1978 Finland 20 Pennia

Do you have Finland coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Here is some more of that old money that is no longer legal tender. I do feel kind of lucky to get coins at time when they were so diverse. My coin vaults are loaded with demonetized coins that have, for the most part, stopped circulating.

SUOMEN TASAVALTA (THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND) K (Timo Koivuranta Mint) 1978

20 PENNIÄ (20 PENCE or CENTS)

Love that tree design. Looks like something out of a children's book.

Finland switched to the Euro in 2002. Ten years have passed since the old coins were last legal but they have not become rare or valuable. Demonetizing money does raise the value a little but rarely enough to turn a profit. Oh and I am speaking of collectors value since exchange rates drops like rock or remains frozen by law.

Here's the stats...
Type / Country: 20 Penniä / Finland
Year: 1978
Mintage: 10,014,000
Metal: Aluminum-Bronze
Value: $0.020 in Very Fine

Do you have a coin form Finland 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.

1981 Canada Cent

Do you have Canadian cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Sure I enjoy getting this Canadian coin in my change but the $6.49 I had to pay for a mediocre box of frozen fish was not worth it. Honestly who knew fish was so expensive when other people breaded them for you. At least the quarters and cent I got as change gave me a neat coin.

The other noteworthy thing about this Canadian cent  is that is was a short run for this type. They reduced the weight for two years and then reduced it again. Copper tends to get expensive fast.

Canada Cent Weights:

• 1867-1919 = 5.67 grams, Bronze 95% Copper
• 1919-1920 = 5.67 grams, Bronze 95.5% Copper
• 1920-1979 = 3.24 grams, Bronze 98% Copper
• 1980-1981 = 2.80 grams, Bronze 98% Copper
• 1982-1996 = 2.50 grams, Bronze 98% Copper
• 1997-Present = 2.25 grams, Copper-Plated Zinc (Unknown% Copper likely 4.5%)
• 1999-Present = 2.35 grams, Copper-Plated Steel 4.5% Copper

Take note U.S. Mint you can change composition and still having a working coin.

Here's the stats...
Type / Country: 1 Cent / Canada
Year: 1981
Mintage: 1,209,468,500
Metal: 98% Copper, 1.5% Zinc, 0.5% Tin
Value: $0.03 in G-4

Do you have a cent form 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.

1969 Fiji Islands 10 Cents

Do you have Fiji dime and want to know its value? Leave a comment

One of two Republic of Fiji coins I have as I finally reach the F countries in my coin vault. Fiji was recently in the news when they discovered a new species of flower, I expect to see a coin honoring that soon. Aside from being an island paradise for tourist I know little about Fiji. Oh I love FIJI Water it taste very silicony.

The reverse is a throwing club known as an ula tava tava. Besides that the coin is pretty sparse on design. I enjoy the use of lower case lettering for the word cents. Full lower case words are hardly seen on coins.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Cents / Fiji Islands
Year: 1969
Mintage: 3,500,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.20 in Very-Fine

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

1973 Canadian Nickel

Do you have Canadian nickel and want to know its value? Leave a comment

First Canadian find of 2012. Found in change after buying coffee at the cafeteria, although workplace coffee should be free in my humble opinion. Again not at all shocked that my first non-U.S. find is from Canada. Also kind of sad because my friends drove up to Montreal for Mardi Gras and I could not go.

 

There is currently about nine cents worth of nickel in this coin. So despite the grade it is hovering at the ten cents mark and I see no sign it will go down. This is apparently true all over the coin world with metal prices outpacing normal value even outpacing rare coins.

Spring seems to be arriving early this year and with that I hope to see an upswing in travel and more diverse change finds.

Here's the stats for the coin pictured...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / Canada
Year: 1973
Mintage: 53,507,435
Metal: 100% Nickel
Value: $0.10 in Extra-Fine

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

1971 Equatorial African States Franc

Do you have an Equatorial African States coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Four Equatorial African States coins I have are all the same. Not that there many to choose from this temporary country only nine types of coins issued from 1961-1973.

Obverse: ETATS DE L'AFRIQUE EQUATORIALE
BANQUE CENTRALE G.B.L. BAZOR
1971
CAMEROUN
Reverse: 1 FRANC

Currently this is region is the Central African States but many countries did splinter off into independence.  I must say for an aluminum coin it stayed in great shape these past 41 years. The design of the three giant eland is used on other regional coins and can get confusing when trying to identify them.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Franc / Equatorial African States
Year: 1971
Mintage: 3,000,000
Metal: Aluminum
Value: $0.65 in Very-Fine

Do you have coin from Equatorial African States 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.

