The 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar first went into circulation in January 1964. Although the coins were released, most immediately went into the hands of collectors or hoarders eager for a memento to the fallen president. Some banks initially limited customers to a maximum of 40 coins. This measure was put in place to prevent hoarding by collectors, yet more than 70,000 coins disappeared from circulation the first day.

By November of 1964, nearly 160,000,000 coins had been minted, yet they were still almost never seen in circulation. Eventually, so many of these coins were being produced that the stock of silver in the treasury was becoming depleted.

Over time, the coin has been changed to lower silver content and eventually copper nickel clad composition, along with a few modifications to the design. Nonetheless, the coin has remained very popular with collectors and the public alike. More than one billion examples of the Kennedy Half Dollar have been struck in the past nearly five decades, yet the number of them in circulation remains very low as people still collect them instead of using them as currency.

The new series also meant that the annual silver proof sets began to present nine different coins. The 1999 Silver Proof Set included the five quarters for that year, which were for the States of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia and Pennsylvania, as well as the Lincoln Cent, the Jefferson Nickel, the Roosevelt Dime and the 1999 Kennedy Half Dollar.

Seven of these coins, all except the nickel and the cent, were 90% silver, so the value of all the coins as well as the silver metal content raised the price to $31.95 for the set. This was up from the $21.00 cost of previous sets. All coins carried an “S” mint stamp, as they were produced in San Francisco.  They were packaged in a red plastic holder. Total mintage of this original set was 804,565. Today, this 1999 Silver Proof Set is the most sought after and commands the highest value.

The designer, Anthony C. Paquet, was an assistant engraver at the mint. He had a preference for a particular lettering style which was taller than that used on previous versions of the double eagle; a style that also featured thick verticals and thin horizontal strokes and serifs. His modified choice of lettering on the reverse is what sets this coin apart with a few additional  small differences.

The rim of the coin was also determined to be too narrow. The mint director sent a telegraph to the mint in San Francisco directing it not to proceed with production of coins with the new reverse. Cross-country communication being what it was at the time, the telegram got no further than Missouri, and, lacking a directive to do otherwise, production commenced. Before it was halted, 19,250 coins had been struck and released quickly into general circulation.

No uncirculated examples are known of this coin. Approximately 100 specimens are in existence today.

The largest U.S. denomination in 1848 was a ten dollar gold coin known as the eagle. Because of the California gold rush beginning in that year, there was such an large supply of gold being sent to the Philadelphia Mint, it was decided that a twenty dollar coin would be issued.

The known coin is actually a pattern sample which was struck in preparation for production of the new double eagle coins which was to begin in 1850. A few changes were made to the pattern after the sample was struck and a slightly modified version went into production.

Rumors abound that there may be one other extant specimen. Allegedly, it was photographed for a catalogue at one time, but the rumor has never been confirmed.

The Saint Gaudens Gold Coin designed by Augustus Saint are is one of the most noted coins in US history. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt wanted a redesign of some of the American coinage. He was dissatisfied with the designs circulating at that time based on the designs of the then Chief Engraver of the US Mint, Charles E. Barber. Roosevelt knew Saint Gaudens personally and requested that he produce some designs. At this point, Saint Gaudens was in ill health and the work progressed slowly. Finally in late 1906, coin sized versions of Saint-Gaudens’ final design went to Roosevelt.

Getting the new designs for Augustus Saint Gaudens’ Double Eagles ready for production took another year. In August of 1907, Saint Gaudens died. His assistant tried to provide new proofs to the Mint, but kept getting flat rejections from the Chief Engraver. The delays added up with an impatient Roosevelt trying to get the Engraver to produce coins in September 2007. After more delays, Roosevelt ordered production over the objections of Barber. The coins came out with the same high relief design put forward by Saint Gaudens. Twelve thousand coins in this version came out in 1907.

The Chief Engraver Barber undertook a redesign of Augustus Saint Gaudens’ design and lowered the relief to much lower level. The lower relief design is the design used from December 1907 forward. This design remained in use until gold coin production ceased in 1933. The coins are among the most collectible in the world. The 12,000 coins done with Saint Gaudens’ original design are among the rarest and most valuable. But, the 1933 is likely the most valuable. The Double Eagle was not in general circulation that year and the government melted most down. A single known example sold for over $7.5 million in 2002.

The Morgan silver dollars first came into circulation in 1878. This was after Congress authorized the minting of new silver coinage due to lower silver prices. The US Mint produced these silver dollars in five different mints: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Carson City, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; and San Francisco, California. Each of the different mints has a unique mintmark, except for Philadelphia which is always without a mintmark. The number of Morgan dollars struck was enormous since it was a common coinage in circulation. This makes it an easy coin for people to collect.

True coin collectors crave and pay high prices for some Morgan silver dollars, however. The mint with the lowest level of production was definitely Carson City, Nevada. Those coins struck there always command a bit higher price than the other mints. The mintmark for Carson City was CC. Another trait sought after are what collectors call a Deep Mirror Proof Like coins. These are coins, usually struck in San Francisco before 1883, have an almost mirror like reflection. Those coins command a higher price than other Morgan dollars.

