Do coin values and past trends predict where the price of your coin is headed?

It didn’t take much to get me hooked on studying U.S. coin values as a youngster. When I was an 8-year old, I naturally idolized my older brother. He and his buddies spent countless hours with their Lincoln Cent coin albums. That was all it took to ignite my passion for U.S. coins. As I grew older, I also became fascinated with their place in history.

This early love of coins led to my singular mission: to record and analyze price trends to determine if coin values from the past foretell future performance…

…which eventually led me to develop this website.

Lincoln Cent Album

My Childhood Lincoln Cent Album

Like so many from my generation, I got started collecting coins with the Lincoln Cent. This was my first album, which I started filling as an 8 year old. I never did find a 1909-S VDB from circulation or piggy banks, but it was fun looking! I've come a long way since then.

Now I can share with you the information I’ve gathered over the past 40-plus years that has made coin collecting a thrilling and fulfilling pursuit for me.

I’m pretty much just like many of you – I've always wanted to know what a coin is worth and, more importantly, why. At the same time, I've maintained a natural curiosity in how strongly it might rise in value in the years ahead.

I've discovered that long term price trends of a coin ARE INDEED a fairly reliable indicator of where its value could be headed in the future.

For a very long time, I've been gathering lots of data supporting this observation. I created a series of Coin Value Tables (see a sample table below) to report my findings.

The tables have been painstakingly researched and compiled by me. They make it easy for you to find out the past and current values of your coins AND…

…yield clues as to which coins are most likely heading a lot higher in price

AND

…you won’t find these tables anywhere else.

If selecting coins with a good chance of increasing nicely in price is your goal, you'll find the tables to be an indispensable tool. You may access the tables by selecting the U.S. Coin Values (historic) link in the Nav Bar to the left. You can also get there by clicking HERE.

Coins are so steeped in U.S. history that I’ve included for you some historical context for each coin. This helps explain the origin and differences between coins. Because of my love affair with U.S. coins and history, I've done my best throughout this site to interject historical connotations while analyzing coin values and other subjects related to numismatics.

What's more, I include a brief snippet of information at the beginning of some pages called:

Mint Hint

The idea of the MINT HINT is give you a chance to quickly absorb a factoid about the featured coin or whatever the numismatic topic might be for that page. You can quickly decide if you want to continue reading for more in depth information or keep moving on.

1796 Draped Bust Quarter

1796 Quarter

A longtime favorite of coin collectors, the 1796 quarter has posted solid value growth for many decades. The coin has performed very well recently, increasing by an average of more than 10.00% annually since the year 2000. Photo courtesy of Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles Inc., Beverly Hills, CA.

I guess I have never lost the respect and adulation of certain coins I developed as a kid trying to be like my older brother. I have spent many years preparing the tables, charts, data and recommendations you will find on this site because I believe you should have access to the best and most complete coin value information possible all in one place.

Are you looking for a life-long hobby you can master? Have you inherited a coin collection and need to know what it is worth? Are you a collector pursuing an elusive coin? If so, you're bound to unearth useful information somewhere on this site.

A coin that has long enthralled me is the 1796 Draped Bust Quarter. A beautiful example of this incredible rarity is pictured to the right. You see, I have a keen interest in very early United States coinage. I get goose bumps owning coins that once upon a time might have been held by one of our Founding Fathers.

Although I may never be able to afford a 1796 Draped Bust Quarter (the one in the picture is now worth over $100,000 -- but it's a real screamer!), I have found the pursuit of that coin (or at least its not-quite-as-valuable cousin) a thrilling chase. Maybe someday my dream will come true.

Coin values are constantly changing. With this site, I pledge:

  • to give you the knowledge you need to select coins that have a really good chance of appreciating sharply in value, and
  • to give you the confidence to estimate the value of coins you already own.

Thank you for your readership and enjoy!


A Coin Value Table Sample:

1889-CC
Morgan Silver Dollars
Mintage: 350,000 Historical Value Trends

Year F-12 VF-20 XF-40 AU-50 MS-60 MS-63 MS-63 DMPL MS-64 MS-64 DMPL MS-65 MS-65 DMPL MS-67
1950 2.00 2.50 5.00 8.50 12.50 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1955 5.50 7.50 17.50 30.00 47.50 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1960 10.00 15.00 30.00 85.00 150 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1965 90.00 125 175 350 700 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1970 65.00 85.00 160 325 1000 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1975 100 135 325 500 3100 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1980 135 225 650 1250 8000 14500 --- --- --- 27500 32500 ---
1985 140 225 500 1750 4500 7500 10000 11500 --- 22500 30000 ---
1990 125 275 750 2250 6000 15000 22500 50000 --- 125K 225K ---
1995 225 325 1000 3000 6000 12500 14500 22500 50000 75000 125K 200K
2000 300 550 1250 2750 7000 15000 20000 32500 60000 175K 250K 500K
2002 300 550 1250 2750 7500 17500 20000 40000 60000 175K 250K 500K
2005 1000 1750 3000 5750 15000 25000 27500 50000 67500 225K 325K 500K
2007 1250 2000 4000 8000 25000 42500 45000 65000 75000 275K 350K 500K
2009 1250 2000 4000 8000 25000 42500 45000 65000 75000 350K 400K 515K
2011 1050 1500 3000 5650 25000 42500 45000 60000 75000 350K 400K 540K
2013 950 1250 3000 6125 25000 40250 45000 67000 75000 325K 400K 575K
2015 895 1200 3000 7300 25000 45000 45000 77500 80000 325K 350K 575K
2017 840 1000 2750 6350 27500 45000 45000 82500 100K 290K 350K 600K
2019 840 1000 2750 6350 22500 45000 49500 82500 100K 290K 350K 600K
Compounded Annual % Return Rate Since…
Computed from year indicated in left-most column to the year 2019
Year F-12 VF-20 XF-40 AU-50 MS-60 MS-63 MS-63 DMPL MS-64 MS-64 DMPL MS-65 MS-65 DMPL MS-67
1950 9.15 9.07 9.58 10.06 11.48 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1980 4.80 3.90 3.77 4.26 2.69 2.95 --- --- --- 6.23 6.28 ---
1995 5.64 4.79 4.31 3.17 5.66 5.48 5.25 5.56 2.93 5.80 4.38 4.68
2009 -3.90 -6.70 -3.68 -2.28 -1.05 0.57 0.96 2.41 2.92 -1.86 -1.33 1.54

As we can see from the sample table, the 1889-CC Morgan silver dollar has displayed solid, if not spectacular, value growth over a very long period of time (although things of not gone so well since 2007 for some grades -- a great buying opportunity!). Any coin collector fortunate enough to own one of these Carson City rarities need not worry about selling at a loss down the road. The table demonstrates that the 1889-CC dollar is a good choice for continued appreciation in the future.





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American Numismatic Association endorsement



Daniel J. Goevert
Member # 1204442





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