End of the Year Stats

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The year 2007 is over and my change finds have gotten slim. Although I did find a few star notes the older money has all but stopped. While last year I found a 1907 U.S. cent this year I found a 1927 U.S. cent and nickel.
Half of my change finds where from friends and family, the other half was from local stores most just a few blocks from my place.

Here are two graphs that shows the decline in my foreign coin finds. In 2006 I had found 43 coins from 14 countries which was the lowest until this year. In 2007 the amounts reduced to 27 coins from 8 countries.
As usual Canada dominated all with Bermuda, Great Britain, Greece, and Trinidad & Tobago being the only countries that repeat.

Oldest United States Find
1927 Cent
1927 Nickel

Oldest Foreign Find
1958 Canadian Dime

Most Valuable Find(above face value)
2003A $1 dollar star note in UNC about $5.00

All in all I found 48 coins compared to 56 last year, my high was about 250 in 1998. I did make it up by buying 92 coins most from the mint or eBay, compared to 42 last year.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and change for all.

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1973 Canadian Quarter

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Featured Question from Kristie...

I Have 36 RCMP Centennial coins.
I know the large bust is worth considerably more, but I am not sure If I have large, small or some of each. They Vary in grades.
I would like to know how to tell the difference between a small bust and a large bust. 2 pictures to compare would be nice. TY!

Good question and I assumed it was a 1973 quarter from Canada as this is the only RCMP I know that had this variety. This happened because a new obverse design was introduced in 1973 but some of that year's coins were already made in late 1972 using the old design. Less than 10,000 are thought to exist.


Click on the image for a close-up comparison of my small bust in between the two varieties.
Middle-Click to open in a new window/new tab.

Here was my response..
A picture comparison would may not be completely helpful, but I will post one on the front page of my blog. From a book because I don't own a large bust.

The Small Bust has a more detailed bust and only 120 beads around the bust. These beads are slightly far from the rim.
The Large Bust is less detailed and has 132 beads around the bust. The beads are almost touching the rim.

Here's the stats for each variety...
Type / Country: 25 Cents / Canada
Variety: LB=Large Bust=132 Beads
Year: 1973
Mintage: Less than 10,000
Metal: 100% Nickel
Value: $100.00 in VF-20


Type / Country: 25 Cents / Canada
Variety: SB=Small Bust=120 Beads
Year: 1973
Mintage: 135,958,589 including above
Metal: 100% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in VF-20

Of course the higher the grade the more it will be worth.

If you have the patience you can count the beads which is the best way to do it.

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.

Ending 2007 with a Buffalo

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This last month I've found some more interesting coins in my change. I expect very little shopping this last week after Christmas and the one numismatic gift I got was from me. I bought some foreign coins from Eastern Numismatics Inc. they're a decent company and when I receive the coins I'll post some of the more interesting ones. I may troll eBay for some other coins but I need a good printer so I'll focus on that before my money is gone.

As usual Canada dominates the change finds but I did get some older American and one Austrian coin. I can only explain this as the exchange rate from Canada to the U.S. has been great for the Canadians. All the foreign coins were from cashier friends while the American coins were given back as change from the local supermarket.

The best find all year was this 1927 Buffalo nickel it was from my change with a few modern nickels. It was a surprise seeing how few older American coins I get recently. Then last week I got a 2007 dime from Canada that looks great at UNC(uncirculated).

Here's the stats...
Type / Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 1995
Mintage: 624,983,000
Metal: 98% Copper, 1.5% Zinc, 0.5% Tin
Value: $0.03 in G-4 (Good)

Type/Country: 20 Euro Cents/Austria
Year: 2002
Mintage: 203,500,000
Metal: Brass
Value: $1.00 in UNC

Type / Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1927
Mintages: 37,981,000
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $2.50 in F-12

Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1945
Mintage: 1,040,515,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Zinc
Value: $0.10 in VF-20

Type / Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 1985
Mintage: 142,800,000
Metal: 100% Nickel
Value: $0.12 in G-4(Mostly for the nickel value.)

Update: There are know two recognized varieties for the 2007 Canada Ten Cents, straight and curved 7. The curved 7 variety were only found in sets and not issued for circulation.

