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 TIPS ON USING THE COINFACTS WEBSITE

The Internet provides a variety of options to web "surfers", including a choice of browsers, monitor resolutions, font sizes, styles, etc.  Unfortunately, this myriad of options makes it difficult for site builders to satisfy every possible combination.  Therefore, we offer the following information to help you maximize your viewing pleasure on the CoinFacts website.

Note:  CoinFacts is designed to be easy to use and understand, but if you get lost, let the "Back" button and "Home" link be your friends.

1.  Navigation.  The CoinFacts site is structured so that information is first presented in its most basic form.  As you delve deeper into the site, the information becomes increasingly advanced.  You may choose to stay at a novice level or move to any of the advanced levels - it's completely up to you.

As an example, let's look for information on an 1830 Large Cent to illustrate how the site works.  Feel free to follow along by clicking on any of the links presented here.

• At the top left of the Main Page, you'll see a link that reads "CLICK HERE for information about your favorite United States coins".  Clicking there will take you to what we call the Home Page.  The Home Page is the jumping-off point to all the different denominations.  Every page on the site has a link back to the Home Page, which is why we suggest clicking on the "Home" link if you can't figure out where you are.  

• To find out more about Large Cents, click on the Large Cent link.  The Large Cent page illustrates the major types in the Large Cent series.  If you want to stay at this level and learn about other U.S. type coins, simply click on the "Previous Denomination" and "Next Denomination" links at the top of the page.

• To find the 1830 Large Cent, click on the illustration that matches the coin or click on the link that includes that date (in this case, it would be the Matron Head Large Cents page).  The Matron Head Large Cent page provides basic information about that type, including a list of dates, mintages and important notes.  If you want to stay at this level and learn about other Large Cent types, simply click on the "Previous Type" and "Next Type" links at the top of the page.

• To find out more about the 1830 Large Cent, simply click on the 1830 date.  Now, you're getting down to the real nitty-gritty.  This is where you'll find mintage figures, technical information, price information and variety information.  If you want to stay at this level and learn about other dates in the Matron Head type, simply click on the "Previous Date" and "Next Date" links at the top of the page.

• The most advanced level is the Variety level.  Many collectors seek to obtain an example of every different combination of obverse and reverse dies that were used to strike a particular date.  In the case of the 1830 Large Cent, there are 11 different varieties.  You may choose any of the Variety links, but for this example, we'll use the rarest one of the year, the 1830 Newcomb 9.  This page will give you all the information you need to determine if your coin is the rare Newcomb 9 variety.  If you want to stay at this level and try to match your coin with other varieties of the 1830 Large Cent, simply click on the "Previous Variety" and "Next Variety" links at the top of the page.

• No matter what level you're at, you can navigate in any direction you choose.  That's the beauty of the CoinFacts site!

2. Browsers:  CoinFacts is optimized for Internet Explorer but the site should work equally well with Netscape and most older versions of either browser.  We try to minimize the use of browser-specific options or anything that will be inaccessible to users with older browsers.

3. Monitor resolution:  CoinFacts is best viewed at a 1024 x 768 resolution, with the color set to True Color (32 bit).

4. Modems:  To best enjoy the large images on the CoinFacts website, we suggest a modem speed of at least 56K.  Download times for users with modem speeds of less than 56K may be unacceptably slow.  We apologize, but if we were to optimize the images or make them smaller, the whole purpose of the site would be defeated and the usefulness of the information would be compromised.  Modem prices are dropping, faster modem types are increasing available (cable, DSL, ISDN, etc.), and bandwidth is improving.

5. Text Size: Set the text size to Medium.  This option is found under "Text Size" on the "View" pull-down menu on Internet Explorer.