1948 Wheat Cent

Simple wheat cent made after WWII so it is common. 

The back is slightly damaged so it will never have more than metal value.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / United States
Year: 1948
Mintage: 317,570,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.10 in F-12

Do you have an older 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.

2012 Trinidad & Tobago Cent

It has been more than 15 years since Trinidad & Tobago has issued a mintage for there 1 cent circulating coins. It is fair to assume they are made in low amounts but not rare. 

The cents are thin and I think still made of bronze. Nice high grade but the die seems to be overly polished. There is a small rim die break so they may be using old dies. I have not heard of any new cents being minted since 2012.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Trinidad and Tobago
Year: 2012
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.10 in XF

Do you have a Trinidad and Tobago 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.

1995 United Arab Emirates Dirham

Another coin not often found in my change yet I still found one recently. The United Arab Emirates is another one of those Islamic state countries that has been growing more powerful over the last few decades. It is some times surprising how many travelers are from countries that a decade ago were never heard from.

The year is ١٤١٥-١٩٩٥ which is 1995-1415 not 1990-1310. Luckily it has the country name if not the only clue it is from the United Arab Emirates is the skinny jug.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 1 Dirham / United Arab Emirates
Year: 1995
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.35 in VF (very-fine)

Do you have an United Arab Emirates 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.

2013 Malaysia 10 Sen

My first Malaysian change finds in over ten years. Apparently all the sad news out of Malaysia in recent months have ironically increased travel. Local media and investigators have been going to and from Malaysia more than ever and as travelers tend to do they will use the wrong change.

2013 10 SEN BANK NEGARA MALAYSIA

This coin is so new it is not listed in most books and websites. It has a geometric star pattern on one side and the date, value, bank, and flower on the other. Malaysia's Central Bank is the Bank Negara Malaysia and is featured on all their coins.

This coin has some die cracks and chips. On date side the 0 in 10 has a big die chip with two cracks extending to the rim. The breaks made the sides uneven and on the date side has lightly pressed flaws on the right of the design elements. The back has another die crack from the rim at 9:00 reaching almost to the center of the coin. the rim on both sides is misaligned.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Sen / Malaysia
Year: 2013
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Stainless Steel
Value: $0.15 in Extra-Fine

Do you have a Malaysia 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.

1950 Wheat Cent

First of the 1950s wheat cents. In total there are 26, not including errors or varieties. Easiest of all the wheat cents to find are from the 50s and yes they are also the least valuable.

Just five more 1950s wheat cents and I am done talking about them. The last few may be tough to find since they are San Fransisco cents. S mint cents are made in lower amounts and generally do not travel as far. Add to that that they are more likely to get put into collections since they are thought to be rare, even they they are not.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / United States
Year: 1950
Mintage: 272,635,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.10 in F-12

Do you have an older 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.

1946 Nickel

Prewar composition returned with this nickel. From 1942 to 1945 they made nickels out of silver and other metals. 1946 was the first time since WWII ended that the 75% copper and 25% nickel  was used again.

The coin is in rough shape and common so I expect it only to ever have metal value. Few of the older coins I found are in great shape that is because they all have circulated. It is still possible to find almost uncirculated older coins in your change but that gets tougher each year.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1946
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Mintage: 161,116,000
Value: $0.10 in F-12

Do you have a recent nickel 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 $1 Bill, L-U

No good reason to put up this common dollar except for it has been a while since I have seen the letter U used at the end of the serial number. The 2009 dollar bills were printed in massive amounts and they went all the way up to W.

This one was made with the new Large Examining and Printing Equipment (LEPE) and if you care to learn more about it grab a calculator and visit LEPE Overprinting. At the end it is not special and even has some bank stamp on it so no extra value ever. Still they made over 2 billion of this one district which is amazing.

