Susan Headley has a great article on how to make money buying coins – How Do Coin Dealers Get So Many Coins That Are Limited to One Per Person?.  In this article Susan discusses how coin dealers get more than one coin when the US Mint limits sales to one coin per person.  The best part about this article, is that Susan describes how you can make money buying coins by buying these limited coins and reselling them to coin dealers.

I have written several articles on Coinblogger that if you haven’t read yet, I thing you will enjoy them.  This week I had the opportunity to interview Jack Penrod, also know as Arizona Jack on the CoinTalk forum.  Jack is a coin dealer and lincoln cent expert.  This article provides some great insights into becoming a coin dealer and collecting lincoln cents.

I also wrote an article on the 2009 Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar.  This is going to be a great coin for any Abraham Lincoln admirer.

Silver Coins Today has a good story about the US Min increasing the price of its 2009 silver bullion coins – US Mint to Increase American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin Premiums.

If you are looking for some stories to read, the Coin Update Blog just posted its February 5 Coin Update.  You should definitely check out its list.

If you would like to see some great new coins for sale, here are some cool coins I have seen for sale on ebay.

• I have always wanted a Carson City Morgan Dollar.  Here is a MS-64 1882 Carson City Morgan Silver Dollar.  This is a beautiful coin.
• Here is a great MS-64 1921 Peace Dollar.  This is certified by PCGS.
• Get you 1909 VDB Lincoln Cent in MS64.  This coin is certified as being red brown.  This is a beautiful coin.

If you have used Susan’s tip to make money buying coins, please leave a comment below describing how you did it.

Grading Coins by Photographs

For anyone wanting to learn how to grade coins, I don’t think that there is a better book on the market than this one.  Whether you are completely new to coin grading or are already an experienced coin grader, I think that you will like this book.  It serves not only as a tutorial but also as a reference guide that you can use any time you are grading coins.

While this review will point out many great things about this book, I don’t want you to think that I am not going to point out the book’s short comings. When I buy a book, I always have certain hopes for what the book will discuss. And, unfortunately, Q. David Bowers did not meet all of my expectations.  But, despite not meeting all of my expectations, Grading Coins by Photographs is an excellent book that should be a part of any coin collector’s library.

Overview Review of Grading Coins by Photographs

This book is broken into seven chapters with the seventh chapter being the heart and soul of the book.  As is common with most coin collecting books, the first six chapters give an overview of the history of coin collecting and coin grading basics.  The seven chapters are:

1.  Importance of Grading

2.  History of Grading

3.  Expert Techniques in Grading

4.  Understanding the Surfaces of Coins

5.  Smart Grading and Buying

6.  How to Use This Book

7.  Grading U.S. Coins

Forward by David M. Sundman

One of my favorite parts of this coin collecting book is the forward by David M. Sundman.  Sundman is one of the owners of Littleton Coin Company.  Most coin collectors have heard of Littleton Coins.  This coin store advertises in every coin collecting magazine.  Often Littleton Coins is criticized as being overpriced, but most coin collectors acknowledge that Littleton Coins sells great quality coins that are accurately graded.

It was nice to read in the forward about how Sundman began collecting coins.  I also highly recommend reading the forward because Sundman outlines why coin dealers must accurately grade their coins.  If you are interested in becoming a coin dealer, I think this is a must read.

Chapter One – The Importance of Grading

Chapter one provides a good primer on why coin grading is an important skill to learn.  First and foremost, Bowers stresses that coin values are determined by two things – scarcity and quality.  If you don’t want to have to only buy certified coins, you have to learn how to grade coins.  Otherwise, you will never know whether you are paying too much.

This is the reason why I bought this book.  In my journey to become a numismatist, the fun for me is looking at coins, grading them myself, and feeling proud of the collection I have put together.  I don’t want to have to rely on coin grading services to tell me if a coin is of high quality.  I want the freedom to be able to buy none slabbed coins and know that I have not overpaid.

Chapter Two – History of Grading

This chapter walks coin collectors through how coin grading has changed throughout the centuries.  It explains how the 70 point grading system eventually became the standards and the rise of coin grading services, like ANACS, PCGS and NGC.  For those into history, I think you will enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Three – Expert Techniques in Grading

This was one of my favorite sections of the book.  Bowers explains how to get started learning coin grading.  He explains that you should focus on learning to grade one coin series at a time.  I think that this is very important.  You have to look at a lot of coins in order to understand why one coin is graded an MS-65 and another is graded an MS-64.  If you jump around from one coin series to another you will miss the subtleties in the grading.

One of the best pieces of advice given by Bowers in this book is that beginning coin collectors should take advantage of the Internet when learning to grade coins.   Before the Internet, the only way to see lots of coins was to visit a coin shop or go to a coin show.  With the Internet, there are tons of online coin auction websites that provide pictures of certified coins.  Bowers recommends that you look at these photos and examine why the coin grading service assigned the grade that it did.  I think that this is excellent advice.

