Two commemorative coins were issued for 2009, honoring two very important men; Abraham Lincoln and Louis Braille. Lincoln, as our sixteenth President, led the country during one of its darkest periods, the War Between the States. Louis Braille, a man from France who developed the Braille method of reading and writing for the visually impaired.

Abraham Lincoln is honored with a commemorative silver dollar coin. The coin is made up of 90% silver, balanced by copper. The obverse has an engraving of President Lincoln, rendering him as if he were deep in thought. The reverse has an excerpt from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. (500,000 minted)

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille is marked by a silver dollar coin that has readable Braille…

The Virginia Company of London, England landed on the shores of what would be the United States of America in 1607.  These would be the first English settlers in the New World. The 400th anniversary of their settlement, Jamestown (named for King James of England) was honored with two commemorative coins.

The silver dollar coin has on its obverse an engraving of three faces representing diversity of the different cultures brought together in the New World. On its reverse there is the image of the three ships that brought the English Virginia Company to North America; The Susan Constant, Godspeed, and the Discovery. (500,000 minted) It is 90% silver and 10% copper.

The five dollar gold coin has on its obverse the legendary Captain…

The first coin shows an engraving of Franklin with his kite experimenting with electricity on the obverse, while the reverse has the “Join or Die” cartoon that Franklin published in the Pennsylvania Gazette May 9, 1754. (250,000 minted)

The second coin shows a simple portrait of him on the obverse, while the reverse has the designs…

1879 saw the invention of the light bulb at the hands of Thomas Edison. 2004 brought about the minting of a commemorative coin which honored Edison. The coin was 90% silver and 10% copper, and featured an artist’s view of Edison in his laboratory and an image of the early light bulb on the obverse. The reverse  has a singular picture of the light bulb with a commemoration of its 125th anniversary above. It is marked also with the years 1879-2004. (500,000 minted)

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clarke led over 35 men with the help of a young woman belonging to the Shoshone nation (Sacajawea) across the country. They began the long journey of the many miles west as the Unites States was…

Two coins were issued by the U.S. Mint for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games. The five dollar coin is 90% gold and 10% alloy and has the crystal emblem of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games over the beautiful design entitled “Rhythm of the Land” on it’s obverse. The reverse has the Olympic flame on top of a cauldron. (80,000 made)

The silver dollar coin is comprised of 90% silver and 10% alloy. On the obverse it portrays the Crystal Emblem as well as the classic Olympic rings and the “Rhythm of the Land” design. It’s reverse has the beautiful Rocky Mountains in the backdrop, superimposed by the Salt Lake City skyline. (400,000 made)

The bicentennial of West Point Military Academy was commemorated…

Of course it stands to reason that the older the coins the more expensive they are going to be to collect. However this hobby is to be enjoyed by everyone and can be done “on the cheap”. If you mainly concentrate on silver coins/shillings from the 1900’s you will easily build your collection.

Don’t forget that other people are also into this hobby as well and so as…

Three months after the assasination of President Kennedy the US Mint changed the design of the silver half dollar to honor JFK. In 1964, when the coin was first minted, it contained the usual 90% silver content (11.25 g) that Americans were familiar with.

A year later the silver content was reduced and the coin was lightened. From 1965 up through 1970 Kennedy Half Dollars contain only 40% silver, which comes out to 4.60 g per coin. When 1971 rolled around Americans were presented with half dollars which contained nothing more than copper and nickel.

In 1965 the composition of US dimes and quarters were also changed to remove the silver. And finally in 1970, with the removal of silver…

In recent years the value of silver has risen and it is expected to continue going up in the future. However, the value of a coin is in more than just its metal content. A coin also has “collectable value” based upon its rarity. Naturally, the more common a coin is the less its collectable value will be. Many silver coins are in such short…

There are many additional benefits to beginning coin collecting. Since neither gold nor silver can be duplicated or manufactured by humans, so their value remains constant, which is very reassuring to investors.…

The Silver Peace Dollar was originally proposed to be a commemorative coin issued to memorialize with the ending of World War I; however the final decision was made to issue the Silver Peace Dollar as a circulating coin.

The coin, which got its name from having the word “peace” imprinted at the bottom of the coin’s reverse, was designed by Anthony de Francisi.

The replacement to the Morgan Silver Dollar, the Silver Peace Dollar was struck from 1921 until 1928, then after a pause of six years it was minted again in 1934 and 1935.

The Silver Peace Dollar was briefly minted again in 1965 (bearing the date 1964) but no examples…