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Federal Bank: $1 Note-Fort Worth / San Fransisco
Year: 2009
Printings: 2,067,200,000
Printed: November 2013
Run: 2nd of 15 from L12800001U - L19200000U
Value: $1.50 in CU

Do you have currency 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 $2 Bill, B-A

They are still printing $2 bills and the newest are the 2013 series. I have not found any of those but I did get another 2009 two dollar bill in my change. I did not even ask for it but I guess the cashier was out of singles.

They only made 2009 series two dollar notes February, April, June, July, and August of 2012.  Those five months was enough to print about 134 million notes. That means they are not rare but still may be difficult to get in your change.

Here's the stats...
Type/Federal Bank: $2 Note- Fort Worth, TX / New York
Year: 2009
Date Printed: April 2012
Printings: 32,000,000
Run: 1st of 5 from B00000001A - B06400000A
Value: $2.00 in Almost Uncirculated

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.

2009 $1 Star Note, A-*

I have seen more star notes than I get in my change. While standing and waiting to checkout  everyday at lunch I see so many people paying with star notes. I am not one to start conversations so I let them pass it on but on occasion I get it back in my change.

This is a more common star note but there is no way for me to remember which are rarer. Of course I can go to US Paper Money Info's Serial Number page but again my smartphone is acting dumb. All star notes are worthy of collecting but it would be nice to know which ones are a better investment. One quick way is the number of leading zeroes. The more zeroes the better and more likely it is a smaller printing.

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Federal Bank: $1 Star Note - D.C. / Boston
Year: 2009
Printings: 3,200,000
Printed: October 2010
Run: 2nd of 4 from A03200001* - A06400000*
Value: $2.50 in VF

Do you have currency 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 $5 Star Note, ML-*

Lots of first for this bill. It is my first 2013 star note, the first $5.00 star note, the first star note I found since 2013, and the first $5.00 bill I found since 2013.

Check out all the hidden watermarks and the security thread.

As with all modern star notes this is a replacement bill used when ordinary notes were damaged or made with errors. They have extra value since relatively few were made. Still 3.2 million were printed so they are not rare.

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Federal Bank: $5 Star Note - D.C. / San Francisco
Year: 2013
Printings: 3,200,000
Printed: September 2013
Run: 1st from ML00000001* - ML03200000*
Value: $15.00 in CU

Do you have currency 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 $20 Bill, MC-A

The newest $20 bill is the 2013 series (as of August 2014). They began printing them on October 2013 with the MA-A serial numbers.

No major updates except for the Rios-Lew signatures. Still it is nice to get a new bill that is still crisp for face value. Wait another 80 years before the value goes up, assuming we are still using money in that time.

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Federal Bank: $20 Star Note - D.C. / Philadelphia
Year: 2013
Printings: Unknown
Printed: December 2013 
Run: Not known from MC32000001A - MC51200000A
Value: VF(very fine) $22.00

Do you have currency 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.

1948-D Nickel

Finally found all three minted 1948 nickels, again.Yes I found most of these common coins in my change decades ago but I decided to start again when I first made this blog. How is your change collecting going?

This one is a bit rough but still a keeper. It has been slightly overwhelming at times. I look through every coin I come across and try to remember if I have it already, if I blogged about it, if it is worth anything extra, and if I do have it is it a better grade.

My phone is currently acting up so I can barely use it. Once a get a new phone I will make use my Google Drive coin checklist to check my finds quickly but until then my brain is going to have work faster.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1948-D
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Mintage: 44,734,000
Value: $0.10 in F-12

Do you have a recent nickel 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.

2003 British 10 Pence

The older ten pence with the crowned lion is not seen as often in my change. I have found quite a few of the puzzle shield ten pence coins. I am told that countries outside of the U.S. have a better recycling of older coins program.

Since the start of the Euro coins and currency I have not found older European coins. Luckily British coins have not changed that much. The designs are updated but the shape and metal stays relatively normal so older coins can mix with the new ones in circulation.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Pence / Great Britain
Year: 2003
Mintage: 88,118,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.15 in F

Do you have a coin from the United Kingdom 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.

