For the love of god, do NOT buy bulk coins as a gift.
As someone who works at a bank and frequents banks, do not buy bulk coins for someone as a gift! More often than not, that set of 500 uncirculated 2004 nickels will sit in someone’s sock drawer for 3 years until they bring it to the bank to cash it in for much less than it was purchased for.
It may seem fun at first, giving someone dozens or hundreds of coins that you are sure will appreciate in value. I can assure you no matter how fun or neat it is to you, your gift receiver will not be so appreciative. No one wants to have a gift that takes up that much space!
A better option is to buy one or two meaningful (or valuable) items. I think buying silver for a non-collector is a good idea. It is something that takes up much less space than a box of 2,500 uncirculated 2009 pennies. The person is much more likely to hold on to it because of the sentimental value, dollar value, and lack of inconvenience it brings.
Plus, with silver, the receiver can go online and check the rough price easily when (or if) they do decide to get rid of it.
My one exception to this rule would be sets of coins of 50 or less that come in nice containers that you have reason to believe they would actually like. Even then, think carefully about how much space the gift will take in the person’s house. Someone living in a small apartment probably does not want your 12 half-filled Whitman coin folders.
When in doubt, buy a gift with a Certificate of Authenticity!
Not that the certificate of authenticity really has much meaning, but it does mean you are likely buying a single coin with some collector value. It will be easy for the person to price it on eBay or similar sites to find the worth.
If you want more numismatic gift giving ideas, you can check out:
Top 10 Best Gifts for Coin Collectors and What Makes Them Great!
(Thank you for listening to my rant!)
American Coin Stash 