What Affects the Value of Coins?

By Zack Jones U.S. Money Reserves

What Affects the Value of Coins?

Coin collecting has long been one of the most popular lifelong hobbies. There have been hundreds of thousands of coins produced by different countries throughout human history. The US Money Reserve alone has produced tens of thousands of unique coins throughout the past two centuries and has many that are worth small fortunes to avid coin collectors both at auction and in terms of sentimental value. This raises an important question in regards to coin collecting in general. What affects the value of a coin itself that will cause collectors to chase it? There are a number of varying factors that affect this, as well as what that coin will actually be worth if you ever find it.

Condition
The first thing that affects the value of any coin is the condition it is in. We all hear about things being in “mint” condition. This term is from the world of money when a coin is first made it comes from the Mint at the US Money Reserve, meaning it has never been used as a piece of monetary hardware. It is unblemished, clean and uncirculated. This is the highest value for the condition of a coin. Any dirt, scratches or noticeable wear and tear will immediately devalue a coin.

Rarity
Next, the rarity will play a major role and sometimes trump the bad condition it may be in. The rarer a coin is, the higher its price, not the age of a coin. Thousand year old Chinese coins are worth about ten dollars apiece due to the fact that there are so many of them out there; however a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel is worth over a million dollars, as there are only known to be five of them in the world. Coin Week recently reported that the coveted 1873-CC No Arrows Liberty Seated dime sold for $1.84 million – the most expensive dime ever sold at auction.

Material
Bullion value will also play a part in how much a coin is worth. The better the material a coin is made out of  —  gold or silver as opposed to copper or nickel — the more it will always be worth over the years, as it retains a basic value when it would be melted down.

Demand
And lastly, there’s also demand for these coins. Some coins may be rarer then others, but will be less valuable because those coins are just appreciated more by collectors, driving the price higher. For example, 1916 D dimes are more common than 1798 dimes as the US Money Reserve was making more coins at that time — yet the 1916 D dimes are more valuable because more people collect 20th century coins then 17th century coins. Sometimes that’s just what happens in the collector’s marketplace.

For Collectors
As a collector, or just as someone who has found a rare coin, take all these factors into account when trying to determine the value. If you don’t usually collect coins and attempt to determine their value, you might want to go to an expert. Ask them all of these questions about the coin and see what their response is. Not only will it give you an in-depth answer about why your coin is valued at that particular price, it will also give you an idea of how much this collector knows and if they are quoting the value of the coin accurately. You might want to ask two to three different collectors their opinion on how much the coin is worth.

Coin catalogs, like The Red Book, or various websites online will also help you to figure out the value of your coin or coins on your own. Once you get good at this, you will be able to collect coins with value in mind, making you purchase and acquire more valuable coins in a more efficient manner.