The first roll sets that I purchased from the US Mint were the Jefferson nickel Westward Journey roll sets.  These Westward Journey mint rolls were great sellers for the US Mint.  I can only imagine the amount of collectors that will buy the 2009 Lincoln penny rolls.

I really like these mint roll sets.  I have a very difficult time getting uncirculated rolls of coins from my bank.  These US Mint roll sets allow me to make sure that I get examples of these special coins.

Will you buy these 2009 Lincoln penny rolls?  Did you buy the Jefferson Nickel Westward Journey Mint roll sets?

Key Date Lincoln Cents

One of my favorite coin writes, Mark Ferguson, has a great article right now on Coin Values about coin buying trends.  Mark’s article provides great insights into the current coin buying trends of coin dealers.  Mark states that coin collectors are buying lots of lincoln cents as both individual coins and early date rolls of Lincoln cents.

Due to this great interest among coin collectors with collecting Lincoln cents, I have created a new website dedicated to collecting Lincoln cents.  This new website is titled Key Date Lincoln Cents.  I hope that this website grows into a great coin collecting website and coin collecting resource for people wanting to start collecting Lincoln Cents.

So far I have only created several articles on Key Date Lincoln Cents.  My first articles were on the 1909 S VDB Lincoln Cent, 1909 S lincoln cent, and the 1914 D lincoln cent.

Key Date Lincoln Cents is going to describe the key date lincoln cents, the most popular varieties of lincoln cents and tips for collecting lincoln cents.  I would love for you to visit my new site and leave a comment.  Additionally, if you are a Lincoln cent collector, I would love for you to write an article for either Coinblogger or Key Date Lincoln Cents.

Coin Worlds Coin Values

Coin Values Coin Price Guide

Coin Values Magazine revolves around its coin price guide.  The Coin Values Coin Price Guide has been published since 1960 under its original name of Coin World Trends of U.S. Coins.  Since 2003, Coin World Trends of U.S. Coins was renamed as Coin World’s Coin Values coin price guide.  The coin prices for this guide are gathered from actual coin purchases from public auctions, fixed price lists and other research done by the Coin Values researchers.  If you subscribe to Coin Values Magazine, you can access the www.coinvaluesonline.com database of coin prices that are updated weekly.  This is a great benefit for subscribing to Coin Values.

Favorite Coin Values Columns

While the Coin Values Price Guide is the primary feature of this coin collecting magazine, I really love some of the monthly columns in Coin World’s Coin Values. If I wanted to purchase just a coin price guide, I would just purchase the Coin Dealer’s Newsletter, otherwise referred to as the Greysheet.  But, the monthly coin articles in Coin Values, certainly are worth the low subscription price.

My favorite column is the First Grade column.  This column teaches you how to grade coins.  Each month Coin Values picks a type of coin and walks through in great depth how to grade the coin series.  My most recent Coin Values featured the Capped Bust Half Dollar.  Michael Fahey walks you through exactly how to grade these Capped Bust Half Dollars.  Beginning coin collectors and advanced coin collectors will each learn new things about grading coins from this column.

My second favorite column is the What’s Hot – What’s Not column.  This column provides awesome insights into the coin market.  The coin market is very volatile and each coin series goes in and out of favor with coin collectors all the time.  In the April 2009 column, Mark Ferguson analyzed Lincoln cents prices.  2009 is expected to bring a large number of coin collector attention to the Lincoln cents series.  This increased attention is expected to bring higher Lincoln cent prices.  The What’ Hot – What’s Not column helps you to keep up with these coin collecting trends.

My third favorite Coin Values column is the Sleepers column.  The Sleepers column highlights coins that are underperforming.  These underperforming coins could represent good values.  These coins are like the value stocks for value stock investors.  In the April 2009 Sleeper coins article, Coin Values highlights the Prood 2-cent coins.  These proof 2-cent coins are very reasonably priced for coins over 150 years old.  Most of these proof 2 cent coins can be pruchased for around $600 in PF-64.  Not too many proof coins from the 19th Century can be purchased at these prices.

Do you subscribe to Coin Values Magazine?  Do you buy it in stores off the shelf?  If so, please tell us why you like Coin World’s Coin Value magazine.  If you don’t subscribe, I highly encourage you to use the following link to subscribe – Coin Values Magazine.  In addition to helping out this site, you will be able to purchase Coin Values Magazine at a price of only $2.50 an issue.

