2005-D California Quarter

Have a California quarter and want to know its value?

Another common state quarter that I finally got in my change. The gaps are filling out nicely too bad the quality is not there. The journey of several years tends to take its toll on all coins. Even though I have the uncirculated sets I still want to find them in my change.

Featuring John Muir, a California condor and the Yosemite Valley it is one the few coins to honor a non-native born man. John Muir was the reason we have a national park system and the Sierra club. He was a friend to nature and the best thing to happen to our country since the founding. If it was not for him and people like him our country wold be devoid of nature except for the privileged few. 

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents- California / United States
Year: 2005 D
Metal: 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel
Mintage: 263,200,000
Value: $0.25 in F-12

Do you have a state quarter 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.

1989-S Proof Cent

Have a 1989 proof cent and want to know its value?

First time ever finding an American proof cent in my change. As you may know proof coins are sold directly to collectors in sealed containers. So how is it possible to find a proof coin in your change? Well I have a theory.

1989 has some of the most valuable proof coins of the 1980s. Currently a 1989-s Proof-65 cent is about $10.00 while the other years are $5.00 or less. Someone probably bought a bunch of 1989 proof sets broke them open and submitted the best ones for grading. This one has some dents and scratches, not to mention more fingerprinting than Amanda Bynes. Not worthy of grading and with little margin for profit they tossed it into a roll and just went to the bank and deposited them for face value.

Some may think a kid must have busted open the set to buy stuff but these days kids do not bother with pennies and a poor person probably would sell it as a set on eBay if they needed money. Either way it has now circulated and lost most of its value. Still it is a low mintage cent and proof so it retains more value than a regular strike.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent Proof / United States
Year: 1989-S
Mintage: 3,220,194
Metal: 97.5% Zinc, 2.5% Copper
Value: $0.30 in Proof-12, (if such a silly grade even exists)

This is suppose to be Canadian Wednesday but both Canadian coins (1998 cent, 2008 dime) I found were repeats so I went with this cooler coin instead.

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.

1983 Ecuador 20 Sucres Note

Have an Ecuadorian note and want to know its value?

This one is a bit tricky for dating even though it was clearly dated Abril 20 de 1983 (April 20, 1983). Technically it is from the 1957-1971 series and overlapped with later issues. To add to the confusion Ecuador no longer issues notes or bills of any kind.

Like most new world currency the Ecuadorian sucre was meant to look and feel like U.S. currency. Their government set a fixed exchange rate to tie the sucre to the U.S. dollar in the 1930s. Unfortunately the people who controlled the monetary units kept devaluing the sucre until early in the year 2000 when it fell to 25,000 sucres per 1 U.S. dollar. The leaders of Ecuador announced the end of the sucre notes by September 11, 2000 and the permanent adoption of the U.S. dollar as Ecuador's national currency.

The American influence guided their money and now replaced it. As a whole the last time the average person could exchange sucres into dollars was 2001, there are always exception but it is not worth it unless you had millions of sucres. Ecuador still issues their own sucre coins up to 50 cents. 

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Country: 20 Sen / Ecuador
Year: April 20, 1983
Printings: Unknown
Printed: Unknown
Run: Unknown 
Value:  $2.00 in Fine, $0.0008 in exchange value

Odd side note I found this on the floor of my college cafeteria a long time ago.

Do you have an Ecuadorian note 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.

Holographic Quarter

Have a holographic quarter and want to know its value?

Found this rainbow hologram quarter in my change and at first I thought it was laser etched. On closer inspection I saw it was flaking and realized it was enameled. This is a fake collectible sold outside the U.S. mint.

 Every angle shines like the rainbow giving it a false hologram look. Reminds me of the rainbow seen in oil slicks.

Notice the peeling enamel coating on the highest points of the design.

 The front is normal and unaltered.

The technique used to make these is simple. A thin layer of clear enamel, like nail polish, is applied to the design of the coin. Like most iridescent or opalescent nail polish the initial look is spectaular in hand but begins to chip after a while.

Currently you can get these from third party collectible sites for about $4.00 each, the more you buy the cheaper they become. Of course I strongly advise against it. They have no value and are considered damage even if the paint is removed. The chemicals tends to leave microscopic damage on the coins surface that will reveal over time.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents-Olympic / United States
Year: 2011-D
Mintage: 30,600,000
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.

1953 Shoulder Fold Canada Dime

Have a 1953 SF Canadian dime and want to know its value?

