2002-W $5 Gold Proof

Gold is good and shiny. Now proof gold is very shiny and can be bought directly from the U.S. Mint unlike the regular gold bullion coins that can only be bought by third party sellers.

My images will never do justice on how gold shines in proof condition. This is 91.67% fine gold and yes Canada makes them with a higher purity but there designs are lacking. This is a work of art for bullion coin. If you were to display one coin it should be this one since it will resist tarnishing, toning, and hazing. Be aware it is a metal coin with silver and copper in it so the climate might change it over the years but overall it is pretty stable.

The box and case are also good looking. Velvet and shiny parts all over keep my collecting brain all happy.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Dollar / United States
Year: 2002 W
Mintage: 40,864
Metal: 91.67% Gold, 5.33% Copper, 3.00% Silver
Value: $200.00 in Uncirculated

Do you have a gold 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.

1943 Tombac Canada Nickel with or without Gold

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

War nickels were made out of Tombac, a combination of copper and zinc, because the nickel in nickels had to be reallocated for steel in war materials. They lasted only for two years in 1942 and 1943, a 1944 Tombac found is unique, but the copper was need so they changed composition again in 1944. Still these coins are common and 1943 is the most common with over 24 million minted.

The V (5 in Roman numbers) on the reverse  was inspired by the "V" Churchill through up during the World War II and by the older U.S. 1883-1912 nickels that had V symbol. The torch is known as a vitory torch seen around the western world for many reason. The front has GEORGIVS VI D : G : REX ET IND : IMP : with a protrait of King George VI.

Secret code
Look on the reverse the border near the rim is a Morse code message, "We win when working willingly."

This one was plated in gold but not by the Canadian government. Plating coins is considered damage by collectors since the surface of the coin is permanently altered.As for the silver, gold, or platinum used in  coin plating they have little to no value. The reason is that it is usually low quality and also very thinly layered. As you see above the gold is so thin after a few years it begins flaking or scraping off. As far as I know there is no efficient way to salvage this gold.

Side by side you can see the difference but I prefer the way the original Tombac looks. Although the luster is gone a high grade Tombac coin looks more like the plated version except a bit less yellow.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / Canada
Year: 1943
Mintage: 24,760,256
Metal: 88% Copper, 12% Zinc
Value: $0.30 in Very-Fine

Do you have a coin 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.

2002 $5 Gold

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Buy them gold.

For whatever holiday you celebrate in the upcoming few weeks nothing would make a nicer gift than a bit of gold. I got this for myself in 2002 for Christmas from the mint for $42.95. Currently they are $175.00 on average, subject to the changing value of spot gold.

 

Check out the size compared to a dime, yup slightly smaller but worth so much more.

This tenth ounce (1/10 oz.) bullion coin has quadrupled in value and yes occasionally I feel like kicking myself for not buying a dozen and saving in the bank with this one. Slowly I am turning away from silver since even in a bank vault the silver coins are beginning to tarnish but gold barely changes.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Dollar / United States
Year: 2002
Mintage: 230,027
Metal: 91.67% Gold, 5.33% Copper, 3.00% Silver
Value: $200.00 in Uncirculated

Do you have a gold 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.

Museum Quality: Part 2

Continuing the March Metropolitan Museum of Art trip I just have a couple of numismatic related items that came to my attention. Aside from my small examples The Met has dozens more ancient coins and coin jewelery. Plus they have some Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculptures and statues. Saint-Gaudens was a famous artist who made many coin design in the 1930s.

Gold aurei coins of the first twelve Caesars mounted in a 19th century bracelet. Inspired by the 2nd century writer Suctonius who write biographies of the first twelve Caesars some made this bracelet out of real ancient coins.

Featured are on the first bracelet are Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. While on the second bracelet are Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian.

Here are some random ancient coins.

Royal Badges - Official coins and medals of various kingdoms.

Silver tetradrachm with the head of Adriadne on one side (not pictured)
and the labyrinth in Knossos.
From Gortyn, Crete, 2nd century B.C.

Silver tetradrachm
with the head of Athena on one side
and the owl in wreath.
From Athens, 135-134 B.C.
I love the owl design because it reminds me of the movie Clash of the Titans.

Ptolemy III coins from Thebes hoard 246-222 B.C.

Most likely from the same hoard as the previous image.The Egyptian section is very dark and no flash photography or video is allowed so I could not get a good image.

One thing with Egyptian coins were there thickness. They look like chocolate candies, Peppermint Patties to be exact.

I recommend visiting The Met but give yourself time the place is large and most of the coins are in corners and dead spots.

I took hundreds of pictures from armors to paintings to statues to fully recreated rooms but this one was one of my favorites.


The stained-glass dome was part of Manhattan home circa 1904 and possibly made by Tiffany Studios. Something about it was just very appealing. Sure it has nothing to do with coins or currency but everyone can enjoy its simple beauty.

Museum Quality: Part 1

Do you have 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.

My lack of updates are a sign of a lack of finds. I was trying to steer all my college work to coin related items I was even going to make a coin sorter but I was out voted. So while at a recent art course in The Metropolitan Museum Of Art I took a side trip to find historical coins.

In numismatics ancient coins are not my strong point. I never got into them since they aren't found in change (normally) and the nice ones are expensive.

A collection of Visigoth coins meant to mimic Byzantine coins (images of Byzantine coins were too blurry to post) eventually they took on a style of there own.