• St7 has the 7 in 2007 straight and not curved. MS-65 not-circulated = $10.00
  
• Cr7 has the 7 in 2007 curved. MS-65 not-circulated = $20.00

Type / Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 2007 Maple Leaf Logo (ST7)
Mintage: 304,110,000
Metal: 92% Steel, 5.5% Copper, 2.5% Nickel
Value: $0.30 in MS-60
The Krause World Coin Book has the Maple Leaf Logo listed as (ml).

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.

Money in Art

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Last year at this time I went to the Smithsonian Institution: National Museum of the American Indian located at
The George Gustav Heye Center
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
it is free admissions.

There were some great pieces but one that relates to the numismatic hobby was this basket.

The work is titled Penny For Your Thoughts made circa 2000.
It is modern art by Terrol Dew Johnson (Tohono O'odham, born 1975) Arizona.
Medium is beargrass, waxed nylon, and pennies.
Anonymous donation, 2005 (26/4364).

His quote on this work in 2005...

My work reflects who I am and as a person, my culture, my family, the desert. I have learned much from my elders and I combine this respect for tradition with my own visions of the world I see around me. Many times I dream a design, and it haunts me until I actually weave it.

While I may not know the value of this art piece I know it's significance.

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Last Months Finds

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I found these in my change a while ago and only now have I had enough time to post about them.

Obverse and reverse.

Nothing particularly grand but still something nice to find. Most are Canadian but I did find some older American coins. I also found two star notes, a one dollar note and a twenty dollar note but neither were rare. The Susan B. Anthony dollar was from my change but I believe I used, I can't find it.

The difference with a 2003P and a 2003 is core used to apply the plating. A 2003 was a copper plated zinc coin while the 2003P was a copper plated steel coin. As a result all Canadian coins with a P should be magnetic

I'll go from top left down then the next column.

Here's the stats...

Type/Country: 1 Cent/Canada
Year: 1964
Mintage: 484,655,322
Metal: 98% Copper, 1.5% Zinc, 0.5% Tin
Value: $0.05 in G-4 (Good)

Type/Country: 1 Cent/Canada
Year: 1980
Mintage: 911,800,000
Metal: 98% Copper, 1.5% Zinc, .5% Tin
Value: $0.03 in G-4

Type / Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2003P
Mintage: 591,257,000
Metal: 94% Steel, 4.5% Copper, 1.5% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in AU(although this one look less.)

Type / Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2004
Mintage: 653,317,000
Metal: Copper-Plated Zinc
Value: $0.10 in MS-60

Type/Country: 1 Dollar/United States
Year: 1979S
Mintage: 109,576,000
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in UNC(although this one look less.)

Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1954D
Mintages: 251,552,500
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.10 in VF-20

Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1955D
Mintage: 563,257,500
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.10 in VF-20

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.

The Official Sets

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Got two official mint sets a month ago. The first set are my scans of the U.S. Silver Proof Set and the second is a picture I took off the official government site of the U.S. Mint Set because the new packaging is almost impossible to scan.



I included a scan of the box the presidential proof dollars came in because it was such a nice looking box. The silver in these coins are only in the quarters, dime, and half dollar. All of them contain the S mint mark for San Francisco.

The mint sets are just normally struck coins that have not been placed into circulation. The new part is the vinyl like package that attaches the coins information to the coin. It makes it hard to display them and harder to lay flat. Hopefully a better package will be used in the future.

The is one mint set from Denver that has the D mintmark on each coin while the other is from Philadelphia and contains the P mint mark for all the coins except for the one cent because that one never carries the P mintmark.

14 coins for the first Proof set and 28 coins in the mint set but since I got it from the mint directly shipping and handling was a flat $4.95.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: Silver Proof Set/United States
Year: 2007-S
Mintage: 875,050
Metal: Normal proof type except for the quarters, dimes & halves.
Value: $55.00 in box($10.00 increase since 2007)

Type/Country: Mint Set/United States
Year: 2007-D, 2007-P
Mintage: 895,628
Metal: Normal circulation type.
Value: $28.00 in box($6.00 increase since 2007)

Not to influence anyone but they do make a nice gift. Even if the person already has them it is like giving money...you know what I mean. They can usually be sold for a nice profit if you are in need of some quick cash.

Do you have a mint or proof set 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.