Shoulder fold Canadian dimes are very difficult to identify in less than uncirculated condition. The queen should have a strap on her shoulder that looks like parallel lines. Unfortunately the original die was not cut deep enough so it looks like she is strapless, the scandal!

 

I think the picture is clear enough to show the shoulder fold or strap.  Although it is worn and dirty most of the detail need to identify Shoulder Folds (SF) and No Shoulder Fold (NSF) is there.

The DEI is another quick way to identify the SF vs. NSF. The I is not extremely flared at the end. Also the E in the NSF version has almost the top flare and middle flare almost touching. This one is very straight and nothing is flaring out too much.

Even if you cannot tell the difference you are in luck because in circulated grades they have the same value.

Here's the stats...
Type / Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 1953 SF
Mintage: 17,706,395
Metal: 80% Silver and 20% Copper
Value: $2.00 in G-4

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.

1928-G $2 Bill, E-A

Have a red seal $2.00 bill and want to find out its value?

The only other $2 red seal I got in my change. This one is older than most and has only one seal which is perfectly normal. The date is also on the left side instead of the normal right side. Aside from that it still had most of the same design seen on most United States notes.

Another thing to note is that the series year of 1928 is not when it was printed. Using the G after the date and the signatures we can guess it was printed between June 1949 - January 1953. Knowing the it is also an E-A serial number it is fairly safe to assume it was printed towards the end of the run likely in 1952.

This is the last of this type of note with the seal on the left. It is fairly common and fairly new so it will not bring in any large value in circulated grade.

Type: $2 U.S. Note
Year: 1928-G
Date Printed: June 1949 - January 1953
Printings: 30,760,000
Run: Unknown
Value: $12.00 in Very-Fine

Do you have a two dollar 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.

Coined For Money: Round-Up May. 13-19, 2013

There is less and less money to find and here are some reasons why. Old coins are being smashed, new coins are virtual, and my finds are headed towards the vault.

The art of Coin Craft is just some artist smashing a few dollars of silver coin into tools then selling them for thousands. The tragic coin loss is part of the final cost.

Read this great article in New York Magazine and here is the less glossy version called A Fistful of Lindens. It explores alternate currencies including local money like Berkshares, time exchange like Ithaca Hours, and video game money like Linden Dollars.

Found a 2013-D Perry quarter that will never circulate again because I will hold on to it forever.

2013-D Perry's Victory Quarter

Have a 2013 parks quarter and want to know its value?

Released on April 1, 2013 this is the 2nd America the Beautiful for this year and 17th for the series. It features Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial in Ohio surround by a 25 acre park.

As with most 2013 coins I found this when relatively quick. A bonus is that it is a Denver coin which usually takes longer to find. The most likely reason for so many rapid finds is that this is the third most common America the Beautiful quarter. The production has been on an upswing with the economy.

Great Basin National Park is the next quarter due out on June 1, 2013 so that means the production of Perry's quarter will probably double. Try to get them now from your change as coins in high production tend to lose quality and sharpness towards the end of the run.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents - Perry's Victory / United States
Year: 2013-D
Mintage: 131,600,000
Metal: 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in F-12

Do you have a quarter 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.

1952 Canada Nickel

Have an old Canadian nickel and want to know its value?

The last King George VI Canadian nickel he died early in the year, 1952, but coins were not changed until the coronation year of 1953. During the same time the Korean War placed a heavy demand on nickel forcing coins in Canada and elsewhere to be made of other materials.

 

 

Can you spot the difference between a plated steel coin and a true 100% nickel coin?

1. They are shinier, the plating is softer than the core and when pressed it smooths out more.
2. At the edges of the design, like letter, the rust of the steel is coming through the tiny cracks.

GEORGVIS VI DEI GRATIA REX will likely never be seen on another coin, aside from fantasy pieces or commemorative types. While plated coins have become standard. These were primitive plates compared to modern types. These had a 0.0127 mm thick nickel plate and a 0.0003 mm thick chromium plate. Modern machines can plate coins with just a few atoms of thickness.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / Canada
Year: 1952
Mintage: 10,891,148
Metal: Nickel and Chromium Plated, Steel Core
Value: $1.50 in Very-Fine

 Do you have five 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.

1953-A $2 Bill

Have a red seal $2.00 bill and want to find out its value?

Red seal notes are also known as United States Notes or Legal Tender Notes. An act of congress authorized that $346,681,016 be maintained for these specific notes. By August 10, 1966 the last $2 red seal bill were printed eventually leading to the end of all red seals.

