Budget Recommendations: Build a set of date and mintmark varieties 1909-1931 in G-4 to VG-8 grade and later dates EF-40 or better. You can find recent issues in pocket change.

Recommendations for the Connoisseur: Issues from 1909 to 1930, MS-60 to MS-64, are good buys, although MS-65 coins are great, too, and in this series are not overpriced. Issues from 1931 onward are best acquired in MS-65 grade. Caveat: Pick only pieces with evenly toned or evenly brilliant surfaces. Avoid spotted, cleaned, and discolored coins (which are plentiful on the market). Among early mintmarks, select sharply struck coins. Most people don't bother checking the strikes, thus you can often get a better coin for the same amount of money.

Elite Recommendations: Build a set of date and mintmark varieties 1909 onward in MS-65 grade with brilliant, red surfaces, undipped and uncleaned (this will take some doing, and you will have to be picky!). Pick sharp strikes, which are especially hard to find among certain Denver and San Francisco issues circa 1915-1925.

Two-Cent Pieces (1864-1873)

Two-cent pieces first appeared in 1864 and were made as an answer to the lack of government coins in circulation in an era in which the public engaged in widespread hoarding. The outlook for the new denomination was optimistic, and in the first year over 19 million were struck. However, two-cent pieces proved to be unpopular, and in 1865 the production dropped to 13 million, then to three million in 1866, declining steadily until a low of just 65,000 coins was reached in 1872, at which time production for circulation was discontinued. A thousand or more Proofs were made for collectors in 1873, after which two-cent pieces were no more.

There are no great rarities within the two-cent piece series, although a variety of 1864 with IN GOD WE TRUST in slightly smaller letters, known as the Small Motto issue, is elusive, particularly in higher grades, and the Proof-only 1873 is difficult to find. As is the case with Indian and early Lincoln cents, many higher grade two-cent pieces seen on the market today have been cleaned, artificially toned, or otherwise processed. Pristine pieces with full or nearly full original mint color are decidedly difficult to locate, as are pristine Proofs.