1991 El Salvador Colon

Do you have an El Salvador coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

No new finds. No coin experiments. Nothing news worthy. So back to the vault, we were still in the E countries. Yes, El Salvador is up now and that means The Salvador in English.

REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR (REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR) 1991 CRISTOBAL COLON (CHRISTOPHER COLOMBUS)

1 COLON

One interesting thing about this coin is that the previous 1 colon was stainless steel then for one year it was copper-nickel clad steel. I assume they saw copper getting expensive and then went to nickel clad steel. As America contemplates changing coin composition steel is a great option since steel is still produced in country. Plus you can coat steel with current coin metals and still make them work in vending machines.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Colon / El Salvador
Year: 1991
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Copper-Nickel Clad Steel
Value: $0.20 in Fine

Do you have coin from El Salvador 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.

Vinegar and Salt to Taste

NEVER CLEAN COINS!                         NEVER CLEAN COINS!

Some collectors are wanting to clean their new hoards of copper cents. Of course I advise against it even if they are currently low-valued cents. Still the internet is full of not so helpful advice that tells them that vinegar is fine. So I got to do an experiment to confirm my suspicions.

Equipment:

• Heinz Distilled White Vinegar of 5% acidity
• Glass candle holder
• Himalayan Pink Sea Salt 
• 3 dirty copper coins
• Tap water and cloth for rinsing

1st Cent - 15 Minutes in Vinegar:

Before left and after right.

1st Results:
I wanted to get rid of the spot, fingerprints, and crust and the base. Unfortunately it did not work well. Yes the coin did turn bright dull-pink. The spot stayed and the fingerprint is still visible at a tilt. The crust was mostly gone.

2nd Cent - 45 minutes in Vinegar:

2nd Results:
This coin was not dirty but had that brown patina that happens over time. Only the highest point remained brown but that is because I put very little vinegar. It was left with a very dull pink finish.

3rd Cent - 5 minutes in Vinegar and Salt:

3rd Results:
Started brown and dirty. The fingerprint stayed highlighted, the back stains also remained. The front turned dull pink but the back kept a nice copper color. The salt did not completely dissolve and was in contact with the back, although I am not sure if that mattered. This one looked the best in hand.

Conclusion:
If you see a penny, cent, or any other copper coin that is dull pink then someone has cleaned your coin.

Despite the fact that this mild acid should not affect the surface of copper it does. Since the browning of the coin is already damaging when the dirt and air damage is removed you are left with an uneven dull surface. Some baking soda would add luster but will also further damage the coin.

Vinegar and salt is great for chips and steak but horrible on coins. Colas, ketchup, and A1 sauce are also on the list of coin cleaners I think are better left in the fridge.

Feel free to share your experience with any type of coin cleaning.


Do you have a coin cleaning issue? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to advise you

1951 D Wheat Cent

Do you have a wheat cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Also got a 1957-D nickel but that one has been showcased before. Last time I got a wheat cent was right before Halloween. Then a few days before Valentine's Day and I get these at a pastry shop after buying some not so fresh donuts. Not sure if any of that is relevant but that is the story of this find.

Not really super special but it is a 61 year old wheat cent. The wheat cent is becoming more scarce in change thanks to roll hunter and copper hoarders but still you can find them.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / United States
Year: 1951-D
Mintage: 625,355,000
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin and Zinc
Value: $0.10 in VF-20

Do you have a wheat 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.

Gotta Catch 'Em All

Recently read this article, The Probabilities of Pennies, that reviewed a published paper by professors who try to get at least one cent from each year 1959-1997. They used a formula known as the Coupon Collector’s Problem which is used a lot in computer science. As an engineer who had to study computer engineering I will let you know all these computer formulas are at best estimates and therefore lacking.

Back to the study they estimated it would take searching 684 random cents to get the 39 unique years and fill out an album (not full P, D, S album). There real life test had it completed in 630 cents.

The Cent Project is another survey that tried to estimate how many small and large type 1960 cents are circulating. Here you get 5,000 cents and separate them by year and type. This one did account for all the 1982, 1970, and 1960 varieties. Of course this is not counting wheaties, foreign cents, errors, or doubled dies.

I did the Cent Project using 1959-2008 cents and got these results.

Those dips you see correlate with the 1982, 1970, and 1960 varieties so they can be ignored for the Penny Probability crossover.

Results:

• With 5,000 cents I could have completed a 1959-2008 basic album 14 times.
• With 5,000 cents I could have completed a 1959-2008 full P,D,S album 5 times.
• With 5,000 cents I could NOT complete a 1959-2008 full P,D,S and variety album.

