Counterfeiters have been around since money was invented. Prior to the 19th century, producing fake bills and coins was relatively easy due to the unsophisticated methods use to make currency and the general public’s lack of ability to detect fakes. By the late 19th century, printing and engraving t...

Collecting medals can be a hobby with unexpected rewards. Because the number is so large—literally millions of different designs have been made—and the number of collectors is small compared to, for instance, coin collectors, it’s easier to find rare and valuable items at bargain prices. If you know...

Why is one coin, say a 1916 dime, relatively common and inexpensive while another of the same series is worth tens of thousands of dollars? It’s because within a given coin’s issue there can be variations, and those distinctions can greatly influence a coin’s rarity and value. These variations resul...

The 50 State Quarters Program was enacted December 1, 1997 to encourage a new generation of coin collectors. It’s estimated that nearly half the US population collected the coins, making it the most successful numismatic program in history. A Unique Design for Each State
The ...

Over one billion dollars’ worth of rare coins and currency will be on display August 13-17, 2019 at the American Numismatic Association’s annual World’s Fair of Money at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center next to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in Rosemont, Illinois. The annual conventi...

The 50 State Quarters Program was enacted December 1, 1997 to encourage a new generation of coin collectors. It’s estimated that nearly half the US population collected the coins, making it the most successful numismatic program in history. A Unique Design for Each State
The ...

A Mint-state 1919-D “Mercury” dime highlights the Long Beach Expo US Coins Signature Auction September 4-9 at the Long Beach (California) Convention Center. The period from 1907 to 1921 launched a renaissance in US coin design. It saw new designs for all ten circulating coins, from 1¢ to $20 gold pi...

We’ll probably never live to see silver reach the peak it climbed during the boom years of the 80s when speculation ran rampant and the shiny metal shot to a record price of nearly $120 an ounce. Twenty years later, it had crashed to barely $6 only to peak again around $55 in April 2011 before slipp...