2011 Olympic Quarter

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Eighth in the America the Beautiful quarter series it was released on June 13 of this year and has been circulating well. I must admit I am surprised how well these National Park quarters have been circulated. Not counting mintmarks I am only missing Mt. Hood and Glacier quarters.

State quarters also circulated well and I found at least one from every state. On the other hand I found few Territorial quarters and to this day I have not found Guam or The U.S. Virgin Islands. Although 2009 was a low production year they should have circulated better in this area.

While the back is full of design elements of the park the front is almost flat. They spared nothing to showcase this park with every rock and pine needle and even water splashing sculpted on it. For both sides I had to angle the coin to get the details to shine. Granted if I would set up a proper mini photo studio then I would not have issues but that will have to wait.

Highly detailed this is one of my favorites so far.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents-Olympic / United States
Year: 2011-P
Mintage: 30,400,000 (estimated)
Metal: 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in F-12

Do you have a coin from America 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.

Bicentennial Quarter 1776-1976

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

There are no 1975 United States quarters because of this commemorative piece.

Years in planning the U.S.A. bicentennial celebrations was a big deal. Even recently there were fire hydrants around my area still painted red, white, and blue for the occasion. In 1973 the mint announced that the quarter, half dollar, and dollar coins will be designed by citizen artists via a $5,000 contest. Eventually three designs were chosen and plans to cancel the same three 1975 coins, make silver versions, and issue a new two dollar bill became reality.

Victory torch encircled by 13 stars and a colonial drummer along with the typical mandated writing. JLA under the left arm are the initials of Jack L. Ahr the winning designer, not Justice League of America.

Normal obverse except for the dual date of 1776-1976.

This quarter was meant to be issued over a two year period with more than 800 million issued. So unfortunately these are not rare and even in high grade they are very common and worth very little.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents-Bicentennial / United States
Year: 1976
Mintage: 809,784,016
Metal: 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in G-4

Do you have a coin from the bicentennial 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.

2010-P Native American Dollar

Do you have a dollar coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment

Great Law of Peace
Both the name of the dollar coin and the constitution made by the Iroquois nations. This Great Law of Peace influenced America's founders and how they wrote the United States Constitution. As with most treaties this original laws involved everything from holidays, emigration, rights in wars, and even how long to mourn the dead.

I would not say it is ironic but something close enough that may do away with these dollar coins. By law these Native American coins must make up 20% of all dollar coins. Slight problem with that is that aside from New York City no else wants these, I got this one from a Metrocard machine. Currently over 1.25 billion dollar coins are sitting in surplus storage with no plans to ship. Solutions floating around call for ending the dollar coin program or scale back production to almost nothing. Modifying the 20% law could be better.

Another law allows people to buy thousands of dollars coins and have them shipped for free. Some people have done this with credit cards and then quickly payoff the bill with the same coins. This little scam gets them reward points essentially for free. Granted the coins do get to local banks but never really get circulated.

Current coin laws are bound to change but often they go against collectors...1933 verdict.

 

Reminder the date and mintmark is on the edge.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar-Native American / United States
Year: 2010 P (Edge normal)
Mintage: 32,060,000
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in F-12


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.

2008 Canada Ten Cents

Do you have a Canadian dime and want to know its value? Leave a comment
 
Almost a month without a Canadian find. Well that drought is over with this shiny little dime. It is one of the few Canadian dimes I need to complete a nearly sixty year series of dimes. From 1955 to 2008 I have found all but the 1999 Canadian dime just from my change. Granted I do not have every variety or mint but I am just counting each year in this case.

Darker image taken in shadow.

Bright image taken at an angle.

The pictures could have been better but lately I have found nothing but bad lighting or little time to devote to setting up the tripod. So the first image is too dark so I tilted the coin and got the shiny-newness that I wanted to show off.

Here's the stats...

Type/Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 2008
Mintage: 467,495,000
Metal: 92% Steel, 5.5% Copper, and 2.5% Nickel
Value: $0.10 in Extra-Fine

Do you have ten cents from 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.

2004 Philippines 25 Sentimos

Do you have a Filipino coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Back in the early days of this blog I found my last Filipino coin. Now about six years later I find another of their coins in my change. What a refreshing break from North American finds, not that there is anything wrong with them. Finding coins from really far off lands is just a bit nicer.

Obverse: The true date 2004 and the value, REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS.

Reverse: BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS - 1993 (the bank or series date) with the bank seal inside a gear.

The color is real dark and spotted with rust. Originally it would be a nice golden color. It looks like an old cent although it feels like a nickel so I can only guess how it ended up circulating.

The coin itself will probably be confusing to some since it has the two dates. 1993 is the bank seal date or simply the bank date. Putting the bank date on money is a common practice in many countries because it shows that the coin is backed by the current bank. Most likely previous banks collapsed or lost their ratings so if it happens again they can swiftly devalue the old money. On the other hand if the Central Bank stays strong then this date only boosts confidence since each year that passes reminds people that their bank is old and established.

I will admit at first I thought I found a 1993 coin since the reverse was sharper then the front but seeing it in the light I realized it was 2004.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Sentimos / Philippines
Year: 2004
Mintage: Unknown.
Metal: Brass Plated Steel
Value: $0.10 in VF

Do you have a coin from the Philippines 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.

6th Anniversary

Last year I told the tale of how and why I adore this blog. This year let me see how the sixth anniversary gifts of candy, iron, or wood apply.

