Dealers from across the country are getting into the Christmas spirit by dropping silver dollars and gold coins into Salvation Army buckets this December and by marking Saturday, December 18, as Free Coin Day.
“Free Coin Day will be a celebration of collecting,” said event co-founder Rob Oberth. In 2019, Rob spearheaded the largest coin drop in history with the Great American Coin Hunt.
Free Coin Day will be slightly different. Instead of sending millions of Americans out to hunt unusual and obsolete coins and paper money items in circulation, dealers will cut to the chase and offer members of the collecting public a coin “on the house”.
“When we did the Great American Coin Hunt, I was torn between hosting it during National Coin Week and the holiday season. I settled on National Coin Week to help promote the ANA program, all the while wanting to do a #Coins4Christmas campaign,” Rob Obeth said. “After collaborating with Charles Morgan on this, #FreeCoinDay was born and became the final piece to the puzzle to have a bi-yearly event to promote the hobby we love.”
All coin shops in the United States are encouraged to participate by giving a free coin to every customer on December 18. The industry’s largest dealer organization, the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) is encouraging its members to take part and has offered to help its members publicize their involvement in their local markets.
At the time of publication, the list of participating dealers has already grown to 50.
“We settled on a date, literally two weeks ago when we were attending meetings in Colorado Springs and since then Rob has been manning the phones in order to reenergize the excitement that he stirred up in 2019 with the Great American Coin Hunt. For the first time in many years, they stocked the pond so that regular people could stumble upon cool and unusual numismatic items,” CoinWeek editor and Free Coin Day co-founder Charles Morgan said. “I saw the good will that Rob and dealers across the country fostered with that event and thought what better way to contribute to the spirit of holiday giving than by promoting one day a year where coin shops give something special to members of their community to spark the excitement of collecting. I think this will be a big success story for our hobby and I would like to see dealers work with us to establish this event as a holiday tradition.”
Leading up to Free Coin Day, Rob and Charles will communicate and do media hits with industry publications and try to spread the word to the general public. The two expect to see coverage in CoinWeek, Coin World, CoinAge, and Numismatic News. The American Numismatic Association (ANA) will also put out information about the event to its 25,000 members.
“Coin collecting is a fun and educational hobby for people of all ages,” said Charles Morgan. “Not only that but silver eagles and annual Proof and Mint Sets make great stocking stuffers.”
“I consider the Great American Coin Hunt, Coins 4 Christmas and Free Coin Day to be programs that everyone can and should participate in. If we all work together as a community, we will be able to build these programs into permanent fixtures for our hobby. I’m excited to see how they each evolve over the years to come.”
A-Coin Jacksonville, Fl
A1 Scranton Gold & Silver Buyers Inc Scranton, PA
Alhambra Coin Center Alhambra, CA
Americash Jewelery and Coin WESTMONT, IL
Aventura Jewelry & Coin Aventura, FL
Bars & Stars, LLC Plainville, CT
Biberstein Shafer LLC Indianapolis, IN
Big Bear Coin & Collectible Mukwonago, WI
Bob’s Coins & Jewelry Summerfield, FL
Burton’s Rare Coins Grants Pass , OR
Central Iowa Coin & Bullion LLC Clive, IA
Cheap Treasures Gold Silver Coin Exchange Titusville, FL
Coin and Jewelry Gallery Of Boca Raton Boca Raton, FL
Coins and Auctions Since 1994 Vancouver, WA
Common Cents Coins Milford, OH
Elite Rare Coins Warren OH
Florida Currency and Coins Boca Raton, FL
Fox Valley Coins NAPERVILLE, IL
Gold and Coin Exchange Marietta, GA
Gulf Coast Goldtraders Missouri City, TX
Harlan J Berk, LTD Chicago, IL
Icoin Joliet, IL
Mid American Rare Coin Lexington, KY
Park Avenue Numismatics Miami, FL
Pecos Valley Collectibles Carlsbad, NM
PQ Dollars Gilbert, SC
Ravenna Coin and Jewelry Ravenna, OH
Ron’s Coins Cedar Rapids, IA
Salt City Coin LLC Hutchinson, KS
San Diego Coin Buyers San Diego, CA
Smile For Some Change Hayden, ID
Southern Coins and Precious Metals New Orleans, LA
US Coins & Jewelry Houston, TX
Vermillion Enterprises LLC Spring Hill, FL
Vierk’s Fine Jewelry Lafayette, IN
Voecks Fox Valley Coin & Diamonds Kimberly, WI
Witter Coin San Francisco, CA
Worldwide Numismatics Tampa, FL
American Numismatic Association
CoinAge Magazine
CoinWeek
Coin World
Numismatic Literary Guild
Professional Numismatists Guild
Roundtable Trading LLC
I thank everyone who is participating in this great event..I just recently started collecting coins again after my collection of coins that my grandfather and my dad had started for me was stolen a couple years ago and now they have both passed I started collecting coins again in tribute to them both and I think of the good times we had together when I am sitting there looking through my change that I gathered through the day..and its just cool finding a misprint or a stamping error…thank you everyone involved
Man,what’s up with the Noth Carolina coin shops. Hopefully at least one will join the fun! I think it’s an awesome way of getting people excited about collecting!
I love to hear about events like this, it helps out people that collect but can’t afford certain coin types. I still search rolls these days and watch my pocket change. Found some mint condition 1958p last year wheaties this year being the best thing if found all year. Hope someone in East TN will will join the program. Coins are a great way to connect us to our past, such a great hobby. Hope more dealers with monetary access take part. Nothing tops the feeling of finding a special coin.
Nothing in Nevada? Shame on them!
Coins have always had my interest. The variety and beauty
About free coin day I would like to have one to get started with im 53 an only have a few
Love to get my hands on one of these coins
This is sooo exciting! I’m the only coun collector in my family & circle of friends, but they all give me little treasures or let me sift thru their change!
