PHILADELPHIA, JULY 1960 -- My first valuable coin was an uncirculated ten dollar gold piece, similar to the one shown above (image courtesy of The Coin Page), and for which I happily handed over three hard-earned ten dollar bills. At age fourteen I had been collecting coins for nearly three years.

A friend had invited me on a tour of the Philadelphia Mint with his Dad. After the tour, we visited the local coin shops. My friend’s Dad was floored that I would pay $30 dollars for a coin containing less than a half ounce of $35 per ounce gold!

Is it the coin or the story behind the coin?

Attend any coin show and you will witness a hundred examples of the haggling art. Some say a coin is worth only what someone will pay for it – another way of saying that coin values, like tire mileage, will vary from person to person. Will the knowledgeable collector pay more or less for a coin than a novice? Is he buying the coin, the story, or both?

Hard to say.

But...

...the more you know of a coin’s context – surrounding history, artistic merit, and so forth – the more you will value it as a part of your collection.

That’s what this web site is about. The links below will take you to stories of valuable coins – valuable stories that I hope will add to your collecting enjoyment. And my friend's Dad? By December he'd become a strong bidder for rare Type II one dollar gold coins -- and gold was still $35 per ounce.

Gold coins can have many different values depending on the stories behind the coin. Finding rare coins is an art that needs to be perfected through research. In order to build a valuable coin collection you need to research the history of coins and then you will know what to look for when building your collection.

Now, get the story on:

The value of rare coins can extend well beyond dollars and cents. The value of rare coins, apart from coin collector value, appears along the byways of connected interests – think travel, photography, or even cuisine!

Coin Auction Site Answers The Big Questions of Coin Collecting This coin auction site page, actually a site within a site, helps answer the most frequently asked question of coin owners – What’s my coin worth?

Valuable Coin Stories UPDATE... a Coin Blog Stay aware of new pages and other changes on this site, as they happen.

Lost Treasure Story - Shipwrecked Coins and Lost Gold Treasure What is it about a lost treasure story? Two words with a cargo of emotional impact: LOST... a childhood fear... and TREASURE... exciting, ungodly wealth, pictured here...

Pirate treasure – high risk, high adventure – sometimes government sponsored Pirate treasure was traditionally lost from ships whose misfortune was to meet sea-going outlaws like Sir Francis Drake, Henry Morgan, or Edward Teach (aka “Blackbeard”).

Metal detectors offer a high benefit, low cost way to collect coins Metal detectors offer an active diversion from the couch, the paper, and the TV remote. Gain in health, and maybe wealth… What Will You Find??

To appreciate early American coin history, start with NO COINS. Colonial Americans, before the first early American coin, had a serious economic problem -- no pocket change.

The first federal mint was almost shut down by Congress in 1800. The first federal mint was strictly small time – a low horsepower kind of place with real horses – making mistakes that only a collector could love.

How many US Mints did it take to go from chain cents to state quarters? Eight US Mints, over the years, have been plugging away to provide the right amount of the right coins at the right time to support the American economy.

The history of the penny you just dropped spans more than two millennia. Although the history of the penny is likely to end in the not so distant future – they cost more than a penny to make after all – before they go, read their story!

The first US nickel coins weren’t worth a nickel – plugged or otherwise! The first US nickel coins were actually… pennies! They began circulating in 1857. As our first nickel coins, the public immediately called them “nickels.”

United States Silver Dollars – Quintessential Collectible Coins United States silver dollars are desired by nearly all US coin collectors. Do you have one? Do you know its history? Have you seen all the major types?

US State Quarters – Coin Collecting Excitement at Face Value The US State Quarters program has broadened the appeal of coin collecting in a way not seen since the commemorative half dollars of the 20’s and 30’s.

The Presidential Dollar Coin Program can win big – in two ways. The Presidential Dollar Coin series is now underway at banks near you. The mint, flushed with the success of the 50 State Quarters Program, can win in two ways with the “presidentials”.

Just one US Gold Coin for my collection – then I’ll be happy! How many families in 1933 knew that a US gold coin collection was exempt from President Roosevelt’s recall of gold coins from circulation?

How old paper money earns the interest of a coin collector. Even a tattered example of old paper money can have a great story. The shredded remains of a Confederate dollar bill you'll see here will prove it!

A world silver coin that demonstrates early globalisation A world silver coin? What else would you call a coin made under Spanish authority in Mexico that circulated in China, picking up local chop marks along the way?

A coat of arms symbol on circulating coins affirms national identity. Bearing a coat of arms symbol, a coin speaks to national identity. Heraldic devices emblazon older European coins – and major early United States coins.

Coin Making is 2500 Years of Art, Technology, and Economic Indispensability Coin making is not a lost art. But it’s an old one. This ancient craft became a vital technology and a fundamental support of popular commercial exchange.

Coin Grading Increases Market Confidence in Valuation Coin grading is a way of describing a coin that establishes its superiority or inferiority when compared to another coin of the same type.

US Certified Coins – Coin Investment Becomes (More) Mainstream US certified coins are the backbone of any major coin auction in the United States. Coin collectors and dealers have benefited from a more orderly approach to the hobby, and the business, of coins.

Counterfeit Coin Risk Reduced for the Informed A counterfeit coin can be a fake coin made to look like a real coin, or a real coin made to look like another real coin that’s much more valuable.

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