If you are a lincoln cent collector, please introduce yourself in the comments below.  I would love to get to know some fellow lincoln cent collectors.

I thought that it would be great to interview Jack about being a coin dealer and a Lincoln cent expert. After reading this interview, I encourage you to check out Jack’s online coin store at www.mesacoin.com. Now, on with the interview.

Jack, thank you for agreeing to do this interview. You are famous on CoinTalk and it is a pleasure for me to get to interview you.

How did you start collecting coins?

Jack: I started with the Whitman blue folders in the 1960′s.  My uncle Skip worked at a coin shop in Detroit and would tag me along to coinshows, the shop, etc.  He was my mentor and teacher. Sit and search wheat bags was my #1 job.

How did you move from collecting coins to becoming a coin dealer?

Jack: It became something that I lived and breathed.  There reached a point that I had too many coins, and had lost my focus. I found that I could move some of my extras and build on my collection with the extra money.

When did you start your coin store?

Jack: I started MesaCoin.com in 2008 as an experiment to see if I could beat Ebay at the coin game. I was able to sell for lower prices and provide one on one service to my customers on a much more personal basis.

What advice would you give a coin collector who wants to become a coin dealer?

Jack: ” Specialize.”  Don’t try to be everything to everybody, you’ll get lost in the mix.  Do one thing and do it well.

Do you only sell coins online at Mesa Coin or do you also sell offline?

Jack: The majority of my sales are behind the front lines.  Many of my purchases are for want list customers, and they never see the light of day on my website.  They are ” pre-sold ” at time of purchase.

What advice do you have specifically related to selling coins on an online store?

Jack: You will need to cater to the customer.  You are the liaison between the customer and the bourse.  As you develop customers, your #1 job is to understand their set and their needs.  Most people want a matching set in any given grade.  A picture archive is great.  You can look up your customers’ collections and make sure that the new one will fit.  And, you can dictate purchases to their specific needs.

What about Lincoln cents made you decide to specialize in them?

Jack: I became intrigued with the history and the simple beauty of the wheat cent.  And, as a business man, I know they are the most popularly collected coin in the world.   How can you go wrong with that?

If someone is wanting to start collecting Lincoln cents, what advice would you give them?

Jack: Buy the keys first, but be very careful.  Do not fall into the trap of buying what you plan on spending right now. Buy the books first and window shop.

Research the differences in grades.  Many are not that far apart. What you’ll want to do is budget your set, set a goal, and be realistic.

For example, why buy a F12 SVDB for $1200 when you can buy a VF-20 for $1350 or an XF for $1400.  This coin alone will probably dictate your collection, if you choose to do a “matched set.”

Figure out your budget in advance and start with the most expensive coins first, after your “education buys.”

What Lincoln cents do you think will experience the most appreciation over the long run?

Jack: The keys are the most popular. Avoid the modern registry fever coins, which translates to common dates/grades in plastic that cannot hold up. Pass on that MS-67 1955-S for $100, spend that $100 on an XF or AU semi-key.

Are there any sleeper Lincoln cents you would recommend we watch?

Jack: The 20′s decade is notorious for weakly struck and ugly coins. With some searching, you can learn to spot the primos. Dates that immediately come to mind are the 21-S, 23-S, 24-S, and all branch mint from 1925-1928 in SHARP fully struck and original condition, grades XF and above, AU is ideal. An XF/AU set is the most popular set I help build.

I have asked a lot of questions here.  If you feel there is a better way to elicit this information in a better manner, please don’t hesitate to freehand this interview.

Jack: First thing that is in order for a beginning Lincoln collector is the ” tuition box “.  Buy a roll of generic wheats, then experiment.  Here is your shopping list:

Brillo pad, wire brush, potato, a jar of dip, some ” MS-70 “, a smoker in the family, a dirty thumb, dandruff shampoo and Dellers Darkener, a jar of olive oil and a can of acetone, Q-tip….etc. etc.

Destroy that roll – try everything.  Learn to recognize a baked coin, a dipped coin and see what a Q-tip does to proofs.  Rub a BU common coin with your t-shirt. See how to recolor dipped copper with the sulfer based dandruff shampoo, then dip it again and heat it. Artificial tone them with the MS-70.  See what cigarette smoke, when blown repeatedly on a dipped coin, will do. Try to cover scratches with the dirt on your thumb.  See what burying a cleaned coin in an old envelope in your basement, backyard or on top your water heater for a summer will do.