Chapter Four – Understanding The Surfaces of Coins

This is one of the most technical chapters of Grading Coins By Photographs.  In this chapter, Bowers explains the metals used in making coins, how those metals react over time to the environment and the things people do to preserve coins.  Bowers also does a great job explaining dipped coins and cleaned coins and what to watch out for.

Chapter Five – Smart Grading and Buying

Chapter 5 provides a good overview on how smart coin grading will help you to buy great coins and make money collecting coins.  In this chapter, Q. David Bowers explains how coin collectors can use expert grading to make sure that they are buying coins on the high end rather than the low end of a particular grade.  For instance, Bowers stresses that while two coins may be graded MS-65, one coin could be greatly superior to another.  It might have full details, better luster, or just generally better eye appeal.  This is what I am hoping to learn from coin grading.  I want to be able to assemble the best coin collections for the grade that I can afford.  I am not going to be able to afford MS-65 coins in all coin series.  But, I can make sure that I am buying the best coins for the grades that I can afford.

Chapter Six – How To Use This Book

In this chapter, Bowers provides his thoughts on the best way to use Grading Coins by Photographs.  I don’t really have much else to say here.  It is the set-up for the main chapter of the book.

Chapter Seven – Grading U.S. Coins

As I have mention before, chapter seven is the reason to buy this book.  In this chapter, Bowers provides tips on how to grade every U.S. coin type.  He discusses the history of each coin type, the striking and sharpness characteristics of each coin type, and pictures of that coin in uncirculated condition through the circulated grades.

The pictures of the coins for each grade are outstanding.  The photos that Bowers has used do a great job of showing how a VG-8 coin looks compared to a G-4 coin.  The photos are great tools when looking online to determine whether coins are accurately graded.

In addition to the great photos, Bowers’ explanation of what to look for in each coin grade is outstanding.  For example, Bowers explains where to look on each coin type to determine sharpness, strike and wear.  I love these explanations because it tells me where to look on a coin for details and wear on those key points.

Why I liked Grading Coins By Photographs

For anyone who wants to learn how to grade coins, I think that this is the best book I have read.  The photographs are excellent tools to help you visualize the differences between grades.  My positives are:

• great coin photographs
• best study guide for how to grade coins
• interesting to learn what Bowers looks for when grading coins and determining whether to buy a coin

My Criticisms of the Book

While I think that this is the best book ever written on coin grading, I believe that Bowers could have done more to help beginning coin collectors learn how to grade coins.  Here are the books negatives:

• Bowers does not adequately show how to grade Mint State coins.  For the circulated coin grades, Bowers shows pictures of each major circulated coin grade.  But for the Mint State grades, Bowers does not show a picture of each grade.  When collecting U.S. coins, many coins are only seriously collected in Mint State conditions.  I don’t understand why Bowers would not provide better tips and photos for grading Mint State coins.  This is a huge negative of the book!!
• Bowers could have written more about how to grade each coin type.  It seems like Chapters One through Chapter Six are kind of filler in the book.  I wish that Bowers would have focused more on the exact grading tips instead.  For instance, Bowers could have provided checklists for each coin type for how to grade it.  He could have discussed in depth what to look for in certain key dates of any series.
• I wish that Bowers explained how to grade coins when all you have to look at are photographs online.  Many coin collectors today buy coins online.  It seems that Bowers could have provided some tips on how to determine whether an online coin photo is accurately depicting the coin.  This would coin collectors tremendously.

Summary Review of Grading Coins By Photographs

While I have listed several serious shortcomings of the book, I still believe that this is the best coin grading book.  Before this book, most people recommended Photograde: Official Photographic Grading Guide for United States Coins, 19th Edition. I believe that Bowers’ book has bested Photograde.  If not for any other reason than, Grading Coins by Photographs provides color photographs of coins.

If you want to learn how to grade coins, or if you want a resource to help you to quickly visualize the coin grades, I highly recommend this book.  You should read more about this book at Amazon here – Grading Coins by Photographs.  Amazon also has a great review of this book.

Bernard, thank you for agreeing to do this interview. As we have discussed, I am interested in collecting full step Jefferson nickels. Thank you very much for agreeing to help me to get started in collecting full step jeffersons nickels.

I have read your about page on your site, Big B Coins,  where you state that you specialize in collecting and dealing Jefferson nickels.

What led you to specialize in collecting Jefferson nickels?

Bernard: I was first attracted to Jefferson nickels because I believed that they were a good value. Once I started studying the series, I became enamored with the design; I think it is a beautifully-designed coin.

Why do you like to collect full step nickels?

Bernard: I like to look for full-step nickels primarily for the challenge. While the coin design is beautiful, there are two reasons why Jefferson nickels are not often found with full steps. First, the copper-nickel alloy is very hard. For this reason, high striking pressures have to be used, and this often resulted in dies wearing out quickly. Second, the high point of Jefferson’s hair on the obverse corresponds with the steps on the reverse. This means that only well-struck coins will have full steps. Collectors of all series try to find well-struck coins, for instance, full-split-band Mercury dimes or full-head Standing Liberty quarters.

