1937 Buffalo Nickel

This is a prime example of environmental damage. It must have been dug up by a metal detector user.
 

The red and green damage gives it a nice look. Granted it has no value above metal value. I understand why the person who found this put it back in circulation. It is common and in this condition not worth saving.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1937
Mintage: 79,480,000
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $0.10 in PO-1 (Poor)

Do you have an old 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.

1927 Buffalo Nickel

Finally found a buffalo nickel in my change that had a readable date. It has been over two years since I found another one like it.

The coin is very dirty and kind of burnt which may have left it unnoticed in circulation for a while before I found it. I actually found another 1927 nickel back in 2007 so they do not seem that rare in circulation.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1927
Mintage: 37,981,000
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $1.25 in G-4

Do you have an old 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.

Dateless Buffalo Nickel, S Mint Mark

While there is no way for the average coin collector to find a date on a very worn coin the mint mark can narrow it down.

Knowing the mint mark is from San Fransisco narrows it down to 20 possible nickels. Most have average value but a few like 1915 and 1921 are $50+ in low grades.

Looking at the front yields no other clues. The wear completely eroded the date and judging by the greenish hue on the back it looks like someone tried to chemically find the date. Using a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide will etch the surface and sometimes reveal the date. It does not always work and will definitely ruin the coin. the greenish-blue left behind is copper-acetate.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 19??
Mintage: ????
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $0.50 in G-4

Do you have an old 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.

Dateless Buffalo Nickel

It has been over two years since I last found a buffalo nickel in my change. This one is so worn that the date is not visible, this is not damaged just natural wear. The great thing is even without a date it carries extra value since the coin is a true classic.

Trying to narrow down a date I looked carefully for clues.

1. No mint mark. Means it is not a 1938.
2. All 4 legs, means it is not the 3-legged 1937 variety.
3. FIVE CENTS is in recess so it is not the 1913 Raised Ground type.

That leaves 21 possible matches from 1913-1937. Most are fairly common and without a clear date none of them would bring any real value. There are probably Buffalo nickel experts that could narrow down the list by subtle design changes but I do not know them off-hand.

Still it has a classic design and is commonly used in jewelery. I have seen them on pendants, cufflinks, and plated for other types of decorations. For that reason about fifty cents per coin that is not otherwise damaged is fair.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 19??
Mintage: ????
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $0.50 in G-4

Do you have an old 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.

1928 Buffalo Nickel

Do you have a Buffalo nickel and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question

First find of 2012!

Got this slightly scratched old five cent coin in my change at a regular store. Also known as an Indian Head nickel but at this point finding any 84 year old coin is great.

 

This is the third buffalo nickel I found around the holidays. A 1927 nickel late in 2007 and a dateless buffalo in late 2008 are not a coincident. I said it before, the holidays always brings out some nice finds.

I imagine grandma giving a little grandchild the coin saying how special it was, telling a long story of her youth and recently passed grandpa. Then in a week later the kids goes to the local store and buys a bag chips with his change and use it without a second thought.

Since technically the holidays are over after Three Kings Day on January 6th I will keep looking for more old change finds. (For those who may not celebrate Three Kings Day or Epiphany it is generally celebrated with a reenactment of the Epiphany and giving gifts to children.)

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1928
Mintage: 23,411,000
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $1.25 in G-4

Do you have an old 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.

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.

Classic and Timeless, Literally

Do you have an old 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.

This will probably be my last two finds of the year. I may spend some cash on Monday but the chance of getting anything good is slim. Finding two older coins at the end of year is always nice. It gives me a boost to continue searching my change and annoying others by searching their change.

Last year I ended the year finding a 1927 nickel I think it is the last scramble to buy gifts, people tend to use every last nickel.


Neither coin is in great shape the dime has all the lines on the torch flat with no separation. This is the main grading point for Roosevelt dimes. As for the nickel the front is so faded that the date is completely worn flat. There is a product called Nic-a-Date that uses a simple dilute phosphoric acid and detergent to remove layers of dirt but in this case I doubt it would work.

Here's the stats for these coins...
Type/Country: 10 Cents / United States
Year: 1946
Mintage: 255,250,000
Metal: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Value: $2.66 in Fine

Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: Unknown
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $0.50 in AG-3

Dateless buffaloes are still collectible since they have such a great look and can be made into other thing like jewelry or art. Of course the dime will always have a premium value despite grade because of the silver content. One year ago these dimes were going for $1.00 so its a good idea to keep an eye on silver values if you want to unload a lot of these coins.

