BY DAVID THOMASON ALEXANDER
Coin collecting in the U.S.has been a rough-and-tumble pursuit since it first fired up in the 1850s. Kindred collecting areas such as stamps have never shown a comparable tendency toward the vigorous disputes that have long enlivened the numismatic world.
Part of the resiliency of coin collecting can be attributed to the composition of the coins themselves: Coins are made from metal and, unlike stamps, are innately easier to store and preserve.