• Coins And Misnomers
• American Silver Eagles
• Buffalo Nickel
• Indian Head Cent
• Benjamin Franklin Half Dollar
• Morgan Silver Dollar
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Sometimes things are not called what they really are. Often these misnomers become so engrained in culture and society that they stick. People often forget what the real names were. The same is true with some coins.

If you are an avid collector you will probably already be aware of these bits of coin trivia, but read on.

The Winged Liberty Dime

In reality this is the "Winged Liberty" dime. The coin features Lady Liberty wearing a winged cap similar to that worn by the god Mercury. Because of this cap the public soon began to label it the Mercury dime.

Many people will call it a Mercury dime and assume, or even think they know, that the figure on the obverse is the god Mercury.

The Indian Head Cent

The design for the obverse of this penny is actually a representation of Lady Liberty wearing a Native American feathered headress.

If you take just a quick look at the "Indian Head" penny you can see plainly that it is Lady Liberty, yet even today the title "Indian Head Penny" remains the most widely used to describe it.

Indian Head Nickel

The Indian Head Nickel is more widely known as the Bufalo Nickel even the animal on the reverse side of the coin is actually an American Bison. Buffalo are indigenous to Africa and so do not appear naturally in North America.

The bison itself is know to most as the buffalo even though it is not a buffalo at all. The name has stuck and is commonly used for both the animal and the coin. What you decide to call it isnt the important thing. The important thing as that you do know what it really is.

The American Silver Eagle is the official silver bullion coin of the United States and as such it is widely recognized and traded around the world. The first Silver Eagle was minted in 1986. For those who are looking for an easy way to invest in silver this is it.

Of course the value of a Silver Eagle lies in more than just its silver content (which is 1 troy ounce of pure silver). As more people get into collecting this coin the demand for earlier dates increases. Mintage numbers vary from year to year which results in some dates being less common than others.

Currently you can buy American Silver Eagles for around $25.00, but as the spot price of silver goes up (or down) the cost of these coins will also change.

The Buffalo Nickel was minted from 1913 to 1938. As an interesting note the animal featured on the obverse of this coin is actually a bison and not a buffalo, so the true name of the coin is the Five Cent Indian Head although the name Buffalo Nickel is the mostly widely used and recognized term for it.

An average circulated Buffalo Nickel with a readable date is valued at around $0.50 which makes this coin very popular, especially among beginning coin collectors. However, if you want to obtain high grade specimens you may have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for certain dates and varieties.

One of my favorite coins is the Indian Head Cent, although this name is actually a misnomer as the obverse of the coin actually features Lady Liberty wearing a Native American feathered bonnet and not a Native American.

The Indian Head Cent was minted for circulation from 1859 to 1909. Right now average circulated examples of the Indian Head Penny can be obtained for less than $5 which, in my opinion, makes it a very good investment. When you consider that over the 50 years in which it was minted less than 2 billion coins were struck you will realize that it is really under-rated. Even the latest, 1909, coin is nearly 100 years old! When you can obtain a coin that is that old for less than five bucks you are really getting a good deal!

Of course Indian Head Cents in higher grades as well as certain date/mintmark combinations will cost much more. The rarest one is the 1877 date which will cost more than $400!

The Benjamin Franklin Half Dollar was minted from 1948 to 1963 and like previous US half dollars it contains 90% pure silver and 10% copper, which comes out to 11.25 grams of silver.

The Ben Franklin half dollar has the distinction of being the first US coin minted for circulation that showed a real person other than a president in the design. During the 16 years of this coins production almost 500 million coins were struck which means that circulated examples are relatively common. This fact makes the Benjamin Franklin Half Dollar a good investment choice for silver collectors as they can be purchased fairly close to their actual silver content value.

The Morgan Silver Dollar is probably the most favorite and well known coin for collectors. The Morgan Dollar was struck from 1878 to 1904 as well as a later release in 1921. This popular coin contains just over 24 grams of pure silver.

Minting of the Morgan Silver Dollar was halted in 1904 because there were a lot of silver dollars in circulation at that time and the supply of silver bullion was becoming scarce. Finally, In 1918, the US government melted down 270,000,000 Morgan Dollars.

In spite of the large number of Morgan Dollar coins that were melted the coin is still relatively common. Nice examples can be obtained for around $30 while some of the more rare varieties and mintmark/date combinations will cost up into the thousands of dollars.