Learn
Plain-English guides for new collectors, heirs, and anyone who wants the real story — not a hype thumbnail.
Start where you are
Whether you just pulled a wheat cent from change, inherited a coffee can, or want to understand bullion before you buy — these guides are written for people, not for keyword robots.
Start here
Age is not rarity
Old coins are not automatically valuable. Mintage (at a specific mint) and condition decide. Six plain-English guides:
Sorting tools
Mint-mark diagrams and key-date pull lists — not price guides. Use them at the kitchen table before you visit a shop.
Figure melt before you go
Melt is the metal in the coin at today’s spot — not what a shop will pay, and not a Google “worth” number. Sort by year (1964 vs 1965 quarters are different metal). Skip gold-colored dollars that are not gold.
Melt Prices is the live calculator. The walkthrough: melt value before you visit a shop. Inherited a box? meltprices.com/inherited.
Visit a shop with confidence
What happens when you walk in with a bag of coins — and how to keep the conversation honest.
Physical ownership
Bullion vs collectibles, storage, estates — for people who hold metal on purpose.
U.S. coin & paper money history
Steel cents, fractional currency, the gold standard, horse blankets, MPCs, and more.