The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1906-01-10
RARE AMERICAN COINS.
MANY CENTS HIGHLY VALUED
BY COLLECTORS.
Private Gold Issues That Bring Big
Prices-Three Cent and Five Cent
Nickels With Large Premiums
Varying Values Put on Dollars
Unique Coin.

Unique Coin. .t.,
premiums on old coins have ad-
vanced from rs to 100 percent during
the last few years." said an old coin
dealer. ANY number of coins that
could have been picked up for a
small sum a short time ago now
bring sums up to SIS and s100.
"This is due to the tremendous re-
vival of interest that has taken place
in coin collecting. There are now in
this country more than 1000 coin col
lectors who Systematically buy old
coins and are always in search of
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 a treasure, which, as q
matter of fact, they very often do.
"Of course. there are thousands of
persons who casually gather old
coins indiscriminately, but l 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
eign, and in the ancient Greek or
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
all in point of interest. Still other
collectors go in for die varieties and
mint marks. That small letter on
coin which shows the place of its
mintage, makes all the difference in
the world to a collector and also in
the price.
For instance, a 20-cent piece of
1876 of the Philadelphia Mint is
worth just 20 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 Sis.
The dime of 1894 is another exam
pie. The one made in San Francisco,
with the letter s. is worth anywhere
from So to $40, whereas those made
in other mints are worth just their
face value or a trifle over. There
were only "a of the former ten-cent
pieces minted.
Would you believe a dollar Of 1904
was worth $3.50? 1t is, just the same,
and that sum was paid at a recent
auction sale.
Yet, such is the inconsistency of
coin collecting that dollar of 1898,
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
forth 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-
ceed those for coins issued during
the latter part of the 18th century
and the beginning of the 10Th cen
tury.
"A gold dollar of 1876 in proof con-
dition will bring SIS. The three
dollar gold piece of 1873 is worth $50.
All three dollar gold pieces, in fact,
with the exception of those minted
at the Philadelphia Mint in 1856 and
1874, are worth premiums ranging up
to SIS.
The four-dollar gold piece of 1879
dollar of 1858 is rated at $50. The
flying eagle cent of 1856 brings SIS,
and is hard to get at that price.
All of the silver three-cent pieces
command premiums that range as
high as SO. The nickel three-cent
piece of 1877 is worth s4 and the five
cent piece of the same year is val.
ued at $3.50
And, what will seem strangest of
all to the general public, the common
bronze cent of 1877, in proof condi-
tion, is quoted at $3.50, and even
those which have been IN circulation
fetch an advanced price.
Die varieties mean more than one
would suppose. OF the 1894 cents
alone there are 55 die varieties. each
one of which is held at a high prem
ium, and Of all the big copper cents
there are S17 die varieties known at
the present time, with other counties
to hear from.
"And this just refers to coins of
one denomination. 1t is easy to imag
inc the work ahead of the collector
who goes in for the collection of die
varieties of coins of all denomina-
tions.
"The majority of the collectors of
gold coins confine themselves to de-
under SIS. This by no
means limits their field greatly, as
there are hundreds of varieties of the
private gold issues of the western