Top to bottom, left to right...
Type/Country: Justinian & Maurice Tiberius Tremissis / Constantinople
Year: 527-602
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Gold
Value: Hundreds(museum pieces often carry an unknown premium)

Type/Country: Imitating Valentinian Solidus / Toulouse, France
Year: 450-460
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Gold
Value: Hundreds(museum pieces often carry an unknown premium)

Type/Country: Imitating Justinian Solidus / ?
Year: Mid-500s
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Gold
Value: Hundreds(museum pieces often carry an unknown premium)

Type/Country: Imitating Imperial Tremissis / ?
Year: Mid-500s
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Gold
Value: Hundreds(museum pieces often carry an unknown premium)

Type/Country: King Reccared Tremissis / Mérida, Spain
Year: 586-601
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Gold
Value: Hundreds(museum pieces often carry an unknown premium)



Fake coins have always been all the rage especially in Egypt around 308-320. Real coins were pressed in clay then the after they dried you have these terracotta molds. Next coins were cast with molten/soften metal of equal or lower quality. Not all forgeries were intended to scam instead it was for the lack of circulating money throughout the Roman empire.


The case was full of coins but the reflection and my camera skills made shooting difficult. The coins were in a corner next to the elevator showing a complete lack of respect.


Type/Country: Augustus/Capricorn Silver Cistophorus / Ephesus (Turkey)
Year: 25 B.C.
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Silver
Value: Hundreds(museum pieces often carry an unknown premium)

I'll show a few more at a later date and maybe do a little more research on what I saw and the museum experience altogether. I will post some more images on my other blog as soon as possible.

Do you have 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.

Buffalos Are Shiny

Do you have a gold 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.

Check it out Eric Ewanco got his Gold Buffalo and has shared some pictures.
Here is the reverse of the coin in it's velvet lined box.
I believe for those who can afford it they are still available from the mint.
Plus a direct quote from the mint.

"American Buffalo Gold Proof One Ounce Single Coin Product Limit: 300,000"

The price is still $800.00 plus shipping and handling. This is one of the highest quality gold coins the U.S. Mint ever made.

Early reports of quality has been good. I haven't heard of any valuable errors but some people don't like the background field looking so dimpling.

Some people have reported that boxes are showing up empty. Not usually from the mint but the Uncirculated Version from secondary companies and eBay have been ripped open during shipping. This is probably because the package is clearly known to be gold by the delivery service. I don't like blaming any company but listening to the complaints it does seem to come from one famous company.

The USPS(United States Postal Serivce) is the best way to ship them at least they can insure the coin even though that can be a hassle.

5% of these coins are grading MS-70 or PRDC-70(Proof-Deep-Cameo)
94% of these coins are grading MS-69 or PRDC-69(Proof-Deep-Cameo)
only 1% are grading lower then 68

Graded coins are selling for $1250.00 on average despite the fact that they are common. Once the mint post the final amounts sold the price will drop fast.

Do you have a commerative 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.

2005 W Submitted Photo

Do you have a photo of a coin and want to display it? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to also find out the price and history for you.

I recent asked if people wanted to display there Gold Buffaloes because sadly I couldn't get one. I have been buying Morgan dollars to fill in my coin addiction.

One nice visitor, Eric Ewanco, to this little blog showed off two pics of a ounce gold American dollar. Here it is.Notice that the same coin can take two different pictures. I often try to take a picture from above the coin and get a reflection of myself or the camera on the coin. These are great pictures I reduced for this blog just click on the picture for the original large pictures.

The best way I've heard of taking proof pictures involve using a stand and two light sources and an angled resting place. Very complicated.

Here's the stats for this coin....
Type: 50 dollars-1 Oz Fine Gold
Year: 2005W
Mintage: 35,246
Metal: 91.67% gold, 3% silver, 5.33% copper
Value: $2,250.00 in Proof ($450.00 increase as of 2012 values)

I own gold coins in the 1/10 ounce variety but the are small and no comparison to these beautiful examples.

Do you have a photo of a coin/currency and want to display it? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to also find out the price and history for you.

Gold Buffalo Coins News

Today the much talked about Gold Buffalo Coin was put up for sale at the U.S. Mint. This is the proof version meaning it is specially minted with a shiny mirror like field. The coin is $800 plus $4.95 shipping and handling with a limit of ten per order.Now I really want this coin but at $800 dollars it is out of my price range. The uncirculated version should be about $675 and will be sold through authorized coin dealers not from the mint directly.

Either way they won't be shipping out until July 13, 2006 and seeing how the mints website crashed today I think the 300,000 coins are sold out.

Yes these coins are legal tender, they are .9999 fine gold bullion, the first of its kind ever made by our mint. It is 1 ounce and gold today is at $582.90 an ounce.

If you buy one I would love to see a picture these are truely classicly minted coins.

Coin News

BEVERLY HILLS, California-A rare Gold coin owned by a descendant of Chinese immigrants who worked in the California gold fields sold for $253,000 at a Beverly Hills auction.

The coin has been confirmed by numismatists as one of only 12 "Quarter Eagles" known to exist from the 246 that were made at the San Francisco Mint in 1854.

The Quarter Eagle is about the size of a dime and was made from Gold Rush ore at the San Francisco Mint just months after it opened. It contains one-eighth ounce of California gold.

The anonymous seller's great-grandfather acquired the coin between 1856 and 1858 while working the gold fields, according to the American Numismatic Rarities of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, which auctioned the coin Sunday.

"They took exceptional care of this important piece of American history for nearly 150 years," said John Pack of American Numismatic Rarities. "In fact, it is the second finest known surviving example."

The coin, which was expected to sell for at least $150,000, opened at $140,000 and quickly jumped in $5,000 and $10,000 increments before going to an anonymous collector for the final price.

From CNN and AP sources.