More Cents than a Penny

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So in the last days of September I found these two coins in my change. One is an Austrian 2 Euro Cents and the other is a Canadian cent. What's the significance? Well around the same time the Canadian Dollar beat the U.S. dollar.

As you may already know the Euro has been outperforming the U.S. for a while.
Today the currency exchange rate is
$1.00 to $0.94 for the Canadian Dollar
$1.00 to $1.47 for the Euro Dollar

Well even without the exchange prices there is still the numismatic values.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 2 Euro Cents/Austria
Year: 2004
Mintage: 156,500,000
Metal: Copper Plated Steel
Value: $0.25 in UNC(although this one look less.)

Type / Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2005
Mintage: 759,658,000
Metal: Bronze-Plated Zinc
Value: $0.10 in MS-60(again this one look less.)

Updated August 18, 2008

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Finally I Got A Star

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While I'm happy so many people are finding star notes it has been a while since I got one. Mostly since I hardly use cash anymore.

Then on September 25 I got this bill in my change. It is a 2003A F-Atlanta series star note.

The back is normal as you can tell.

The star note is a replacement note used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing when a defect or error is found on the regular run of notes. There is no replacement of specific serial number instead they replace blocks of notes with the newest star notes. Since less then 1% of notes need replacement star notes are scarce.

Still they are not rare since they are printed by the hundred thousand or million. They are printed in runs of a specific amount and the lower the run the more it is worth to collectors.

• Less than 320,000 printed is lowest.
• Exactly 320,000 printed is very-low.
• Between 320,000 and 640,000 is low.
• Exactly 640,000 is medium.
• More than 640,000 is high and normal.

Type/Country: 1 Dollar/United States
Year: 2003A
Printings: 3,200,000
Run: 4th from F09600001* - F12800000*
Value: $2.50 in VF

It has plenty of folds and is probably worth less then listed, but that is true with most collectibles.

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Squished Album

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I got several squished pennies from the American Museum of Natural History and one from the M&M store. So knowing this someone gifted me this album to store my new collection. It comes with a New York elongated cent embedded on the cover.


This is a tri-fold album that can hold 36 pennies and 6 quarters, squished of course. This one is for New York but if you go the pennycollector.com site you'll find dozens of choices. They are $7.60 each plus s&h.


I don't have any squished quarters so I just put pennies where in place. While this isn't my true collection it still falls under the category if numismatics.

I probably won't fill the album especially since New York has hundreds of squished penny machines.

Do you have a strange 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.

Not Forgotten

I usually don't like repeating myself but since no one visits my other blogs then I'll re-post it here.

6 Years ago today 19 Muslims conspired to terrorize America and the world since then they have succeeded in bringing terror hundreds of times over to Spain, England and the rest of the world.

Being so close to the World Trade Centers and seeing what happened that day still fuels my desire to stay in my engineering school since we have access to the sites and we help can rebuild. In rebuilding we hope to honor the office workers who died on this day.

Special attention to Robert Pattison and Isaias Rivera two CBS engineers who were trapped at the top of the World Trade Center on that tragic day.

1956D Wheat Cent

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It has been nearly two months since I found an older American coin in my change, by older I mean older then 1959. Today when putting away my change I found a 1956-D cent which I have no idea where I got it since I spent the whole day shopping.


It's true that this coin is not particularly valuable or rare but it is a wheatie and over 50 years old. Only the third 1956D cent I found and seeing how so many people are searching bank rolls it may be one of the last.

Here are the stats for this penny...
Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1956D
Mintages: 1,098,201,100
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.10 in VF-20

Do you have an old penny 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.

Barbados Vacation

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I wish. Apparently someone who went there on vacation came back and used a penny from that country in our change.


It is my first Barbados find in years. I usually find Bermuda or Trinidad & Tobago coins although in the distant past I found a few Barbados coins.

This coin is interesting because it was the last bronze 1 Cent coins issued for Barbados starting in 1992 the switched to copper-plated zinc. The obverse(front) has a the Neptune symbolic trident over the value. The reverse has the Barbados National Arms that divide the date.

Here are the stats for this Barbados Cent...
Type/Country: 1 Cent/Barbados
Year: 1991
Mintages: Not known.
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.10 in XF(Extra Fine although this one look less.)