1951 Nickel

Still surprisingly easy to find older nickels. I have been finding nickels in my change that are 50 years or older. 

1951 had a small minting and it stayed that way until the late 1950s when production increased to a normal of 100 million+ a year.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States of America
Year: 1951
Mintage: 28,552,000
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Value: $1.50 in Almost Uncirculated (AU-50) this one is less

Want to know if your nickel has more than face value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

2013 Canada de Salaberry Quarter

Made in honor Charles-Michel de Salaberry the leader of the military group the Voltigeurs Canadiens. He  stopped the advance of Americans into Montréal by cutting down trees and faking a giant army at the Battle of Châteauguay. What a shame, it would be nice to go to Montréal without a passport and we would also spell it Montreal without that fancy é.

As always with Canada one commemorative is not enough.  There were nine 2013 quarters issued. The de Salaberry quarter had a colorized and normal version, the maple was colored red for the other version.

There were at least five War of 1812 issued for circulation and I think all had a normal and colorized version to make a total of ten. Here on this coin de Salaberry is frosted and the background is normal. The War of 1812 is written over and over in the background in French (La guerre de 1812) and English.

Type/Country: 25 Cents / Canada
Year: 2013
Mintage: Not yet known. (estimated about 12,500,000)
Metal: 94% Steel, 3.8% Copper, 2.2% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in Very-Fine (VF-20)

Do you have any 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.

1948-S Nickel

There are about 200 different U.S. nickels you can reasonably find in your change and I think I posted about 50 of them. That is 25% to the goal and I cannot find anything else to say about them. So if the next write-ups are short you know why.

It is from San Fransisco that means something? Maybe not circulating coins from San Fransisco were common back in the 40s.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1948-S
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Mintage: 11,300,000
Value: $0.10 in F-12

Do you have a recent nickel 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.

2014 Bahamas Cent

There is no information on the web about this coin. At least none that I could find. It is a brand new 2014 Bahamian cent and is different than other cents issued by the country in the past.

First thing is the 2014 date is very cool it looks a bit like a cursive font with the 4 opened at the top.

The coin is about 17mm which is the same as the smaller 2009 issue. It weighs about 1.75 grams, again just like the lighter 2009 issue. The difference is core metal. Previous issues were copper-plated zinc and this one seems to be copper-plated steel. It does stick to a magnet well and is too light to be made of nickel. If it were a zinc core it would not be magnetic.

None of the official mint sites or coin collectors sites have any information. I will leave this post on top for an extra day to ask anyone out there for help. If you know anything about this new issue Bahamas cent please leave a comment below.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Bahamas
Year: 2014
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper Plated Steel
Value: $0.05 in XF

Do you have an old or new 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.

2010-D Yosemite Quarter

Four years after first being minted and it looks better than the Philly Yosemite quarter I found back then.

Great design on the Yosemite quarter. You have the huge granite rock rock known as El Capitan, the forest around it, and a fallen tree. The design makes me feel that I am looking at an ancient place.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents-Yosemite / United States
Year: 2010 P
Mintage: 34,800,000 (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.

2014-P Dime

Got two these in my change back in the beginning of June and since them I have seen plenty more. Over half a billion were estimated minted and the year was just half over at that point in June.

I know for those die hard buy-and-grade collectors these coins are common and worthless. I am one of those old fashion collecting for fun types and getting new and shiny pieces from my change is swell. The revere has full bands but still that will not bring much extra in the future as so many people are grading non-circulating coins that it will only lower this coins value.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Cents / United States
Year: 2014 P
Mintage: 538,500,000 (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.

2012 Poland 20 Groszy

RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA is Polish for the Poland Repbulic, although I often see the coin and think it is Czechoslovakian. It has that thin bird and simple wreath designs so it look like a lot of Easten European coins.

I do like the MW mint mark under the eagle's right claw. It looks like a bird flying over a crown. Overall a simple design but also traditional.

