper insight into
the true spirit of the times. Think about all the history engaved in these designs, and how often
people look over that entirely!
Now consider the reverse of the Winged Liberty dime, often called the Mercury dime by
error. The Fasces symbolizes authority, and the olive branch is a symbol of peace. Why did the
designer feel the need to engrave them both on the same coin??

Well, what would it look like if the Fasces stood alone?

The describing words that come to mind consist of
austere, cold, cruel, and assertive. Clearly not what
America is about. How can we make it more focused
on liberty, freedom, and peace?

Let’s take away the Fasces and replace it with the

peaceful olive branch…

Hmm… that’s not quite right either. This makes me

think of America as wild, untamed, agricultural, and
even peaceful to a flaw.

Much better! The harmony and interaction between

devices pushes the meaning to a higher level. It looks
beautiful as if we were in a garden but structured
because of the Fasces. Again, we are pushed to think
about the harmony between the two symbols. It is
suggesting that without respect for authority, we
would have no peace. The olive branch even seems
to be holding up the Fasces, suggesting that only a
nation of peace can boast of its authority.
 I urge you to consider the truths
taught in numismatics, as well as
the appreciation of history and art
that it inspires within us all. Think
about how your patriotic feelings
are influence by numismatics, and
how it has increased your own love
of liberty. Moreover, how
numismatics has made you a
guardian and teacher of liberty.
This, among countless other things,
is what makes numismatics the best
hobby in the world.

-CHAPTER 14-
Hobo Nickels and Love Tokens
Inside the Exonumia collectors, there are those who collect coins which have been either
counterstamped, carved, defaced, etc. Some of these coins can be shipped into two catagories:
love tokens, and hobo nickels. Each of these are collected by a select few who catch an interest
in their designs. Let’s begin by taking a look at the so-called “love tokens”.
The earliest love tokens go all the way back to the early 1600-1700’s. In order for a coin to
qualify as a genuine love token, it must be a coin of the realm, and be circulating in the time and
place that it was carved. It must also be carved entirely by hand.

This 1778 coin was worn down to a uniform thickness, then hand-carved. No one knows
what the original coin was, but it got transformed into
something a bit more special than the coin could have ever Love tokens have all sorts of
subjects. There are examples
known which featur inscriptions,
initials, animals, hearts, fans,
horshoes, monuments, floral
arrangments, religious symbols,
been. It tells a new, distinct story now. It makes you wonder who the people where, and what
kinds of things they were experiancing in their time.

This select niche of numismatics is very interesting from not only a historical aspect, from
from an artisic perspective as well. If done correctly, these love tokens can be seen as true
masterpeices of art. They are elegant, profession, and quite often beautiful.

Hobo Nickels
A separate genre of carved coins stretches to include the famous Hobo Nickel. Most new
collectors have never heard of these interesting, somewhat bizzare pieces. Hobo nickels are
miniture bas relief structures, and hold memories of the past ways of life. In fact, these coins are
Americana – artifacts related to the history, geography, folklore, and cultural heritage of the
United States.
Hobo nickels were actually in fact,
not started by hoboes. Bertram
“Bert” Weingand was a legendary
original hobo nickel carver. He
was born in 1890, and later
imprisoned. In 1913, he started to
fill his time by carving different
things into nickels and gifting them
to the guards. He signed his new
pieces of art by removing LI and Y
from LIBERTY. He was last seen
in the 1940’s, then was never heard
from again. Luckily for the
numismatic and Exonumic world,
Bert passed on his knowledge to a
young lad named George.
 George Washington “Bo” Hughes learned the craft
of carving coins from Bert himself. Bo lived from
1900-1980 and gave the artform the name we know
it by today. He was the youngest of 11 children,
and left home when he was 15 years old. He lived
the life of a “hobo” and met Bert during this time.
After learning his new trade, he often spent his
spare time making these carvings, and using them
to bribe railroad conductors for a ride. In fact, he
used this nickel for many things, such as: trade for
food and clothing, selling them in flea markets like
Bert, and to be traded in for personal favors with
other hobos. Along his path, he spread the art of
nickel carving to others.

In the process of carving these works of art, he would use a small hammer, makeshift tools,
pocket knives, awls, screw drivers, and metal punches.
Insturmental in the hobo culture, the Great Depression hit the nation in 1929.

