Option 4? Let it Grow

An update to my previous post about Unreachable Cents that were on top of a traffic box. The three cents left on top of the box have now grown to four.

I posted about my choices: 1. Be shameless and just go for it., 2. Ignore it and keep some dignity., or 3. Go all ninja and try to secretly get them. Well someone gave a 4th choice, Add some of your own pennies. See if a large collection begins.

Apparently someone was reading that added option and one more cent was left behind. I still have not found a moment of quiet to get them but at this rate it may go up to ten cents by the end of the month.

Notice any other differences from the first photo? 

Besides a sunnier day the side graffiti has been updated. I guess the local tagger keeps freshening his/her mark. First it was black, then blue, then silver, and now white. Now if I can can a picture of that thug I would be happy.

Back to the cents it would be interesting to see if they keep breeding but the tagger will force the cleaning of the box soon. Dang I like staring at those coins it is relaxing when I am stuck data archiving all day.

Unreachable Cents

Okay maybe they are in reach but should I even bother?

The Situation
There is a green traffic switch box outside my office and where people often put stuff on after leaving a local restaurant and before entering a cab. I have seen them leaving full coffee cups, fresh food, and money. Once I found $22 that some unknown person left there, if I saw it happening I would yell down to them.

This is what has been left recently.

 First someone left one cent about two weeks ago and then a week ago two more cents appeared. 

Since this my place of work I feel uneasy about reaching over for such little. Back when I found the $22 it was less busy and I just started out. I know these days finding lost money is good but I often see loose change on the street and pass it by if I am with others.

I know this money will be there for a while but the weather will take its toll.

The Choices:

1. Be shameless and just go for it.
2. Ignore it and keep some dignity.
3. Go all ninja and try to secretly get them.

Your opinion matters.

P.S. The green  boxes are repainted and cleaned about twice a year so these will not stay there forever.

Black Friday Finds

Not talking about something on sale. I am talking about a good opportunity over the next few weeks to find odd and possibly value coins and currency in your change. No need to roll hunt at your bank or buy coins lots from dealers. This is way more simple.

How to get change finds:
1. Use cash
--This is great because there is no interest on credit cards and you get the actually change.

2. Make friends while checking out
--Cashiers and others shoppers have odd money and being kind will go far. Foreigners may need help making change and you can help. Most tourists are happy to sell or give small change they consider common.

3. Recognize damage vs. error
--This is damaged...

Coins are tough but it takes very little pressure, heat, or chemical (ie. water, salt) to alter them dramatically. The coin pictured above looks like someone tried to cut it with wire or bolt cutters. The reason why is not important but it is not an error. If you know the basic minting process then this cannot happen at any minting stage and there for has no extra value.

Still if your not sure put it aside and take good pictures.

4. Bring extra money for trade
--Anytime you go shopping you should bring 2-5 of the most common coins. Here in the U.S. carry 5 pennies, 5 nickels, 5 dimes, 5 quarters, and 5 dollar bills for trade. Use them to swap out old coins in pick-a-penny tray or to give to the cashier if you find out they have a few old notes. If 5 is too many then cut it down to what you feel comfortable carrying.

5. Keep a sharp eye out
--Opportunities for finds are everywhere. Look on the ground, look on the counters, check other people's change, and especially your own change.

6. Know what is common for your change versus rare
--Although you hardly see $2 bills in the U.S. most are common so unless you really want them just pass it on. Do a little research on when silver coins were last made or if replacement notes look different or even if certain years carry more errors.

Good luck and yes the turkey was delicious. 

50/50 Fooled Half the Time

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During tax season fly-by-night tax prepares opened shops around my fair town and were handing out these clever flyers. The flyers are shaped, designed, and folded to look like a lost fifty dollar bill. Knowing that most people throw flyers away after a few minutes these ingenious flyers are bound to get picked up again. Most people would not pass by a lost buck even if it dirty or in the gutter.