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2007 Proof Set

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One of the few coins I purchase on a regular basis is the official United States government issued sets. On July 19 I ordered the 14 coin Proof set and I got it today August 9. The issue price is $26.95 plus $4.95 in shipping and handling. While I can't afford more right know I always suggest to new collectors to get more than one set if you can s/h is always $4.95 no matter how many you order.

I tend to over scrutinize the coins and noticed that the dime has grease on the front and a minor die break on the back. One of the quarters has a dent. Overall the quality is not perfect but this is normal for the mint in recent years. That is why I recommend buying more.


Here's the stats...
Type/Country: Proof Set/United States
Year: 2007-S
Mintage: 1,702,116
Metal: Normal circulation type.
Value: $38.00 in box($11.00 increase since 2008)

Here is what comes in the brown box, the three coin sets, two boxes for the coins, two Certificate of Authenticity, a sleeve for the boxes, an explanation of the change from 10 to 14 coins, an offer for more coins, and the invoice. All delivered by the post office.

Do you have any proof set 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.

That's Where They Went

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For the last ten years the NYC Department of Transportation has been having a public coin auction of the foreign coins people place in parking meters. I always miss it and now it has grown out of my price range at almost $4.00 a pound for 500 pounds, that's $2,000.00.

Jim Corliss a collector from Massachusetts won the bid last year and will probably win again this year. He found in the past an 1835 British Shilling once worth only $5.00. Most of the coins are Greek Drachmas, French Francs, Dominican Quarters, and Canadian Quarters. I'm pretty sure that every nation in the world is in those bags.

I found about a dozen foreign coins in my change this year. The free coins I find in my change has dwindled over time. Four years ago I would have found a hundred by this time. Oh well I guess next year I may have to bid on this auction.

Here is the news story as told by the CW 11 in New York City....

This is encouraging because I know the coins are out there circulating.

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Still Not Listed

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Recently I got some books about world coins and some people have commented that the book doesn't list certain coins. This is true and one of the biggest problems when collecting modern world coins.

Today I found a Euro from 2006 and quickly looked in my World Coin Book for all the stats and guess what? Nothing. No information what so ever. They stop listing Greek Euros after 2005.

I have other resources so I got most of the information I needed. It is a very beautiful coin and any lines or stuff on the coin is from the scanner.

Type/Country: 5 Euro Cents/Greece
Year: 2006
Mintage: 50,000,000( estimate this may change)
Metal: Copper Plated Steel
Value: $1.00 in UNC

Do you have any 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.

Cirlce M or RCM Logo

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Found this brand new 2007 Canadian quarter in my change it puzzled me for a while. Why?
Because it did not have the normal mintmark P or blank. Instead it has a circle with what looks like a half of a maple leaf and a M.

My 2007 Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins does not list this mintmark. A little research reveals the is the new Royal Canadian Mint(RCM) logo that debuted in a convention back in July 2006. The purpose of this was to promote the RCM and the high quality of their work.

I don't know what it is official called yet so I'll update it's name later.

Type/Country: 25 Cents/Canada
Year: 2007-?
Mintage: 274,763,000
Metal: 94% Steel, 3.8% Copper, 2.2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in MS-60

Update: Apparently most collectors think it should be called RCM logo, so that is what I'll label it.
Update 2: Now most books are calling it Maple Leaf Logo, so that is what I'll call it, for now.

Do you have any 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.

Price Check

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I got 3 updated coin books and will update any prices in the blog posts from the past. It should be done by tomorrow to update the values for 2008. Coin books are always published for the next year. I shopped around for weeks and ended up buying all of them through Amazon.com they were the cheapest.

1. The Official Price Guide to Mint Errors, 7th Edition
This is an update from my 6th Edition it describes all common errors and gives a a very preliminary value and rarity. I haven't looked into this book deeply but from a glance it has changed a lot.

2. Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000
This is the best of world coin books and has every country. There are some missing parts and mistake like the Russian rouble for 1993, the China 10 yen for 1990-2000. The mistakes were worst last year. The change is not drastic for value but picture quality is improving. Older versions of this book are fine if you can get them for cheap.

3. 2008 Standard Catalog of World Coins: 2001 to Date
This is the second half of the world coin book but it is horrible. It lacks most modern dates, values are not reliable, and most of the mintages are not there.

