True Values, Not Really

My most frequently asked questions about coins.

How much are my Canadian coins worth?

• Not much...
• Canadian 1 cent from 1938-2005 are worth $0.10 on average.
• Canadian 5 cents from 1922-2005 are worth $0.20 on average.
• Canadian 10 cents from 1968-2005 are worth $0.15 on average.
• Canadian 25 cents from 1968-2005 are worth $0.30 on average.
• Error, older and other exceptions make some of the above listed coins more valuable.

What is this collectible Canadian 1945 silver quarter valued at?

• About $1.00 American but most Canadian silver coin is worth BV or current bullion value, which would make it more valuable only if silver prices are $7.00 or more an ounce
  

What are Canadian error coins worth?

• Like most true error coins much more depending on the error. Ex: A 1955 Canadian penny with strap $0.10, without strap $85.00. A minor barely noticeable difference.
  

What are the old wheat penny prices? How much is an old penny worth? What is the rarest wheat penny? Info on old wheat pennies now or I'll stab you? Wheat back penny value?
These are all about the American penny.

• From 1909-1958 they're worth on average only $0.15. Sorry!
  
• Some are worth less and some a little more.
• The better the condition the more valuable in almost perfect, red, unscratched, uncleaned and sharp detaied they can go for thousands, but those are hard to get in pocket change or coin jars.
• Yes the 1909 pennies are the rarest but in particular the 1909S VDB in low grade goes for $500 and in high grade $1600. Certain error pennies fetch an equally high price.

What is the value in money of 1943 steel penny, 1955 and 2005D American penny?

• 1943 any mint mark about $0.25-$0.35 in fine condition. Again sorry!
• 1955 if normal about $0.10, an example with a doubled date(error) $1,000-$10,000.
• 2005D fresh and sharp this Denver mint cent is just $0.20.

Image source:
http://www.coinfacts.com/small_cents/lincoln_cents/wheat_ear_cents/1955_double_die_cent_obv.jpg

I need a 5 cent price guide, especially for my 1913S Buffalo Head Nickel?

• Liberty nickels from 1883-1912 are worth $2.00 on average.
• Buffalo nickels from 1913-1938 are worth $1.00 on average.
• Jefferson nickels from 1938-1958 are worth $0.60 on average.
• Yes, yes there are exceptions to the rule but come on, be for real.
• 1913S is worth $38 on "raised ground" and $300 in "recess" and this is in low grade. This is a good find.
  

1926 standing liberty quarter how much is it worth?

• 1926=$3.00 , 1926D=$7.00 , 1926S=$5.00 it is silver.
• From 1926-1930 they're only a few dollars.
• From 1916-1924 they're worth a lot more.
  

What is the value of a ten dollar Las Vegas silver coin?

• I've got no idea what your talking about more details or maybe a picture can help.

This was just a small sample of what I'm asked. I also collect foreign coins and paper money from around the world.

Do you have a question about what I just wrote or need more information on a coin you have and its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

1947-D Wheat Penny

I was just asked about the 1947 cent....

aquarianprincess said...
"Hi,
I have a wheat penny from 1947 and i was just wondering how much i could get for it.
thank you,
Jessica"

The 1947 wheat penny is very common and even in near perfect condition it is not worth much. Near perfect meaning a full red bright color, not scratched and with full sharp details.

They came in three mint marks located under the date D=Denver, S=San Francisco or blank=Philadelphia
These two 1947D cent are AG-3(about good)

Here's the stats for a 1947 penny...
Year: 1947
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Mintage: 190,555,000
Value: VF-20 $0.10 or MS-65 $4.00

Year: 1947D
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Mintage: 194,750,000
Value: VF-20 $0.10 or MS-65 $4.00

Year: 1947S
Metal: 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
Mintage: 99,000,000
Value: VF-20 $0.20 or MS-65 $6.00

VF=very fine & MS=mint state
The higher MS-65 prices are only for great examples.
Thanks for your visit.

Do you have a wheat penny 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.

The Euro

Do you have any Euro 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.

Most Euro coinage I get comes from friends and family who give them to me. Many of them are European or travel to Europe so often that the coins are no longer special to them. One kind family member recently gave me these 5 Euros...