This type of advertising is not illegal since it is not meant to deceive anyone into thinking it is a genuine note. Instead it hits on that scavenging gene that little piece everyone has that wants to find something for nothing. The ad is for Liberty Tax. The company gives you $50 cash when you go in and let them do your taxes. They are famous for doing taxes with your final year's pay-stub.

Oh they are also infamous for taking back the $50 and an additional $350 to do simple taxes, they have caused franchise owners to go broke, and have done funny business with social security numbers, tax-day loans, and refund checks.

I redacted the address for privacy concerns.

I have been fooled to pick up these but never been fooled to enter one of their temporary shops.

Value?
None. This is not even close to being a exonumia piece even though it is a coupon. Ad and certain money collectors have shown interest older versions of these like wooden nickels. Still older funny money/ads rarely hold any high values. The old adage "Don't take any wooden nickels." is very appropriate for this particularly piece.

Do you have an odd 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.

Year In Review 2009

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Time for the boring end of the year stats.

First for all the coin/currency books that have come out with the new editions this year they are useless as an upgrade. If you don't have any coin/currency books you still may want to get the previous editions to save money.

Now to the coins lets start with a dull bar graph showing the 40 coins/currency I found from 14 different countries.

Check it out Canada once again was the most common world coin I found in my change.
Spain came in number two.
Australia, Bahamas, and Bermuda tied for third place.

Oldest United States Find
1887 Cent

Oldest Foreign Find
1970 Canadian Cent

Most Valuable Find(above face value)
1996 $20 dollar star note in VF about $22.50

Although I found more coins then I ever have all of these coins were of little value. Most were just face value and those above face were just a couple cents above. I wouldn't say it has been disappointing just not spectacular.

At the end I found 65 pieces making it the most since I've started tracking these things. Still a good chunk of that is due to all the U.S. varieties for 2009.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and change for all.

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1992 British Ten Pence, Again

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Found at Target just resting on a table while dozens of people passed it by without a care. I do not blame them since this is the most common 10 pence ever and passes through U.S. coin operated machines like butter.

33
That is right this is the 33rd 1992 ten pence I found, some were from coin lots, but most are from my change. As recent as December of last year I found one of these among a group of Canadian finds.

For this reason this coin is getting its own post. I'm assuming many of these billion and a half coins have left Great Britain and are commonly found. This one is not in the best of shape.

The World Coin book has a great description of the reverse:

Crowned lion prancing left.

Varieties in how the edges were made and also in thickness exist for the 1992-1997 ten pence coins. With only a few from 1995 and 1996 I have not really checked on these and the Coins of England book by Spinks book is no help.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Pence / Great Britain
Year: 1992
Mintage: 1,413,455,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.10 in F(This may be less)

Update: Thanks to Sylvester for this information

With regards to the milling varieties, 1992 is the only year when there is more than one type. There's the earliest issues which have 'wire milling' (the thin narrow one), sometimes during 1992 a thicker flat edge was adopted and used every year thereafter.

You might be interested to learn that the small 10p series is a somewhat complex one with many minor varieties. 1992 itself has no less than 5 distinct varieties, one of which is rare.

Type 1 - Wire milling - Obv. L & I point between edge beads, Rev. 1 points at a bead. (Extremely common, estimate mintage = 565,382,068)

Type 2 - Flat Edge - Obv. L & I point between edge beads, Rev. 1 points at a bead. (Extremely common, estimate mintage = 565,382,068)

Type 3 - Flat Edge - Obv. L & I point at edge beads, Rev. 1 points between beads. (Common, estimated mintage = 261,489,206)

Type 4 - Flat Edge - Obv. L & I point between edge beads, Rev. 1 points between beads. (Scarce, estimate mintage = 14,134,552)

Type 5 - Flat Edge - Obv. L & I point at beads, Rev. 1 points at a bead. (Rare, estimated mintage = 7,067,276)

For most other years there's two distinct varieties.

