Have you completed these 3 coin collecting requirements? These Boy Scouts did!

Recently Littleton Coin teamed up with Clark’s Trading Post to help 50 boy scouts work towards their Coin Collecting Merit Badge.

Before attending the Merit Badge Fair, the scouts were asked to complete 3 of the following requirements:

• Describe the 1999-2008 50 State Quarter program or the America the Beautiful Quarters and collect 5 different quarters from circulation.
• Collect a denomination set (cent, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar) from circulation. Find the mint mark and designer’s initials (if any).
• Attend a coin show or coin club meeting, or look at the U.S. mint’s website or a coin dealer website and report what you learned.

With these 3 steps (a total of 10 needed) either completed or under way, they could enjoy the Coin Collecting Merit Badge fair presented by Ellie of Littleton Coin Company. At the fair, they worked towards completing the remaining 7 badge requirements.

It was a fun day talking with the boys and seeing them excited about coin collecting. They asked a lot of good question and some came up to me afterwards to share their collecting stories. Many were able to earn their badge that day. Since then, I have worked with several to help them complete their requirements! – Ellie

Do you know the 6 “active” U.S. Mint Facilities?

During the Merit Badge Fair, the boys learned about the active U.S. Mints – Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, West Point, Fort Knox and the U.S. Mint headquarters. They also covered mint marks, grading terms, numismatic terminology (like obverse and reverse), vignettes on paper money and other useful information. Ellie also answered general questions about collecting and coins. To help the scouts check off requirement # 9, Littleton provided 50 different world coins and a checklist with the issuing country, denomination, obverse and reverse designs. Plus, if the boys answered questions about their own coin collecting experience they received a free folder.

Merit Badge Fair offers 6 different courses

In June, Clark’s Trading Post hosted Boy Scouts and their families for a Merit Badge Fair. The fair offered six different courses: Railroading, Mammal Study, Geology, Environmental Science, Music and Coin Collecting. This is the 7th year that Clark’s has hosted the Merit Badge Fair, and the first year Littleton Coin Company has participated. Littleton plans to return next year. As Ellie said, “It was great to see so many young people enthusiastic about the coin collection hobby. We look forward to working with Clark’s again next year and to sharing our knowledge of coin collecting with today’s youth.”

Could you earn a coin collecting badge? Let us know, we’d be interested to hear about your collecting experiences.