During the Great Depression, more than 2 million out

of work men along with up to 8,000 women became
hobos, illegally traveling the rails in search of work.
They would drift from place to place and sneak their
way onto trains to hitch a free ride to wherever it took
them. An unlocked box car was the preferred
accommodation for the hobos, but they would even go
as far as to ride on top of the cars if it was locked.
Other times, they would have no choice but to walk the
tracks and wait for a train to stop along their path.
Along the rails, they would leave each other signs in
trees to inform them if the neighboring farmers where
friendly, or likely to shoo them out of town. For the
most part, farmers where a Hobo’s best friend, and
given them food and temporary shelter as they passed
through. If a farmer was not readily available, a
Hobo’s best option was to fish for food. Many Hobos
had pets, and many nickels feature the design of a dog
accompanying the Hobo. Although many people call
Hobos lazy, they might have lived the hardest life of
anyone of the period. We would know next to nothing
about this if it was not for the hobo nickels to tell us of
their history.
 In this carving by Bob Finley, we see the
representation of how Hobos were always on the
move, day and night. They rarely set up camp right
before dark and would wait until the moon was at its
peak to rest, before waking up at sunrise. During their
travel, they were often attacked and chased by angry
dogs, chased by angry railroad conductors, and even
other Hobos. They would often been seen hitchhiking
when they were not comfortably near railroads and
would get rides to the local bar. There, they would
often been seen smoking, drinking, and gambling. The
money for all of the above came from their famous
carved nickels. Sometimes, they would get temporary
jobs as a train oiler, and get some cash through
legitimate means. Most times, however, when not
traveling, visiting bars, and carving their nickels, they
would be out enjoying nature with their pets far from
civilization. Most Hobos carried an instrument with
them, most commonly a banjo or harmonica. They
would pluck away at the strings for their enjoyment or
find new animals to call companions. Their hygiene
was infamously poor, and there are several carved
nickels depicting a Hobo cutting his nails and hair with
a pocketknife. You will rarely find a carved nickel in
which the Hobo is not wearing a hat.

The hats depicted on the coins vary, and it is rare to find an identical hat from a different carver.
Some depicted symbols on them, others were plain.
The topics of the engravongs vary as well, but it is most common to find one depicting
the day-to-day life of a Hobo. Some have carvings of aliens, and others talk about life at sea.
Others are designs of beautiful women, or the designers struggling with an alcohol addiction.
Other common themes include death, famous people (especially actors), American Indians,
animals, and cartoon characters.
Originally carved on Buffalo Nickels, the host coin soon migrated to include other peices.
Durring and after the 1980’s, the hobby of carving coins became a modernized practice amoung
coin collectors and craftsmen. They commonly engraved all sorts of coins, but tended to favor
coins with a nice thinkness. Morgan and peace dollars are commonly engraved, but all coins are
used.
 Desirable attributes of the hobo nickel for
modern collectors include carving quality, deep
carving, unusual subjects, altered facial
features, raised or pushed metal (often a hat
brim), well smoothed fields, and they are most
preferable when they retain the date and/or
LIBERTY in the carving.

For more reference material, I suggest checking

out the “OHNS” (Original Hobo Nickel
Society) website, the Love Token Society,
Heritage Auctions, and past/current eBay
auctions for pricing and catalogues.
We can clearly see that these quirky coins are a
valuable source of American history, and each one tells
quite the story! These coins vary in price, but the original hobo nickels can be upwards of $60 in
good condition. The modern versions are worth significantly less, but can also be interesting to
own. The ANA has a class on carving your own hobo nickels, and if that is something that
interests you, I suggest you check it out on their website, Money.org.
SPOTLIGHT: The Libertas Americana Medal

This is by far the most famous medal ever commissioned. It was introduced by Benjamin
Franklin to commemorate Washington’s victory over the British at Yorktown. The obverse depicts a
beautiful young maiden – Liberty – with unbound hair flowing in the wind. Over her right shoulder
is the rod of Liberty surmounted by the pileus cap, the symbol of emancipation from slavery since
Roman times. America’s birthday is etched below. It was this design that was used as inspiration for
the cent and half cent of 1793.
In a letter to Robert Livingston, Secretary of Foreign Affairs which Benjamin Franklin wrote
from France, Franklin describes his allegorical vision of the medals reverse:
“I have the mind to strike [a medal] … representing the United States by the figure of an
infant Hercules in his cradle, strangling the two serpents [Cornwallis’ and Burgoyne’s armies at
Yorktown] and France by that of Minerva, sitting by as his nurse, with her spear and helmet, and her
robe specked with a few “fleur-de-lis.”
Following his letter to Livingston, Franklin must have discussed this concept with others and
gotten additional ideas for the medal’s reverse. In a letter to Sir William Jones written in 1783, once
again from France, Franklin wrote,
“The engraving of my medal, which you know was projected before peace, is but just
finished…. I send you one of the “epreuves.” You will see that I profited by some of your ideas, and
adopted the mottoes you were so kind as to furnish…”
Executed by Augustine Dupre, the medal’s reverse included much of what Franklin
originally envisioned, plus a snarling lion – representing England – whose attacks are warded off by
Minerva’s shield, which is adorned with the lilies of France. One the edge is a passage from an ode
by Horace, NON-SINE DIIS ANIMOSUS INFANS (The courageous child was aided by the gods).
Franklin was justifiably proud of his creation. He sent a silver medal to the President of
Congress and a copper medal (Franklin preferred the copper medal) to Livingston. He also presented
medals to the French king, Louis XVI, and the queen, both in gold, while Louis; ministers each
received a silver medal “as a monumental acknowledgment, which may go down to future ages, of
the obligations we are under to this nation”.