While I won't have time to go over my previous finds this one has the obverse L & I in between dots. The reverse has the 1 pointing directly at a dot. This is the most common type but maybe one of the other 32 are better, I'll try to search soon.

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.

1977 Trinidad & Tobago Cent

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Not a change find instead it was found on the floor of a Dunkin' Donuts along with some other cents. Apparently in Starbucks some can find a tenner but in lowly Dunkin' Donuts you must scrounge the floor for a cent.

It is my second 1977 Trinidad and Tobago cent find but my first this year. This does keep up with the pattern of foreign finds I find on a regular basis.

The obverse has the Coat of Arms of Trinidad and Tobago with the Scarlet Ibis, the Cocrico, and the hummingbird which is also featured on the reverse. The motto says TOGETHER WE ASPIRE, TOGETHER WE ACHIEVE like most mottoes is meant to unite a diverse country.

A touch smaller, thinner, and lighter than a U.S. cent it still can pass especially since it is so dark in hand.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Trinidad and Tobago
Year: 1977
Mintage: 25,000,000
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.05 in F

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.

Happy Canada Day

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

Canada Day is the day on July 1 1867 when four little Canadas became one big country. Pardon me if I got glossed over a few details.

Apparently besides parades, a day off, and flag waving they graciously dump millions of their coins into our change. The two I just found are repeats for me. Both are very common and smell nothing like Canadian bacon (ham in the U.S.).

This is my fourth 1978 Canadian nickel and third 2006 Canadian cent.

The one interesting thing about the cent is that it is a copper plated zinc no mintmark/logo. There are five varieties two zinc cores( no logo or RCM logo) and three steel cores( P logo or no logo or RCM logo). This one I found is the most common.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 2006
Mintage: 886,275,000
Metal: 98.4% Zinc, 1.6% Copper
Value: $0.02 in F

Type/Country: 5 Cents / Canada
Year: 1978
Mintage: 137,079,273
Metal: 100% Nickel
Value: $0.07 in F

Continuing the Canada Day celebrations let me show you most of my found Canadian coins.

The 500+ coins are in a Polo Grounds Stadium tin that plays Take Me Out to the Ball Game when the lid is lifted.

A closer look into the box you'll see a tombac five cent, a few proofs, very old cents, and many common circulating coins. Not pictured are many older purchases and cents with verdigris damage that I seperate since they will infect other coins.

So congrats on confederation Canada and yes I will continue to enjoy your spare change.

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

Tiny

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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.

Mind The Gaps

Do you have a coin missing from your simple out of pocket collection and can't figure out why? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the mintage and history for you.

While taking inventory or checking off the list of coins I find in my change occasionally there is a gap. Some coins have a low mintage, some were only sold in special sets, but others just evade capture.

One commenter asked:

For about a year now I've been collecting canadian coins mostly from circulation (I live in Canada) and now I have a lot of coins including every penny from 1960 to 2009, except 1990. Was there a low mintage of this coin or something?

My response:

The average mintage is 500 million or more the 1990 cent had about 210 million made so while lower than normal it is not rare or scarce.

I have the same problem I have almost every Canadian cent from circulation except 1990. It's odd.

Expanding on this Canada made 1,066,628,200 cents in 1989 which led to a smaller 218,035,000 in 1990 then back to 831+ million in 1991. 1990 also introduced a new portrait. While there are some theories behind the lower mintage no good explanation of why they are seldom seen circulating was ever given.

I've found Canadian cents from 1942 and bought others from 1902 to date at low cost. With all that I have not found a 1990 and refuse to buy it, search rolls, or trade for it. 32 Canadian 1964 cents but not one 1990, it's odd.

Other low mintage cents I'm missing:

Canada 2003 92+ million 1990 218+ million 1958 59+ million 1949 33+ million 1948 25+ million 1947 74+ million

Now I just found this nickel.

