Okay, so I’ve been getting into coin collecting lately, and I stumbled upon this James Garfield dollar coin. I was curious about its value, so I decided to do some digging. Here’s what I found out!
Getting Started: What I did first
First, I grabbed the coin and gave it a good look. I needed to check its condition, because that’s super important for value. Was it shiny and new, or did it look like it had been through a washing machine a few times? Mine had some wear, so I knew it wasn’t going to be worth a fortune.
Checking the Mint Mark
Next, I looked for a mint mark. This is a tiny letter that tells you where the coin was made. It’s usually on the obverse, just check every place on the coin.
- “P” means it was made in Philadelphia.
- “D” means Denver.
- “S” usually means it is proof coin and made in San Francisco.
My coin had a “P”, so it was from Philadelphia. Nothing too special there.
Figuring Out the Condition (The Grading Thing)
This part was a little trickier. Coin grading is a whole system, and it gets pretty detailed. I’m no expert, so I did some searching online and looked at some pictures of graded coins.
I figured out my coin was probably in “Very Fine” condition. It had some wear, but the details were still pretty clear. It definitely wasn’t “Uncirculated” (which means perfect), but it wasn’t totally beat up either.
Finding Out The Value
I used to search some websites that had price guides and information about James Garfield dollar coins. I typed in the year (2012), the mint mark (“P”), and my estimated condition (“Very Fine”).
The price guides gave me a range, and it looked like my coin was worth somewhere, maybe only face value, that is 1 dollar. Not a huge amount, but hey, it’s still a cool piece of history!
What I Learned
So, I learned that even though my James Garfield dollar coin isn’t going to make me rich, it was still fun to learn about it! Coin collecting is like a little treasure hunt, and you never know what you might find.
It is really an interesting process.