Where should a beginning coin collector go to find full step Jeffersons? Can you find them in coin rolls from banks? Is it worthwhile to buy uncirculated rolls of nickels?

Bernard: A beginning collector should not necessarily start trying to collect full-step Jeffersons, because it is very challenging, and someone may get discouraged easily. However, if a collector is inclined and motivated, then they will find this to be a very rewarding quest.

Modern Jefferson nickels, from the 1990s to present, almost all have full steps. Because of design changes and improvements in coin presses, these are relatively easy to locate, and can be found in circulation, or in rolls from the bank. Earlier full-step coins are almost impossible to locate in this fashion, though, and are usually found in one of two ways. First, you can purchase individual coins from dealers that have been well-preserved. Sometimes dealers will have full-step coins set aside and marked as such. Often, though, dealers aren’t aware that their nickels have full steps, or don’t want to be bothered looking. This presents a bargain-hunting opportunity for a collector who does want to take the time. A coin worth several hundreds of dollars can be purchased for only a couple of dollars, if you take the time to look carefully.

On the other hand, you need to be aware of coin dealers who will label a coin “full steps” when it is not actually. While there are varying opinions on exactly what constitutes full steps, the market has generally decided that 5 full steps, without breaks, is acceptable. Most technically, the design has 6 steps, but for many dates in the series, 6-step coins are unknown. Collectors, then, seek the best coins they can find, which often results in having to use a 5-step coin, or sometimes even 4.

If you want to purchase older rolls to hunt for full steps, you should be aware that many of these coins have been searched already. Your best bet is to purchase original, bankwrapped rolls that have never been opened. These, however, are few and far between, not to mention expensive.

I know that a lot of coin collectors have a hard time telling whether or not a particular nickel has full steps. Could you tell me how you determine whether a nickel is a full step nickel?

Bernard: Sure. If you look at the reverse of a nickel from 1938-2003 (the design changed in 2004), look closely at the steps of Monticello. You will hopefully see horizontal lines that represent the steps. These steps are supposed to be complete, from left to right, going under all 4 pillars, completely uninterrupted. They do not have to be strong, just complete. I highly recommend you use a loupe or magnifying glass (I use a 10x loupe) to look at the steps, as small details are important here. You don’t want to have any nicks breaking the continuity of the steps.

Since this is a highly visual concept that I’m trying to describe, I would refer the reader to the best reference I have seen for counting steps:

http://varietynickels.com/pages/jefferson-nickel/grading/understanding-full-steps.php

This will make very clear how to look for full steps, as well as an alternate method of counting steps, called the “four quarter step count.” I use this method personally, and I find it to be much more accurate. In this technique, one counts the number of steps visible under each pillar. If I say a nickel has two full steps, that doesn’t tell you much, but if I say the step count is 5-3-2-5, then you have a much better picture of what the steps look like.

As a coin dealer specializing in selling Jefferson nickels, are there any Jeffersons that you think will be particularly good investments?

Bernard: I want to be careful in answering this question, because I don’t sell coins as investments, and you should be wary of anyone who does. While coins may increase in value, they may decrease as well. Coins should primarily be collected because you enjoy them. If they happen to make money for you too, well that’s great.

That being said, coins in the Jefferson series have been trending upward lately. As with any series, key date coins are the ones most likely to increase in value. For the Jefferson series, there are no major rarities (which is one of the reasons it’s a good series to collect) but the rarest dates are 1950-D, 1939-D, 1939-S, 1938-D, and 1938-S. For the market right now, I think 1950-D coins are a great buy. The 1950-D nickel is also a great example of why not to invest in coins! About 30 years ago, an average uncirculated 1950-D nickel sold for as much as $50. Today you can buy the same coin for $15-20. They are on the way back up, but it will be awhile before they reach their previous levels.

Let me take a moment to go on a tangent and talk about the relative rarity of the two key coins to this set: The 1950-D and 1939-D. The 1950-D has the lowest mintage of the series, but it was known at the time it was being released that it was a low mintage coin, so many of these coins were set aside by collectors and dealers. In fact, I would venture to say that there are far more uncirculated 1950-D nickels than there are circulated ones! You can buy a circulated 1950-D coin for about $10, and an uncirculated one for about $15-20! Now, the 1939-D has a higher mintage, but very few of these exist in mint state. So, you can buy a circulated 1939-D coin for $5-6, but an average uncirculated one (say MS-63) will cost nearly $100.

End of Interview

Again, I would like to thank Bernard for helping me personally with learning how to collect full step Jefferson nickels.  I would also like to thank Bernard for agreeing to this interview.  I think that Bernard has provided some great information for both beginner coin collectors and old pros.

I encourage you to check out Bernard’s coin store.  Bernard is looking through his inventory of Jefferson nickels to find me some nice full step nickels.  I am sure that he will provide you with similar great service.

I hope you enjoy this CoinTalk video.