This 1947 nickel has escaped me for 20+ years and finally I got it. Is it rare? No. Have I found older nickels? Yes. It just happens I never found a United States nickel from 1947 of any mint. This one is dented and damaged but very clear. 1938 and 1944 are other missing years plus counting mintmarks I'm still missing some fairly common nickels.

Is it possible to collect every coin from your change? (Without roll hunting or trading)
Yes. Just wait 80 years and always pay in cash.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States of America
Year: 1947
Mintage: 95,000,000
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Value: $0.05 because it's dented

Sidenote: This image was taken with a 10 megapixel camera on loan, now it has been years since I bought my Canon A95 (5 megapixel) and the advances are great.

Want to know if they made a coin for a certain year and its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Quick Find

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.

I'm trying to post the coins I find or buy faster so with that in mind I found this Irish Euro coin in my change two days ago and don't want to leave it wandering on my desk for months.

Ireland (Eire) has been using Euros since 2002 and each year they mint less and less. Take the 2 Euro cent in 2002 the made 354,643,386 by 2006 they only made 26,628,597 which is a big drop.
Note the 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001-Date has a 2005 mintage of 72,600. This is completely wrong someone left out the extra numbers.

The coins edge has a smooth edge with a groove, I couldn't get a good picture so here is an image from the great and awful Wikipedia.


Here's the stats from top left...
Type/Country: 2 Euro Cent / Ireland
Year: 2007
Mintage: 84,291,248(Estimated the true number may not be known for years)
Metal: Copper Plated Steel
Value: $0.10 in VF


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.

Few Finds, Strange Finds

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Well it's been a while since I posted some of my recent finds. Again I blame this on low cash usage. I've been using credit cards a lot and just buying with exact change. Still I received in my change some nice finds.

A few wheat cents but I only pictured the best one below. This 1957-D cent is still red, although a little banged up. Next I found an Israeli New Sheqel from 2006. Then the last coin I found was the oldest coin I ever got from change. It's an 1890 Indian Head cent in slightly damaged condition.

Obverse and reverse.

All the wheat cents I found have been from the 1950s but finding that 118 year old cent was a fair trade-off.

I've been so busy with other things that I have not bought a coin, book, or anything numismatic related for the last couple of months. Although I'm not a big buyer I do like getting the newest books. Luckily change finds still exist even at this low rate. I've found only 5 interesting coins in 2008 last year it was only 4 by this time. I miss the old days when I found 50 or 60 every three months.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1957D
Mintage: 1,051,342,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.15 in AU-50

Type/Country: 1 New Sheqel/Israel
Year: 2006-o (From Ottawa Mint)
Mintage: Not yet known.
Metal: Nickel-Clad Steel
Value: $0.25 in VF
There is an error that has coin alignment worth $200.00 but this is not one of them.

Type/Country: 1 Cent/United States
Year: 1890
Mintage: 57,180,114
Metal: 95% Copper 5% Tin & Zinc
Value: $3.00 in G-4(This one may be lower)


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.

That's Where They Went

Do you have any world 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.

For the last ten years the NYC Department of Transportation has been having a public coin auction of the foreign coins people place in parking meters. I always miss it and now it has grown out of my price range at almost $4.00 a pound for 500 pounds, that's $2,000.00.

Jim Corliss a collector from Massachusetts won the bid last year and will probably win again this year. He found in the past an 1835 British Shilling once worth only $5.00. Most of the coins are Greek Drachmas, French Francs, Dominican Quarters, and Canadian Quarters. I'm pretty sure that every nation in the world is in those bags.

I found about a dozen foreign coins in my change this year. The free coins I find in my change has dwindled over time. Four years ago I would have found a hundred by this time. Oh well I guess next year I may have to bid on this auction.

Here is the news story as told by the CW 11 in New York City....

This is encouraging because I know the coins are out there circulating.

Do you have any 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.

