Singapore Twenty Cents

Do you have a coin from Singapore 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've never been to Singapore and probably couldn't find it on a blank map but every few years I get change from this country.

Singapore coins pre-1985 were all about the fish, scorpion fish to swordfish to seahorses. Then in 1985 they switched to flower designs. I'm not exactly sure why but I suspect it has to due with overfishing, land reclamation, and pollution. They have a good forest program and can always keep plants alive even in small numbers.

The obverse has Singapore's national arms with a lion and a tiger, although lions are not native it symbolizes the old guard. A ribbon that says "Majulah Singapura",or "Onward Singapore" in Malay. Singapore is written in all four official languages, Malay, Chinese, English, and Tamil.

On the reverse is a native powder puff plant that would be pink and all fluffy in real life.

In 2003 Singapore joined a long list of countries that stopped issuing one cent and five cents coins. This is a main reason most of my Singapore finds have been ten cents or higher.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 20 Cents / Singapore
Year: 1993
Mintage: 24,998,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.15 in VF

Passes as a nickel although slightly lighter and little wider.

Do you have a coin from Singapore 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.

2004 Bahamas Cent

Do you have a coin from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas 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.

Tracking my own finds over the past four years I notice a trend among foreign finds. There are four countries I always find in these percentages, 70% Canada, 1% Great Britain, 1% Bermuda, and 1% Trinidad & Tobago. The remaining 27% are from all other countries that come in randomly.

This year has been different since I have not found any of my 1% regulars. Then recently I found a Bahamas coin my second in the past month and only the third since July of 2005. It would not surprise me if this is associated with new travel patterns.


Great starfish design it is perfect for summer time. Overall the coin is pretty in hand but has some sticky stuff on half of the surface. Probably why it was thrown into circulation and with the same dimensions as a regular U.S. cent it easily passes among a sea of cents.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Bahamas
Year: 2004
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper Plated Zinc
Value: $0.05 in VF

Update: I didn't even notice on the reverse the N in CENT has some die cracks. These are common among cents so I will keep the same value listed. The rest of the lines are just scratches.

Do you have a coin from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas 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.

Edgy Situation

Do you have a dollar coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

On the quest to find one of every coin ever made from my change including varieties, sub-varieties, and errors I have come across more circulating dollars.

These two circulating presidential dollars are both from the Philadelphia mint, which is more common on the east coast. James Madison, 4th president issued in 2007 and John Tyler, 10th president issued in 2009.

So of the ten currently out I have the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 10th. 60% not bad considering the slow start to get circulating.

Some slight die cracks or die chips on the lettering but nothing exciting but it is the first time I notice them among golden dollar coins.


The topmost picture was taken with a camera the rest were done on a scanner still the color of these coins in real life is somewhere in between. Yes 5 years and I still can't get the settings for a true life image.
Notice anything else different?
Well since you can't really give hints on the internet I'll just say it. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed back on the the front of the coin.

Originally the law called for both mottoes, the date, the mint mark, and small separating elements be incused on the edge. Then a small group of, how can I put this diplomatically, conservatives lobbied to change the law. The group felt there was a conspiracy to abolish the big G-O-D from society starting with coins. This of course is not true.

For collectors have edge lettering is unique and then edge-incused lettering is even more special and a great honor. That fell on deaf ears as certain common errors occurred and the edge letters went missing for about 0.01% of the dollars. This led to a bigger phonier brouhaha and pressure to move the motto.

The best image I could take of the edge lettering.

The top 2009-P John Tyler dollar has the lettering normal or head side up. Visible is E. PLURIBIS .
The bottom 2007-P James Madison dollar has the lettering upside-down or tails side up. Visible and upside-down is GOD WE or ǝʍ poƃ( capitalized of course) .

Here's the stats but be aware all mintage's are estimated and it may takes years to get an accurate count...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar-John Tyler / United States
Year: 2009 P (Edge normal)
Mintage: 43,540,000
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in G-4
Type/Country: 1 Dollar-James Madison / United States
Year: 2007 P (Edge upside-down)
Mintage: 87,780,000
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in G-4

Presidential Dollar Coin Release Schedule Courtesy of USMint.gov

Year		President	Years Served	Release Date
2007	1	George Washington	1789-1797	February 15
	2	John Adams	1797-1801	May 17
	3	Thomas Jefferson	1801-1809	August 16
	4	James Madison	1809-1817	November 15
2008	5	James Monroe	1817-1825	February 14
	6	John Quincy Adams	1825-1829	May 15
	7	Andrew Jackson	1829-1837	August 14
	8	Martin Van Buren	1837-1841	November 13
2009	9	William Henry Harrison	1841	February 19
	10	John Tyler	1841-1845	May 21
	11	James K. Polk	1845-1849	August 20
	12	Zachary Taylor	1849-1850	November 19

Do you have a dollar coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Coinstar FunTime Project

James over at The Copper Counter Blog dared to issue a challenge to build your own mini-Coinstar machine.

