Coin Collecting Club

Since a mintmark is an identifier for each coin and will tell you where your coin was minted, it stands to reason that you will find the mintmark somewhere on the coin itself. And this is where it might become slightly messy. Yes, the one thing that you can rely on is that a mintmark will be on a coin, or can you? What about when there is no mintmark? What then? There are of course as things go in this world, a few reasons for this.

There is no mintmark used for that particular mint. This can happen because the mint is the original one and therefore doesn’t use a mintmark, or perhaps the coins minted elsewhere weren’t given the mintmark on purpose. For example Lincoln cents which were minted at both the San Francisco mint and the West Point mint in the early 1990’s didn’t use a mintmark, thus making it indistinguishable from the Philadelphia minted Lincoln cents.

There was something wrong with die or grease got clogged up in it and covered the mintmark symbol, thereby resulting in a coin with no mintmark or a very weak mintmark, or the mintmark has been carefully scraped away for fraudulent reasons at some point or other.
Since some coins are rarer than others and sometimes the mintmark or the lack of one is the main reason, the mintmark will be carefully removed to give the appearance of having no mintmark at first glance, Or It could have worn away naturally with the passage of time.

If there is a mintmark present on the coin however, you would as a general rule, find it on the obverse of the coin. That’s not to say that whichever side you find a mintmark is going to be the obverse of a coin. No, it’s more along the lines of the mintmark being placed on the obverse. This too can change however, and you might find that some mintmarks are actually on the reverse of the coin.

A good example of this is the nickel. Whereas normally you would find the mintmark of the nickel (five cent piece) just under the date as with most US coins, during the heyday of the Second World War, there was a shortage of the metal Nickel which was used to mint the coins. This led to silver being added to its composition and to reflect this change, for the duration of this time, the mintmark was taken over to the reverse of the coin.

The placement of the mintmark can also vary from country to country, from coin to coin and from whim to whim. Well not really from whim to whim as it does take a committee or an organization to make these decisions but you can’t get around the fact that the placement is entirely in the hands of these capable people.

So again generally, you would likely find a mintmark somewhere under the date if there is one, which is the case for just about all US coins.

Otherwise, in times gone by and in other countries, you could find the mintmark in such place as just under the portrait of a ruler, just to the side, or just above. Then you also have the variation of the mintmark being just above the date, or just above the date and just under the portrait.

As you can see there are many variations on this theme, and the only way to know for sure is to first know what the possible mintmarks are for that country and that coinage. And also whether there was a mintmark to begin with.

Allow me to guide through the aspects of Cleaning Coins.

As a coin collector you have in all probability come across coins that look like they were filthy. You probably decided that the coins needed to be cleaned to give them back their full value but did you know that cleaning your coins can truly damage certain valuable characteristics that are required for coin valuing?

You see your coins contain a certain patina about them, like antiques, the patina should never be removed. The patina is a chemical process caused by oxygen in the air.

For this reason you may want to leave the coins more or less in the condition that you have found them in. Once you have found a good place to store them you will need to find a reputed coin dealer. This individual should be able to inform you of the price that these coins you have are worth. Once you have gotten at least several coin appraisals carried out you can ask the coin expert how you should go about cleaning coins without causing any damage.

This is very important to find out as these people will have the knowledge and the experience in handling coins for various collection purposes. With all of this information they can tell you the best methods for cleaning coins without losing the diverse characterizing marks. When the process of cleaning coins has been finished you should look to making sure that you have a protective coin folder handy so that you can place the coins inside quickly.
Holding your coins inside of a coin folder will ensure that they are in good condition. Since cleaning coins can hurt the coins’ value you should find out from the coin shops what the various items are, that you can use to keep your coins in mint condition. You must remember that many cleaning solutions will be harmful to the coins. Thus you should truly see what are the simplest ways of cleaning coins that do not involve any cleaning solutions.

There is no real need for you to clean your coins as this will in all probability reduce the value. Therefore you will be better off if you keep these coins in a safe place and leave cleaning coins for the professionals, and only when you really need it cleaned.

Cleaning coins is not necessary for every coin you come across, but if you’ve been treasure hunting and have only recently dug up your coins, you might want to look into cleaning coins with mud and grit on them. Even then, the best recommended course of action would be for you to give your coins cleaned professionally.

But if you are cleaning coins on your own, then you’re probably better off starting with a coin that isn’t of value first. This way you can see the effect that your cleaning methods will have on them. After that you can graduate to cleaning coins that aren’t worth a fortune, but which might conceivably fetch a handsome sum for you. Or you could just leave cleaning coins to the experts and hand it all over to a trusted professional service.

Small tip: Never wrap your coins in paper. Paper contains trace amounts of sulphuric acid, which can damage your coins. Also never use a brush of a mild abrasive cleaner when cleaning you coins.

Finally, I’d like to thank you for reading this article and I hope it was helpful information.

