Guide for Rare Coin Collectors

Coin collecting is one hobby that is both fun and challenging. To help those who are looking for those rare coins, here is a list of hard to find ones that are worth moving “heaven and earth” for.
Gold coins are something of a rare commodity. They were circulated only until 1933, which makes them expensive when they are auctioned. The nice thing about gold is that its value probably will never go down - making it a good investment.

Another rare coin sought by collectors is the Liberty Seated Dollar. These were last produced some time in the 19th century and are considered to be a rare find.
From 1875 to 1878, twenty cent coins were minted. This coin looks very much like a quarter and since its value is very low today, it is a coin worth looking for.

The Barber half dollars are rare coins that were minted from 1892 until 1915 and are collected by people depending on date or type. One of the challenges that occurs when searching for this coin is finding one in good condition.

The 1917 type One Standing Liberty Quarter is another coin worth owning. It was only minted for 2 years and shows the exposed breast of Ms. Liberty. This design created such an uproar that it had to be replaced and was only circulated for a year. Mercury dimes were produced periodically during the 20th century. The market value of them is $50 a piece.

The Walking Liberty Half Dollar is a beautiful coin for collectors. They were only circulated for 4 years and are considered to be one of the all time rare coins to ever exist.
The Texas Commemorative Half Dollar is another rare coin. Only 150,000 of these were minted over a 4 year period and just 60% to 80% of these are still available today making it one of the hardest coins to find today...

The most expensive coin is the $20 Saint Gaudens. This was sold in an auction for nearly $8 million. The design is truly superb and the value of it has never dropped even during the 1980-82 bear market.

Rare coins are truly a challenge for anyone who seeks to make this a mission in life. Not only are they hard to find but it they are expensive to acquire. Should a person have the funds available to purchase them then this adventure is truly something worth finishing.

What Types of Coins Do Collectors Love?

Simplicity is not the best policy when it comes to coin collecting. Oftentimes it is the rareness, the history, or the mother country of the coins that collectors value most.

Here is a wide array of the variety of coins that "coinophiles" are obsessed with:

National Coins: Patriotism in Coins
Usually, national coin collectors are interested in collecting their own country's coins. It is common practice for collectors of national coins to get a representative coin from each date and mint marks for each coin series. Various national coin collectors combine a unique variation of series, date and mint marks.

Error Coins: It's OK to be Not-So-OK
One of the modern types of coin collecting is known as error coin collecting. Errors became possible when the production of coins was automated during the nineteenth century. Collectors of historic coins are fine with error coins because they like the uniqueness or error coins. Even modern day coin collector falls in love with error coins because they are assured that the modern processes promise that they are unique. The characteristics or coin errors include the following:
- dies that are doubled
- mint marks that are repunched
- over-dated
- double strikes
- coins that are “off” metal
- coins that are displaced or off center
- coins that are clipped
- one coin with different nominations on two sides a.k.a. mules

World Coins: Hobby of Kings…. of the World
Collecting world coins is about gathering those modern coins from all the countries of the world. Geographically
-challenged individuals will have a hard time participating in this kind of coin collecting. If you would like to be a collector of world coins, you must be prepared to spend a considerable amount of money if you would want to have an extensive collection
- being a “jetsetter” might be required. World coin collectors often acquire representative coins from each country or from authorities that issue coins. There are also world coin collectors that collect by subject such as those coins that feature animals.

Historical Coins: The Value of the Past
Collectors of historic coins find value in mints that are from medieval or ancient times. The most popular of these historic coins include the following:
- Byzantine
- Celtic
- Greek
- Indian
- Israelite
- Merovingian
- Ostrogothic

There are other ancient coin specialties but it really depends on the preferences of the collectors. The popular way is to collect the coins that were minted during the reign of a certain emperor or king.