Well you don't tell an engineering student to build a model without expecting it to work. My wind turbine from last semester may have been a 1/50th scale but it still produced electricity.

It took my fake non-magnetic Tiny Buffalo but all the other coins were left in the rejection tray.

Update: To add a still of the modified print-out. I had to add a bottom, using Gimp the image manipulation software. I used the cardboard box that my 2009 proof set came in as a backing. Found out that the small tabs were not necessary but larger main tabs worked well. This is due to the thickness of my backing board.

I didn't go step by step with pictures since my camera started acting up but it is pretty straight forward.
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2009 Proof Set

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

This year the proof set contains all 18 circulating coins specially minted from polished blanks and twice pressed with polished dies. All are carefully checked for imperfections and placed in a protective and decorated display. Then they are packed in an oversize box and quickly FedEx'd from an Indianapolis holding facility to the local United States Post Office where the world's worst and laziest postal-people have gathered.

Back to the coins here they are fresh out the box.

Ordered one week ago the cost was $29.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling. At first I got a message stating due to overwhelming demand they would not start shipping for another 5 weeks. This was fine with me since charging and shipping happens at the same time and any delay on credit card purchases is welcomed. Then a day after ordering they already shipped.

Obverse above and reverse below.

No errors but a slight flaw on the Native American Dollar a piece of cardboard was stuck on the front of the coin but after this picture I managed to knock it loose. This would be a major problem since the dollar coins are very sensitive to environmental damage and the direct contact with the paper bit would have badly toned the surface. Any other dust is from the scanner which begs to be cleaned.

All in all we have the 6 territorial quarters, 4 Lincoln life-aspect cents, 4 presidential dollars, 1 Native American dollar, 1 dime, 1 nickel, and 1 half dollar. All these coins should be circulating in their normal non-proof forms.

My favorite is the half dollar because it is the coin I find the least plus it feels heavy like a coin should. The Northern Mariana Island quarter is a close second.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: Proof Set / United States
Year: 2009-S
Mintage: 1,296,853
Metal: Normal proof/circulating type, except for the cents.
Value: $40.00 in box

The Law:

...the Secretary of the Treasury shall mint and issue numismatic one-cent coins in 2009 with the exact metallic content as contained in the 1909 one-cent coin (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc). These numismatic versions will be included in the United States Mint’s annual product offerings.

That is right the normal circulating cent is only 2.5% copper weighing 2.50 grams while these are 95% copper weighing 3.11 grams. Making these special cents.

Now the possibility for errors increases. Trying to weigh the cents in package does not help. My Lincoln set weighed 58.47 grams, the average is 58.30 grams +/- 0.50 grams, unfortunately this is within the 0.65 grams of any one error.
The only way to know if there is an error without cracking open the plastic is by look. In hand the 95% copper cents are darker and looked toned while the 2.5% copper cents are very red and shiny. So if one was made from the wrong blank it will be very noticeable.

United States Mint Proof Set P09 2009-S Box and COA 18 Uncirculated Coins

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

No-Error Error

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.

When is an error not an error?
Well, never if it is an error that's it. The degree or percentage of an error is a better way to judge errors.

Clad coins are sometimes missing the top layer. In quarters and dimes the nickel layer is missing revealing the copper underneath, while cents missing the copper reveal the zinc underneath.

Anything under 100% is not very valuable (unless rare).
For missing layers of 50% or less brings no real value at all.
Find a 100% missing clad layer and you'll have an easy $250.00 even ungraded.

Now look at all the errors on this 2007 P Utah Quarter.

One small crack on the back behind the right train, very small going to the rim.

Okay let's get a closer look at the neck, it's a die crack.

Behind the stylish wig is another die crack, I'll call the spike.

But the best is missing clad layer at the rim...

about 2%.

Bringing the total value to $0.25 (U.S., of course).

Die cracks on the neck are very common among the state quarters due to the high relief. Spikes are not as common but on all coins they are often found. The missing clad layer is seen often enough to be worthless in such small amounts especially on the rim.

Hunting for errors is not for profit. While many coins contain errors very few are valuable this because when making a billion of anything a 0.1% error is still 1 million coins, actual errors may be more like 3%.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents-Utah / United States
Year: 2007 P
Mintage: 255,000,000
Metal: 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel or is it?
Value: $0.25

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.

2009 Native American Dollar

Do you have a dollar coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Dollar coins are easy enough to come by when using the Metrocard vending machines but to avoid the bulky change and possible empty return slots I just use exact change on all vending machines. So when I got this dollar coin in regular change I was shocked in several ways.

First the coin was a 2009 Native American design, second it was being circulated, and third I got the correct change.

Starting from the reintroduction of the dollar coin in 1999:
1999 saw the Susan B. Anthony, I found a 1999-P.
2000-2008 saw the regular Sacagewea, I found a 2000-P and 2001-P.
2007-2016 will see the Presidential series, I found a 1st, 3rd, 5th, & 6th all P.
2009-???? will see a new Native American design each year, I found 2009-P.