Third Polish coin I found this year which is more than normal. I do not see a trend even as trade with the U.S. is increasing since Russian sanctions begins to slow down Poland's economy. It is still to soon to show that more Polish tourists are visiting but I am sure less Russians are taking that trip.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 20 Groszy / Poland
Year: 2012
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.20 in VF

Do you have a coin from Poland 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-J Germany 2 Euro Cent

My third most common foreign finds are German coins, all have been euro coins. One of few euro coins with mint marks it is a bit more fun to find these euros because they are usually not repeats.

Five mint marks to choose from and the coins are still being made so finding more is almost guaranteed. Since the are penny size they easily get mixed up in your change and with the exchange value you will end up making a profit. Well if you use them Europe instead of just filing them away like I do.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 2 Euro Cents / German
Year: 2010 J
Mintage: 41,837,000
Metal: Copper Plated Steel
Value: $0.05 in VF

Do you have any German 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.

2008 Switzerland 1/2 Franc

Swiss money is still worth than American money. Just ten percent higher but still enough to make their economy stable. Still they rely heavily on low wage workers so small change is still used in abundance. 

1/2 francs are like half dollars in the U.S. except they are the size of a dime and are commonly used. The back has the wreath commonly seen on Swiss coins and the date with the denomination. The front has 23 stars around a standing figure leaning on a cross shield and holding a spear. Under the figure is HELVETIA and the initial A.BOVY and INCF.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1/2 Franc / Switzerland
Year: 2008
Mintage: 25,022,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.55 in XF

Do you have a coin from Switzerland 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.

1988 Canada Cent

Do not worry every Canadian cent I feature means one less to show off in the future. Two years after the end of Canadian cents and there still seems to be plenty in U.S. change but do not expect that to last.

Like other Canadian cents this one has a higher metal value than its face value. Still common and I think can be melted if your not in Canada.

Here's the stats...

Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 1988
Mintage: 482,676,752
Metal: 98% Copper, 0.5% Tin, and 1.5% Zinc
Value: $0.02 in F

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.

2014-D Nickel

Still using nickels and cents to get rid of them since I spent the first six months of 2014 using just dollars. I did this to get the most change possible and now I have too much. Instantly I noticed my change finds almost stopped but I managed to find a new nickel.

I noticed I am getting nickel and dimed from my usually spot. Add to that NYC is considering a law that would charge customers ten cents for every plastic bag used. Summing up the small price increases and new charging laws I estimate that it would take about $22.00 from my pocket. That is two of my lowest bills.

Getting "nickel and dimed" is the term used when you get charged a few cents more for the same product or service. The potential new plastic bag tax would raise the cost of an existing product without a reduction of store item prices even though the cost/burden of plastic bags would no longer be a factor in the owners business. It makes corporations millions in extra profit and cost consumers hundreds of dollars. For the poor it makes them worse off and make rich people all the more richer. #end_of_rant

Save your nickels because your going to need them.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 2014-D
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 306,720,000 as of June 2014
Value: $0.05 at F-12

Do you have a recent nickel 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.

1999-D Susan B. Anthony Dollar

With this 1999-D dollar I finally found all the Susan B. Anthony dollars that were issued for circulation, including the wide and narrow rim varieties. All were change finds so I just got them for face value.

1999 dollar coin were issued in response to a shortage of coins for vending machines that became to expensive to use small change and accepted bills larger than a dollar.  Golden dollars were set to be issued but that was still a year away. Pressure from cities like New York City forced the Federal Reserve to empty their vaults of dollar coins and a quick reissue of the Susan B. Anthony dollars.

It took me 15 years to find this one because less than 12 million were made. They are the least common circulating Susan B. Anthony dollars, of course the 1981 series had less but they were not issued for circulation.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar / United States
Year: 1999 D
Mintage: 11,776,000
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Value: VF-20 $1.00

Do you have any dollar 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.