Coin Collecting With Your Child - Have Fun and Develop Math Skills, Too!

As a child I began coin collecting, and today, as anmany years are there between an 1990 dime and
adult, I still treasure my Mercury dimes,a 2001 dime?"
Wheatback cents (pennies), Buffalo nickels,- Place Values: Learning to read the mintage dates
Standing Liberty quarters and my many otheron the coins, and putting their coins into
coins and bills from around the world.chronological order in a coin folder is a great way
You too can easily introduce your child to theto place values to the thousands and also teach
joys of starting a coin collection. By Preschool age,how we measure years on a calendar.
a child can begin his collection just by saving coins- Multiplication: Begin by teaching your child there
from change and learning their names and values.are 100 cents in a dollar. "That means that 100
By First Grade, a child can understand how topennies, 20 nickels, 10 dimes and 4 quarters each
keep their coins organized based on year ofmake up 100 cents or $1." Work on multiplying
mintage.each of the coin values by 2's, 5's and 10's first
Once your child has some money of his own toand then try the harder numbers in the times
spend, he can learn how to make responsibletables. Coin rolls also lend themselves easily to
decisions about which old coins to buy at a coinmultiplication. Ask your child, "If there are 25
shop to enhance his collection.quarters in a roll, what is the value of the whole
First Steps to Start a Child's Coin Collectionroll of quarters?"
Since 1999, when the Fifty State Quarters were- Fine Motor: For children working on their
introduced, many children have enjoyed collectingpre-writing skills, stacking coins and rolling them in
these coins and saving them in a Commemorativecoin wrappers is great for working on the pincer
Quarter Map or Coin Folder. These are fun, cheap,grip. For example, you can help your child make 5
and easy to get started with, since we all getstacks of ten pennies each and fit them correctly
quarters in our pocket change every day.into their wrapper.
Nickels and CentsMore Coin Collecting Resources
When I helped my three youngest children (agesOnce your child gets bitten by the coin collecting
3, 5 and 7) start their coin collections this pastbug, she will be hungry for more information. She
year, we began by purchasing inexpensive coinwill want to learn about the value and history of
folders ($2.99 each) to collect Lincoln Memorialher coins, and generally learn more about how
Cents and Jefferson Nickels from the 1940's tocoins are made.
the present.The U.S. Mint has a wonderful website for child
Why nickels and cents? Well, first they are easycoin collectors with lots of activities and history of
for little children to find in their own pocketall U.S. coinage.
change and are cheap to get in in coin rolls fromTo learn about the values of our old coins (as if
the bank. When my six-year-old son finds an oldwe would ever want to sell them!) my family
Wheatback cent (from 1959 and earlier), heuses The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of
reacts like he just found a pot of gold! It's likeUnited States Coins, because it's easy to read and
finding a treasure each time he finds an old cointhe information is very nicely organized. Coin
to fill an empty year in his coin folders.books also teach about coin values so that before
What Math Skills Can Your Child Learn from Coinyou go on a coin shopping trip, you will know
Collecting?what you should spend on a 1922 Buffalo nickel or
Addition and Subtraction: Start by countingsome other treasure for your collection.
numbers of coins, then once your childCoin collecting is a wonderful, inexpensive family
understands coin values, you can ask them toactivity that you and your child can enjoy
calculate the value of "2 pennies plus 4 nickels" ortogether for years. The math learned along the
"5 dimes minus 1 quarter". For children in Thirdway is just a wonderful side benefit.
Grade or older, you might ask, for example, "How