If you like it, please twitter about it!!

Thanks

One of my dreams is to travel across the United States following the footsteps of Lewis and Clark.  Few things are as American as exploring unknown lands.  The Westward Journey nickels celebrates the exploration of the Louisana Purchase Land.

The Westward Journey Nicke Series is comprised of four US nickels – the 2004-P nickel, 2004-D nickel, 2005-P nickel and 2005-D nickel.  Additionally, after 2005 the design of the 2006 nickel to the present has a different obverse than the pre-2004 nickels.

2004 Louisiana Purchase Peace Nickel

2004 Nickel

The 2004 Louisiana Purchase Peace nickel bears the image of the original Lewis and Clark Indian Peace Medal commissioned for Lewis and Clark.  This Peace Nickel is my second favorite design.  While being a simple design, I love the history behind this design.

The Indian Peace Medal symbolizes the desire of peace between the Indians and the US Government.

2004 Keelboat Nickel

2004 Keelboat Nickel

The second coin in the Westward Journey Nickel Series is the 2004 Keelboat nickel.  This coin depicts the keelboat that Lewis and Clark used to navigate some of the rivers of the Louisiana Purchase.

2005 Bison Nickel

2005 Bison Nickel

The third coin was the 2005 American Bison Nickel.  This is my favorite coin in the series.  The bufallo will always be a symbol of the United States and the West.  I love that it would used in this US coin series.

2005 Ocean In View Nickel

2005 Ocean In View Nickel

The last coin in the Westward Journey Nickel Series was the 2005 Ocean In View Nickel.  This is a great image.  Can you imagine the excitement of Captain Clark when he wrote in his journal that he has made it to the Pacific Ocean?

I really think that the US Mint did a great job with this Westward Journey Nickel Serie.  What is your favorite nickel of this series?

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.

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.

CoinLink has a great recap of the FUN coin show that just took place.  In this article Legend Numismatics discusses the current state of the coin market.  For anyone investing in coins, it is a must read article.

Legend Numismatics states that the coin market is down 10%-20% from its highs in the summer of 2008.  As an investor, looking at declines of only 10%-20% actually doesn’t look too bad to me.  The stock market and bond market experienced huge sell offs during this period.  All and all, the coin market has held its value pretty well.  However, as an investor investing in coins, I would like to see a larger correction.

What did you say Fred?  You heard me right.  I want to see prices really fall on coins.

Bear markets and market corrections can be a great opportunity for investors.  And, this also holds true for collectors investing in coins.

No matter what type of investment you are thinking about making, the most important part of making money investing is the price at which you buy.  If you buy at a low price, you will probably make money investing in coins.  However, it doesn’t matter what coin you buy, if you pay too much for it, you may never experience a gain.  This concept holds true whether you are investing in real estate, investing in stocks or investing in coins.

Let’s take a look at investing in stocks.  Most people are quite smitten with Apple computers rigth now.  On February 25, 2008, AAPL was selling for $125.  Between the week of February 25 and May 12, 2008 the Apple stock price went up $58 or 46%.  That is great!  However, if you bought apple stock on December 24, 2007 instead of February 25, 2008, you would have paid too much for AAPL stock.  In December 24, 2007 AAPL stock traded for $199 a share.  Therefore, you would have lost money investin in Apple Computers.

Investing in coins is the same as investing in stocks.  If you buy at a good price your put yourself in the best position to make money.  However, if you buy at too high a price, you might never make your money back.

Investing in coins in a bull market presents some opportunities to buy coins at low prices.  If a coin has decreased 20% in the last 6 months, let’s hope that when the coin market improves that same coin can will quickly go up in value that same 20%.  This is certainly not a certainty, but if the coin is a high quality coin, investing in coins in a bear market might be a great way for you to make money collecting coins.

Originally the US Mint only produced coins in the Philadelphia US Mint branch.  But, as the country’s borders moved westward, the US Mint needed more branches to keep up with demand for US coins.

The following is list of the US Mint branches and the mint marks found on the coins struck at that branch:

US Mint Branch	Mint Mark	Date US Coins Produced At Branch
Philadelphia	P	1793 to date
Devner	D	1906 to date
San Francisco	S	1854 to date
West Point, NY	W	1984 to date
Charlotte, NC	C	1838-1861
Daholega, GA	D	1838-1861
New Orleans	O	1838-1909
Carson City, NV	CC	1870-1893

Traditionally the Philadelphia Mint placed no mint mark on its coins. However, in 1979 and on the 1942-1945 nickels, the P mint mark has been used on Philadelphia minted coins.

I am fascinated by the Mint Branches history.  I want to read more about what was going on at the Charlotte and Daholega branches at the beginning of the Civil War.  The Charlotte and Daholega branches only minted US gold coins.  I bet that there was a lot of conflict about the gold sitting at these branches.

A U.S. nickel type set collection is comprised of 14 types of us nickel coins.  The 14 types of U.S. nickel type set coints are as follows:

1866 – 1867 Shield With Rays
1867 – 1883 Shield Without Rays
1883 Liberty Head Without CENTS
1883 – 1913 Liberty Head with CENTS
1913 Buffalo Type I
1913 – 1938 Buffalo Type II
1938 – 1965 Jefferson, regular alloy, without initials
1942 – 1945 Jefferson, silver alloy
1966 – 2003 Jefferson, regular alloy, with designer’s initials (FS)
2004 Jefferson Keelboat
2004 Jefferson Indian Peace Medal
2005 Jefferson Bison
2005 Jefferson Ocean in View
2006 New Jefferson portrait, with restyled Monticello on the reverse

I am looking forward to starting my U.S. nickel type set.  In a follow up post, I will discuss which of these US coins will be my first coin that I purchase.  So, if you are interested in my us nickel coin collection, please subscribe to my us coin blog.

1913 Buffalo Nickel Obverse

I thought that this would be a fun way to kick off this blog, but it took me a while to decide which type of coin to start collecting first.  But, after reading a ton of information about the different coin types, I decided that my first type set would be a nickel type set collection.

Why did I decide on collecting a U.S. nickel type set collection?

I have been reading a ton of books about coin collecting.  In doing my research, I have been drawn to James Earle Fraser’s buffalo nickel coin.   I don’t think that I am alone in my love of the Fraser buffalo nickel design.  It is a favorite among coin collectors.

Another factor in my choice of collecting a U.S. nickel type set is price.  I would love to be able to afford a U.S. gold coin or U.S. silver dollar type set collection, but unfortunately my budget won’t allow it.  On the other hand, a nickel type set collection is much more affordable.

So, I hope that you will enjoy my journey of collecting a nickel type set.  For those nusimatists out there that would like to provide me with some advice as I begin my collection, please leave your advice in the comments below.  Additionally, you can contact me on my contact form above.