-CHAPTER 15-
European Medieval Coins
With the exception of several specimens from the Orient, the medieval coinage of Europe
are among the most neglected by American numismatists today. Two main factors are
responsible: lack of reference material in Enlgish, and a certain drabness of the coins themselves
due to a general lack of variation. This is unfortunate, as these coins are a perfect link between
the ancient coins of Greek and Rome verses the modern era.
Medieval coin in the West may be divided up into three principal groups. The first
period extends from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century to the rise
of the Frankish kings in the mid-8th century. The second period can be used to describe the era
after the rise of Charlemagne and into the reintroduction of gold in the 13th century. The last and
shortest period ranges from the introduction of gold until about 1500 A.D.
Coinage of the First Period – The coins of the first period are characterized by two
features: imitation of Byzantine designs, and a progressive deterioration of style.
After the fall of Rome, western Europeans maintained the concept of a universal empire.
Consequently, many barbarian kings copied the coins of the Byzantine Emperors, even placing
Constantinople marks on coins minted elsewhere. Gradually, as this mindset faded, the names of
the emperors as well as their titles were done away with for coinage. As the economic structure
of Europe slowly collapsed and the older Roman commercial emprie was replaced by feudalism,
gold became scarce. Consequentially, that larger Roman denomination, the solidus, was
discontinued, and barbaric nations only struck vast numbers of small, crude bronze coins. Those
issued in the Mediterranean area copied the Roman or Byzantine coinage of the fourth, fifth, and
sixth centuries. Very little silver was struck during this period.
Coinage of the Second Period – The Frankish king Pepin demonetized gold in 752 and
issued in its place a silver coin called a “denarius novus”. This began the rue medieval coinage,
since a clean break was made from Roman designs. This period lasted approximately 500 years,
during which the coinage of Western Europe was based on the denier (penny). In Germany, the
denier was the pfennig, while in Spain it was the denaro. The basic design types eventually were
crosses with a legend, bearing the King’s name on the obverse, and the name of the moneyer on
the reverse. Occasionally, a bust might be placed upon the coin, but there were highly stylized
and rarely bore any resemblance to the ruling monarch.
Very few golds and practically no copper coins were struck in this period. In fact, no
multiples or divisions of the denier itself were minted, with the exception of tan occasional half
denier, or “obol”. Not until the 12th century were larger coins minted. When the new, larger
denominations were finally introduced, they were known as gros in Franch, Grosso in Italy,
groschen in Germany, and the groat in England, all of which come from the Latin grossus,
meaning “big”.
It was also during the 12th century that a unique type of uniface coin, called the bracteate,
developed in central Europe. Large and very thin, it was issued in parts of the Holy Roman
Empire, which at the time consisted basically of Germany as sections of Italy. Bracteates did not
completely replace the twofaced pfennigs, and often were struck simultaneously be the same
authority. By the conclusion of the second period, the uniface type had been almost completely
replaced by standard coinage.
 Anything written on medieval coinage should mention the alloy “billon”, which contains
less than 50% silver. Since the medieval period was not immune to inflation, frequent
debasement of the silver coinage occurred, especially on the continent. (The English tended to
maintain the purity of their coinage).
Medieval western Europe coins were rarely dated by the Christian era (AD) until the end
of the 15th century. The Byzantine did date their earlier coinage by the regnal years of the
emperor, but this [practiced died out by the 9th century. Mints in the west were usually indicated
by either being named in the legend, or by a small symbol. All legends on western coins were in
Latin, the universal language of the middle ages. In fact, the legends followed a rather formal
pattern, making it fairly easy to determine the issuing authority and his titles. Byzantine mints
initially were shown by an abbreviated name below the type on the reverse of coins, but this too
became less obvious in the later Empire.
By the end of the 14th century, most western and central European countries were striking
gold. England and France issued the noble, the ryal, and the angel (England).
One could list several dozen names of medieval gold coin denominations, but then, as
now, the term “ducat” was applied to gold coins even though technically they were not ducats.
In general, the name ducat tests to be applied to florin sized coins such as the gold gulden of
Germany. Thus, beginning in the 13th century and coming into bloom in the 14th century,
bimetakkusn had returned to European coinage.
Coinage of the Third Period – The third division of medieval coinage extended from roughly
from the introduction of gold until the full bloom of the Renaissance, reaching its peak in the late
15th century. This period was one of change in which the older medieval cross types became
more nationalistic, with designs symbolic of each individual country. It was during this time that
heraldry on coins strongly developed so that the fleur-de-lis began to emerge of French coinage,
and the lion of the Brabant became the feature of Burgundian coins.
Basically, then, we have a change from eh simple denier and obols to a more complex
coinage with many divisions and multiples. In addition, gold pieced again were issued in
quantity. Petty feudal coinages gradually disappeared and were slowly supplanted by those of
centralized royal governments, although some feudal lords continued to strike coins for
centuries. Toward the end of this period, copper coins again were struck in certain areas.