Welcome to the home page of Sterling Coin & Stamp. My name is Frank Sterling, and yes, that really is the family name, so the shop was more or less named before I opened it. I have been buying, selling and looking at coins and stamps in the same storefront on Main Street for twenty years this November. Some of you have been coming in nearly that long. For everyone else, this page is meant to answer the questions I get asked most often on the telephone, and to give you a look at what we carry before you make the trip.

The short version: we are a real coin and stamp shop, not a gift shop with a coin case in the corner. United States coins from Colonial coppers through the new state quarters, world coins, paper money, U.S. and worldwide postage stamps, and a full wall of supplies. If you collect it, or you inherited it and don't know what it is, come see me.

Half the people who walk in the door this year want to know about the state quarters, so here it is in one place.

Beginning in January 1999, the United States Mint started issuing a new quarter design about every ten weeks. Each one honors a single state, on the reverse (the "tails" side), while George Washington stays on the front. The states come out in the order they joined the Union, five a year, for ten years. That means fifty designs by 2008. The regular eagle-reverse quarter is not being struck for circulation during the program.

The 1999 quarters, in order:

Next year brings Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Virginia, in that order.

Things collectors should know:

• Each quarter is struck at both the Philadelphia mint (a small P on the front, under "In God We Trust") and the Denver mint (D). Most folks in our part of the country see the P coins in change and have to hunt for the D. A complete set means both, so that is ten coins a year, not five.
• Proof versions with the S mint mark come from San Francisco and are sold by the Mint in sets, not found in change. We stock the 1999 proof sets when we can get them.
• A quarter that came out of a bank roll is uncirculated. A quarter that spent the summer in your pocket is not, no matter how shiny it still looks. If you want to save a nice set, get the coins from the bank as early as you can after each release and put them in holders right away.
• These are not rare. Hundreds of millions of each are being made. The fun of this program is that it is the first time in most of our lifetimes that ordinary change has been worth looking at, and that is worth plenty. Kids are checking their quarters again. I love that.

We carry state quarter folders and maps (the kind with a hole for each state, in order), 2x2 holders, and a one-page checklist I typed up myself that you are welcome to for free. Ask.

We buy. Single coins, whole collections, accumulations in coffee cans, your grandfather's stamp albums, old paper money, silver dollars, gold coins, foreign coins from the war years, the lot. I will look at anything and tell you honestly what it is. If it is worth money I will make you an offer on the spot, in writing, and you are free to take it elsewhere for comparison. If it is not worth money I will tell you that too, and I will not charge you for the looking. Please do not clean your coins before you bring them in. I mean this. A cleaned coin is worth less than a dirty one, every time.

We sell. The cases hold a rotating selection of U.S. type coins, Morgan and Peace dollars, Indian Head and Lincoln cents by date, Buffalo nickels, Mercury dimes, Walking Liberty and Franklin halves, and a fair amount of modern material including mint sets and proof sets back to the 1950s. World coins are in the trays by the window, sorted by country. Paper money is in the binder on the counter. Prices are marked. I am always willing to talk about a fair price on a group purchase.

Want lists. If there is a particular date and mint mark you are hunting, write it down for me with the grade you want and I will keep it on file. I go to two or three shows a month and I look.

A verbal opinion of what something is and roughly what it would bring is always free, as I said above.

A written appraisal, for insurance, an estate or a divorce settlement, is $20 per hour with a one-hour minimum. Most single albums or small boxes take an hour. If you decide to sell the material to me within thirty days, the appraisal fee is credited back against the sale, so in practice most people end up paying nothing for it. Please call ahead for a written appraisal so I can set aside the time and the reference books.

I am not a grading service and I do not put coins in plastic slabs. I can tell you what I think a coin would grade, and I can send it off to a grading service on your behalf if you want it done.

The back wall of the shop is supplies, and it is the part I am proudest of, because a town this size should not really have a place where you can buy stamp hinges at four o'clock on a Tuesday.

If you need something we don't have on the shelf, I can usually have it in a week.

Stamps get second billing on the sign but not in the shop. We keep U.S. stamps from the classics through this year's 33-cent issues, priced singles in stock books, mint sheets, plate blocks, first day covers, and a big box of worldwide packets for the beginner (or the beginner's grandparent, which is how most of them leave the shop). If you are just starting, a packet of a thousand worldwide, a stock book, tongs and a magnifier will run you under twenty dollars and keep you busy all winter.

We buy stamp collections too, and the same rule applies: bring it in as it is. Do not soak anything off, do not re-mount anything, do not "tidy it up." The album your uncle kept is worth more the way your uncle kept it.

We are on Main Street, downtown, across from the bank, with the blue awning. Parking on the street or in the lot behind the block.

Telephone: (555) 555-0142
E-mail: [email protected] (I check it every evening; my son set this up and showed me how)

Cash, check, Visa and MasterCard accepted. We do not sell by mail order yet, but I am thinking about it, and if you write and ask for something specific I will see what I can do.