Why Collect Coins?

Collecting Coins is an interesting hobby that’s fun for young and old. A lot of our customers are grandparents that are building their collections for their grandchildren and it becomes a positive medium for the grandchildren to work on, to get them out of the modes of looking at some of the drugs and the gangs and some of the negative places they have to put their energy, coin collecting is a very positive place to put energy for young and old.

Isn't Coin Collecting Expensive?
Most people think that coin collecting is a very expensive hobby that all these coins cost lots and lots of money, it is true that we have expensive coins in our inventory; we have coins that sell for 3-5 thousand dollars in our inventory, but the majority of coins sell for under $50. I have 3 coins that I’d like to show you today that are fun, interesting, and a good place to start that don’t require a lot of money. In fact, they’re less than $20 a coin. In 1897, which was exactly 110 years ago today, the mint made a silver dollar; they’re 90% silver and a little bit less than an ounce of silver, (with silver around the $12-$13 mark these coins melt around $10-$11 a coin).

Morgan Silver Dollar:

The second coin that I want to talk about today is a – and I have it right here – it’s a Morgan silver dollar but it’s in mint condition;mint condition meaning it was never circulated, it was never put in change. The 1897 that I spoke about earlier is a circulated coin, it’s a coin that was put in circulation, it’s a coin that was spent and it over the bar a few times in the wild west and it circulated but it’s 110 years old and it dated 1897. The 1921 Morgan is the last year that they made Morgan dollars before they started the Peace Dollar, and this coin is in mint condition, it’s never been in circulation and we have it in an air-tight holder to preserve the quality of the coin. 

Mercury Dime:
The third coin that I want to talk about is a coin that I am really excited about, I saved the best coin for last, and this coin sells for under $20. The US mint made mercury dimes, (pictured left). We call them the winged mercury and it has a little branch on the back and they were made from 1916-1945, they’re made of 90% silver, if you were to have a few Mercurys today they’d melt at probably over a dollar a coin just for the silver. But these coins have not been made since 1945, the end of the second World War, if you can remember back to the end of the second World War, all you veterans out there this is a great coin because the second World War ended in 1945. This is a mercury dime and it is the last year of issue, it’s 1945, but it’s in mint condition; mint condition means that the coin was never spent, was never passed over the bar, it never was used for change.  It’s probably the history that fascinates me personally the most.
Every coin has a story to tell. So whatever your motives for collecting coins, have fun with you endeavors.  

The Tower Mint are producers of custom coins and medals in the UK. 

Image: Credit Credit