All together I spent $72.38 but I believe it is worth it. After going through my personal coin collection the finally price change was a $18.55 in profit. I have approximately 3,000 foreign coins and some went up in value to $28.55 but I lost $10.00 with other coins. Most of these coins are circulated so no big gains. Any certified coins I have did not change in value.

Update: Just saw this one hope to get it soon...Charlton 62nd Canadian Coin Catalogue.

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The Tourist

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Yes New York City caters to tourist from around the world. They intern leave their funny money behind. That is how I got this 20 English Pence in my change and most of my foreign coins.


Also those penny squishing machines are everywhere for tourist as a cheap souvenir. The T-rex one was found on the floor of the AMNH. While the M&M squished cent was from the M&M store, the line was too long to get more.


The wheat cents at the bottom were just change finds I got from the local supermarket. Another 1944 cent which makes 19 I found. Plus a 1957D that I think is a D/D/D, a mint error but it is so dirty I can't really tell I'll label it as a D/D.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 20 Pence/Great Britian
Year: 2002
Mintages: 93,360,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.30 in XF

Type/Country: 1 Cent Elongated/American Museum of Natural History(T-Rex Skeleton)
Year: Made 2007
Mintages: Still in production
Metal: 0.8% copper, 99.2% zinc
Value: $0.50 costs $0.51 to make

Type/Country: 1 Cent Elongated/M&M Store NYC(Green M&M winking)
Year: Made 2007
Mintages: Still in production
Metal: 0.8% copper, 99.2% zinc
Value: $0.50 costs $0.51 to make

Type/Country: 1 Cent(1MM-019-D/D)/United States
Year: 1957D
Mintages: 1,051,342,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.50 in fine because I can attribute it to a D/D

Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1944
Mintages: 1,435,400,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Zinc
Value: $0.10 in VF-20

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.

Doubled Dime

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Look on the the left hand side of this 1981-P dime and you will see that nearly all the letters have a doubling.

This is an error coin but not a particularly ideal one, most like to say it is damaged. It is known as MDD (Machine Doubling Damage) or strike doubling. The classification, at least in the old error book, is V-B-1 meaning it is the first listed after mint damage on a coin.

Real doubling occurs on the die and is transfered to the coin. MDD occurs when the die bounces or slides on the coin.

The easiest way to identify a MDD is because of the flatness of the doubling and it is on the field of the coin. Usually in real doubling there is a roundness to the doubled part also it is often on the design not the field.

There are also some minor die cracks as this must of been a late stage die.

As for value...well it is not quite clear. According to most it adds no extra value because it is so common but I have seen them sell for a premium especially when the doubling is large. I'm sure I can put it on eBay and get $10.00.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Cents/United States
Year: 1981P
Mintage: 676,650,000
Metal: 91.67% Copper, 8.33% Nickel
Value: $0.20 (I'm pretty sure it has more value but it need to properly attributed)

Do you have an error 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.

It's TnT

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Trinidad 'n' Tobago that is.

Found this coin in my change the other day. It was suppose to be a in return for a dime but obviously someone made a mistake.



This is the second Trinidad and Tobago coin I found this year. In New York City they are fairly common among foreign change finds. Usually only Canada gives us more coins.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent/Trinidad and Tobago
Year: 1998
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.20 in XF but this one has some verdigris damage.

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.

Oh, Canada

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I have been slow to get new coins mainly because I have to save money for college stuff. Apparently college gets more expensive the closer you are to graduating. Back to my coin shortage.

There are 3 main ways to get coins .

1. Buy them but that cost time and money.
2. Get them from family or friends but that gets annoying and is not worth it.
3. Find them in your change which is what I mainly do.

As I use more credit cards and less actual cash I get less change. Add that to to the fact that lots of people are collecting or not using change this leaves few coins to find. When the second year of statehood quarters came out I was averaging about 2 new coins from change every 3 days. Now I am averaging 2 new coins from my change a month.

That all being said I still got these 3 coins from Canada in my American change.
2 silver dimes and one plated quarter.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Cents/Canada
Year: 1958
Mintage: 10,621,236
Metal: 80% Silver, 20% Copper
Value: $0.79 in AG-3 (because this coin is very corroded so the value is just for the silver content)

Type/Country: 10 Cents/Canada
Year: 1967
Mintages: 32,309,135 for 80% or 30,689,080 for 50%
Metal: 80% Silver, 20% Copper or 50% Silver, 50% Copper
Value: $0.79 in F-12 for 80% or $0.49 in F-12 for 50%
(As far as I can tell there is no way to tell the 80% from the 50%, mine weighs 2.37 grams which is higher than the 2.33 grams it should weigh.)

