Numismatics. Know the word? It means the study or collection of money and coins. It's a hobby that's been around for over 2000 years. Garry Garrison traces his numismatic obsession to childhood. Like many novice collectors in the 1950s and 1960s, he made regular trips to the bank to get rolls of coins, which he would later sort through, hoping to find a treasure.

"You don't find much that way anymore," Garrison says, "but you used to."

These days, Garrison runs and co-owns a five-year-old shop for coin collectors, D & G Coins and Sports Cards. The shop moved last year from downtown Normal to 1511 Morrissey Drive, Bloomington.

Besides coins, the shop also sells packs, sets and single cards of all major manufacturers of sports cards although, Garrison says, interest in sports cards has been declining over the last decade.

Jeff Stover, an employee of Country Insurance & Financial Services, is co-owner of the store.

Both men laughingly refer to coin collecting as "an addiction."

Stover and Garrison are delighted with a recent upsurge in coin collecting. Much of it has been spurred by the new state quarters, which the U. S. Mint began producing, at the rate of five per year, in 1999.

Stover hopes collectors of the quarters understand that a collection of those quarters, in 20 years, will most likely be worth about 25 cents each.

There are just too many quarters in circulation for them to become valuable in the foreseeable future.

Still, state quarters are fun to collect, Garrison says, and he has customers come in regularly to get the latest releases. For some of his customers, collecting state quarters and putting them in a tri-fold collection folder has rekindled a childhood hobby. Parents and grandparents bring children into the shop, hoping to interest them in something "not electronic," Garrison says.

D & G Coins and Sports Cards is open 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The store is lined with counters filled with coins, some packaged individually and some boxed in proof sets. A "proof coin" is one that has been specially struck to produce the finest specimen of its type.

The shop also sells bullion coins, such as the American Eagle series. They are valued by their weight in a specific precious metal. Unlike commemorative or numismatic coins that are valued by limited mintage, rarity, condition and age, bullion coins are purchased by investors seeking to invest in the gold, silver and platinum markets. There's little crossover between bullion customers and coin collectors, Stover says.

Coin collectors, Garrison says, "always have a list. They know what they want."

He attends around a dozen coin shows a year where he will try to fill their lists, as well as sell his own wares.

Stover thinks that some potential coin collectors "shy away because all they hear about is the million dollar sales."

"But," he continues, "we deal everyday in the $5 to $50 range."

There's a lot of history to be learned from coin collecting. Garrison pulls out two coins to prove the point. One is an 1853 two-cent piece, on sale for $38. The other is an 1867 three-cent piece, priced at $22.

"People come in and don't even know we used to have these coins," Garrison says. "They existed in the 1800s because stamps used to cost two and three cents."

Supply and demand is a big factor in determining the value of coins. Also, there's a popularity factor to be reckoned with. Garrison points to an 1850s coin that he says isn't very popular and is worth only $10 to $15. On the other hand, a 1914 Lincoln penny is in high demand and worth $300.

Much of a coin's value depends on its condition. Take a 1893 S (the "S" mint mark indicates the coin was minted in San Francisco) Morgan silver dollar, for example. It can be worth anywhere from $21 to $300,000, depending on the condition of the coin.

"People see a coin and they don't know how to grade it," says Garrison, who also does appraising. "I can help."

Before the 20th century, many collectors graded their coins as simply being either "new" or "used." Since the numismatic boom began in the 1950s, ever more sophisticated grading tools have been used to calibrate a coin's value.

Garrison uses his practiced eye, experience and his well-thumbed copy of Photograde, the official photographic grading guide for United States coins, by James F. Ruddy, now in its 19th edition. Categories are codified from poor condition to nearly perfect. Designations range from Fair-2 ("the date and more than half the inscription and detail can be made out, although perhaps faintly") to Extremely Fine-40 ("only the slightest trace of wear, or rubbing, is to be seen on the high points") to Mint State-70 (the coin must be exactly as it left the dies, except for a slight mellowing of the color), with many categories in between.

It is a huge mistake to try and clean a coin, Stover says. Many coins have been ruined by such practices as dipping it in a cleaning solution or rubbing it with an abrasive surface. Often a coin with attractive toning will sell for more than a brilliant one.

Want to learn more? The Corn Belt Coin Club welcomes new members. They meet monthly and sponsor two local coin shows a year. More information on area coin clubs is available at www.ilna club.org/meeting/

A hot topic of discussion at coin club meetings is what's coming out next. And the answer, right now, is quite a bit. A new series of circulating $1 coins bearing presidential portraits will start in 2007. Four presidential dollars will be struck each year until all the presidents, except those still living, have been honored. The U. S. Mint will continue to strike Sacagewea dollars in an amount equal to at least one-third of the total of the presidential coins each year. At the same time, plans call for a parallel First Spouse half-ounce $10 gold bullion coin.

Four Lincoln cent special commemorative coins will be minted in 2009, the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent. The new reverses (flip sides) will depict scenes from Lincoln's life.

"The public never wants a redesign," Garrison says. "Collectors almost always do. It makes things more interesting."