Recognizing the challenges that students face when they may lack background and experiential knowledge with regard to coins is important so that teachers can address this during instruction. Exposure to coins is one of the basic necessities to learning about the coins, but that is just the initial part of the learning sequence. Unless students are able to make personal connections to a concept, they may develop only a surface level of understanding. This article presents strategies and tools that can help students make sense of the value of U.S. coins. (A bibliography is included.)