About

 

Welcome to The Coin Collector

Hi, I'm Larry. I'm a coin collector and web developer based in Illinois, and this blog is where I share what I've learned about coins, their history, and their real value.

Like many collectors, I started with a jar of coins. That curiosity turned into years of reading auction results, studying grading, and hunting for key dates.

What you'll find here

  • Value guides for the U.S. coins people actually find: pennies, nickels, quarters, half dollars, and silver dollars.

  • Key dates and errors worth checking your change and collection for.

  • Grading basics, so you can judge condition before paying for professional grading.

  • Silver, gold, and collector coin market news, explained simply.

Why I trust real sales data

Price guides are often out of date, and asking prices are not the same as what coins sell for. Every guide here leans on recent sold prices wherever possible.

That frustration is also why I built Coinsel, a tool that tracks coin and currency prices from real sales. When a post mentions current values, that's usually where my numbers come from.

Get in touch

Found a coin you can't identify, or spotted something I got wrong? Use the Contact page or leave a comment on any post. I read every one.

Happy hunting, Larry Todd

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