The St. Mary banner., 1906-02-17
RARE AMERICAN COINS.
MANY CENTS HIGHLY VALUED
BY COLLECTORS.
Private Gold Issues That Bring Big
Prices-Three Cent ard Five Cent
Nickeis With Large Premiums
Varying Values Put on Dollars
Unique Coin.

Unique Coin.
"Premiums on Gil coins have &C
Fanced tron, - + loo percent durin
I'll" laat few years" said al old co:
dealer. Any number Of coins 1ha
, could have been picked ~ tor
small sum a short time ago roy
bring SUMS UP to So and >lVo.
This is due to the tremendous re
vival of interest that has taken place
in coin collecting. There are now Il
'his country more than 1900 coin col
Iectors who Systematically buy Ole
coins and are always in search o.
new specimens
They make trips abroad to Europe
and other countries in quest OF de
sired rarities. Some OF them make
trips OF this character every year for
no other purpose than to ransack the
shops of dealers in odds and ends on
the other side of the ocean in the hope
Of finding treasure. which. as a
matter OF fact, they very often do.
"of course. there are thousands Of
persons who casually gather old
coins indiscriminately. but | don't
take such collectors into ac-
count. SO great is the demand for
old coins nowadays that the supply
does not begin to meet it.
] Most American collectors go in
| for coins of United States issue. Not
much interest is taken here in for
a in,
Roman coins, although they are the
rage abroad
a good many collectors make a
specially of gathering Colonial coins
and the private gold issues Of North
Carolina, Georgia and California. but
The large old copper cent leads them
I'll in point of interest. Still other
collectors so in for die varieties and
faint marks. That small letter on a
toin which shows the place of it's
ilintage. makes all the difference in
the world to a collector and also in
the price.
For instance. a 20-cent piece Of
1875 Of the Philadelphia Mint is
worth just % cents, and yet coin
Of the same denomination of 1877 Or
1878, bearing the two tiny letters
C c. for Carson City. will bring be-
tween $40 and $l5
The dime OF 1894 is another exam
pie. The one made in San Francisco,
With the letter s, is worth anywhere
from s. to $40, whereas those made
IN other mints are worth just their
face value or a trife over There
pieces minted.
Would you believe a dollar CT 1904.
was worth $500? 1t is, just the same,
ind that sum was paid at a recent
auction sale
Yet, such is the inconsistency of |
coin collecting that dollar of 1893,
IN good condition. can be bought for |
$3.50. The reason for this is that all |
1901 dollars were struck in proof sets /
and were limited
Proof coins are made by burnish-
ing the sheet Of metal before the
.orth with high polish. The low fig
ure Of the 1898 dollar is due to the /
enormous number preserved in good
condition.
Many of the coins minted since
1850 bring premiums that greatly ex-
,eed those for coins issued during
he latter part of the 18th century
md the beginning of the 10Th Gen.
ury.
"A gold dollar of 1875 in proof con-
lition will bring SIS The three
lollar gold piece of 1873 is worth $50
All three dollar gold pieces, in fact,
With the exception Of those minted
It the Philadelphia Mint in 1855 and
S74. are worth premiums ranging up
o SIS.
"The four-dollar gold piece of 1879
md 1880 is worth $1.5. The silver
lollar of 1858 is rated at $50. The
lying eagle cent of 1856 brings SIS,
nd is hard to get at that price
All of the silver three-cent pieces
ommand premiums that range as
Ugh as s.. The nickel three-cent
iece of 1877 is worth 81. and the five
ent piece of the same year is val
ed at $3.50.
"And, what will seem strangest of
II to the general public, the common
rome cent of 1877, in proof condi-
ion, is quoted at $3.50, and even
hose which have been N circulation
tch an advanced price.
die varieties mean more than one
'ould suppose. Of the 1884 cents
lone there are 55 die varieties. each
ne of which is held at a high prem
I'M, and Of all the big copper cents
lere are ST die varieties known at {
lie present time, with other counties
} hear from.
"And this just refers to coins Of
ne denomination. 1t is easy to imag-