| Among the mainstays of coin collecting, old coins | | | | hands, you are holding the same coin that was |
| are among the most exciting and sought after | | | | passed from hand to hand one hundred, one |
| members of the coin family. Not only do they | | | | thousand, even two thousand years ago. They |
| tend to be rarer than modern coins, but they are | | | | are not just metal, they are pieces of history. |
| often made from valuable materials that actually | | | | What you see and feel in your hands is exactly |
| worth more now than the actual denomination of | | | | what your forebears saw and felt. |
| the coin itself. Which makes old coins that much | | | | When you hold old coins in your hands, you are |
| more of a thrill. | | | | not just holding some old money. Rather, you are |
| One reason why old coins become value is the | | | | holding links to your forebears. Those coins have |
| simple fact that old coins were often made from | | | | moved through history as surely as great |
| precious metals, such as gold or silver. Thus, old | | | | architecture. And the old coins you collect may |
| coins can often be worth more melted down than | | | | have even made history on their own. Who |
| they would if they were spent like regular change. | | | | knows whose hands those old coins may have |
| However, the fact that they are still stamped | | | | passed through? They may have been in the |
| coins makes them even more valuable. And their | | | | palms of kings and presidents, philosophers and |
| value is only enhanced even more by the fact | | | | physicians, writers and artists, or inventors and |
| that they have been around for a while. | | | | tycoons. And with the number of times that |
| Old coins are made even more valuable when | | | | change changes hands, there is no telling who |
| they are also rare. Fortunately, the fact that coins | | | | might have spent those old coins you are adding |
| are old tends to make them rarer. This is | | | | to your collection. |
| because the older a coin is, the more likely that | | | | While old coins can be good investments, they are |
| people have exchanged it for more modern | | | | much more than that for a coin collector. They |
| currency and the more likely that the government | | | | are windows to long gone pasts and forgotten |
| has gotten a hold of it and melted it down. In | | | | times. They are connections to people who have |
| fact, most governments have specific legal | | | | lived all manner of lives and done things both |
| requirements to destroy old coins in order to | | | | great and small. So when you see old coins, |
| keep the money supply modern, making it more | | | | remember that many people have worked to |
| difficult for coin collectors to find old coins. | | | | earn that coin and they have all, at some level, |
| However, coin collectors dont just look for old | | | | appreciated its presence in their lives. So enjoy |
| coins because they are valuable. They are also | | | | those old coins that you collect and appreciate |
| unusual and provide a connection to people who | | | | them for the fact that they could fill entire books |
| lived long ago. When you have an old coin in your | | | | with the stories that they have to tell. |