New Coin Ideas

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I'm checking all the blogs that link to this in the hope of reading something interesting while in class. Then low and behold the first linker was another New York blogger who was doing a little experiment.

He decided to pick up every coin he saw on the streets for a few months. Along the way he found plenty of pennies, a 1944 cent and a $5.00 bill, twice.

I commented to him that I doing the same only around my college and found 37¢, but the same day while on the subway I found two 1 dollar bills in a bundle on the platform. Now I don't know if it was luck or just that reading his blog made me hyper-aware.

I did spot a penny on the platform a couple feet away but I have my limits and left it there for some braver soul to pick up.

Just thinking about this I must have passed up hundreds of dollars in street money throughout the years. Is this just a New York thing?

Do you have a coin/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.

My Australian Coins

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.

Let's celebrate Australia.

Here are some coins I got from my change over the years. I also received a few in coin lots that I bought. Most were given to me in my change here in NYC. The distance between New York, New York, United States and Perth, Australia:

11606 miles (18679 km) (10086 nautical miles)

Well coins do end up in strange places. Here are 7 out of 10 coins I found over the years.

Including these the total find has been 2 pennies, 5 nickels, 1 dime and 2 half dollars.

Here are the stats for the coins pictured from top to bottom...
Type/Country: 50 Cents/Australia
Year: 1985
Mintages: 1,000,000
Metal: Copper-nickel
Value: $2.00 in XF( this one maybe is less because it worn)
($0.60 increase since 2008)

Type/Country: 50 Cents/Australia
Year: 1971
Mintage: 21,056,000
Metal: Copper-nickel
Value: $1.50 in XF( worn and maybe worth a bit less)
($1.05 increase for 2010)

Type/Country: 5 Cents/Australia
Year: 1998
Mintages: 88,532,000
Metal: Copper-nickel
Value: $0.40 in UNC
($0.10 decrease since 2008)

Type/Country: 5 Cents/Australia
Year: 1987
Mintages: 73,500,000
Metal: Copper-nickel
Value: $0.50 in UNC

Type/Country: 5 Cents/Australia
Year: 1982
Mintage: 121,770,000
Metal: Copper-nickel
Value: $0.25 in XF

Type/Country: 1 Cent/Australia
Year: 1981
Mintages: 223,900,000
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.20 in UNC

Type/Country: 1 Cent/Australia
Year: 1979
Mintages: 130,339,000
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.20 in UNC

Those not pictured:
The 1968 dime is about $1.00, the 1999 and 1988 nickels are $0.20 and $0.40 respectively.

Yes Australia has beautiful beaches, beautiful women and some of the best looking circulating coins in the developed world. Although why they still keep the Queen on there coins is beyond me.

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.

Just Found

Do you have a foreign coin 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.

It's been at least a month since I found collectible coins in my change. This is mostly because I'm broke and use credit cards, oh that beautiful plastic. Today though I found two foreign coins, when receiving 78 cents back in change.

First a twenty-five cents coin from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, 2000.
Second 25 cents from Canada, 1987, eh.

The Bahamas quarter in extra fine condition is valued at $0.30.
The Canadian quarter in extra fine condition is worth about $0.30.

These two are not rare coins and living in New York City you tend to get an abnormally high amount of Canadian coins. While this is only my third Bahamas coin it's my 245^th Canadian coin. Summer is a good time to collect coins because a day trip to Canada and you can get a handful coins, if your not that drunk.

Going on vacation is also a great way to pick some coinage. Travel in and around the United States will get to places like the Bahamas on a day trip. Trips these days are cheaper then ever and makes getting foreign coins simple.

Foreign coins tend to be much less valuable then American ones. The most valuable coins are American coins and European coins from hundreds of years ago can be worth quiet a lot also.

Foot Note:
The value I attribute to these coins come from the 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins I have yet to buy a new one.

Also Canadians are our friends to the north.