Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Just Under the Wire

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.

Just a few hours before the new year I found one last coin and wouldn't you know it I get a Canadian coin. It's a nice one all shiny but a bit scratched.

Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2007
Mintage: 938,270,000
Metal: 94% Steel, 4.5% Copper, 1.5% Nickel
Value: $0.01 in F
There is a less common Copper-Plated Zinc variety but it's still the same value.

That brings my 2008 finds as follows:

Most Non-U.S. Coins Found(Top 3)
18 Canada
2 Bermuda
2 Great Britain

Oldest U.S. Coins Found(Top 3)
1890 One Cent
1940 One Cent
1941 Five Cents (2)

Oldest Non-U.S. Coins Found(Top 3)
1952 Canadian One Cent
1960 Canadian One Cent
1966 Canadian One Cent

Most Valuable Coin
1890 One Cent at about $3.00

Most Valuable Currency
2003-A $1.00 Star Note at about $50.00

While I only found two notes worthy to keep they had much more value than every coin put together which was 52 coins at less then $20.00 for all.

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.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Classic and Timeless, Literally

Do you have an old 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.

This will probably be my last two finds of the year. I may spend some cash on Monday but the chance of getting anything good is slim. Finding two older coins at the end of year is always nice. It gives me a boost to continue searching my change and annoying others by searching their change.

Last year I ended the year finding a 1927 nickel I think it is the last scramble to buy gifts, people tend to use every last nickel.


Neither coin is in great shape the dime has all the lines on the torch flat with no separation. This is the main grading point for Roosevelt dimes. As for the nickel the front is so faded that the date is completely worn flat. There is a product called Nic-a-Date that uses a simple dilute phosphoric acid and detergent to remove layers of dirt but in this case I doubt it would work.

Here's the stats for these coins...
Type/Country: 10 Cents / United States
Year: 1946
Mintage: 255,250,000
Metal: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Value: $2.66 in Fine

Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: Unknown
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $0.50 in AG-3

Dateless buffaloes are still collectible since they have such a great look and can be made into other thing like jewelry or art. Of course the dime will always have a premium value despite grade because of the silver content. One year ago these dimes were going for $1.00 so its a good idea to keep an eye on silver values if you want to unload a lot of these coins.

Do you have an older 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, December 24, 2008

Not Coins but Close

Do you have a non-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.

Fake coins are surprisingly hard to find in your change, I guess the mechanized, computerized, and human filters keeps our change fairly legit. That said i did find a quarter size slug made of aluminum in my change. It fooled someone enough to pass it me as a quarter.

Then on the street which has been stingy to give up anything larger then a dime I found these three cash coins tied with a ribbon. A quick Google search shows them as some sort of Feng Shui good luck charm.
Two quick problems arise.
  • Are they real or replicas?
  • Is this real Feng Shui or just a gimmick?
My knowledge of cash coins is limited and these maybe real but since it looks like every other cast-cash-coin I can't tell(in terms of size, shape, & feel: symbols & patina can be faked real well). I'm assuming fake. My knowledge on Feng Shui is even more limited.


From this Ebay link I see that these maybe-fake-coins can make it that "you will never run out of cash; " and other greatness. Of course as long as the right side is facing up.

These coins along with the slug have no real value although $3.99 seems about right for a never ending cash supply. Currently I'm trying to verify this claim so if I end up with an unlimited supply of money I'll let you know if need to get your own.

The slug can pass certain computerized machines that don't use weight as a criteria of authenticity. I never tried putting it in machine so I can't verify this claim.

Do you have a non-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, December 23, 2008

It's All About the Queen

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.

Automatically when I see Queen Elizabeth II on a coin I think it's Canadian. It's a force of habit seeing how many Canadian coins I always find.

Well 2 out of 3 times I'm correct and the third time is something random. This random coin was a nice quarter size ten pence from Great Britain.


The Queen is the most coined image in the world and has gone though several makeovers for each stage in her reign.

The ten pence is 24.5 mm in diameter meaning it's the more common circulating edition. There is a 28 mm one sold only in sets worth more. Shrinking money is a common way to save on metal( and cost), Mexico is the latest country hoping to try this on half their coins.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 1960
Mintage: 75,772,775
Metal: 98% Copper, 0.5% Tin, 1.5% Zinc
Value: $0.03 in F

Type/Country: 10 Pence / Great Britain
Year: 1992
Mintage: 1,413,455,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.10 in VF

Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2002
Mintage: 716,367,000
Metal: Copper-Plated Zinc
Value: $0.01 in F

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.