Candy

About 600 pictures makes for good eye candy. Sure I can probably keep the site more hip looking with Java scripts and hovering elements but lets face it I can only do so much. Instead pictures of coins on top of strange things should suffice. Art related to money is also nice to explore. Coin news on occasion but only if the images or videos are cool.

Iron
Symbol of good luck and strength. Well maybe I will place that on the coins and currency themselves. I mean it is sure lucky to find so many types. Some say luck is just the ability to recognize and take advantage of opportunities but it is lucky that I know how to do that. Strength maybe the coins themselves as they always have value or maybe the fortitude to keep blogging.

Wood
Symbolic of what is long lasting, exactly six years ago on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 I started this blog and here it is Tuesday, July 12, 2011 and I am still here. Recently reaching 1,000,000+ unique visitors, 21,000+ comments, and 314 posts.

This recent comment made me smile and left me in awe...

Is a 5 cent silver Candian nickel tht says Bermuda & Elizabeth II on one side and a fish on the other dated 1988 worth more than a nickel?

I try never to answer with attitude or belittle the comment writers. Other blogs spread mean spirits by arguing with their visitors or allowing mean comments. I consider this blog www.CoinedForMoney.com my personal address, I would not allow someone to stand in front of my home yelling nonsense and I think every site should filter and delete people who do the same.
Oh the answer was just $0.05.

I thank you all and keep those questions coming

1998 British Penny

Do you have British penny and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Third British coin this year is a new record, thanks William and Kate. In case you are not a regular I suggested that this year's royal wedding will lead to more finds Stateside. So far it is ringing true.

This certainly makes up for finding none in 2010, breaking a streak of always finding a British coin in my change.

Obverse of the coin has ELIZABETH II D.G.  REG.F.D.1998, and the designer initials IRB (Ian Rank-Broadley).

Reverse has a Crowned portcullis with chains, designed by Christopher Ironside although I see no initials.

Since the coin itself does not actual say Great Britain or United Kingdom or England it is often confused with other countries. Many times I have been asked "My Canadian coin has a gate and chains in the back is this rare or an error?". Unfortunately it is neither but it is understandable why one would make that mistake since no hint of origin is given.

The cryptic D.G. REG.F.D. is abbreviated Latin for Dei Gratia Regina Fidei Defensor, which literally means 'God's Grace, Queen, Faith Defender' or 'The Grace of God Queen Defender of the Faith' for you translator nuts.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Penny / Great Britain
Year: 1998
Mintage: 739,770,000
Metal: Copper-Plated Steel
Value: $0.05 in XF

Also found a 2000 Bermuda Five Cents but since I found the exact same one early this year there is no need to repeat it.

Do you have a coin from Great Britain 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.

1,000,000

At 6:14:30 pm today Jul 7 2011  this humble little blog got 1,000,000 unique visitor.

Not a shock it was a Google search for: 1 cent 1944

Thanks to everyone who visited and contributed to the great hobby of coin collecting.

NumisMaster

Do you have a coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment

The latest tool in coin identification and pricing is online guides. There are a few guides out there but the most well known is NumisMaster powered by Krause Publications. Krause is the one of the top collectible and hobby publishers in the world. Expanding their reach from newspapers to magazines to books and now a searchable database.

The concept is simple they just put all the data they gather on ancient, world, Canada, and U.S. coins and currency online and you can search it for value or varieties. At the same time you can keep track of each coin you have or want.

The screenshot above shows the series of Bermuda 1 Cent 1970-1985. The first column gives all the years and versions, like proof , matte, mintmark, design, etc. The second column gives you the mintage, if available many moderns are not. The next columns are the value for fine, very-fine, extra-fine, uncirculated, brilliant-uncirculated, and proof. The final column lets you add the coin either to your portfolio or want list.

After adding the coin and grade the next visit to the same page will have the coin you added highlighted.

Notice a problem?
You can only add one coin at a time. So if I added 1970 then I have to start the search all over again to add 1971 or 1970 at a different grade.
Solution: simply add a checkbox to every year and grade and maybe even a blank box to add quantities because sometimes I have multiple coins from the same year and grade.

I am using a one month free coupon to access every coin guide. Normally to have full access to all seven guides it is either $79.95 a year or $12.95 a month. There are also cheaper options if you want to buy just one of the guides.

What's good?

• Huge up to date database
• The ability to customize each coin's description saved to your portfolio
• You can upload your own images

Disappointments

• Hard to navigate
• Many pictures missing
• You have to join and the sign in page is not automatic
• Values seem a bit low
• Price is good but I still feel weird buying something you cannot hold in your hands (this point may only be valid to me)

Overall
It is a great tool but needs some improvement. I put up 193 coins and it says my collection is valued at $8.70. Granted none of these coins were rare but still just for currency exchange rates or base metal I would expect two to three times that estimate. Notice the first screenshot where anything below extra-fine has no value.

There is a great future in this service especially when it becomes smartphone compatible.

Do you have a coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment

1998 Bahamas Cent

Have a Bahamas cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Summer is here and even better than going to a Bahamas resort is finding one of their one cent coins in my change.

Yeah not really.

I would rather be in the Bahamas but here is a nice little reminder that I am not on vacation.

 

Bahamas cents are odd in terms of years minted. They tend to skip years since 1985 even though from 1974-1985 they were minted every year without problems. The years skipped were 1986, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2008. It is not clear if any dated 2010 or later are circulating. Also actual mintage is sketchy.

This is just for the Bahamas cent the other Bahamas coin series has even more gaps

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Bahamas
Year: 1998
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper Plated Zinc
Value: $0.03 in F (Fine)

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.