COIN PRICES, essential for the beginner, amateur, and experienced

COIN PRICES has proved helpful in providing up-to-date information on coin prices and trends ever since I became interested in coins about a decade ago. The magazine is great for beginners, essential for the amateur, and even helpful for the professional numismatist (fancy word for an experienced coin collector).

COIN PRICES comes out six times a year; in January, March, May, July, September, and November. Individually, issues cost $3.95 US, while a yearly subscription will run you about $19.00 US. Each magazine runs just over 100 pages. If you get a 2 or 3 year subscription, Krause publishers will throw in a free coin (right now it is a 2003 silver dollar).

In each issue, you will current prices for every US coin made at the US mint; half-cents to dollars, commemorative coins, recent silver, gold, and platinum coins. Each issue has a few pages devoted to grading your coins, which pictures depicting most of the popular coins in the six most encountered conditions (good, very good, fine, very fine, extremely fine, and uncirculated. Each issue has an article “As we see it” by Joel Edler, who writes a page on current coin news and current trends in collecting (the recent commentaries have always mentioned the state quarter program). A “How to store coins” article frequents the issues as well. There are always several advertisers in the pages, so you buy a large variety of coins (mostly high grade expensive ones; but not all), but classified adds close the last few pages of the magazine, and always offer inexpensive deals to get a new collector started. Nearly half of the advertisements offer state quarters, of one kind or another.

JANUARY: Every January, there is a special section on US Paper money, giving pictures and prices to national bank notes, and small-size paper money (the stuff we use today).

MARCH: Large size paper money.

MAY: An error/variety price guide appears in this section. This is always my favorite issue, as I am especially interested in error coins. The issue gives pictures of major and minor mint errors, describes them, and gives prices for them. I look through my pocket change every day, and I’ve been averaging one error for every two weeks. Most of the errors I find I can sell on Ebay for about a dollar, which isn’t bad for the usual penny or nickel or quarter that someone else has passed through their hands! With this issue, you can learn what to look for too.

JULY: COMPLETE Canadian and Mexican coin prices are included. How many of us find annoying Canadian money in our change about once a month? If you live a few hours from the Canadian border, chances are that you will. Finding a penny from 1955 CAN be worth over a hundred dollars. Finding a dime from the 1940’s will be worth at least a dollar.

SEPTEMBER: US Colonial coin prices are included in this issue. This probably isn’t useful to anyone other than those who already collect them.

NOVEMBER: Territorial gold coin prices are included in this issue. These were made from 1853 to around 1882, but if you have any laying around and don’t know what they are worth, you will have to buy this COIN PRICES issue.


COIN PRICES is well worth the cost of the magazine. Prices are always kept up to date, and thoughtful words are put in the commentaries. Unless you buy and sell coins on a regular basis, you might not need to subscribe to the magazine, but the 2001 silver eagle coin if FREE if you get a 2 year subscription, which is actually a good incentive. Otherwise, you can go to the local bookstore and pick yourself up a copy, potentially based on the special inserts that I have included about each issue above.

Five stars for this one!