True Values, Not Really

My most frequently asked questions about coins.

How much are my Canadian coins worth?

• Not much...
• Canadian 1 cent from 1938-2005 are worth $0.10 on average.
• Canadian 5 cents from 1922-2005 are worth $0.20 on average.
• Canadian 10 cents from 1968-2005 are worth $0.15 on average.
• Canadian 25 cents from 1968-2005 are worth $0.30 on average.
• Error, older and other exceptions make some of the above listed coins more valuable.

What is this collectible Canadian 1945 silver quarter valued at?

• About $1.00 American but most Canadian silver coin is worth BV or current bullion value, which would make it more valuable only if silver prices are $7.00 or more an ounce
  

What are Canadian error coins worth?

• Like most true error coins much more depending on the error. Ex: A 1955 Canadian penny with strap $0.10, without strap $85.00. A minor barely noticeable difference.
  

What are the old wheat penny prices? How much is an old penny worth? What is the rarest wheat penny? Info on old wheat pennies now or I'll stab you? Wheat back penny value?
These are all about the American penny.

• From 1909-1958 they're worth on average only $0.15. Sorry!
  
• Some are worth less and some a little more.
• The better the condition the more valuable in almost perfect, red, unscratched, uncleaned and sharp detaied they can go for thousands, but those are hard to get in pocket change or coin jars.
• Yes the 1909 pennies are the rarest but in particular the 1909S VDB in low grade goes for $500 and in high grade $1600. Certain error pennies fetch an equally high price.

What is the value in money of 1943 steel penny, 1955 and 2005D American penny?

• 1943 any mint mark about $0.25-$0.35 in fine condition. Again sorry!
• 1955 if normal about $0.10, an example with a doubled date(error) $1,000-$10,000.
• 2005D fresh and sharp this Denver mint cent is just $0.20.

Image source:
http://www.coinfacts.com/small_cents/lincoln_cents/wheat_ear_cents/1955_double_die_cent_obv.jpg

I need a 5 cent price guide, especially for my 1913S Buffalo Head Nickel?

• Liberty nickels from 1883-1912 are worth $2.00 on average.
• Buffalo nickels from 1913-1938 are worth $1.00 on average.
• Jefferson nickels from 1938-1958 are worth $0.60 on average.
• Yes, yes there are exceptions to the rule but come on, be for real.
• 1913S is worth $38 on "raised ground" and $300 in "recess" and this is in low grade. This is a good find.
  

1926 standing liberty quarter how much is it worth?

• 1926=$3.00 , 1926D=$7.00 , 1926S=$5.00 it is silver.
• From 1926-1930 they're only a few dollars.
• From 1916-1924 they're worth a lot more.
  

What is the value of a ten dollar Las Vegas silver coin?

• I've got no idea what your talking about more details or maybe a picture can help.

This was just a small sample of what I'm asked. I also collect foreign coins and paper money from around the world.

Do you have a question about what I just wrote or need more information on a coin you have and its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

1947-D Wheat Penny

I was just asked about the 1947 cent....

aquarianprincess said...
"Hi,
I have a wheat penny from 1947 and i was just wondering how much i could get for it.
thank you,
Jessica"

The 1947 wheat penny is very common and even in near perfect condition it is not worth much. Near perfect meaning a full red bright color, not scratched and with full sharp details.

They came in three mint marks located under the date D=Denver, S=San Francisco or blank=Philadelphia
These two 1947D cent are AG-3(about good)

Here's the stats for a 1947 penny...
Year: 1947
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Mintage: 190,555,000
Value: VF-20 $0.10 or MS-65 $4.00

Year: 1947D
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Mintage: 194,750,000
Value: VF-20 $0.10 or MS-65 $4.00

Year: 1947S
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Mintage: 99,000,000
Value: VF-20 $0.20 or MS-65 $6.00

VF=very fine & MS=mint state
The higher MS-65 prices are only for great examples.
Thanks for your visit.

Do you have a wheat penny and want to find out its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

The Euro

Do you have any Euro and want to find out its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Most Euro coinage I get comes from friends and family who give them to me. Many of them are European or travel to Europe so often that the coins are no longer special to them. One kind family member recently gave me these 5 Euros...

The Euros pictured here are the 1 Euro cent, the 2 Euro cents, the 5 Euro cents and two 10 Euro cents. There are also a .20, .50, 1.00 & 2.00 Euro coin piece. Euro coins and banknotes(currency) came into circulation on January 1, 2002. There were 12 Euro countries now there are 15 but other places make Euro or Euro-looking coins.

Look at the reverse of the coin to find out their country of origin, the fronts are usually all the same.

