Poll Question: If you could change one thing to make coin collecting more appealing to beginners, what would it be?

Buy what you’d like to own and what appeals to you for whatever subjective reason. Don’t buy something thinking the item will make you money when you sell it. I think Civil War-era coins are very cool, and the paper money because of their larger pallet.  Buy to own what makes you happy, even if it’s a common piece.

Joe G., Carlsbad, Calif.

Maybe a question-and-answer page, like pick three questions a week. You could rotate the pros who answer the questions.

Name and Address withheld

I remember as a kid collecting old Sinclair Fuel stations (dinosaur logo), they had old cars embedded in them. Then I went to bank penny books. Mostly for the year, dates, and mint.

Maybe team up with a national cereal company and put wooden nickels inside the box.

T Kenyon, Pa.

Well, that's a good question. I was thinking the U.S. nickels could put each of the 26 letters of the alphabet each year. In 2019, Great Britain had the coin hut on their 10 pence coin. I have that set. It's so cool. Like W for a web or world wide web, B for 007, L for Loch, and one more S for Stonehenge. They put a coin book out, also, it's a map for each item or place.

Mint makes them next year, all year long. 2 million from each mint, Philadelphia and Denver mints for each letter. But don't release them until 2027, have all mixed together to ship out to banks to be placed in circulation. Now for rolls and mint sets collectors make half million coins each letter from W West Point mint and S San Francisco mint.

Well, my head is running away.

Name and Address withheld

It would be very helpful for beginning collectors to have more local coin shows to attend and coin clubs to belong to. They can learn a lot more by interacting with other collectors and dealers. Beginners, especially younger collectors may not be willing or have the means to travel to distant locations to attend meetings or shows and conventions.

Louis Ludiciani, Cumberland, R.I.

The best chance of drawing beginners to our shows is to use smart online AI tools (i.e., cookies) to advertise local shows to anyone who has performed an online search for anything related to coins, medals, and tokens.

Larry Vann, Arkansas

I would hope at least one numismatic publication creates a YN-only issue with coin stories, advertising, awards, etc. focused on YNs. It could be a supplement to the regular edition at the beginning of each month and be charged only to those who order the supplement, or it could be a stand-alone publication.

I am sure youngsters are not too interested in the multi-thousand-dollar coin price rarities that gobble up all the space in current publications.

Bill Rodriguez, Address withheld

How about the U.S. Mint starts making annual coin sets more affordable? A 2025 set costs $33.25 for a set of coins that have a face value of $5.82. A price spread like that doesn’t attract new buyers.

Gary, Salisbury, N.C.