Big Blue Huddle

Just curious if anyone here knows anything about coins? I found a handful of 1914-1918 wheat pennies and other coins in individual cases.

Quote from: Jclayton92 on July 18, 2024, 01:18:10 PMJust curious if anyone here knows anything about coins? I found a handful of 1914-1918 wheat pennies and other coins in individual cases.

I am a coin collector and know quite a bit. In fact, I have a complete collection of Lincoln cents, and all but a few holes in my flying eagle and indian head cent collection. Even have a few large cents and half cents.

If there is a "D" mint mark on the 1914, that is the one coin in the range that is fairly valuable...depending on condition

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on July 18, 2024, 01:28:24 PMI am a coin collector and know quite a bit. In fact, I have a complete collection of Lincoln cents, and all but a few holes in my flying eagle and indian head cent collection. Even have a few large cents and half cents.

If there is a "D" mint mark on the 1914, that is the one coin in the range that is fairly valuable...depending on condition

Yeah I found a ton of the 1914-18 no mint mark in great condition. One with the L missing off the edge of the penny etc. I just know nothing about them and now have several and no clue where to start.

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on July 18, 2024, 01:28:24 PMI am a coin collector and know quite a bit. In fact, I have a complete collection of Lincoln cents, and all but a few holes in my flying eagle and indian head cent collection. Even have a few large cents and half cents.

If there is a "D" mint mark on the 1914, that is the one coin in the range that is fairly valuable...depending on condition

Any Morgan dollars?

Bill

Quote from: Jclayton92 on July 18, 2024, 01:34:44 PMYeah I found a ton of the 1914-18 no mint mark in great condition. One with the L missing off the edge of the penny etc. I just know nothing about them and now have several and no clue where to start.

It really depends on whether you are looking for information on your pennies or if you want to delve a bit into becoming a rookie numismatist. If the former, take your pennies to any pawn shop who deals in buying and selling coins. If the latter, go and buy yourself the official "Blue" and "Red" "Handbooks of United States Coins." They are updated every year with the latest market information on new discoveries as well as selling prices for coinage.

Now, your Lincoln "Wheat" pennies do not have a mint mark all pennies, devoid of a mint mark, were minted at the Philadelphia mint. The others would have mint marks "D," for Denver and "S" for San Francisco.

The rarest of Lincoln "Wheat" pennies is the 1909-S "VDB" penny which had a mintage of less than a million, I believe.

This hobby is like getting a master's degree in history because to understand what was coined, where it was coined, and why it was coined, is a comprehensive history lesson unto itself. In one respect, you are holding legal tender while, in another, you are holding American history.

I hope this helps a little in terms of context. I used to study the Red Book when I was a young kid, and collected coins for many years until I decided to sell them off in my mid twenties. Part of me wishes I kept them but you always get an itch to want something and then you blow your free spending money to acquire a piece. In the end, you'll almost never get back what you invested so the joy of it is purely for the hobby unless you're getting into the professionally graded stuff for investments.

Peace!