Tag Archives: US Coins

Whitman Show Kids Korner

Posted on December 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Bel Mar Coin Club received a surprise package last meeting from Ms. Pattie Finner. Ms. Pattie travels the USA working the Kids Korner displays at the Whitman Shows. If you have never been to a Whitman Show at the Baltimore Convention Center, you owe it to yourself (and your kids!) to attend one soon. And be sure to go early in the morning and get the schedule of events for the Kids Korner for the day you attend. (you can see a photo on our Kids Korner Page of one of our Junior Members and a friend at one of the Kids Korner activities) Whitman knows how to treat Junior Coin Collectors and your kids will be excited about Coin Collecting once they have interacted with Ms. Pattie Finner and the other Whitman Show employees and helpers.

Here is how Bel Mar was treated this past month:
A Representative from the Maryland State Numismatic Association came to our Meeting and gave a special Presentation. Ms. Pattie Finner and Whitman Shows generously donated 6 US Presidential Dollar Coins in Proof 70 Slabs! We received 1 George Washington, 1 Thomas Jefferson, and 4 James Monroe Presidential Dollar Coins in their Mint Perfect condition!

Bel Mar Coin Club will be auctioning these Coins as part of our upcoming monthly Auctions, or part of the Coin Show in May. All proceeds of the Auctions will go to our Junior Coin Collector Program (YN Program). There will be another Post soon describing this Program. We are encouraging more Young People to join and get involved with our Club. Coin Collecting is a worthwhile Hobby, and the ideal time to start collecting is when you are young!

We hope to see you at our next Club Meeting, or at our Spring Coin Show in May. Check the other Tabs/Pages on this website for Auction Sheets or for more detailed information about the next Coin Show.

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Coin Collecting Booklet

Posted on November 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

I visited a website for Jim’s Coins in Madison, Wisconsin and found a great Coin Collecting Booklet.  Here is the link for the website: http://jimscoins.com/

Here is a direct link to the Booklet: http://jimscoins.com/us_coin_checklist.php

If you click on the picture or the download link you can save a copy as a .pdf file.

I did this and then saved it to a flash drive / thumb drive and then took the thumb drive to Office Depot and they printed a copy for me.

**Now – here is the trick – Office Depot printed 2 pages per 8″ x 11″ paper and printed on both sides. Then they cut the pages and bound them with a spiral edge and I have a small Coin Collecting Checklist Booklet!  Here is what it looks like:

Take this to Coin Shows and Coin Club meetings and to your Local Coin Shop – it is a great way to keep track of your Coin Collection as it grows!

**Update: I am editing the Coin Collecting Booklet and adding up to the current year for modern issue US Coins. I will leave a few blank spaces for future years, too, and maybe a little more room for Notes. It is a tedious process and will take some time, but once it is complete BelMar Coin Club will have a link for the Booklet on our website, and we will have copies available for sale (at our cost) during Club Meetings and during our Coin Shows.

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Beginner Coin Collecting – Part 2

Posted on May 29, 2012 by | 3 comments

Part 2 – Which Coins to collect?

In order to keep these blog posts to a reasonable size, “Part 2 – Which Coins to collect?” may need to become it’s own 5 or 6 part series in the future. For now it will be an overview of US collectible coins and how to get started.

Certainly personal taste, budget, the age of the collector, and time will be a factor for the soon to be serious collector. Here is an example: For my son’s 8th birthday we had a “Treasure Hunt” party and rented a pavilion at a nearby park and hid puzzle pieces around the park; each piece leading to the next clue in the treasure hunt. Each child received a beginner coin collecting kit and some US coins as their share of the Treasure.

From that introduction to coin collecting my son has taken a liking to Lincoln Cents and has a growing collection 2 years later. Each Coin Show we attend he searches for the missing Cents to complete his collection, and he looks to find a better grade of Cent for the ones he has collected. For the young collector, The Whitman Coin Expo has a “Kids Korner” and interested boys & girls can search jars of Lincoln Cents to add to their collection. Each participant is also given a Whitman Lincoln Cent Coin Folder to help them get started with their own Collection!

If Lincoln Cents don’t catch your attention, perhaps the older Indian Head Cents, or Buffalo Nickels will be to your liking. When I started collecting, around the same time as my son, I decided to collect dimes. It has been a lot of fun trying to get every year of Mercury and Roosevelt dime. There are also older Barber Dimes which can be fairly easy to collect in the lower grades. Franklin Half Dollars, Kennedy Half Dollars, and Liberty Half dollars are popular with several of the Bel Mar Coin Club members. For the serious Collector, with a bigger budget, you might want to collect Silver Dollars.

Whatever your tastes, Coin Shows are a great place to find the coins you are looking for. If you cannot find a show near you, or it is too far out on the Calendar, check our Links Page or search for a reputable Coin Dealer near you. Whitman is a great place for Coin Albums, books and other supplies. Our Links Page also lists other resources we have found reliable.

Watch for Part 3 or future Posts on Collecting for more detailed information.

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Lincoln Cent Historic Coin Flips

Posted on April 21, 2012 by | 1 comment

How do you engage kids in Coin Collecting today?

How about combining a bit of US History with Coin Collecting?

“History – ugh!” you may hear from the kids, but what a concept!

Let’s start with the Lincoln Cent. Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809. In 1909 the US Mint broke new ground by allowing Victor David Brenner to design a coin with the image of an actual person on it! According to historical documents, it was President Theodore Roosevelt who had the courage to commission the Lincoln Cent and to order the Mint to break new ground by having the image of a former President on the Coin.

There is much history around the inaugural Lincoln Cent, and even more due to the controversy of Mr. Brenner’s initials on the coin!

Here is a link to the full Wikipedia Page on Mr. Brenner and his commissioning by President Roosevelt:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_David_Brenner

The US Mint removed Mr. Brenner’s initials from the dies that struck the Lincoln Cents halfway through the year. Because of this, the 1909 V.D.B. and the 1909-S V.D.B. are some of the rarest Cents today!

Here is a fact some may not know: a 1909-S (San Francisco Mint) V.D.B. Lincoln Cent in “Almost Good” AG3 condition is worth $650.00 Retail, and the same coin in “Mint State 67 condition still having its Red color” (MS-67R) is worth up to $100,000.00 dollars! Click here to see this beautiful cent!

Below is a picture of a sheet of 20 2″ x 2″ coin flips designed to hold and display any collectible coin. One of our members has printed 1.5″ x 1.5″ photos of significant events in history from each of the years of the Lincoln Cent, beginning with 1909. Now young coin collectors can learn a little about United States History as they build their coin collection!

If you have a young collector in your family, think of ways you can incorporate education with collecting. If your favorite coin to collect is a Buffalo Nickel, or a Mercury or Roosevelt Dime, you could also print the small 1.5″ x 1.5″ pictures to include in the flips. You can order perforated paper stock and set up a printing program within Microsoft Office to help you with the printing. If you would like advice, or need help doing this, just contact the Bel Mar Coin Club using the Comments or Reply form, or check the About Us page for contact information.

If you visit one of Bel Mar Coin Club’s meetings or Coin Shows you can also inquire about the Lincoln Cent Historic Coin Flips.

Happy Collecting!

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