The three most sought after dates in Morgan silver dollars are 1889-CC, 1895 Proof, and 1893-S Morgan Dollar. Some dates are more common and coins in worn condition carry little value. However, some dates in mint condition can command very high prices. Some Morgan dollars carry varieties that make them unique. An example of this is the “Shifted Eagle” which is a 1901 Morgan struck in Philadelphia with a doubled reverse on the coin. Many collectors want to collect all of the varieties in order to claim a complete collection. These silver dollars hold a place in the history of American coinage. Today, they are both an easy way to get into coin collecting and a hard way to get the rare ones.

The wheat penny was the first of the Lincoln Cents to be minted and featured a pair of wheat stalks surrounding the words “One Cent” on the back. There are some issues of this series that are extremely valuable depending on the date and the mint. These were made until 1958, when the sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and brought about a change to the penny.

The Lincoln Memorial Cents were produced from 1959 until 2008. In 2009, for the 200^th anniversary of President Lincoln’s birth there were four unique designs on the back of the pennies. Each image was intended to show a different part of Lincoln’s life. These coins were minted for one year and in 2010 a new design was presented on the reverse side of the coin. The new image was the Union Shield. It was designed to signify how President Lincoln preserved the United States during the civil war.

Along with the changes in design and the different metals that were used throughout the almost one hundred years of Lincoln Cent production, there are also minting errors that can make an individual coin very unique and collectable. These can include striking errors or there are also errors with the die. Collecting Lincoln cents can be as simple as finding an anomaly in the coin. The most famous anomaly happened with the 1955 Double Die Lincoln Cent.

The Lincoln Cent has been part of American money for over a century and is still as collectable as it ever was. From the ultra rare to the minting mistakes, there are a lot of different reasons that a penny might be worth a lot more than one cent. Collecting Lincoln cents is as easy as keeping your eyes open and checking your pockets because you never know when you might stumble across a rare treasure.

Eisenhower dollars were quite large, measuring 1.50 inches across. The head of Eisenhower is on the obverse of the coin. On the back, the original reverse was the Apollo 11 Mission Insignia. These original designs were the work of Frank Gasparro, the tenth Chief Engraver of the US Mint. For the Bicentennial version of the coin, the reverse changed to show the Liberty Bell in front of the moon. That design came from Dennis Williams. The Eisenhower dollars came out of two mints: the Philadelphia and the Denver.

The Eisenhower dollars had problems in early production. In attempts to deal with the problems, designers made slight changes to the reverse design of the coin. The original design, known as Type 1, offered a lower profile than the others did. The second attempt, known as Type 2, has a slightly higher relief than the first design and includes slight variations in the design. Type 2 appears less defined than Type 1 or Type 3. The third attempt, Type 3, carries a better definition than the others two designs and is the type used on all coins in 1973 and after. All three designs appeared on coins in 1972, with Type 2 being the rarest.

The reverses on the Bicentennial Eisenhower dollars also have variations. Lettering changes created two different varieties. Type 1 of the Bicentennial edition has block lettering while Type 2 has a thinner, more elegant script. Type 1 is rarer than Type 2 in the Bicentennial coins. The condition of any of these coins makes a great deal of difference in value.

Similar to the issues of the previous three years, the 1932 Double Eagle is a rarity due to fact that the majority of the coins produced were melted. Of the original mintage of 1,101,750 pieces, it is believed that only 110 were officially released by the Philadelphia Mint. The number of specimens surviving today is even lower, with estimates ranging from 60 to 95 pieces.

The vast majority of 1932 Double Eagles are in uncirculated grades, with PCGS and NGC population reports showing most grades in the MS62 to MS66 range. The example residing within the Smithsonian Institution’s collection is estimated to grade MS67, making it the finest known.

Over the past few years, auction prices for 1932 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle graded MS66 have ranged from $126,500 to $161,000. Population reports show this grade awarded 19 times, although the number resulting from resubmissions is not known.

Reprinted with permission.

Source: http://saintgaudensdoubleeagle.com/1932-saint-gaudens-double-eagle/

The Peace dollars carry a stylized head of Liberty wearing a crown of rays. The reverse is a bald eagle perched with rays coming up from below. He is holding an olive branch for peace. The first run of coins, in 1921, were struck in high relief. This was causing problems with minting as well as stacking the coins. One million of these coins went out before the designers dealt with the problem. In 1922, the Mint started striking the coins with lower relief.

The Mint continued making the Peace silver dollars until 1928. At that point, there was little demand for the coins in circulation. They reappeared for limited runs in 1934 and 1935. The coins came out of the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints. A limited number of proof coins were struck in 1921 and 1922. These proofs are extremely rare and bring high prices among coin collectors.

Some years and grades of Peace dollars command a higher price than others do. The coins minted in 1921 and 1928 came out in lower quantities than other years. Those coins minted in San Francisco in 1934 are also rarer than others are. However, the grade of the coin is significant. The coin must be in uncirculated condition to the highest prices. Coins minted in other years that are in the finest condition can also command a higher price.