I got this with a few others in my change many years ago. They had little value back then and still are not rare enough to have any significant value in circulated condition.

The back has Monticello just like a normal nickel. They only changed it to the signing of the Declaration of Independence for the 1976 $2 series to commemorate the bicentennial.

Type: $2 U.S. Note
Year: 1953-A
Date Printed: July 1957 - September 1960
Printings: 18,000,000
Run: 131st from 127-176 of the A46800001A - A47160000A
Value: $10.00 in Very-Fine

Do you have a two dollar 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.

2013-P Dime

Have a dime and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Production and distribution of 2013 coins seems better than ever. I would safely assume as the economy is picking up so is the minting of new coins. Not even halfway through the year and I found a 2013 quarter, cent, and now dime.

Amazingly shiny it does have hard pressed radial pattern seen often on dimes. This is not an error just a worn die that is working a bit hard to press these tiny coins. Judging by the 400+ million Philly dimes made so far we are heading to new highs compared to recent years.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Cents / United States
Year: 2013 P
Mintage: 1,086,500,000 (estimated so far )
Metal: 91.67% Copper, 8.33% Nickel
Value: $0.10  in AU-50

Do you have a U.S. dime 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.

Another Copper Dime

Have an error and want to know its value? Leave a comment

It looks much more copper in hand and weighs 2.27 grams. So is it an error?

I think it may be something else maybe Improperly Annealed or unintentionally chemically altered. Either way I found other copper dimes before and none have been underweight as a true missing clad error would be.

A close inspection of the edge (not pictured) reveals there seems to be a sandwich. Meaning the clad layers are visible but it looks like light copper, dark copper, light copper. It could be a heating error before minting or some attempt at cleaning after leaving the mint.

I will keep it but I do not expect it will every be proven to be anything special.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Cents / United States
Year: 1994 D
Mintage: 1,303,268,110
Metal: 91.67% Copper, 8.33% Nickel
Value: $0.10  in F-12

Do you have a U.S. dime 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 $5 Bill, JL-A

Have a five dollar note and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Keeping an eye out of the five dollar bills I received in my change I finally found a 2009. These are fairly new and have a low production rate. I estimate that I must have come across 200 or so fives before finding the this new one.

To remind everyone these are not special or rare but I just like collecting at least one of every series. They came out in May of 2011 and the last production was in September 2012. Overall the runs have been short.

No major changes from the last series, except of course the signatures. I expect a new series soon as the 2009-A $100 bill are already circulating.

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Federal Bank: $5 Note - Fort Worth / San Fransisco
Year: 2009
Printings: 371,400,000 (estimated)
Printed: May 2011
Run: Unknown 
Value:  $7.00 in Crisp-Uncirculated (CU)

Do you have a $5 note 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.

5th of May Break

I here it is Cinco de Mayo somewhere so I will take a break from posting and be back tomorrow.
Of course I will always have time to answer question so feel free to ask specially  if they are Mexican coins or bills today.

2005-P Minnesota Quarter

Have a quarter and want to know its value? Leave a comment

The gaps in my change collection are for real reason. In this case it is because about the varieties. This quarter has about 70 varieties known as the Minnesota Extra Tree Doubled Die. Some initially sold for $150 and roll hunters went crazy. That is why it took me 8 years to find one in my change.

The list of varieties were being updated by famed error expert Ken Potter at his 2005-P-D-S Minnesota Quarter Doubled Die Listings page. The last update was in late 2010 and by them over 70 were found so I expect about 100 of these varieties know exist. The values have dropped and for less than ten bucks you can get a few of these doubled dies.

The few ones you find in your change have been mostly sorted and  have no true doubling. The hoarders have sifted through them and kept even normal ones since a new variety may pop up at any time.

Here's the stats for a normal Minnesota P quarter...
Type/Country: 25 Cents- Minnesota / United States
Year: 2005 P
Metal: 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel
Mintage: 239,600,000
Value: $0.25 in F-12

Do you have a quarter 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.

2000 Canada Cent

Have a Canadian penny and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Canadian cents are still floating around but seemingly in lower amounts. Granted they are the majority of non-U.S. coin finds but it feels like I should have found more. This one is common and recent so nothing special.

The days are not long for this poor cent. Soon it will be a part of history that will still have little to no extra value. 

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2000
Mintage: 771,908,206
Metal: 98.4% Zinc, 1.6% Copper
Value: $0.01 in EF

Do you have a cent 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