D is for Denver

Do you have a dollar coin and want to know how much it's worth? Leave a comment

I almost did not post this coin mainly because it was one I talked about before. The only difference from the previous find is that this one is from Denver which is the more difficult mint to find on the east coast.

For those not familiar with American coin distribution I will try and explain. We have two major mints, one in Philadelphia (P) and one in Denver (D). There are two other mints at San Francisco (S) and West Point (W) that have produced coins with and without the mintmarks but their main focus is on premium coins. Of course we also have Fort Knox as a non-coin production facility and 8 more that are gone.

The Cycle

1. The U.S. Mint estimates how much coins are needed, with no guarantee of absolute accuracy.
2. Coins are needed by the public for business, et al.
3. Businesses request coins from the local banks.
4. Banks request coins from the nearest of 12 Federal Reserve banks.
5. Federal Reserve banks sends and receives coins to the local banks.
6. When remaining coins at the Federal Reserves are low more is ordered from the Mint.
7. Repeat step 1.

How to Get a Denver coin?
Easy live close to Denver. To be more efficient the mint sends coins to the closest Reserves and in turn the Reserves distributes the coins to the closest banks and on and on. Keeping most Denver coins on the west coast or middle states.

It takes up to five years for me to find the Denver equivalent of the Philadelphia coin.

One other reason I decided to post this coin was the pictures came out great. The coin was the smoothest and most gold colored golden dollar I've ever held.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar-John Tyler / United States
Year: 2009 D (Edge normal)
Mintage: 43,540,000
Metal: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, and 2% Nickel
Value: $1.00 in AU-50

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.

112 Years Old

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My new oldest find came in with my regular change at a local store. It looks like it was buried for years then someone dug it out, cleaned off the dirt, and then watched as verdigris slowly ate the back. Knowing this coin had no value they just used it as it was originally intended.

This is the third time I found a 100+ year old cent and all of them had bad verdigris damage. Understandably there is no need to keep a coin with that infectious green stuff since it has no real value and will destroy your good coins. Yet I will keep this one.

Look at the poor little cent it has been abused and neglected. Judging by the red luster and lack of traditional wear marks I'm guessing it was buried within few years after being minted but this is just a guess.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / United States
Year: 1887
Mintage: 45,223,523
Metal: 95% Copper, 5% Tin & Zinc
Value: $0.03 (Because of damage)...
(Welcome all from the Realcent Forum and let me clarify.
First this coin has obvious environmental damage: holes, spots, dented edges.
Second it has been cleaned badly leaving a haze all over the coin.
Third of course is the verdigris. )
I would have it at $0.20 if it wasn't cleaned.
Feel free to comment I'm always willing to learn and change.

That leads to the question, what is possible? Sure when roll hunting anything can pop up but from small change it is more difficult. Recently I went through a "jar" of coins and of the possible pennies commonly listed from 1959 to 2008 I found 108 out of 112.

Stretching it to 1887 it is becomes more difficult but still possible. For those who want a hobby and cannot or are not willing to spend any extra money then coin collecting is great. Again a hobby not an investment or get-rich quick plan. I recently had some harsh comments about the value of finds. This is the nature of collecting, rarity is just that rare not always valuable.

Am I upset that this 1887 cent is damaged and worth metal value? No.

It is the coolest thing to me that a 112 year old coin is floating out there and can still be legally used.

Do you have an old penny 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.

Luxembourg

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

Only my second Luxembourg find and it has been years since the first. Most likely since this tiny country has low circulating coinage and low tourist numbers that is why it is hardly seen in the States.

A few other people, at the time of the find, I showed did not know what country it was. The reason is because the spelling is LËTZEBURG meaning Luxembourg in a dialect they call Luxembourgish which is mostly German, nice umlaut.

This one is a Euro and I suspect I won't be finding any more Francs since those also did not circulate far and were quickly recycled by the time the Euro arrived. Still I will look carefully.

Above Image: Clicking or better yet middle-clicking on the picture you'll see a tiny F in the star above the L, it means minted in France. Surrounding the date to the left is a cornucopia meaning it was made at Pessac Mint. The other symbol to the right of the date escapes me at the moment.

Below Image: Is the typical 5 Euro Cent design mandated by European law.


His Royal Highness the Grand Duke Henri ruler since 2000 is on the coin. Which is odd for Americans since living presidents are not allowed on coins over here.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 5 Euro Cent / Luxembourg
Year: 2008
Mintage: 9,000,000
Metal: Copper-plated Steel
Value: $0.15 in Very-Fine

Do you have a Luxembourg 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.

1982 Canada Five Cents

Do you have a Canadian coin and want to find out its value? Leave a comment

If I dedicated one post for each unique Canadian coin I found I would easily have 365 days of uninterrupted blogging. Only recently I gave these little northern bits the full blog treatment and it has been nice.

1982 marks the change in metal content for Canadian nickels.
-From 1955 to 1981 they were 100% nickel with a weight of 4.54 grams.
-From 1982 to 1998 it becomes 75% copper and 25% nickel with a weight of 4.60 grams.
-From 1999 to now they are either cupro-nickel or plated steel.

100% nickel five cent coins have a metal value of about $0.09, as of August 5, 2009.

Weighing this one hoping for some off-metal transitional error I got disappointed when it came in at 4.61 grams meaning it is normal, the old gum on it may have added weight.

Here's the stats for the coin pictured...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / Canada
Year: 1982
Mintage: 105,539,898
Metal: 75 % Copper, 25% Nickel
Value: $0.05 in gum filled grade

Do you have a Canadian 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.

2010 Red Book

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A small round of applause to Amazon. I ordered the A Guide Book of United States Coins 2010: The Official Redbook on Thursday and it arrived in my mailbox this morning. No special rush delivery just standard shipping. Maybe I'm old fashioned but it amazes me to order something and get it in about 48 hours from across the country.

I got the spiral edition (Cloth Spiral is my preferences but...) because with my credit cards rewards and an old Amazon gift certificate the $15.35 final price came in at free. Trying to save money I will get most of my books this way, it will take longer but it is cheaper.

What's new?

• 432 pages of pastel goodness each section is color coded but they changed it to a much lighter style.
• Font change from non-serifs to serifs.
• Story of SS New York was added.
• 1720 20 Sols finally with pictures.
• Some post-colonial value ranges were shrunk, while others were stretched.
• Braided Hair has the large and small berries variety pictured.
• Small cent pictures, 1875 dot reverse, 1886 variety 1 and 2
• All 2009 coins added in sketch form.
• Prices are listed in an Excel type pattern where one line is white and the other colored.
• Ultra high relief added, but no value listed.
• A couple of civil war tokens pictures were added.
• 32 images of Philippine issues were reduced to 4 and a new caption of "Basic Design".
• Error section blanks have dual values for rim or no rim.
• American Arts Medal section was replaced with Significant U.S. Mint Errors showing the most valuable of errors.
• Puerto Rico coinage.

Disappointments

• Huge typo listing all the 2009 Presidential Dollars as 2008, page 229 for all to look and laugh.
  
• Edge lettering on dollars are incorrectly said to include IN GOD WE TRUST for 2009 although that was/is not true.
• No explanation of the edge lettering position although the pictures has them right-side up.
• No 2009 mint or proof values.
• Missing some 2009 gold bullion values.
• No special offers from Whitman.

Overall
Only the rarest coins went up significantly, most modern commemoratives went down, most platinum went down.

If you have any of the Red Books from the last few years no need to upgrade.
If you do not own one buy this 63rd edition not an older version because it will last for years.

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

1992 British Ten Pence, Again

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

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.