Comments on: 2009 US Coin Mintages Plummeted as Mint Cut Production

By: R Path

R Path — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:00:12 +0000

Vachon,
Sometime’s the activity on ebay does not make any sense at all. As per my son, he is interested in US president’s $1 coin, silver coins and anything that is over 100 years old. Last weekend after some research I bought him an 1883 liberty head nickel (full liberty) for $10 and 3 1964 Kennedy ½ for $5 each at a local antiques / thrift store. I bargained the whole lot down from $40.

My next project is to buy the red book, subscribe to publications as you suggest and research barber dimes as he wants one. Thanks for the info.

By: Vachon

Vachon — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:51:50 +0000

In response to R. Path:

If you believe you will be sticking with coin collecting for the foreseeable future, it is best to learn about the subject before committing significant amounts of money to it. Subscribe to publications like Numismatic News or CoinAge magazine to get a leg-up on the hobby as well as get a handle on what the coins you’re looking for are actually worth and get a book like a PhotoGrade Coin Grading guide to familiarize yourself with proper grading.

As for price appreciation on 2009 Unc. sets, while coin collecting is often referred to as an investment, it like everything else is subject to market forces and can just as easily go down in value as up. If you’re collecting with the idea of making significant sums of money on their sale in the future, you may end up disappointed. It’s probably better to collect for collecting’s sake and to get your enjoyment from it that way.

And as a general piece of advice: It’s probably best not to buy coins on eBay until you’ve familiarized yourself with the hobby.

I hope that helps.

By: the x

the x — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:24:48 +0000

i think they should have minted less coins so they would become valuable in the near future.

By: R Path

R Path — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:44:40 +0000

I am new to coin collecting and got my son started this year. I have some questions and comments about collecting.
With all that’s been published about the decline in coin production would the “un circulated Mint Set” U09 be a good choice for price appreciation down the road?
Also, some are cutting up this set and selling the nickels and dimes on ebay for about $2 each. Does this go on every year (cutting up the sets and selling)?

Thanks

By: Vachon

Vachon — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:10:49 +0000

I haven’t understood all the disappointment I’ve been reading from collectors this year, specifically the difficulty in obtaining new 2009-dated coins. While I know that they will never be valuable, the fact that the search has been somewhat difficult has ultimately been a pleasing one. After all, wasn’t that what it was all about when searching one’s pocket change? We were all searching for the rare(r) dates, not the multi-billion mintage ones. Tomorrow’s collectors will delight in having found the “rare” 2009 nickel and Northern Mariana Islands quarter to fill in that hole in their boards.