Sunday, August 29, 2010

1989 Australian 10 Cents

Do you have an Australian coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question

It is the size of a quarter.
It is the weight of a quarter.
But this is not a U.S. quarter that I recently found in my change.

At this point with all the state, territory, bicentennial, and eagle quarters circulating it is not  to clear how a quarter should look like. Although I'm thinking the Queen and a giant 10 would give most people a clue.

Still this Australian dime passed quite easily as quarter.


Here are the stats for this coin...
Type / Country: 10 Cents / Australia
Year: 1989 
Mintage: 45,000,000
Metal: Copper-nickel
Value: $0.25 in XF (this one is less than XF)
 
Do you have an Australian 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, August 21, 2010

Summer of George

Do you have a dollar bill and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Last time I found a Where's George note I kind of went on a rant. To recap it is a site where people stamp notes in order to track them, which I found slightly offensive.

At this point I will not say much but this note I found it typical of Where's George note. Meaning it is fairly
new yet in horrible shape. I do not know if the stampers only doing this to old notes or people tend to manhandle the note more when they try to identify the stamp.


This stamp is says:
LOG ON 
IT IS 
FUN 
FREE 
www.WHERESGEORGE.COM 

With boxes around the series year and serial number. Again I partially blocked the number to keep the game going, yes even though I am not a fan I do not feel like ruining someone's fun.
             
Original page.

The bill was first entered in Illinois back in March of 2008 later that same year it ended up in Vermont then almost two years of travel it ended up here with me, which I will pass on. The bill has traveled about 1,000 miles so far but I doubt it will last another three years.

From the initial user profile here is Blimey's stats:
Bills Entered:  4,222  Hit Rate: 13.48%
Bills with Hits:  569  Total Hits: 684
Days of Inactivity:  0George Score: 941.87
Wilds Found:  13Overall Rank: 2,973
State Rank (Illinois)  115State Percentile : 97.98

This guy is not as obsessed with stamping notes as others on the site.l

Here's the original stats...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar / United States
Year: 2006
Date Printed: June 2007
Printings: 96,000,000
Run: 4th from F19200000C - F25599999C
Value: $1.00 in this shape



Do you have a currency 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.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

2003, 2004, 2000-More

Do you have a Canadian dime and want to know its value? Leave a comment
 
Few people live long enough to see themselves on a coin, even fewer live so long that they need to update their official image.

Queen Elizabeth II is now on her fourth effigy. In 2003 the official effigy used by the royal family was changed to show a more mature Queen. That meant anyone using the third effigy must update it to version 4.0.

Since this happened mid-year some 2003 coins already started using the third image then had to switch to fourth. In most cases value is not affected. For the 2003 Canadian dime no official mintage has ever been given to either effigy so it is assumed they are about 50/50.


Now this post would be great if I had both versions of 2003 side by side but sorry that is not what I found. Instead I got a 2003 and 2004 with the same "new" effigy. I just wanted to let everyone know that another version of the 2003-P Canadian dime does exist.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 2003-P Older Queen effigy, new portrait
Mintage: 163,684,000 (both types included)
Metal: 92% Steel, 5.5% Copper, 2.5% Nickel
Value: $0.10

Type/Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 2004-P
Mintage: 214,143,000
Metal: 92% Steel, 5.5% Copper, 2.5% Nickel
Value: $0.10

Do you have a cent form Canada 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, August 10, 2010

German Euro Cent

Do you have a Euro from Germany and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Euro coins have been more difficult to come by, I am assuming since they have been out performing the U.S. dollar and most other currencies that their owners are not just letting them go.


Note to the right of the 2002 date is a D. The D is the mintmark of  Munich. Other modern German mintmarks are A (Berlin), F (Stuttgart), G (Karlsruhe), and J (Hamburg). The G mintmark is usually the least common but still not rare enough to raise the value above normal.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Euro Cent / Germany
Year: 2002-D
Mintage:805,350,000
Metal: Copper Plated Steel: 94.35% Steel 5.65% Copper
Value: $0.05 in F

Excuse the not so sharp images but there was no strong sun light just a white haze and I did not use a tripod.

Do you have a Euro 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.

Friday, August 06, 2010

1955 D Wheat Cent

Do you have a Wheat cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Water droplets and copper coins do not mix well, I mean they mix very well and that is a problem. They form verdigris which is a complex name for copper salts. Most verdigris on copper coins is a mix of copper and oxygen to form copper carbonate - CuCO3. Water from the air or direct exposure will cause oxidation and a layer of blue to green gunk.

Sure there are other forms of verdigris ( copper acetate or chloride) and they can even be distinguished by the brightness of the green but I already dropped more science than I usually do.

Water damaged?

So why the chemistry lecture?
Well when I found this coin I thought it was in great shape but a few spots on the front were not a good sign. Then those spots on the back showed why this coin was dumped into circulation.

It is also surprising to find verdigris kits on sale, mostly for gardens. People want to turn copper green, what a shame. I still like the Statue of Liberty but she would look cool in shiny copper although it may be unsafe to boats and planes.

Here's the stats for the coin pictured...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / United States
Year: 1955-D
Mintage: 563,257,500
Metal: 95% Copper 5% Tin & Zinc
Value: $0.05 in F-10

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.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

1966 Canadian Cent

Do you have a Canadian cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Woo hoo another Canadian cent. Okay so maybe I am not really that enthusiastic seeing how I have 11 more in a tin can somewhere. Add to that I still have not found a 1990 Canadian cent which is leaving a gap in my records.

Seriously I found nearly every cent from Canada between 1921-2010 and even some varieties but that one 1990 is eluding me. Some kind internet folks have offered to give me the cent for free. As nice as that is I want to find this one from my change. Come on I found the 1964 cent 32 times.

Sure 1990 had a slightly lower mintage but nothing drastic, 218,035,000 compared to an average 750,000,000.

Oh wait back to the cent I actually found.

 


Here's the stats...
Type / Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 1966
Mintage: 183,644,388
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.03 in G-4


Do you have a cent form Canada 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.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

It's a Blog! Enjoy!

On Tuesday, July 12, 2005 I started this blog because so few coin sites existed online. Now it has been over five years and as you see in my links page many great resources are out there. 

As of today this little blog has reached over 640,000 unique visitors, thanks for that. Also over 267 posts brought over 10,000 comments. And yes I responded to all.

The business side has also been good here is a graph on advertising income, plus it is in 3-D.


I will not retire off this blog but it does show what is possible if you post something new at least once a month. Granted that first year was rough but then again I am not doing this for profit.


Hobby Fun
That is why I do this. Even if I only have a common everyday Canadian cent I will post it (hint, hint on the next post). Even if I stop getting odd change I will just start posting on common finds.
There is something special about finding coins older than yourself or from another land or just shiny and new.

My favorite find was an Off-Center Georgia State quarter worth about $50.00. Not because of the value instead it just showed what was possible from your change.

There were many more bloggers that I linked to but most fellow bloggers give up after a few months or worse the go crazy. Apparently these crazies encountered people who are not of their same mindset and it drives them insane so they dedicate their time fueling internet rage.

I continue to update and change stuff around and the ideas I have sometimes exceed my computer skills but feel free add suggestions or tips and of course keep those questions coming in.