Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Nepal and Plastic

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

A PCGS slabbed coin is one that was submitted to a professional grading service and placed in a coin safe holder. You pay a fee to have the coin graded and using the 1-70 system they send you back what they believe the coin's grade is and from there you can determine what the market value should bring. Here's their site http://www.pcgs.com/.

This is my first PCGS slabbed coin.

Here's the stats for this coin....
Type/Country: 4 Paisa / Nepal
Year: 1955
Mintage: Unknown.
Metal: Brass
Value: XF-45 $3.00+ because it is verified. Maybe only a few cents more.

A slight update on my collection so far. I've recently bought some silver dimes on eBay, nothing special, and found some foreign coins in my change but older U.S. coins have been few that I've got from pocket change. Mostly the 1944 and 1946 wheat cents, which as you know are barely worth twice face value. Hopefully I'll have money to spend over the holidays and get some nice coins from all the holiday shopping.

World Coin Book 2007

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

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

High Grades Are Nice

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

High grade coins are usually MS-60 or better.

Here's what is defined as mint state...
MS-60=UNCIRCULATED: Has no trace of wear but may show a number of contact marks, and surface may be spotted or lack some luster.
MS-63=CHOICE UNCIRCULATED: Has some distracting contact marks or blemishes in prime focal areas. Luster may be impaired.
MS-65=GEM UNCIRCULATED: An above average uncirculated coin that may be brilliant or lightly toned and that has very few contact marks on the surface or rim.
MS-70=PERFECT UNCIRCULATED: Perfect new condition, showing no trace of wear. The finest quality possible, with no evidence of scratches, handling or contact with other coins. Very few regular-issue coins are ever found in this condition.

This is from the Red Book but applies to all coins.

Here are some of my uncirculated coins with contact marks.






Know while the nickel is at least MS-60 worth about $0.15, it may grade a MS-65 even with the busted lip but that would only bring the value up $0.75.








So contact marks are not a bad thing, fingerprints are much worse. It still is ugly to the average collector.














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

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Canadian Pocket Change Finds

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

Here are two pictures I recently took of all the Canadian coins I've found in my change. I've found about to 300 coins from Canada here in New York City.



The picture as you can tell was taken twice one with flash and the other with indoor lights. I'm still not comfortable shooting my coins with a camera.

This is the average condition of modern circulating Canadians. Notice the almost proof-like quality.















Here's what I've found and there average value.
Canadian Pennies: Oldest=1943, Newest=2005,2005P, Average value=$0.10
Canadian Nickels: Oldest=1964, Newest=2003P, Average value=$0.20
Canadian Dimes: Oldest=1953, Newest=2005P, Average value=$0.15
Canadian Quarters: Oldest=1956, Newest=2004P, Average value=$0.30
Canadian Two-Dollars: Only the one from 1996, Average value=$3.00
Toronto Transit Token: Circa 1954, Average value=Not sure but I've seen it for $1.00 on eBay.

As you can see I've never found a fifty cent or dollar coin, also I've found silver but no coin older then the WWII years.

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

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Some more foreign coins

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

I got the biggest three from Hodgepodge and the other two were found in change. Recently I've been finding more foreign coins then U.S. coins. I did find a 1946 penny and some modern state quarters and new nickels but nothing in good shape or special.


Here's the stats for these coins...
Type/Country: 1 Rupee / India-British
Year: 1918 (c)
Mintage: 205,420,000
Metal: 0.9170 Silver
Value: XF $12.50 There is a cut/damage on the coin.


Type/Country: 50 Centavos / Philippines
Year: 1945-S
Mintage: 18,120,000
Metal: 0.7500 Silver
Value: BU $12.00

Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 1903
Mintage: 4,000,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 4% Tin, 1% Zinc
Value: XF-40 $6.00 or MS-60 $30.00

Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2005-P
Mintage: 30,525,000
Metal: 94% Steel, 4.5% Copper, 1.5% Nickel
Value: Unc. $0.25

Type/Country: 2 Euro Cents / Ireland
Year: 2002
Mintage: 354,643,386
Metal: Copper Plated Steel
Value: Unc. $0.50 Bad example definitely worth less.


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

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Error Dollar Bill

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

This question was asked...


Anonymous said...
Hello Do you know anything about errors in dollar
bills? I have a crisp one dollar bill 1981 that is stamped with an "E" on the
front and also on the back.

I responded with...


Man said...
I need a picture to be more exact but it is possible, it is called Overprints on Back, it would also include a weak serial number along with the E.

In crisp uncirculated it would be worth $250.00.
It was a logic response because I didn't know the E was reversed.

Next...


Anonymous said...
I have a picture but how can I show you a picture? The normal cut and paste didn't work. After looking at it closer I see that the E is not stamped on both sides. It has actually bled through to the back. The E is very dark on the back and it is reversed. There are also four 5's that have bled through...as they are reversed, also. The serial number is only visible on the front.
Oh I see things more clearly...


Man said...
Sounds like you have an Offset Error for one dollar bills its about $75 to $100.

Here's a ten dollar example I used Imageshack to host the image and then the HTML tags a and href
Picture
Anonymous' error sounds like a moderate-lighter version that happened on this ten dollar bill.



An offset error in the 3rd printing of a bill can lead to the "letter seal" and the serial numbers to bleed through the back this is the most common of error notes but still valuable. In one case a 1981 5 dollar bill with a 1 dollar bleed through this of course is a rare and highly valuable.

As you see with the ten dollar error above the prices should be divided by about three for your 1 dollar, so Fine: $50.00 EF: $100.00 CU:$150.00 remember the market changes and see prices reflect the highest you may ever hope to get.

Sidenote: With places like Flickr, imageshack and photobucket or other blogs just drop a link to your photo by using this format
.


Thanks for your visits, come back anytime.

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

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Samoa First Day Cover

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

I got this from tbirde56 it's a for the First Day Cover 1967 50 Sene from Samoa.
Although the value listed below is $2.00 it is worth more because it is sealed in a first-day envelope. I would double maybe triple the price for this example.



A first day cover or envelope is issued by the country or mint for collectors to get the coins first struck. These coins are usually higher in detail, sharper and available before public gets the coin. They are sold for a premium.

The U.S. mint also sells first day covers for quarters and nickels.

Here's the stats for the coin...
Type/Country: 50 Sene / Samoa
Year: 1967
Mintage: 80,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: Unc. $2.00

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