Coin Chat Radio: 2009 Lincoln Cent Values, Strike it Rich with Pocket Change

"What’s In the News" with host Bob Van Ryzin’s starts of this week’s episode of Coin Chat Radio with information on the 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Silver Dollar Designs.

The obverse or heads side of each coin will contain an image of the legs and boots of three veterans, including an amputee, representing the service and sacrifice of those who were injured for life. A portion of the proceeds from the coin, which will be available in January from the United States Mint, will go towards the construction of a memorial dedicated to disabled veterans.

Coin Dealer John Wells is back again being interviewed by Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper. Their main discussion centers around the 2009 Lincoln Cents and the market conditions for them.

"Now that they’re being sold at a lower price than the Mint, customers seem to be very happy," Wells explains when asked about how his customers are reacting to the lower price he is able to sell the 3rd design rolls for.

When asked if these same customers are now buying more rolls since they are cheaper, Wells responds: "they’re buying in the same quantity. People who have bought 10 rolls of the ‘P’ and 10 of the ‘D’s are still doing the same with the second one and the third one."

Talk then turns to pre-2009 Lincoln pennies and the value they might have. Wells states that even though he is offering a larger premium on some older cent rolls, he is still not able to obtain them in the quantity he would like at the quality he needs. An example of this is the 1984 cents in which a majority suffer from carbon spotting due to minting issues, according to Wells.

Harper asks if the 2008 Lincoln Memorial Cent should be saved by collectors:

"Absolutely!" Wells exclaimed. "A lot of people are buying the ‘59 ‘P’ and ‘D’ and the 2008 ‘P’ and ‘D’. You know, the first year of the Lincoln Memorial and the last year of the Lincoln Memorial."

Later, Numismatics Publisher Scott Tappa has a few tips on collecting from the "Strike it Rich with Pocket Change, 2nd Edition" book, by Brian Allen and Ken Potter. Tappa explains that supply and demand is the biggest factor in affecting a coins value, and not necessarily the age, as many would expect.

The book features "more than 350 close-up illustrations, key identifying details and current market values to help you decipher the differences between proper and error issues of varying types of coins," according to Krause Publications.

"[Strike it Rich with Pocket Change] is the ultimate newbie’s guide to finding error coins and die varieties in everyday circulating coinage," writes Susan Headley from About.com in describing the first edition of the book.

"The book is profusely illustrated with close-up photos of what you need to look for on the coins, and is written with the assumption that the reader doesn’t know anything at all about coin collecting." [For more read Headley's review at Strike it Rich With Pocket Change - How to Find Error Coins in Circulation.]

Closing out Coin Chat Radio is Online Editor Lisa Bellavin with "Freshly Minted." Bellavin discusses the 2009 Britannia Collection from the Royal Mint and new oval shaped coins from the New Zealand Mint featuring 1930’s air ships from around the world.

Listen to this or prior weeks episodes by going to the Coin Chat Radio website. Current and prior week episodes are also available directly from sites hosting the free Coin Chat Radio player, like the one found in the upper right at Coin Collecting News.