A great way to develop your coin set or collection is to upgrade your coins regularly or replace them. This way, you add more value to your coin set because it’s almost complete, and better still, you will complete your collection. Upgrading your coin collection is not something you should take lightly. First and foremost, you need to have an agent who will help you acquire or dispose of any coins. These agents are usually part of a larger network and will have their ear on the ground, so they’ll usually know when something is up for sale.

When you want to upgrade your coin, you need to take into consideration how old your coins are. This is because the older they are, the more likely that they are more expensive. When you have an expensive coin set, you don’t just replace it. Biggest reason is its price will appreciate with time, and you will most probably lose money if you sell them soon after you got them. When you get a coin, make sure its high grade and increases value of the set.

You should always wait to see if you can get coins that will bring you value for your money. This means carefully choosing what you purchase. With this in mind, when you upgrade your coins, you will be adding value to your set.

Make a practice of upgrading your key coins, and keep your average coins as is. Is you properly evaluate your set, you can upgrade your coins to the best available, and this will slowly increase the value of your coin collection as a whole.

Coin collecting is something common for all ages. In case you are really curious to know what this is all about, then, just go ahead, and make sure that your interest lasts. There is absolutely no need for any supplies in the early stages of coin collecting. There are many tools that are available that will help the coin collectors to achieve what they want. There are a few coin collecting tools that are given below, with the help of which the budding coin collectors can actually groom their interest.

The statehood quarters are by far the coins that are collected most commonly. The quarters are generally collected by individuals of all ages, as they make a very good gift. The statehood quarters are pretty easy to get, and that is one another reason for this coin to be topping the list of most of the collectors. The statehood quarter is available in a large number of formats, and they have mounting formats and traditional photo-frame formats too.

The coin folders are one of the major supplies that helps all the collectors stash their coins, and in a very safe manner. There are many types of coin holders. There are folders that can hold one particular type of coin. Jefferson Nickels, or Statehood Quarters can all be held in a particular type of folder. The coin folders will help you categorize the coins and arrange them in such a way that they are easy to handle.

The coin collection albums are another set of supplies that are very useful. The coin albums are very similar to the folders that have been mentioned above, just that they are more elite, and they will give a better look. They are the best bet when you want to store all your coins in one place. The coin albums also come in various formats. There are many coin albums that have been designed just to hold coins that are large in size, and also early edition coins, and they also hold coins that are of both the types. The increasing popularity of the coin albums has made the manufacturers increase the number of leaflets in the album.

The coin holders that are getting famous now are another set of supplies that have got wide usage. The only hassle is that the coins cannot be stored in the coin holders for very long, and these are not used by professional coin collectors, fearing damage. All the coin holders have a polyethylene insert, which is generally colored white or black. These inserts are available in various numbers, and they will support a wide variety of coins. The holders cannot be used for a long time, but then, they are the best bet to display any coin collection.

Most of the beginners end up getting the starter kits. The starter kits are the kind of supplies that will be perfect for a person who is looking to start off. The coin collection kits predominantly come with a set of coins that are not in circulation anymore. The coin collection kits are the best for any person who is just entering the coin collecting arena.

The coin books are another set of valuable supplies. These are the kind of supplies that suit the collectors best. These have a large number of formats, and this will certainly help storage of coins for a person who is looking to make his coin collection a profitable business.

Most of the coin collecting supplies are available online. Remember this, there is no investment early in the coin collection process, but, once your collection gets bigger, you might have to spend a lot on the supplies, but it sure is worth it!

Coin collecting is one activity that has actually kindled the interest of many people of all age groups. Coin collecting is not seen just as an activity that is done for fun, but is also take seriously as a hobby by many people.

There are people who look to make more money with the coin collection hobby. But, it is important for them to realize that they don’t really need to look only at the monetary part of the collection, but they can also see the fun involved, and not bother much about the investment.

Many people from the previous generations had the habit of collecting coins… maybe they realized that these coins will someday have a price more than it’s own value. The coin collecting hobby was considered royal, and coin collection was a rage in the royal family.

But nowadays, it is not seen as a hobby only for the ‘kings’. It has boiled down to the range of a layman, and most of the people who are into coin collection today are not very affluent, but they are normal men.

The Reason for Popularity:

This is seen as one of the most popular hobbies, and the reason for this is the basic interest to try things out differently.

It is possible for anyone to start off collecting coins; it can be done from any place, without much investment. The phase when a person takes in all the coins and expands his collection is called the ‘accumulator’ stage.

As soon as the collector manages to get the hang of the whole process, the hobby becomes more aggressive, and he tends to look for coins in whatever he sees, and this is when the person turns out to be more professional. They will be ready to do anything to bring just ‘one dime’, which is considered rare, into their collection.

Coin collecting is by far one of the most interesting hobbies that ever existed, and it sure does kick start ones urge to be adventurous.