The Euros pictured here are the 1 Euro cent, the 2 Euro cents, the 5 Euro cents and two 10 Euro cents. There are also a .20, .50, 1.00 & 2.00 Euro coin piece. Euro coins and banknotes(currency) came into circulation on January 1, 2002. There were 12 Euro countries now there are 15 but other places make Euro or Euro-looking coins.

Look at the reverse of the coin to find out their country of origin, the fronts are usually all the same.

Here's the stat for these coins from top to bottom...
Type: 1 Euro Cent/Germany
Year: 2002F
--------(F is for the Stugartt mint)
Metal: Copper plated steel
Mintage: 902,660,000
Value: Unc $0.35
---------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)
Type: 2 Euro Cents/Spain
Year: 2000
Metal: Copper plated steel
Mintage: 711,390,000
Value: Unc $0.25
----------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

Type: 5 Euro cents/Spain
Year: 2003
Metal: Copper plated steel
Mintage: 327,600,000
Value: Unc $0.50
----------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

Type: 10 Euro cent/Spain
Year: 2001
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 160,100,000
Value: Unc $0.60
---------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

Type: 10 Euro cent/Spain
Year: 2004
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 121,900,000
Value: Unc $0.40
----------(Uncirculated or at least looking uncirculated)

The prices on Euros varies from country to country and year to year because after large mint productions in the early years. Later years were minted in smaller quantities making them more valuable. Other years are not yet released to the public making accidentally finding one rare for the moment.

Of the original 96 Euros I've found, or was given, 22 different types and many repeats. From Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.

Must Have Books

Do you have any coin or currency 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.

I just received from Barnes & Nobles these two books.

The big 2300+ pages book is the 2006 Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-Present it contains retail values of every modern coin from every country within it's time frame. The second book is the Official Price Guide Redbook of U.S. Coins 2006(Hardcover) it focuses on United State issue coins from the begin of America until now, this 59^th edition has changed formats to now be completely color coded, it use to look professional now it looks a bit childish.

The total price for my order was $62.38 but with online coupons and other discounts I paid $31.21, but the best part for me was I ordered it online yesterday and it came this afternoon. I've bought from www.bn.com before and never paid close to full price. Granted last year I bought these two books from Amazon.com at an even lower price.

My experience with both online booksellers are good, Barnes & Noble and Borders in person though gave me problems by constantly being low stocked or just charging full price.

I first got these two books from Edward R. Hamilton for less then $20 they sell books only through the mail and only by check or money order I bought plenty of books from them and they never disappointed. Generally there stock is out of date books which is good for first time collectors.

I have many books and magazines about coins and currency on every aspect including errors and grading. I don't have anything on ancient coins since you can't find them out-of-pocket, but if I ever do I'll go to Hobbyblog first he has a great site and many links for ancient coins.

It will take me a while to update all the prices for my coin collection and I will also see if the prices I quoted in this blog have changed if so I'll update accordingly. I also use Coin Values magazine so they update every month.

Update:
Krause World Coin: I've gone through most of my foreign coins and a little sad to see that a few of the coins I had gone down in value. I'm more disappointed that the mintage for many 2000 and newer coins are still not in. For Euros especially disappointed. More images are included.

Red Book:I still don't care for the new layout but it is faster to go through, next I'll get the spiral version it's easier to manage.

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.

Canada Penny Find

Do you have a Canada cent 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.

I found these two Canadian cents in my pocket change today.

This brings my found Canadian coins to 251. Most of which are not worth much. They must be in a high grade to be sold or bought by dealers.

Here's the stat for these two coins...
Year: 1966
Metal: 98% Copper, 0.5% Tin, 1.5% Zinc
Mintage: 183,644,388
Value: MS-60 $0.10 (mint state 60 out of 70)

Year: 1995
Metal:98% Copper, 0.5% Tin, 1.5% Zinc
Mintage: 624,983,000
Value: MS-60 $0.10 (mint state 60 out of 70)

The oldest Canada cent I found was from 1943 at VG-8 it's worth $0.10, at MS-63 it's $25.00. The only low grade Canadian penny that is valued high a 1955 variety at about $85.00.

Sidenote: I've been using a scanner get a picture of my coins but I think I might try my camera to get more details I never did learn how to properly use the scanner, why start now.

Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins is the best coin reference in print.