Columns: Samuel Cary | McCook Gazette

Samuel Cary

Samuel Cary is 13 years old and in 8th grade. He is mostly home-schooled, but he does attend McCook Junior High School for band (trombone) and choir. Samuel enjoys being on the YMCA McCook swim team, mountain climbing, and camping. He is also very interested in cars, specifically newer models. He likes to write stories about his hobbies and he reads a lot of books; his favorite is the series “Ranger’s Apprentice”. Samuel is the middle child of three boys and he has four pets - a dog named Mercy, a cat named Grace, a bearded dragon named Toothless, and a fish named Wilma. His favorite movie is “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith”. Samuel will be sharing a series of articles about his coin collecting hobby.

Be on the lookout for errors (6/17/25)

In the coin collecting world, many people look for errors. They can be quite hard to find, especially the most famous ones. I have only found two error coins in the three years I have collected coins, and I don’t even know if the second one is an actual error, or simply a scratch...
Discontinued coins, Part 2 (5/16/25)

In the last article, we talked about some discontinued coins with less value. In this article, we will dig into some amazing and famous coins-one of them potentially being the most valuable coin in the world. We will start with the Gold Dollars. These short-lived coins were minted from 1849-1889. ...
Discontinued coins, Part 2 (5/16/25)

In the last article, we talked about some discontinued coins with less value. In this article, we will dig into some amazing and famous coins-one of them potentially being the most valuable coin in the world. We will start with the Gold Dollars. These short-lived coins were minted from 1849-1889. ...
Some ways to start collecting coins (4/1/25)

McCOOK, Neb. - In this article, I will explain some ways to collect coins. The three main ways I collect coins are through coin roll hunting, metal detecting, and buying. I will list the pros and cons of these techniques. Let’s start with coin roll hunting. This is my main coin collecting technique. I go to the bank with some money, ask for coin rolls, give them the correct amount of money for the coin rolls, go home and look through them and finally, return them and do it again...
Honoring a coin shop’s lasting legacy (3/11/25)

McCOOK, Neb. - On Nov. 22, 2024, I received my first letter about my coin articles. The kind gentleman that sent this letter gave me some of the oldest coins I have in my collection. He gave me a flying eagle penny, a 1909 wheat penny in absolutely beautiful condition, and an 1835 large cent! If you remember from the “Collecting Pennies” article I wrote, I had never even seen a flying eagle cent. Now I have one!...
Delightful dollar discoveries - part 1 (2/7/25)

McCOOK, Neb. - There are an unbelievable number of reasons to search dollar coins, but there are also complications. These coins are fun to look through, but they come in two sizes. Because of the various sizes, if you are looking to get some of these coins at banks, almost all of them will be no older than 1979...
Quarter quest produces endless possibilities (12/12/24)

McCOOK, Neb. - Quarters are so fun to search through. That means a lot if I’m saying it, because I haven’t found a single thing searching through quarters. You might be wondering why I still love it. It’s because of the dozens of errors, silver quarters, and different designs that you can find. There are four types of quarters that you are likely to find including the American Women Quarters, America the Beautiful Quarters, State Quarters, and Washington Quarters...
Digging into dimes (11/27/24)

In this article, I will talk about three types/designs of dimes including Roosevelt Dimes, Mercury Dimes, and Barber Dimes. The most recent design is the Roosevelt Dime. It has a side portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt on the obverse. The reverse has a picture of a torch, an olive branch, and an oak branch, meant to represent liberty, peace, and strength. This type of dime was minted from 1946-present...
Collecting pennies (10/17/24)

McCOOK, Neb. -In the next few articles, I’m going to explain the denominations of coins and the information you need to know about them. In case you were wondering what I mean by denominations, denominations are the different kinds of coins, such as pennies, nickels, dimes and so on. In this article, I will be talking about pennies...
Coin collecting terms (10/3/24)

McCOOK, Neb. - If you want to start coin collecting, then you need to know what different terms you will hear often in the coin collecting community mean. Clad coins are modern coins that aren’t made out of any kind of precious metal. The core of most modern coins are made of zinc and the surface is made of some other metal...
How I got into coin collecting (9/12/24)

McCOOK, Neb. - One day my grandmother and I were looking through her box of “treasures”. Most of them only had value to her, but then we came about a tiny sack. It was very heavy and as soon as I picked it up, I knew there were coins in it. I had always been interested in old coins and their value but had never held that many in my hands before. There wasn’t anything special in the sack- just some wheat pennies and dollar coins and such- but it was enough to get me attached to coins...