Do you have an older 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.

Ending 2007 with a Buffalo

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.

This last month I've found some more interesting coins in my change. I expect very little shopping this last week after Christmas and the one numismatic gift I got was from me. I bought some foreign coins from Eastern Numismatics Inc. they're a decent company and when I receive the coins I'll post some of the more interesting ones. I may troll eBay for some other coins but I need a good printer so I'll focus on that before my money is gone.

As usual Canada dominates the change finds but I did get some older American and one Austrian coin. I can only explain this as the exchange rate from Canada to the U.S. has been great for the Canadians. All the foreign coins were from cashier friends while the American coins were given back as change from the local supermarket.

The best find all year was this 1927 Buffalo nickel it was from my change with a few modern nickels. It was a surprise seeing how few older American coins I get recently. Then last week I got a 2007 dime from Canada that looks great at UNC(uncirculated).

Here's the stats...
Type / Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 1995
Mintage: 624,983,000
Metal: 98% Copper, 1.5% Zinc, 0.5% Tin
Value: $0.03 in G-4 (Good)

Type/Country: 20 Euro Cents/Austria
Year: 2002
Mintage: 203,500,000
Metal: Brass
Value: $1.00 in UNC

Type / Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 1927
Mintages: 37,981,000
Metal: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $2.50 in F-12

Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1945
Mintage: 1,040,515,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Zinc
Value: $0.10 in VF-20

Type / Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 1985
Mintage: 142,800,000
Metal: 100% Nickel
Value: $0.12 in G-4(Mostly for the nickel value.)

Update: There are know two recognized varieties for the 2007 Canada Ten Cents, straight and curved 7. The curved 7 variety were only found in sets and not issued for circulation.

• St7 has the 7 in 2007 straight and not curved. MS-65 not-circulated = $10.00
  
• Cr7 has the 7 in 2007 curved. MS-65 not-circulated = $20.00

Type / Country: 10 Cents / Canada
Year: 2007 Maple Leaf Logo (ST7)
Mintage: 304,110,000
Metal: 92% Steel, 5.5% Copper, 2.5% Nickel
Value: $0.30 in MS-60
The Krause World Coin Book has the Maple Leaf Logo listed as (ml).

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.

Buffalo Nickels and Friends

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

Here is a sample of the 5 different nickels I've found in my change in the last month.

They are a "Indian Head" or "Buffalo" nickel minted from 1913-1938, a Jefferson nickel minted from 1938-2003, a Louisiana Purchase/Peace Medal nickel minted early-2004, a Lewis and Clark/Keelboat nickel minted mid-2004 and a "New Buffalo" nickel minted early-2005.

Yes, a 1913 Liberty Nickel(not pictured) did sell for $3,737,500 but only five were known to exist. The most valuable of each non-error* type in low grades are as follows. 1913S v.2** Buffalo at $340.00, 1939D Jefferson at $10.00 and only $0.25 for all three newer ones.

Heres the stats for the five coins pictured....
Year: 1921? I'm unsure if it's a S mint mark or not.
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 10,663,000 or 1,557,000 for S mint
Value: G-4 $4.00 or $75.00 for S mint (a worn S mint mark would bring down the value)

Year: 1955D
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 74,464,100
Value: MS-60 $0.50

Year: 2004P/Keelboat
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 366,720,000
Value: MS-63 $0.25

Year: 2004D/Peace Medal
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 372,000,000
Value: MS-63 $0.25

Year: 2005D/American Bison
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 487,680,000
Value: MS-63 $0.25

Sidenote:I switched to my camera for these images they came out pretty detailed, but dark, not Photoshopped in any way. When you enlarge the image and zoom in you can see every nick and scratch, I'll probably stick with the camera***.

Footnotes:
* error coins exist among all coins and raise the value in most cases, these errors are often small and extremely rare, in this instance I left out error-coins value
** v.2 refers to a second variety of a coin that was made on purpose not a error, in this case it is the Bison on the reverse is standing on plain ground as opposed to a raise mound/v.1 worth only $38 not $325
***I didn't stick with the camera.