Saturday, May 12, 2007

Why the long face?

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.

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.

20 dollars worth, for Comments/Questions click here.:

Anonymous said...

They have a whole building filled with Penny, Dime, Quarter and Nickel machines at DisneyLand (LA) I have flattened quarter's ETC. yet I have not seen a half dollar and dollar squishing machine :) that would be neat! I have a 1856 half penny do you know its value? I would say it is in good to fine.

Man said...

The one half dollar machine I know of is in Alaska. It stamps ALASKA, a picture of a moose, and "The Last Frontier".

1856 half penny
In good about $35.00
In very-good about $50.00
In fine about $70.00

Anonymous said...

Get your coin certified. Because a 64 can go for $400 to $700. A 50 can go for around $100.

Man said...

I would agree with Simon if you think the coin will grade above a fine.

A fine or less is not worth grading.

Anonymous said...

Thank you I think I will get my 1856 graded! Thanks Man!

Anonymous said...

a stupid question but I gotta ask. .. what is double die clash and what is double die cut?

Man said...

Well the question is not quite right.

Die is the metal stamp used to press coins.

Doubled Die is the term used when the die design was accidentally doubled and then pressed on the coin leaving a doubling on the coin.

Die clash is when the outline of one side of the coin appears on the other side of the same coin. This happens when a die gets struck with another die.

Double cut die is an older term used to say that a die was redone or a design element changed by hand, not by machine.

Anonymous said...

thanks, this is very helpful indeed.

Chrys said...

I have two half dollars in hand, one is 1974 Kennedy and the other one is 1996P Kennedy. There is an obvious difference of being struck by 2 different dies, the quality of 1996P metal seems to be weak (or so I think) as it has more wear and tear than 1974 Half Dollar even though it is about 22 years later in circulation. I am aware it could be that it has been in the circulation more than the 1974. Anyway, I tried to look for more information about the difference, there seem to be none, even in the World Coins Book 1901-Present the recorded minting is only up to 1991P.
Do you have any idea? If it helps I have attached links to the images! I hope the links work, Thanks.

1974 Half Dollar Obv
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/merobox/Scan1.jpg

1974 Half Dollar Rev
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/merobox/Scan10001.jpg

1996 Half Dollar Obv
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/merobox/Scan10002.jpg

1996 Half Dollar Rev
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/merobox/Scan10003.jpg

Chrys said...

By the way just copy and paste the URLs, it should give you the images. Thanks again for all that you can share

Man said...

Most of the marks you see are bag marks caused when the coin is inside official mint bags and rolling around with other halves.

The 1974 half dollars have 201,596,000 as a mintage most went straight out into circulation and are a bit easier found in high grades. MS-63 is $1.50.

The 1996P half dollars have 24,442,000 as a mintage most did not fully make it into circulation for a while. Finding them in high grades examples is a bit tougher. MS-63 is $1.00.

At the end they balance out because although there are less 1996P they are newer and less circulated.
The 1974 are older and more worn but there are more to choose from.

So I don't think there is anything different but weigh it, if it is different then 11.34 grams you have something.

Great pictures. The back of the 1996P looks weird but nothing recognizable.

Anonymous said...

It seems like the metal composition on the 1996P is different from 1974. It looks like 1996P has less quality metal than 1974 but that is just my observation. Anyway, thanks for the information man!

Anonymous said...

have you ever tried putting a coin other than a penny into a penny-squisher?

Man said...

have you ever tried putting a coin other than a penny into a penny-squisher?

No.
I know that quarter-squishers exist which would take the wrong coins easier.

Still I never tried anything funny with these machines but maybe I might.

Anonymous said...

you should, maybe a foreign coin or a dime or something

Man said...

you should, maybe a foreign coin or a dime or something

I do have some low value aluminum and steel coins, maybe I'll stop by and try.

Anonymous said...

i have a 1950 E series 100 dollar bill with NO star in very fine condition no tears and only one fold mark and crisp corners, just wondering what it might be worth in this day of age

Man said...

1950 E series 100 dollar bill with NO star in very fine condition no tears and only one fold mark and crisp corners

About $150.00

Anonymous said...

further info on the bill the federal reserve bank is new york "B" serial number ending in 9999 A which is kind of interesting

Man said...

further info on the bill the federal reserve bank is new york "B" serial number ending in 9999 A which is kind of interesting

Does not really add value, it is not a fancy enough number.