Type/Country: 25 Cents/Canada
Year: 2004P
Mintage: 177,466,000
Metal: 94% Steel, 3.8% Copper, 2.2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in MS-60

I just threw in the ruler for scale, I'm just testing it out.

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.

Coined at the Museum

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Well an update to the squished, pressed, or elongated coins. Apparently there are three machines in the American Museum of Natural History each with four designs.

The first four located inside the first floor gift shop includes the following design.

It depicts the museum itself, next a barosaurus, then a tyrannosaurs rex skull, and finally a stegosaurus skeleton.

The second four are located outside the first floor museum gift shop.

The first is early man, the next is an American Indian ornate canoe/kayak, two bears, and finally The Rose Center for Earth and Space.

Most of the images are from their dioramas, permanent exhibits, or the buildings themselves.

Again the value of each is about $0.50 which is also their price.

There are four more from the the machine outside the Dinostore located upstairs but I will get those on another day. For some reason I really like these coins, which is strange since I usually don't like altered coins.

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.

Why the long face?

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I got this coin from the gift shop at American Museum of Natural History(AMNH). The Canadian cent next to it is just a change find.
And the opposite side.
You can see traces of the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse side.

These elongated coins are common around tourist area but this is the first time I know that the AMNH has been doing this. In their gift shop is a machine where you pay 51 cents to get that penny squished as it passes 8 times around and one of four museum designs is pressed onto the coin.

Other places in New York City that this can be done is the Central Park Zoo or The Bronx Zoo and a few other tourist traps.

Book value has them at $0.50 and up. It is perfectly legal to flatten US coins but it can't be used again as money. The first US elongated coin was made at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, these will bring a higher value. Most now are common especially in penny form but nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollars exist. I've heard rumors of gold pieces but never seen one.

Type/Company: 1 Cent(Elongated)/American Museum of Natural History
Year: Unknown(elongated-2007, coin-post 1982)
Mintage: Unknown(Began week of May 13, 2007)
Metal: 0.8% copper, 99.2% zinc
Value: $0.50

Type/Country: 1 Cent/Canada
Year: 2001
Mintage: 919,358,000
Metal: Copper Plated Zinc
Value: $0.10 in MS-60 or less

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.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive, Change

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On February 12, 2007 I wrote about the release of the new presidential dollars in NYC that took place that same month. I complained about the time that new circulating coins reach my pockets in form of change.

A few days ago chrys wrote this comment...

I have not seen the dollar as change you get from the shops but apparently some car parks ticket machine will spit some. My husband came home with a bunch of them and a few of those with errors.

I wrote back...

That's great chrys I try to tell people not to buy them unless it is from the official government website.

It is better to receive them in your change but it takes time. The debuted in NYC where I live and I have yet to see one.

There are currently 5 "errors" known for these coins. At first they were selling at $300.00 a piece now they are so common that they sell for $2.00 if you're lucky. We will have to wait 1-5 years to see which errors are valuable and which are way too common.

Great finds hold on to them.

The next day BAM! I got 3 new dollars in my change along with a Trinidad and Tobago cent. I thank chrys for the added luck.

Here they go.

The top is a Trinidad & Tobago cent and an image of its reverse. The front has some stuff stuck on it.
The next 3 are the presidential dollars I got. The two in the middle have Washington face up and the edge lettering readable in the normal way. The last dollar has Washington facing up and the edge lettering is upside down.

These upside down "errors" seem to run about 50-50 or maybe 40-60 in favor of right side up. It is not a true error since the mint did not say whether or not the edge lettering should go up or down. At the end they are too common and are worth the same.

I got my 2008 Redbook by R.S. Yeoman and all future prices will reflect that, I'll also try to update any older values I given out.

Here are the stats for each type of coin...
Type/Country: 1 Cent/Trinidad & Tobago
Year: 2002
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.05 in Fine(If I can safely remove the gunk.)

