Your grandpa has saved a vintage rookie card of a legendary baseball star. Your mother has collected all of the Beatles records and your aunt has collected stamps from every country she's ever visited. Can you recall that ideal collectible you use to treasure as a child? Remember the Beanie Babies, the Cabbage Patch Kids, or the G.I. Joe figures? Those collectibles may today, stand as a childhood keepsake and something that you'll treasure for the rest of your life.

Along with these childhood collectibles, comes a timeless collectible that is treasured by all ages-the coin. Whether the coins come from our homeland or foreign countries, are old or are new, the varieties of coin collections seem to be as endless as the amount of coins that are being circulated. On a more realistic note, just consider how diverse a coin collector could specialize in.

Foreign coins: For the frequent traveler, collecting foreign coins will be easy for this type of collector. For those who don't get the chance to travel much, foreign coins can still be obtained by visiting a coin auction or through networking with fellow coin collectors. For the foreign coin collector, one obvious reason behind the intrigue of collecting these types of coins will certainly not be for its monetary value. For instance, a coin from Canada or England would not be valued in the U.S., and vice versa. It's true value lies in it's rarity in any other country other than it's own In addition to adding on to a collection of foreign coins, bringing home a foreign coin also bring back a memory or two about that relaxing vacation you took out of the country.

Coins by year: Have you ever come across a penny from 1969 and noticed how old and rather dull it appears, in contrast to a brand new penny that's shiny and smooth? Collectors of these types of coins take fascination to collecting coins by year, often observing the physical survival and changes a coin has evolved into. A clear example comes with the wheat penny, a type of coin made from 1909-1958. Before our current penny that features the Lincoln Memorial, the wheat penny design is instead, distinguished with two ears of corn, surrounding 'ONE CENT' in big bold print. Phased out over time, the rare wheat pennies have not been made for almost 50 years. For that, the wheat penny stands as a valuable collectible to coin collectors.

Commemorative Coins: Starting in 1999, five American quarters per year have circulated, dedicated to one of the 50 states in the nation. Coins that marked a significant period in time or are dedicated to a specified state, these types prove to be very popular among coin collectors. More recently, the American nickel surfaced with a celebration designed to honor the 200th anniversaries of the Louisiana Purchase. Also, in December 2005, the United States Mint introduced a new line of 24-karat gold coins. Known as the American Buffalo Gold Coin, this collector's item is dedicated to the nation's rich Native American history. The design of this commemorative gold coin is modeled much like the American penny and quarters. Yet this gold coin depicts a Native American man's profile, and a bison featured on the coin's reverse side.

Whether it is the famous American Buffalo coin you are searching for, a certain type of rare gold coin you've always wanted, or simply that classic wheat penny from decades ago, coin collections will always remain a favorite and popular type of collection among the various things that people value.


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