Here's the stat for these coins from top to bottom...
Type: 1 Euro Cent/Germany
Year: 2002F
--------(F is for the Stugartt mint)
Metal: Copper plated steel
Mintage: 902,660,000
Value: Unc $0.35
---------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)
Type: 2 Euro Cents/Spain
Year: 2000
Metal: Copper plated steel
Mintage: 711,390,000
Value: Unc $0.25
----------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

Type: 5 Euro cents/Spain
Year: 2003
Metal: Copper plated steel
Mintage: 327,600,000
Value: Unc $0.50
----------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

Type: 10 Euro cent/Spain
Year: 2001
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 160,100,000
Value: Unc $0.60
---------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

Type: 10 Euro cent/Spain
Year: 2004
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 121,900,000
Value: Unc $0.40
----------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

The prices on Euros varies from country to country and year to year because after large mint productions in the early years. Later years were minted in smaller quantities making them more valuable. Other years are not yet released to the public making accidentally finding one rare for the moment.

Of the original 96 Euros I've found, or was given, 22 different types and many repeats. From Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.

Must Have Books

Do you have any coin or currency and want to find out its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

I just received from Barnes & Nobles these two books.

The big 2300+ pages book is the 2006 Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-Present it contains retail values of every modern coin from every country within it's time frame. The second book is the Official Price Guide Redbook of U.S. Coins 2006(Hardcover) it focuses on United State issue coins from the begin of America until now, this 59^th edition has changed formats to now be completely color coded, it use to look professional now it looks a bit childish.

The total price for my order was $62.38 but with online coupons and other discounts I paid $31.21, but the best part for me was I ordered it online yesterday and it came this afternoon. I've bought from www.bn.com before and never paid close to full price. Granted last year I bought these two books from Amazon.com at an even lower price.

My experience with both online booksellers are good, Barnes & Noble and Borders in person though gave me problems by constantly being low stocked or just charging full price.

I first got these two books from Edward R. Hamilton for less then $20 they sell books only through the mail and only by check or money order I bought plenty of books from them and they never disappointed. Generally there stock is out of date books which is good for first time collectors.

I have many books and magazines about coins and currency on every aspect including errors and grading. I don't have anything on ancient coins since you can't find them out-of-pocket, but if I ever do I'll go to Hobbyblog first he has a great site and many links for ancient coins.

It will take me a while to update all the prices for my coin collection and I will also see if the prices I quoted in this blog have changed if so I'll update accordingly. I also use Coin Values magazine so they update every month.

Update:
Krause World Coin: I've gone through most of my foreign coins and a little sad to see that a few of the coins I had gone down in value. I'm more disappointed that the mintage for many 2000 and newer coins are still not in. For Euros especially disappointed. More images are included.

Red Book:I still don't care for the new layout but it is faster to go through, next I'll get the spiral version it's easier to manage.

Buffalo Nickels and Friends

Do you have a nickel and want to find out its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Here is a sample of the 5 different nickels I've found in my change in the last month.

They are a "Indian Head" or "Buffalo" nickel minted from 1913-1938, a Jefferson nickel minted from 1938-2003, a Louisiana Purchase/Peace Medal nickel minted early-2004, a Lewis and Clark/Keelboat nickel minted mid-2004 and a "New Buffalo" nickel minted early-2005.

Yes, a 1913 Liberty Nickel(not pictured) did sell for $3,737,500 but only five were known to exist. The most valuable of each non-error* type in low grades are as follows. 1913S v.2** Buffalo at $340.00, 1939D Jefferson at $10.00 and only $0.25 for all three newer ones.

Heres the stats for the five coins pictured....
Year: 1921? I'm unsure if it's a S mint mark or not.
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 10,663,000 or 1,557,000 for S mint
Value: G-4 $4.00 or $75.00 for S mint (a worn S mint mark would bring down the value)

Year: 1955D
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 74,464,100
Value: MS-60 $0.50

Year: 2004P/Keelboat
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 366,720,000
Value: MS-63 $0.25

Year: 2004D/Peace Medal
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 372,000,000
Value: MS-63 $0.25

Year: 2005D/American Bison
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 487,680,000
Value: MS-63 $0.25

Sidenote:I switched to my camera for these images they came out pretty detailed, but dark, not Photoshopped in any way. When you enlarge the image and zoom in you can see every nick and scratch, I'll probably stick with the camera***.

Footnotes:
* error coins exist among all coins and raise the value in most cases, these errors are often small and extremely rare, in this instance I left out error-coins value
** v.2 refers to a second variety of a coin that was made on purpose not a error, in this case it is the Bison on the reverse is standing on plain ground as opposed to a raise mound/v.1 worth only $38 not $325
***I didn't stick with the camera.

