OK, as many of you guys know I got a new camara for Christmas.  Lately, I have been playing with some of the features and last night I decided to try using the "close-up" settings.  So, I decided it would be fun to take photos of some of the coins in my collection (I used to very actively collect but due to a lack of money because of college-my collection is somewhat stalled for the moment).  Anyway, some of the photos turned out so good that I thought you guys would like to see them.  Plus, the coins are cool looking and many people (especially people my age) haven't seen a lot of these.  So, here we go.

First, I'll tell you what camara I used to take these photos.  My camara is a Nikon CoolPix 5200.  For just a general purpose point and shoot camara, I have found this camara a very good choice.

Anyway, here are the pics (by the way, I took photos of both sided and edited them together):

This first one is a 1858 Flying Eagle Cent.  The Flying Eagle's were the first American cents that were this small size (about the same size as Lincoln cents today).  Before this, the US had "large cents" and they were copper coins about the size of a quarter.  This Flying Eagle was short lived, it only circulated for 2 years (1857-1858) before being replaced with the Indian Head Cent.


Next is a 1907 Indian Head Cent.  The Indian Head Cent was the first American small cent that saw heavy use.  It was issued from 1859-1909.


This is a 1909 "VDB" Lincoln Cent.  This is basically the same cent that is still used today.  Major changes have occured over the years (most noticably the reverse was changed to depict the Lincoln Memorial starting in 1959).  The "VDB" variety lasted less than a year.  "VDB" are the initals of the desiger of the coin, and he put his initials on the back just above the bottom rim (they can be seen in the photo).  Due to critism, the initals were removed in the middle of the year-so "VDB" and "non-VDB" versions exist in 1909.  In fact, this causes one of the 1909 Lincoln Cents (1909-S "VDB") to be the most saught after Lincoln Cent worth over several hundred dollars even in low grades.  This is the 1909 "VDB" (made in Philadelphia, not San Francisco) and being a relitavely high grade-this is worth only a few dollars.
 

This is another Lincoln Cent, but definately a special one.  This is a 1943-S Lincoln Cent.  The 1943 cents were not made out of copper, instead they were made out of zinc plated steel inorder to save copper for the war effort.  So, these coins are a silver color (and if in high grade, very reflective).  They are quite unique looking.  


Here is a unique one, this is a 1865 2 Cent Piece.  The 2 cent piece was a short lived American coin, it lasted from 1864-1872.  It is a copper coin that is roughly the size of a quarter, but slightly smaller.


Now, I'll make a jump up to some larger coins.  This is an 1818 Capped Bust Half Dollar.  This is the oldest American coin in my collection and in my opinion, these are one of the nicest looking Amerian coins ever produced.  This coin is made of silver and was produced from 1807-1839 and because it is such an early coin, there are many different varieties.


OK, here is my favorite coin in my collection.  This is an  1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar.  Morgan Dollar's are in my opinion the most beautiful coin ever produced (by anyone) and these are the most popularly collected American coin among serious collectors.  This is neither a rare or exceptonally conditioned Morgan (my collection has Morgan's much higher in both catagories) but it is still my favorite.  This was my first Morgan Dollar and I just love it.  The Morgan Dollar was produced from 1878-1904 and then again in 1921.


One final coin, and this is the most valuable coin in my collection.  It is an 1854 Type 2 Indian Head One Dollar Gold Piece.  This coin was given to me by my grandmother and as a result it is one of my favorites.  The Indian Head $1 Gold Piece was produced from 1849-1889 but that consisted of 3 different designs, the Type 2 design was only produced from 1854-1856.  Also, this coin is very small-it is even smaller than a dime (I don't have the actual measurments with me at the moment-but they are tiny)


Thanks for looking, I hope you liked them.  I couldn't believe how good the photos came out-that camara is really good.

Ahhh, coin collecting!
I have a set of  steel pennies that are in mint condition. They were givin to me buy a friend and are what started me collecting. I have the flying eagle cent also...got it for a pretty good deal...I think aroun $7 and it's in pretty good condition. I have many buffulo nickles. And I also have the 2 cent peice from 1865! Although it's in worse condition then yours.

Hmmmm....Lets take a look at what else I have...I have two nicles from 1883.  On the back of one, it says ''cents'' and on the back of the other, it does not say ''cents''. Thats one of my favorites. I have a few cool dimes...one from 1914 and a few from the 30's and 40's. I have something pretty odd...a pennie from 1974 that apperes to be gold. I have some old quarters...one from 1898 that I like quite a bit. And then I have some old half dollars and dollars. I agree the morgan dollar is something special. I have 3 of them and they're all in pretty good condition.

Thanks for posting, I really enjoy old coins but latey I havn't been buying much. But you've sparked my interest again...may have to take a trip to the local coin shop!

-Ben

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I haven't had enough money to buy any lately because of school and stuff but I hope to get back into it in the near future.  I have many coins in my collection.  Some of the highlights (not pictured) include an 1893 and 1893-CC Morgan Dollars (both are considered somewhat "key coins" in the set-but mine are pretty worn).  I have every Lincoln cent not including the proofs or errors except for the 1909-S VDB (so I have the 1909-S, 1914-D, and 1931-S-all key dates).  I have a bunch of Buffalo Nickels and Liberty Head Nickels but no real key dates.  I also have some Peace Dollars (no special ones though).  The highlight of my collection is the Morgan Dollars-I have 31 total (30 different dates/mints) including several that are uncirculated and 5 that are from the Carson City mint.  

Ben, I'd be interested in knowing what Morgan's are in your collection?    

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Actuallty, in mint condition (or rather about uncirculated-uncirculated condition) an 1883 Morgan Dollar (from Philadelphia-like yours) is worth about $15-$20.  That coin you have there is worth around $6-$7 retail to a coin collector.

My 1881-S which I took a photo of is in uncirculated condition and it is worth about $20.  The 1881-S and 1883 were both produced in about the same quantity (about 12 million) and are therefore worth about the same.