2008 South Korea 100 Won

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First Korean find in about a decade. Technically a South Korean find but there is always a chance the two Koreas will reunite in the future. In anticipation of reunification the Korean coin are often listed as Korea-South and Korea-North.

Since South Korea is a free country tourism is a big business and none of their modern coins are rare. Most are simple and have little value above the exchange rate of 100 South Korean Won = 9 U.S. Cents Now if I found a North Korean coin that would be a different story.

 백(100) bust of Yi Sun-sin 원(Won)

2008 above 100 above 한 국 은 행(Bank of Korea)

There is always confusion when non-collectors try to describe this coin. the say it has the date on one side, a big hundred, and on the other Confucius.  That last part is wrong. Yi Sun-sin is on the coin and he was a late 16th century naval commander who had some incredible victories during times of war. He is often used a symbol of strength, leadership, and even reunification.

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 100 Won / Korea-South
Year: 2008
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.10 in Fine

Do you have a coin from Korea 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.

A Decade of Recovery

Hope never faded so the terrorist failed miserably.

Still it is as painful to watch 10 years later. Never has a decade seem so short. Along with the tears the sense of anger is still there and one should not forget what 19 radical Muslim terrorists did for hateful reasons.

NYC will become stronger after every injury and as the towers are built I will be there working, shopping, or just remembering the beauty of this city, country. and it's people.

1982 British Penny

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As previously hinted this is the latest coin to hop across the pond from Great Britain into American change.

The last British penny I found was the last of the older portcullis design. This one is the first of the ONE PENNY design previous pennies had NEW PENNY titled from 1971-1981.  I guess coin designs are only new for ten years.

 

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Penny / Great Britain
Year: 1982
Mintage: 100,292,000
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.05 in VF (very-fine)

Still going through the vaults for some other coins to post but luckily I got a few change finds to keep things new.

Do you have a coin from Great Britain 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 British Old Penny

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More British coins keep arriving in my change. Including the next one, will be posted Friday, it will be five for the year so far which is the most ever. A year from now tourists will be coming back from the London 2012 Olympic games and I expect a second influx of British coins. The peak should be Christmas 2012 so keep an eye out as consumers pass on these imports to pay for gifts.

This one is particularly special since it is the last of the chains, crown, and portcullis pennies.

2008 saw two types of pennies from Great Britain. The old Christopher Ironside design featuring the House of Parliament emblem of a crowned portcullis or chains and a gate. The portcullis is a lattice gate that goes up down using chains. It was meant to symbolize the legislative gate keepers of the royal Britain.

The second newer design is that partial shield that can be seen on the 2009 British penny I found in June. Although some older world coin books state that only 100,000 of the older design were made in sets that is not correct. Newer books show that about one quarter of all the 2008 pennies were the old design and they freely circulated.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Penny-Crowned Portcullis / Great Britain
Year: 2008
Mintage: 180,600,000
Metal: Copper-Plated Steel
Value: $0.02 in VF (very-fine)

Do you have a coin from Great Britain 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.

Golden Dollars Edges

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Officially the U.S. Mint states that the edge lettering on dollar coins is placed randomly. Meaning no special effort will be made to line up the edge lettering or to have them go in the same direction, unless they are proof.

So when you have the coin face up and you look at the edge lettering it can be right side up or upside down. The date can be centered above the portrait or to the side or anywhere. Since it is all random then there is an equal opportunity for a normal edge or upside down edge and it has no extra value.

Even with no extra value I want one of each. So for each year since edge lettering was reintroduced there are (5 dollar coins x 2 mint marks x 2 edge varieties) = 20 coins to collect every year.

Oh no check out the 2009 font one looks bold and the other looks fine. Does this mean there is another variety that I need to look out for?

The Zachary Taylor is a new one for me but I am still missing many, over 40 of them.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar-Zachary Taylor / United States
Year: 2009 P (Edge normal)
Mintage: 41,580,000
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in F-12 

Type/Country: 1 Dollar-Native American / United States
Year: 2009 D (Edge normal)
Mintage: 33,880,000
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in F-12

Type/Country: 1 Dollar-Thomas Jefferson / United States
Year: 2007 D (Edge upside down)
Mintage: 102,810,000
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in F-12

Warning for people using Metrocard machines in NYC if you want a $4.50 card and you put in a $20 bill you will get 15 dollar coins as change.

Update: Another edge variety for dollars recently made the news.These involved error coins that were supposed to be destroyed but instead were sold to private dealers. I did not mention missing edge lettering dollars because they are hard to come by and are one the most overvalued errors in the market, now I know why.

US Mint officer admits taking $2.4M worth of coins

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A former police officer for the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has admitted to stealing $2.4 million worth of "error" coins and selling them to a coin distributor in California.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman in New Jersey said 64-year-old William Gray pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of theft of government property and tax evasion.
Gray, of North Wildwood, N.J., had worked at the U.S. Mint since 1996. In a federal court in Camden, N.J., he admitted taking $1 presidential coins that were missing edge lettering, knowing they would be considered more valuable to coin collectors because they were considered "mint errors." He mailed them from New Jersey.
He was freed on $50,000 bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20.

This arrest may have an impact to all future errors.

Do you have a dollar coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

1879 Austria 1 Kreuzer

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This coin is beyond obsolete and 132 years old but even if it was not harshly cleaned it would still only be about $1.00. There is a popular myth that if something is old it is valuable. This is one of the oldest foreign coins I have and although cool it is nothing to retire on. Out of the thirty two Austiran coins I have this is the oldest.

SCHEIDEMUNZE K. K. OESTERREICHISCHE means COINAGE K.K. AUSTRIA, I think

They look and feel like U.S. coins from the same period. The wreath in the back with the little ribbon was a standard of many cents. It was a symbol of wealth and health beyond just Christmas times. 

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Kreuzer / Austria
Year: 1879
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper
Value: $0.25 in cleaned


I have another that also was cleaned apparently that is the only reason I got them in a cheap coin lot.

Do you have any 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.