There are thousands and thousands of coin sites on the Internet. Many of them are outstanding while others have been dead for months and years. It’s the sheer quantity and their varying degrees of completion – or, incompleteness to be more exact – that make it more difficult to find some of the gems out there.
It’s my hope you’ll discover at least one or two new sites or "gems" to frequent after reading this.
The criteria for coin sites listed
First and foremost, this list isn’t completely fair. It doesn’t and can’t list every coin related site that offers terrific information or services for coin collectors. To keep the list manageable, I set up a few conditions. Each site had to:
- Have at least a six month history
- Provide consistent updates to their information
- Offer FREE coin content
- And finally, coin dealer, association, club, auction, and coin certification sites were excluded
Obviously, some great sites were left out by these restrictions alone. I’d have preferred creating a list of 30, 40 or even 50 coin sites. However, it simply wasn’t realistic in my objective of creating a quick-reading and useful reference of recommended coin sites.
Finally, none of the sites are listed in any particular order – they’re not ranked from 1 to 20. With that said, let’s begin …
Coin Sites or Blogs with Personalized Coin Collector Information
While I enjoy to sit back and relax with a professional trade publication or newspaper, there’s nothing better than reading personalized news, information and blogs. It’s not just their personal approach to writing, but the fact that they’re doing something driven from passion – they write about their experiences, what they hear from their readers and you can tell they do it with joy.
And while they usually don’t write every day, when they ink the pen to paper it’s often about something from a unique and interesting perspective. They’re also not afraid to write like people actually talk. Perhaps most important, they write selflessly. They’re open, forthcoming and always provide valuable links within their articles – even when they know it can lead readers away from their site and to another.
I hope more collectors will start writing about their experiences, but for now, here is a list of three sites that are focused solely on providing coin information and content and do it with "personal style":
Recommended Coin Forums or Discussion Groups
There are a surprisingly number of coin forums or discussion groups. The wide range of coin topics discussed, the unique accounts and the retelling of personal experiences in collecting are a few reasons coin forums are so enjoyable.
The coin forums I’ve selected aren’t necessary the largest ones on the block but they’re engaging, friendly, helpful, and rewarding. They also have a nice mix of coin collectors – from new to experienced.
My list:
Coin News Sites
Free online news sites are very limited in number. I’m talking about sites that relay AND create coin news. There are excellent coin related print publications but most don’t expose enough of their content online for free, and use that medium to help increase their readership and revenue.
My only selection:
*Numismaster also offers several blogs and collector software with several available coin and paper note price guides. However, the latter is a paid service.
Government Mint Websites
It’s hard not to list Mints that actually produce many of the coins we talk about on CoinNews. It’s not just about their coins – it’s also about the quality of information, content and images they provide on their sites.
While I could select many mints from around the world, my list consists of those most frequented by CoinNews readers:
- United States Mint
- Royal Canadian Mint
- The Royal Mint
- Royal Australian Mint
- The Perth Mint Australia
Museums with Coin Artifacts, Coin Images and Information
You may not be aware of the unique UK site that records archaeological finds from members of the public. It includes a searchable online database and, naturally, has many coins and coin images in their archive. There’s an extra element of intrigue with some of these coins because there’s often a story behind their discovery. The site:
The Smithsonian offers a huge range of interesting information, including an abundant and historical coin collection. However, you won’t find a specific category or menu option to track down all their coin or numismatic content. Usually their search feature is the best place to start. A sampling of what you can find is the following interactive and must see coin site:
Specialty Coin Sites
While you could potentially create unique categories for each of the sites below, I’ve simply listed them under "Specialty Coin Sites" for organization.
Coin news aggregator:
When it comes to gathering coin news from around the world and then displaying it in one place for the reader, the leader is:
Coin mint errors:
Outstanding information on mint errors from around the world, their prices and excellent error coin photos can all be seen and read at:
Reference sites:
A thorough listing of US coins – past to present – each with detailed information and high quality photos are available from:
An online reference and valuation site that includes ancient Roman, Greek and Byzantine coins with exquisite photos is:
If you’re a fan of dollar coins like the Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, and new Presidential $1 Coins, you’ll really enjoy the comprehensive and informational site:
In conclusion …
That’s it! Again, there are other excellent sites I simply couldn’t list given the space. The ones that I have are minimally worthy of a quick review. I hope you find a few gems to put in your Internet favorites to revisit every couple of days.
