Eric Jordan - Top 50 Most Popular Modern Coins

Comprehensive Guide to the Most
Sought After U.S. Issues (1986-Date)

ERIC JORDAN
JOHN MABEN

By Mark Salzberg, Chairman
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation

The revival of commemorative coinage that began with the Washington half dollar in 1982 breathed new life into the collecting of current or recent
U. S. coins, an area that had been dormant for years after the introduction of clad coinage in 1965.

The market for modern United States coins has exploded since then, offering the current generation of coin enthusiasts an affordable avenue for building an attractive and interesting collection. This growth in popularity has gone hand-in-hand with the rise of online collecting sites such as the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation Coin Registry. Collectors cannot only enjoy the coins themselves, but they can also share their accomplishments with like-minded coin buyers and match their collections against those of other NGC Registry participants.

Authors Eric Jordan and John Maben have put together a terrific little book that identifies and describes the 50 most popular modern coins in todays hobby. Their years of experience as leaders in the modern coin market have given them the insight needed to determine which coins are the ones most often sought by collectors. While some issues may be more rare or more valuable than the ones in this book, the 50 entries included in these pages are the ones that collectors truly want. Theyre the coins with the most attractive designs and the most important subjects that really grab a collectors attention.

I compare the appeal of these modern coins to post-war or pop art and the explosion of popularity in that field. The collectors in those areas simply love the art and happen to have the money to buy it, not dwelling on the historical value of paintings that may be from 50 or 100 years earlier.

Top 50 Most Popular Modern Coins has everything youll need to make the most of your collecting experience. In addition to great photos showing both sides of each coin, youll find a price guide for all entries as raw, or uncertified coins, as well as their values in the NGC-certified grades of MS-69 and MS-70, the ones most highly sought by collectors of modern coins. There are mintage figures for both the Top 50 entries and hundreds of other widely collected modern coins.

Im so pleased with what Eric and John have accomplished that NGC has created a unique grading label for the Top 50 Most Popular Modern Coins. When you submit any one of these coins for NGC certification, it will be eligible for this special label identifying it as a Top 50 entry. NGC has also created a new Registry Set for the Top 50 where collectors can share their accomplishments and compete against other participants for highest scores.

Collecting modern coins is fun. Thanks to the fine work of Eric Jordan and John Maben, it is now also something that can be done with a real sense of direction. Their book provides an all-you-need guide to smart collecting, and its handy size means that you can always have it with you at coin shows. This is the must-have book for the modern coin collector.

Mark Salzberg is the chairman of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), the worlds largest third-party coin grading service. A lifelong numismatist, Mark has personally graded nearly all of the significant rarities and collections to come to market in the past 25 years. Mark is widely recognized for his grading expertise and is a central figure in promoting coin certification both in the United States and abroad.

In recognition of his achievements, the American Numismatic Association gave Mark the ANA Presidential Award in 1998 and named him Numismatist of the Year in 2006. Mark continues to give back to the industry through his sponsorship of the Smithsonians Legendary Coins & Currency exhibit and support of the American Numismatic Association.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wife Wendy Jo for putting up with the endless hours of studying to complete this text, my parents Buck and Sandy Jordan, my grandparents Bob and Nora Rice, and my brother Brians family for their love and support. Most of all I would like to thank Jesus for His unfailing love and mercy.

Eric Jordan

Id like to thank my original numismatic mentors Steve Paradisi and Frank Greenberg for introducing me to coins and educating me, and my parents Jack and Alice Maben for their love, support, and encouragement which continue to this day.

John Maben

John and Eric would like to give a special thanks to Jay Rudo, Richard Lecce, Chuck Daughtrey, and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation for their support and contributions.

By Eric Jordan

What coin being produced today will turn into a coveted rarity 20 years from now? If only we had a crystal ball to reveal the coins of today that will be the rarities of tomorrow.

What we do know is that since 1986 the U.S. Mint has been actively producing attractive coin series struck on silver, gold and platinum that are rapidly acquiring an enthusiastic collector following. Many modern Eagles enjoy rarity on a scale not seen in 100 years and many are still affordable.

Today collectors can assemble a great collection on a limited budget if they have a willingness to cherrypick coins issued today. Most of the coins included here are attractive keys to rapidly growing series, amazingly rare type coins with mintages as low as 2,200 and cohesive short sets. And, most of the issues are struck on precious metals, thus creating a protective value floor for their holdings if something should happen to the collector markets.

In this book, and its forerunner, Modern Commemorative Coins, we have gone to great lengths to present accurate mintage figures with the help of the U.S. Mints Office of Public Affairs. This is a wonderful and exciting time to be a collector of modern United States coins.

By John Maben

When I left professional grading in 2004 to resume my career as a coin dealer, I took a long, hard look at the numismatic market as a whole. The classic coin market had its place, but was largely overpopulated. I didnt really see much activity (at the time) in paper money as compared to coins. World coins definitely were intriguing, but the older coins were a highly specialized area and the modern issues were only in the very early stages of maturation. After a few months of dealing in classic coins, I considered modern coins and the idea stuck with me, so I adjusted my business model leaning heavily on the purchase and sale of coins minted 1982 and after.

I had no idea at the time that the demand could lead us to become one of the largest discount retailers for modern coins in the world. It is the wealth of experience I gained in the modern coin market that led me to publish this work. I believe the modern coin market is largely untapped with a lot of potential for collectors to be able to purchase a number of relatively scarce issues at very reasonable prices from a variety of sources.