Five Great Christmas Gifts for the Coin Collector in Your Family

It's that time again; people are out buying gifts and you are trying to find the perfect gift for your golfing father, seamstress mother, boating uncle, and Hannah Montana-wild nieces. But what do you buy for the coin-collecting brother? Well, there are a number of gifts out there for the numismatist in every family (and recent U.S. Mint programs have contributed to the "minting" of millions of new coin collectors over the past few years). What should you get the numismatist(s) that you know and love well but just don't know how to satisfy? Consider these five gift ideas.

Oh, yes, by the way---if you are stumbling over the word numismatist (pronounced nu-MISS-ma-tist), the term simply refers to a person who studies or coins. And if you are scratching your head trying to figure out where you can buy these coin-related gifts, all you need to do is stop by a coin dealer's store (look in your phone book under coins or coin dealers) or turn to the internet, where hundreds of reputable, well-experienced (and well-stocked) coin dealers offer their services.

Gift Idea #5: Coin Albums

Almost every coin collector loves high-quality coin albums. Dansco produces a large series of durable, heirloom-quality coin albums that house everything from Lincoln cents to nineteenth-century three-cent coins(yes, our nation once had circulating three-cent pieces).These albums feature hard, faux-leather coversand acetate slides that allow both sides of each housed coin to be seen. These albums typically cost $20 and up, but they would be a gift most any coin collector would love to receive.

A fine alternative to Dansco albums are Whitman coin albums, which resemble roughly resemble the quality of the Dansco albums. Whitman albums are generally colored blue, whereas Dansco albums are brown. When shopping for either of the two albums, do not confuse them with coin folders, which cardboard-construction products that do not protect coins very well, allow for only one side of the coin to be viewed, and may chemically react with the coins, making for toning and discoloration issues.