The normal design variety that were not found were:

• 1970-S Small Date (High 7)
• 1960 Small Date

Other notes:

• 1982 was the most common followed by 1994.
• 1965 was the least common followed by 1959.
• 4,456 = P, 446 = D, and 8 = S.
• 2,000 were Copper, 3,000 were Copper-Plated Zinc

Conclusion:
Same as the Coupon Collector's Problem indicates. It is simple to start the collection and make it big but the last few coins will take a long time to find. Everyone can collect coins and you will be surprised at the speed that it happens. Add nickels, dimes, and quarters to make the collection huge.

1984 Egypt 10 Piastres

Do you have an Egypt coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

The vault is filled with multiple repeats of the same coins. In this case I found two of them then I bought a coin lot and it had ten more. There is no hint at production figures for this coin but apparently it is large since they give them away like candy.

This coin lacks any western symbols and often takes a while to identify. It looks Arabic, the building on the back has minarets, and the numbers could be Persian or Arabic or Islamic. All that can narrow it down to few countries, further research will lead you to Egypt.

  ١٩٨٤ (1984) ١٠ قرش( Piastres 10)  ١٤٠٤ (1404)  Mohamed Ali Mosque on reverse

Check out all twelve they make a lovely pattern.

This is a cool coin and with the current unrest in Egypt I expect it to climb in value. If we would go by exchange rate it is at $0.01 and falling. That happens a lot when countries have troubles if the government does not drastically change the value will level, plus it would be better for the people.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Piastres / Egypt
Year: 1984
Mintage: Not yet known.
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.25 in Very-Fine

Update: Thanks to Handini for pointing out the following...

The writing at the top of the reverse accurately translated says: State Egypt The Arabic.

Above the value is a stylized مصر ودولة عربية.


Do you have coin from Egypt 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 El Yunque Quarter

Do you have a quarter and want to know its value? Leave a comment

On February 4th just twelve days after its January 23 release date I got three 2012 El Yunque quarters. I went to the store got some Tostitos chips, on sale, then got store points for my purchase, then got these quarters, and a day later the Giants win the Superbowl what a great weekend.

This may have been the fastest I got a coin in change from the release date.

Very difficult to shoot the bright and shiny coins especially with my hands filled up with chicken wings and dip.

El Yunque is a rainforest established in 1903 in the now Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The coin features the coqui, Puerto Rican parrot, and various plants.

Another unique thing is its unceremonious release. Every other quarter released in recent years had a launch party but due to budget cut backs the parties are over. Not a coincidence they stopped before having to fly out to Puerto Rico. They must also figure that a true collector will buy them whether or not there is a big release.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents-El Yunque / United States
Year: 2012-P
Mintage: 25,000,000 (estimated)
Metal: 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in F-12


Let me know if you found any 2012 coins.

Do you have a quarter 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.

2005-P Ocean in View Nickel

This coin has been corrected for the complainers.

"Ocian in view! O! The Joy!" was the original quote that William Clark wrote around October 08-December 07, 1805. The mint was fully aware of the original spelling but chose to go with the common spelling to prevent constant questions about the word Ocian. As some may have noticed they did not correct O! which should be Oh!

Granted spelling variations due exist in Old English, this was likely just a mistake since the Lewis & Clark logs are packed with multiple spellings of the same words. (Back in the days spelling was not a priority.)

 
Second mistake overlooked was when Clark wrote "Ocian in view! O! The Joy!" he was actually twenty miles and three weeks away from the ocean. It was actually just a large open water plain that he found. Upon reaching the actual pacific ocean he wrote more but those quotes would not fit neatly on a coin..

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States
Year: 2005-P / Ocean in View
Metal: 75% copper 25% nickel
Mintage: 394,080,000
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.

2000 Ecuador Quarter

Do you have a Ecuadorian coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Ecuadorian coins can be found in change and in coin lots mostly because they often have little value and become obsolete. Designs tends to be simple and dull. Add to that they use steel most often and you have a perfect storm of low collectors value.

REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR
**JOSE JOAQUIN DE OLMEDO**

BANCO CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR
AÑO 2000 25
VEINTICINCO CENTAVOS

José Joaquín de Olmedo y Maruri  is the guy on the front and former President of Ecuador. Apparently he always looks that intense. Still a nice piece from my vault but a bit scratched as most steel coins get when placed in a box filled with coins.

Here are the stats for these...
Type/Country: 25 Cents / Ecuador
Year: 2000
Mintage: Not yet known
Metal: Steel
Value: $0.25 in VF

Do you have a Ecuadorian 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.