Do you hate to pay for coins, but want to build a collection of international scope? Try world coin trading! Although coin trading has never really taken off in the U.S. except for a few folks who trade their D-Mint coins for the P-Mint coins of someone across the country, trading coins is a vibrant hobby in many parts of the world where coin dealers are very few and far between. Most world coin collectors are thrilled to find a U.S. trading partner, and will readily strike some great coin-trading deals with you just to get their hands on the latest State Quarters or the newest Presidential Dollars. The trades usually involve circulating coins of nominal value, and it's a fabulous way for kids who have an interest in collecting, but not much of a budget for buying coins, to enlarge their collections and make friends all over the world.

• How to Get Started in World Coin Trading

Is the U.S. Mint running out of coins? Surprisingly, the answer is, "yes!" As many collectors are aware, the Mint has had trouble keeping up with demand for the Silver Eagle one ounce bullion coins since March. In September, the Mint announced that it had run out of the one ounce Gold Buffalo coins. Today, the Mint sent out a notice to all of its Authorized Purchasers that the stock of Gold American Eagles had run out for certain sizes of coins. Here is the text of the notice the Mint sent:

October 6, 2008