Tom's Coin Collecting Place

I am a habitual collector of anything and everything that strikes my interest. As a result, my coin collection is quite varied. I have divided it, in my own mind at least, into several collections.

U.S. Circulating Coin		Canadian Coin & Currency
U.S. Proof Sets, Mint Sets & Commems		Foreign Coin & Currency
U.S. Currency		Errors
Tokens		Medals

I know that not all of these collections fit into the topic of "coin collecting" proper, but I thought that it would sound too stuffy to call this page "Tom's Numismatica, Notaphilia and Exonumia Location", so stop being so nit-picky! ;-)

Descriptions of my Collections

Storage of Coins and Currency

My own advice to those who would Clean their Coins

Frequently Asked Questions

I began collecting coins when I was eleven years old. Over the years, I had saved a few coins out of my change that had caught my eye. One day, while we were on a field trip, two of my friends were looking at a coin magazine. The page they were reading had a large picture of a coin on it (the photo was of the back of a Wheat Cent, I would soon learn). I spoke up, "Hey, I have a penny that looks like that on the back, but it's a different color. Kinda grayish." (or something to that effect) They proceeded to tell me about the 1943 steel cent that I had. I was fascinated. I have collected coins ever since. That Steel Cent now resides in a place of honor, right in the front of my US coin binder.

I like to collect coins made by the U.S. Mint that were intended for circulation. I won't consider my collection incomplete if I don't have a 1970 Kennedy half, an 1856 Flying Eagle Cent, or a 1937-D 3 Legged "Buffalo Nickel".

The half dollar for 1970 was only produced for the proof and uncirculated sets, not for circulation, so they have their own place in my proof and mint set collection.

The 1856 Flying Eagle Cent was a pattern coin. It was produced for the sole purpose of testing the design of the small cent. Although some may find their way into circulation, pattern coins, in general, are struck in far too small numbers to really be considered a circulating issue. Since their purpose was not to fulfill the needs of spenders, I don't include pattern coins in this collection.

The 1937-D 3 Legged "Buffalo Nickel" was, by anybody's description, an error. The mint did not "intend" to make a coin with a 3 legged buffalo on it. Since "intent" is part of my definition of my collection, I give mint errors their own category. However, there is a fine line that divides "error" from "variety". I have large date / small date varieties of coins in my collection. I do not, however, have any doubled die errors. The question I ask myself when debating whether or not to include a specific coin is this: Does this coin look like it was intended to look? A large date or small date, each by itself, does look as it was intended to, so each is a different variety of a coin. In the case of a doubled die, however, the coin was not designed to have a ghost image on its surface, so it was made in error.

This category is fairly self explanatory. I collect proof and mint sets in the original mint packaging. Somehow, a proof set just doesn't seem the same to me when it's in some other kind of holder. An uncirculated coin out on its own just seems like any other coin in really good shape. But when they are in the original set, they seem special.

I began collecting U.S. paper money in early High School. During a fund raising campaign for my Scout troop, I was selling candy bars, I began to take notice of the $1 bills I was receiving. I bought a Blackbook, learned about Federal Reserve Banks, Plate numbers, Signatures, etc., And I was hooked!

I don't lump Canadian money into my "foreign" collection for a couple of reasons. Canada and the U.S. share a common monetary system (though not an even trade), and Canadian coins are found so often here in the U.S., that the money hardly seems "foreign". Also, because it is so common here, I have so much of it that Canadian money deserves its own binder on my shelf. Unfortunately, what my Canadian collection has in size, it lacks in interesting content. The most notable pieces are a couple of large cents that my grandmother gave to me.

I have a fairly wide variety of foreign money. Most of what I have, I received from family and friends who have traveled abroad. Some have come from the "16-for-a-buck" bin at the coin shop. I organize my world coin and currency by continent. Within the section for each continent, I keep the countries alphabetized. There are a few exceptions, countries that I have enough coins from to dedicate a whole page to them. From an aesthetics standpoint, I like the design of Swiss coins the best. I am also fascinated by "non-standard" coins, that is to say: bi-metallic, holed, and non-round coins. I enjoy finding coins that I don't recognize. I have a lot of fun researching the origins of these coins in my Standard Catalog of World Coins. The hardest coin to identify that I have found so far was my 1913 Thailand 5 Satang. My world currency is not as varied as the coin side, but I do have a few interesting pieces. One of my favorites is a W.W.II - era 500 Franc note from Algeria that my grandfather got while in the Merchant Marines.

"Accumulation" is a much more fitting term than "collection" for describing my error coin and note pieces. I don't actively seek out errors, but I do save out any that I notice that happen to fall into my hands.

I define a token as a "coin" that was never legal tender, but did (or does) have some trade value. Bus tokens, Arcade tokens, and wooden nickels, for example, make up most of my Token collection. My favorite of the bunch is a "wooden nickel" that I got from my grandfather. It is from a restaurant called "Sambo's" For those who don't remember Sambo's, it was a restaurant chain that had some legal woes. They changed their name to "No Place Like Sam's", and soon thereafter, went out of business. I believe that some of the locations are now operating as Abdou's. Anyway, my token is from Sambo's, and is "Good for a 10 cent cup of coffee". That I know of, this is the only wooden nickel I have from a now defunct organization.
Recently, my token collection has taken on a life of its own. I have now put up a page that is dedicated totaly to Video Game Tokens, Transportation Tokens, and Good Fors, including a list of traders.

My Medals collection is made up mostly of souvenir type items that have no type of face value. Many of these medals are souvenirs from places I've been. One of the most interesting examples, though, was a souvenir of my great-grandmother's. It is a "Squished Penny" from the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page last updated February 24, 2008
Numismaster: Tom Charney . Send me some mail.