Most days of the week, we handle a good chunk of change. But how often do we actually look at those pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters?

These days, for most of us, that’s rare – and it could mean you’re letting valuable coins slip through your fingers.

I examine coins out of habit, because I had a penny collection when I was a kid. Recently, I was surprised to find an 1899 Indian-head cent, which managed to stay in circulation for more than a century before it found its way to my home. It was a rare find, but similar coins might be mixed into the proverbial jug of change.

“Once in a blue moon you’ll find something that’s really valuable, but not as often as years ago,” says Jay Beaton, spokesman for the Colorado-based American Numismatic Association.

This is true partly because people started hoarding older, more valuable coins as soon as the U.S. stopped making silver coinage in 1964. But it’s also true because, thanks to coin-counting machines, you can turn a jar of change into paper money in seconds without looking at a single coin.

Lost in the mix

According to Washington-based Coinstar, about 80 percent of U.S. households accumulate change. And the average household with spare change has about $99 in coins, or a total of $10.5 billion in coins sitting in Mason jars, in piggy banks and between sofa cushions nationwide.

If you dump your $99 or so in loose change into a self-service coin-counting machine, how will you know whether you have old, rare or valuable coins in the mix?

The answer: You won’t. Most coin-counting machines won’t return them to you. The machines have coin-return slots for unrecognizable currency, but a penny is a penny to a coin-counting machine, whether it was minted this year or generations ago.

“Although they may have a higher market value, there is nothing that would differentiate them from a similar coin whose market value is face value only,” Coinstar spokeswoman Marci Maule says. “Coins including the Eisenhower silver dollar and 1943 steel pennies may not be returned to the customer. This is stated on our user interface before the user begins a transaction, so we suggest that they sort these out along with foreign coin.”

Different brands of coin-counting machines may accept or reject different coins, but as a general rule, an old and therefore valuable coin will be accepted at face value by all such machines.

Read the rest at Fort Wayne Journal.

This blog entry has some excellent coverage of die varieties, complete with pictures and discussion.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that every collector must know about die varieties, but it’s certainly a worthy topic for discussion. If you deal with error coins, then you most definitely should know about die varieties.

1. What building appears on the Saint-Gaudens double eagle? Answer Capitol Building

2. Did Spain issue a coin with a denomination called a franco? Answer No

3. Why were black serial numbers used on 1979 Canadian notes? Answer It was hoped the serial numbers would be machine-readable (they weren’t)

4. What was the issue price of a 1979-S Proof set? Answer $9.00

5. What silver denominations were struck by the New Orleans Mint in the 20th century? Answer Dime, quarter, half dollar, dollar

DOVER, Del. – A Dover businessman is hoping that a $500 treasure could boost interest in coin collecting.

Coin dealer Steve Bryan admits it’s a publicity stunt that could raise interest in his shop. He said he put a rare penny into circulation and wants to hear from the person who finds it – even if the finder doesn’t want to sell it back to him.

The coin is a 1914-D Lincoln penny worth $500. Bryan said he spent it somewhere in Dover Monday.

Bryan is the same dealer who garnered national attention this year when he bought some $100 bills with missing serial numbers from people who got them at an area slot machine parlor. Bryan contacted federal agents about the bills, resulting in the conviction of a Treasury worker who stole them from a printing office.

Original article at NBC.com

(Newport Beach, CA) – How do you make a million dollar profit with rare coins in only three months? By studying and carefully watching for opportunities in the marketplace, according to Aaron Ellis of California, a first-quarter winner in the Professional Coin Grading Service World’s Series of Coin Trading™ contest that began March 1, 2006 and will end this December 31.

The contest is divided in two categories: collectors and dealers. Each contestant created a hypothetical $1 million rare coin portfolio, and they can “buy” and “sell” as they desire. Cash prizes of $1,000 each are given to the top collector and dealer traders each quarter, and cash prizes of $10,000 each will be given to the top traders in each category at the conclusion of the competition.

Ellis recently won $1,000 as the top coin trader in the collector division for the period March 1 to May 31, 2006.

He told PCGS he heard friends talking about the contest, so he thought he’d give it a try. Ellis admits there was “a little bit of luck” involved in building his initial $1 million fantasy portfolio into $2,144,147 in only three months.

Read the rest at PCGS.

Here’s the game they’re talking about where you get $1 million to buy rare coins.

(via The Arlington collection)