Are you a beginner coin collector, or considering starting your own coin collection? If you are interested in coin collecting, I would highly recommend starting with either:
1. Lincoln Wheat Cents, or
2. Buffalo Nickels
Both Lincoln Wheat cents and Buffalo nickels are fairly cheap and abundant. This will give you time to learn about U.S. coin history, how coins are generally valued, and start to identify which coins interest you the most.
As you learn more about coin collecting, you will have the knowledge and experience to consider larger purchases. In the meantime, you can build a great collection of Lincoln Wheat cents or Buffalo nickels that are still valuable.
Lincoln Wheat Cents
The United States began its production of Lincoln head cents in 1909, starting with the wheat cents from 1909 to 1958. This gives the beginning collector plenty of options for a collection, ranging from more common collections, to highly rare ones like the S VDB and VDB cents from 1909 [link to previous article].
The Lincoln Wheat cents were struck throughout World War II as well. Given the United State’s need for metals during war time, there are a number of interesting war-time variations of the Lincoln Wheat cents as well. This includes the 1943 steel cents, 1943 bronze cents, and later coins made of copper and zinc instead of copper and tin.
Buffalo Nickels
The United States produced Buffalo nickels from 1913 to 1938. Part of a movement to beautify American coins, a sculptor named James Earl Fraser created this design with the profile of a native chief in a headdress on the obverse, and a buffalo on the subverse. During the first few years of its production, the Buffalo nickel went through several variations to prevent them from wearing too quickly in circulation.
In 1937, a worker at the Denver Mint began polishing one of the dies to remove clash marks, from the dies being stored touching one another. In his enthusiasm to remove the clash marks, he also accidentally polished off one of the buffalo’s legs. Thousands of “three-legged nickels” went into circulation before the mistake was caught.
If you would like to see our collection of Lincoln Wheat cents or Buffalo nickels, please come by to see us while we are open. I would love to point you in the right direction if you would like to start a collection of your own.
Sources:
https://franklinmint.com/blogs/history-of-coins/the-history-of-the-lincoln-wheat-penny
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/history-of-the-lincoln-cent-768785
http://www.acoincollection.com/history-of-the-buffalo-nickel-indian-head-nickel/