Type/Country: 1 Dollar (Right Side Up Edge)/United States of America
Year: 2007P
Mintage: Estimated 176,680,000 (Final numbers may take years)
Metal: 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese, 4% nickel
Value: $1.00 in MS-60 or less

Type/Country: 1 Dollar(Upside Down Edge)/United States of America
Year: 2007P
Mintage: Estimated 176,680,000 (Final numbers may take years)
Metal: 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese, 4% nickel
Value: $1.00 in MS-60 or less

Note that the metal content for the dollars are for outer layers only that are bonded to an inner layer of pure copper. This is a more accurate metal content; 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel.

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.

Dolla Dolla Bill Y'all

Do you have a 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.

Whew! I've been flooded with currency question over the past month. It is a good thing because it shows people are collecting. I understand that it is harder these days to find older or unique coins which is why notes are getting more popular.

This Small-Size Currency book is the best book for looking up modern currency prices although the values listed are slightly high. A modern note is any small size from 1928 until now.

As for where to sell your newly found bills, hmmm that is more difficult. If you don't know a good coin dealer then I suggest eBay or join a coin forum.

For most circulated notes you can expect to get $2.00 over the face value.
In crisp-uncirculated expect double face value.

Here are some notes to look out for...
Bill: $1 1935A serial #M-A (only two notes are known, but hey you never know)
Value: $8,250.00 in CH-CU($250.00 increase since 2008)

Bill: $5 1928D serial #F-A
Value: $6,000.00 in CH-CU($1,000.00 increase since 2008)

Bill: $100 1981 serial #E-*
Value: $3,000.00 in CH-CU

Other notes like $1 1988A Web-Fed Press Printings average $50.00. These were made with a special machine for a short run. They are by there serial numbers and are semi-rare.

Keep up with the questions and if find any special notes then I'll post them also. Recently I found a $1 1969C #F-B which is not worth anything more than $1.00 in circulated condition.
I also found a $20 bill from 2004 that has four zeros making it worth $22.50, not much but still cool.

Do you have a 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.

Presidential Dollars

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Well well. The mint is finally putting the new dollars into circulation nation wide on Thursday, February 15, 2007.

Image Source: http://www.usmint.gov/images/
mint_programs/$1coin/pic4Presidents.jpg

Here is the information that is important.

• They will be made of the same material as the current dollar coin.
• They will feature dead presidents.
• The presidents must be dead at least three years.
• Every year will have four presidents starting 2007.
• 2016 is the last coin currently scheduled, Nixon.
  
• The side will have incuse lettering.
• The reverse of all of them has the Statue of Liberty.
• Grover Cleveland will be featured twice.
• THEY ARE LEGAL TENDER.(Some cashier is bound to reject them, aaaggh.)
  

I hope to see get one soon but I doubt I receive it in my change until 2 years pass. As a collector I feel I should be more excited but these are just too useless in my opinion. The dollar bill is easier and better.

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.

Older is Better

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Yes I have found old coins in my change and new foreign coins but these truly older coins are nearly impossible to find unless you buy them or dig them up while metal detecting.

From top to bottom left then bottom right; 2004 Canadian penny, 1907 US penny, 1914D dime, 1854 quarter, and 1914S dime.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent/Canada
Year: 2004
Mintage: 643,317,000
Metal: Copper plated zinc
Value: $0.10 in MS-60

Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States of America
Year: 1907
Mintage: 108,137,143
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Value: $2.00 in G-4(good) although this one has some PVC damage

Type/Country: 10 Cents/United States of America
Year: 1914D
Mintage: 11,908,000
Metal: 90% silver, 10% copper
Value: $2.75 in G-4

Type/Country: 25 Cents/United States of America
Year: 1854
Mintage: 12,380,000
Metal: 90% silver, 10% copper
Value: $35.00 in F-12(fine) the word LIBERTY is complete but weak.

Type/Country: 10 Cents/United States of America
Year: 1914S
Mintage: 2,100,000
Metal: 90% silver, 10% copper
Value: $3.00 in G-4

As you can tell even worn and dirty older coins have more value while the newer ones are not worth as much initially. Granted 50 years from now maybe that Canadian will be a collectors item it is also a safe bet that the older US coins will still retain a premium value.

Still none of these will pay your rent.

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.