One of the first steps in collecting coins is to educate yourself so you are able to determine what coins you need to search for, whether a certain coin is worth owning, if it offers a potential investment, and if it is desirable due to its date or variety. Owning fine and expensive coins is great when acquiring specialized rarities into their collection, but anyone who has a limited budget can still form an extremely interesting collection by adding inexpensive coin that have historical stories with them.



Any coin can be interesting without having to be expensive, of course it would be great to be able to afford those rare coins that are worth up to a million dollars each, but in all reality not every collector can afford such a luxury. Many coins available have amazing stories to tell that make them just as exciting to own, but for the price of a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. For instance, 1857 large cent, 1787 Connecticut cent - draped bust left, 1909 V.D.B. Lincoln cent, or the 1909 Indian cent, who all have fascinating stories included within their history.

The last year of the large-size cent, which was produced between the years of 1793 and 1857, the 1857 large cent has an etched its own place in the history of coin collecting. Production of these large coins was ceased due to them become so troublesome in handling in commerce, so the United States Mint began replacing them with a smaller version called the Flying Eagle cent. During the finally year of production, there were 333,456 large cents minted, so it is possible many were never released and were melt. Acquiring your very own 1857 large cent will provide you with a page of your own in history.

Older coins, such as the 1787 Connecticut cent, have a very special historical value in that the dies they were struck with were prepared by hand. This meant that only one could be made at a time, instead of like today when hundreds can be produced within the ease of a single minute. Today these coins are apt to be weakly defined in all areas and the overall characteristics will show a definite charm. Another rare coin that will be sure to have special historical value would be the 1909 VDB Lincoln cent. During the summer of 1909 this coin first appeared. The initials VDB are etched on the reverse, which stood for Victor David Brenner, who created the design. Apparently the public objected to his initials being on this coin, so the United States Mint had them removed.

Beginning with the 1878 dollar, the initial M appeared for designer George T. Morgan and beginning again in 1892 the initial B, for designer Charles E. Barber, appeared on all dimes, quarters, and half dollars that were minted by the United States Mint. Even Augustus Saint-Gaudens' initials, ASG, began being etched into the obverse side of the 1907 Double Eagles, and those made after that also. The public did not object to their initials being on their denomination, but yet the 1909 VDB Lincoln they had a real problem with it, which makes this coin so rare. Another edition was released in 1909 of the Lincoln cent without the VDB initials, which created a new variety in this coin.

The year of transition for the one-cent coin was definitely 1909. At the beginning of 1859, the Indian penny was first minted, but was discontinued after a relatively modest life in 1909. This coin represented the last of the Mohicans and although they are not high in popularity today, at one time they were definitely among the top 10 most actively collected series.