So out of the 42 dollar coin that were released for circulation ( yes I'm including certain Sac dollars that were not officially released but sold through direct shipping programs) from both mints I have found 8. Granted for a while I kept finding 2000 & 2001 dollars by the handful. Today they are rare and too ugly to keep. I'm left wondering is a 19% (8/42) finding rate a good or bad sign. Imagine adding the varieties and uncirculated types.

They switched the date to the edge along with the E PLURIBUS UNUM and 13 stars.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar-Native American / United States
Year: 2009 P (Edge normal)
Mintage: 37,800,000 (Estimated)
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in F-12

The Law
20% of all dollar coins must be the Native American design for all years that the presidential coins are made. Each Native American dollar must feature an aspect of Native American culture.

This one is Agriculture. Specifically the Three Sisters way of planting also known as companion planting. Pictured is a native farmer planting her beans in the same mound as corn and squash. The corn grows in poor soil and then the squash grows underneath providing shade and weed protection. The beans then grow around the corn stalks as a vine returning nitrogen to the soil. This relationship is so successful you can grow more and healthy crops.

Do you have a dollar coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

2009 Formative Years in Indiana Cent

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Well the 2009 coins seem to be coming in by the bunch. I guess the local banks called the federal bank for some new change plus the have increased production since the Birthplace cent.

The four Lincoln cents designed for 2009 are meant to show an aspect of his life.

• Birthplace: Birth and early childhood in Kentucky (1809-1816)
• Formative Years in Indiana (1816-1830)
• Professional Life in Illinois (1830-1861)
• Presidency in Washington, D.C. (1861-1865)

All the early 2009 coins seem to be in low circulation and the Philadelphia minted also seem to be scarce. Still I did get this dirty little cent in my change recently.

Lincoln is shown reading and rail splitting. Stories told of him had him always carrying a book and an axe around during is teen years. I completely expected Lincoln to be wielding an axe as those are the stories I've heard from his early life. I suspect it was a politically correct decision in designing this coin to show no pointy tools out of concerns it may be seen as a weapon. As a young man he would have done plenty of rail splitting in this manner so it is historically accurate.

Still a very nice design, of course in hand it looks better.

I also found a 1956-D cent but I posted about it before so why rehash since this one is more scratched than the other.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / United States
Year: 2009 (Rail Splitter)
Mintage: 376,000,000 (estimated)
Metal: 97.5% Zinc, 2.5% Copper
Value: $0.01 in VF-20

Allegedly they will make a full copper version with pre-1982 composition so it is possible that some interesting errors may exist so investing in a scale may not be a bad idea.

The spots likely came from the mint as they wash them during the annealing process or after pressing or just to ruin a nice coin and so I would be forced to get a roll at the mint at 16 times face value.

Update: While checking my change I saw an Illinois quarter and notice the same lack of an axe. Check out this proof version from Wikipedia.

Lincoln is carrying an axe but again it is not shown, just a portion of the handle.

Based on this statue from the New Salem Historical site in Petersburg, Illinios.

At least in the statue the axe is clearly visible and in his other hand is a law book. Honestly would anyone make comparisons to an axe-wielding maniac. I think we can distinguish a weapon from a tool. The statue was made to show he was discarding his axe an picking up law books to start a new path in life.

Update: Possible 2009P-1DR-011, $2.00 in very fine.

Do you have a cent 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.

Tiny

Do you have an odd 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.

Small change means just nickels and pennies but this piece I found on a seat at a store is something completely different. It looks like a buffalo nickel, it's metallic, and stamped 1938 but the size is way off.

A little investigation helped me find out what I really had.

Using my caliper I measured it to be 3/8 inches or 9.525 millimeters compare that to the
normal buffalo at 21.20 mm. The dateless buffalo I found, pictured above,is 21.03 mm which is slightly smaller because it is very worn.

It weighs 0.85 grams compared to a normal 5.00 gram buffalo nickel.
It is not magnetic but made of some type of metal.

Looking at the back it has old glue. A very clear and flaky glue. That confirmed my theory that it was part of some jewelry. It could not be a button because it was too small. A quick Google search of all the parameters of this fake coin I found this seller of earrings.

At $7.00 a pair you can get tiny coin earrings from all major circulating U.S. issues from tellmewhereonearth. com.

A bit odd is for $4.00 you can get the tiny coin itself, so why not buy the earrings rip off the post and have two tiny coins.

The fake coin is very well done for its size and made of a metal that is not aluminum which is not bad.

I estimate a retail value of $3.00 since I can easily scrape the rest of the glue off with out any damage. No numismatic value since this is at least art at most exonumia. Even though at bizarrefun.com they sell miniature, or as they spell it minature, coins as low as $0.50 each. They don't have any Indian heads but even at wholesale the value is still worth more than a nickel.

Do you have a weird coin 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.