You must arm yourself with an arsenal of knowledge, and be able to instantly recognize the signs of doctoring.

Buy every book you can find -  the Lange book, Sol Taylor, Doughtery, Wexler, read them twice, then read them again.  Knowledge is king.

End of Interview

Again, I would like to thank Jack for taking the time to share his thoughts about being a coin dealer and collecting Lincoln cents.

I encourage you to check out Jack’s coin store.  Jack’s reputation on the CoinTalk forum is superb.  If you are looking to put together a collection of Lincoln cents, I highly encourage you to check out his site.  I am sure that he will provide you with similar great service.

In a recent article by Mark Fergusen, a Coin Values Market Analyst, he writes about how Lincoln cents are in a spotlight.  In 2009, the United States Mint will be issuing four new lincoln cents with four new designs on the reverse of the lincoln cents.  These coins will depict four different stages of Lincoln’s life from his home in Kentucky, growing up in Indiana, starting his professional career in Illinois, and culminating in the Presidency.

As Fergusen points out in his article, this spotlight is causing Lincoln cent coin values to go up.  The price of the 1909-S V.D.B. lincoln is going up and so is the 1914-D lincoln cent.  These two coins, the 1909-S V.D.B. lincoln cent and the 1914-D lincoln cent, are the key date lincoln cents.  They are the bellweather for lincoln coin values generally.  If the price on these key date lincoln cents is going up, most lincoln cents values will follow.  However, typically they will not appreciate as much as the key date coins.

If you are a lincoln cent collector, prepare for prices on these coins to go up in 2009.  As I mentioned in my article on the hottest coins to buy in 2009, the 2009 lincoln cents and lincoln cent collections generally will be the best coins in 2009.

Do you think that lincoln cent coin values will go up in 2009?  Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

2009 is turning out to be a pretty exciting year for coin collecting.  Much of the excitement has been caused by the events of 2008 – the volatilty in the price of gold, silver and platinum, the financial crisis and the simultaneous fear of  inflation and deflation.

Here is my list of the hottest coins to buy in 2009:

2009 UHR Double Eagle

1.  2009 UHR Double Eagle – The 2009 ultra high relief double eagle gold coins might be the hottest coin to buy in 2009.  If you are thinking about buying gold coins and are considering buying gold coins that will have numismatic value above the price of gold, this ultra high relief st. gaudens is awesome.

2.  2009 Lincoln Cents – The second hottest coins for 2009 are actually four coins.  The United States is celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday and 100 years of the Lincoln cent with four new designs on the reverse of the lincoln cent.  The United States Mint is removing the Lincoln Memorial and replacing it with pictures of Lincoln’s life.  The four coins will depict Lincoln’s birth in Kentucky, teenage years in Indiana, professional years in Illinois and Presidency, respectively.

3.  Lincoln Cents Collections – I believe that the people of the United States are going to collect the 2009 Lincoln Cents in droves.  Like the State Quarter mania that has gripped the United States for the last decade, I think that the new Lincoln cent designs are going to ignite interest in Lincoln cents collections.  In fact, Lincoln cent prices are already up 20% in 2008.

4.  1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln Cent – With collecting lincoln cents collections taking off in 2009, look for the Lincoln cent key date coin to also be a hot coin to buy in 2009.  The 1909-S V.D.B. is always the most sought after Lincoln penny, but look for demand to increase for this coin in 2009.

5.  Franklin Half Dollars – I might be going out on a limb here but I think that Franklin half dollars will be sleeper coins in 2009.  As the economy worsens, coin collectors are going to spend less money.  I think that in spending less money, coin collectors will look for more affordable collections.  One of the cheapest collections you can put together right now are Franklin halves collections.  I think that MS-65, MS-66, PR-65 and PR-66 Franklin half dollars will appreciate in price the most.  If you have a limited budget, collecting franklin half dollars might be a great way to invest in coins in 2009.

What do you think will be the hottest coin to buy in 2009?

Congressman Peter J. Roskam has been advocating making the lincoln cent out of a copper coated steel metal.  What do you think will be the future of the penny?  Do you mind switching the penny material from zinc to steel?  Please share your thoughts.

Additionally, here is a video of Congress Roskam advocating for the passage of the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008 advocating for the use of a steel penny.

Click here to view the embedded video.