Canada Penny Find

Do you have a Canada cent and want to find out its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

I found these two Canadian cents in my pocket change today.

This brings my found Canadian coins to 251. Most of which are not worth much. They must be in a high grade to be sold or bought by dealers.

Here's the stat for these two coins...
Year: 1966
Metal: 98% Copper, 0.5% Tin, 1.5% Zinc
Mintage: 183,644,388
Value: MS-60 $0.10 (mint state 60 out of 70)

Year: 1995
Metal:98% Copper, 0.5% Tin, 1.5% Zinc
Mintage: 624,983,000
Value: MS-60 $0.10 (mint state 60 out of 70)

The oldest Canada cent I found was from 1943 at VG-8 it's worth $0.10, at MS-63 it's $25.00. The only low grade Canadian penny that is valued high a 1955 variety at about $85.00.

Sidenote: I've been using a scanner get a picture of my coins but I think I might try my camera to get more details I never did learn how to properly use the scanner, why start now.

Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins is the best coin reference in print.

Mystery 1926 Coin(UPDATED)

Given this information....

"I found a coin while I was searching for laundry quarters today.

It has a woman's head on one side and the other has some sort of axe-looking thing with a plant. I am fairly certain the date is 1926, although it isn't in the best of shape. It also says "liberty" above the woman's head.

Dime size and color. Hope this is enough info :)"

I am pretty sure I know what Stephen is talking about. It's the 1926 Winged Liberty Head or "Mercury" Dime from the U.S.. The condition sounds worn but readable probably a grade of good-4 maybe less.



The one thing I would ask is for the mint mark, the place where the coin was made, it is either blank, D (Denver) or S (San Francisco) . The mint mark affects the price severely.

The mint mark on "Mercury" dime is located on the reverse after the "E" in the word ONE and before the bottom of the branch. It's D for Denver, S for San Francisco or nothing/blank for Philadelphia.



Here's the stats for all the mint marks....
Year: 1926
Metal: Silver (.07234 oz. pure silver)
Mintage: 32,160,000
Value: G-4 $2.66 ( it was $2.00 6 years ago)

Year: 1926D
Metal: Silver (.07234 oz. pure silver)
Mintage: 6,828,000
Value: G-4 $3.00 ( it was $4.00 6 years ago and lost some value)

Year: 1926S
Metal: Silver (.07234 oz. pure silver)
Mintage: 1,520,000
Value: G-4 $13.00 (it was $10.00 6 years ago and gained some value)

The prices are high because silver prices around the world also are high. You found a good coin because after 1934 the values drop significantly. These dimes circulated from 1916-1945. A high grade 1926S dime can retail for about $3,000.

Thanks for your visit.

Update: July 14, 2007 as you read some coins lose value as time goes on this is because the coin market is highly unstable and can change dramatically.

Update #2: June 12, 2008
Update #3: August 2, 2009 
Update #4: September 26, 2010 
Update #5: June 9, 2011

1976D Half Dollar

Yeah, my first indirect question.

Stephen Searer of http://www.stephensearer.com/ made a comment on the coin he has at the top right hand side. He owns a nice Bicentennial Kennedy Half Dollar. Here's the stats...

Year: 1776-1976D (the D is for Denver one of the U.S. mints)
Metal: Copper-nickel clad (there is a silver version that exist)
Mintage: 287,565,248 (the most common of all Kennedy Halves)
Value: MS-63 $1.50 (MS is mint state)

Coin grades range generally from 1 to 70, 1 being barely readable and 70 being judged perfect/flawless. Stephen's coin would rank low because it's relatively new yet has lots of surface scratches. So it only has the $0.50 face value maybe as time goes on or if they change the Half Dollar design it may increase in value like the Quarters did.

Thanks for the visit.

Half Dollar Buckets

Do you have a half dollar of any year or country and want to find out its value? Leave a comment and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

I've never been to Las Vegas but I know that Atlantic City and Foxwoods have slot machines pay off in Kennedy Half Dollars. These Kennedy 50 cent pieces are highly circulated because each casino recirculates the coins through their own private machinery.

The last few half dollars I received from casinos were from the 1980's and 1990's worth about face value. The casinos also gets freshly minted coins from the federal government so you can get those almost perfect highly polished coins that are worth more.

The Kennedy Half started in 1964 and made of silver, hundred of millions were made that first year and are not rare but they are valuable for their silver content. The 1964 year is the toughest to find circulating because machines can automatically sense the silver and separate them. At current silver prices a 1964 half is worth $4.71 add the collectible value and it can be up to $6.00.

The news with Kennedy halves is that since 1987 they have either not been issued for circulation or available in extremely limited quantity. The 2002 halves numbered only 5 1/2 million compared to 77 1/2 million in 1980.

I like the faces of cashiers when you try to pay something with half dollars, some are just dumbfounded and must bring their managers to verify the coin.

The most valuable half dollar in low grade condition is the 1987 half at $5.00, but it was never placed in circulation so it may difficult to find in your change but not impossible because it doesn't look different from any other Kennedy Half.

The circulating Bicentennial Half Dollar numbered well over 500 million and is one of the least valuable of the halves at about $1.50 in uncirculated condition.

 

Bad Reputation

I did a Technorati search of Wheat Penny to see the results and while I was pleased to see my site at number ten the other nine above were fake blogs leading to real sites some trying to sell you stuff. If I had a coin selling business I would integrate a blog to my site not get a blog to trick people into thinking it's real when it's just a fake site.
Others on the list had nothing to do with wheat pennies or were dead-pages. I assure you I'm not selling anything and it would be nice, but I would not get rich selling my coins. I'll post every two-three days on coins and currency I have or know about, places I've shopped at good or bad. If anyone ever visit my site and ask a question I'll post a response here as quickly as possible.

Just Found

Do you have a foreign coin and want to find out its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

It's been at least a month since I found collectible coins in my change. This is mostly because I'm broke and use credit cards, oh that beautiful plastic. Today though I found two foreign coins, when receiving 78 cents back in change.

First a twenty-five cents coin from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, 2000.
Second 25 cents from Canada, 1987, eh.

The Bahamas quarter in extra fine condition is valued at $0.30.
The Canadian quarter in extra fine condition is worth about $0.30.

These two are not rare coins and living in New York City you tend to get an abnormally high amount of Canadian coins. While this is only my third Bahamas coin it's my 245^th Canadian coin. Summer is a good time to collect coins because a day trip to Canada and you can get a handful coins, if your not that drunk.

Going on vacation is also a great way to pick some coinage. Travel in and around the United States will get to places like the Bahamas on a day trip. Trips these days are cheaper then ever and makes getting foreign coins simple.

Foreign coins tend to be much less valuable then American ones. The most valuable coins are American coins and European coins from hundreds of years ago can be worth quiet a lot also.

Foot Note:
The value I attribute to these coins come from the 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins I have yet to buy a new one.

Also Canadians are our friends to the north.

That Old Penny

Do you have a wheat cent and want to find out its value? Leave a comment and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

One of the most collectible coins out their is the "wheat cent", called this because the back contains two stalks of wheat. First minted in 1909 and and last minted in 1958 for and by the United States of America. Like most coins, even in it's most worn down, state it will retain face value. The least one of these coins* can be worth is 1 cent. The most a low grade circulating wheat cent can be worth is about $460 - $550 (US dollars). High grade or near perfect wheat cents can go for $20,000 or more.

The front features are just about identical to todays modern pennies. The grading of these coins depend on how clear all the original features are and how unblemished it appears, just like choosing a cover girl, with one exception. The coin can not ever be polished or altered or it may revert to it's original face value.

The oldest penny I ever found out-of-pocket was from 1913 and had a red book** of about $0.85, the rarest, in terms of amount minted, I found was 1936S valued at $0.15 and the most valuable penny I got out-of-pocket was a 1916 cent in very fine condition, value: $2.00.
Prices of coins jump around wildly so don't hold these values for long time speculating.

Foot Note:
* coins maybe worth less than face value if altered,damaged or the government behind it no longer recognize that currency
** red books give the average retail value you would pay for a coin from a group of associated retailers and blue books contain the price you would expect to sell the coin for, divide the red book price by ten and that is the average selling price.
EX. 1936S cent: red book you buy at $0.15= blue book you sell at $0.02

The Goals and Objectives

I hope to help clarify coin and currency values for those less then amateur collectors. I am an amateur collector who won't spend hundreds of dollars for a coin. Most of my coins are out of pocket or given by friends and family. I suspect most people get them the same way and want to know accurate prices for these less than perfect coins.

When I trolled the web for prices they give these inflated prices but they are for near perfect examples. Only by buying the coin books can you get the lower values, few people do.

There are probably better websites but as I said I'm an amateur collector and haven't found many. I will review all these sites I put up so that you can collect with confidence.

Your input if you are more of an expert is welcomed or if you specifically want to know about a coin you have just ask in the comments section.

I will ask at the top of every post "Do you have a coin and want to find out its value?" In the $0.00 worth of comments/question just enter and ask something similar related to that post. I hope to be picture crazy. Thank you for visiting.