Year In Review 2012

The annual summary of my year in coin collecting with some highlights.

Change Finds:
The graph below shows 47 world coins found from 11 countries which is more finds than last year but from less unique countries.
1st Place Canada leading with a record 30 finds.
2nd place is tied Great Britain and Italy with 4 each.
Adding the 36 U.S. finds the total is 83, most ever since I started this blog.

The United States, Canada, Great Britain, Bermuda, and Trinidad & Tobago are my constant finds. Except this year I found no coins from Bermuda breaking another ten year streak. 2010 was the year I found no British coins, then 2011 was the year of no Trinidad & Tobago coins. Now 2012 will be the year of no Bermuda coins.

Oldest United States Find
1928 Nickel

Oldest Foreign Find
1968 Canadian Cent

Most Valuable United States Find (above face value)
1964-D Nickel, Double Clipped Planchet error about $5.00

Most Valuable Foreign Find
2005 10 Yuan China Bill about $1.60

Most Surprising Find
Clad-Planchet Dime

Books: No good reason to upgrade.

Websites: The web is getting better for coin values and information.
NGC.com for world coin values is great although difficult to navigate and the prices are way too high.
Numista.com a coin swapping site that has tons of great up to date information but no values.
Coins and Canada.com a great Canadian coins and currency collecting site with articles, values, and trends.
Coinflation.com a great coin metal value site that has related article links, although they shortened the archives to six months which is sad since the year old article predicted some ridiculous things in the metal and survivalist world.

Equipment: I noticed the need for good lighting so maybe an investment in some dedicated lights and a table for taking pictures is needed. All other coin related equipment like cameras and apps are unremarkable.

Summary:
First time in a long time that my coins have had more value than my currency finds. Found a few silver coins but lower silver prices made them less valuable than error finds. Some great finds this year like a 2012 Chinese coin and that 1990 Canadian cent which eluded me for years. I found myself using less money than ever but encountering more people who were willing to part with their foreign money when I asked nicely (mostly cashiers I already know).

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and change for all

2001 Trinidad & Tobago 5 Cents

Have a coin from Trinidad and Tobago and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Barring some last minute drop from the sky this is my last change find for 2012. Got it as a penny at a local store, did not ask for it just was in my change. Trinidadian coins are not uncommon around NYC since there is a large Caribbean community.

The front has the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with the national arms. In the arms is the motto says TOGETHER WE ASPIRE, TOGETHER WE ACHIEVE.

The reverse has the bird of paradise and the value 5 cents. It is a bronze coin and even though the exchange rate is less than one cent it should have a metal value higher than three. It weighs 3.31 grams but the purity of the copper is not known, to me at least.

Here's the stats for this coin...
Type/Country: 5 Cents / Trinidad and Tobago
Year: 2001
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Bronze
Value: $0.05 in F

Some of you may notice that I skipped my newly regular Round-Up this is to cram every last 2012 find before the year ends. I will do my traditional year in review tomorrow so I will postpone the usually currency post.

Do you have a Trinidad and Tobago 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.

2008 Italy 10 Euro Cent

Have an Italian coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

As the year draws to a close I am still finding funny money in my change. Meanwhile Europe is still struggling with the global economic crisis and Italy has the duel issue of a large economy but also large debt. None of the Euro countries will seriously do away with Euro money but they keep it as a back pocket threat.

 

Notice something odd about the mint mark? Could it be repunched?

The mint mark for Italian coins is the R for Rome. It has been on coins for many year and tends to be ignored since it is usually the only mint mark used.

Repunched mintmark (RPM) means that the die had a faded or weak mint mark and they needed to strengthen or redo it. Done right and you would not notice. The coin would just look sharper and more detailed. Sometimes the new mint mark is slightly off and a doubling occurs. The more off its original mark the more value.

Then again the mintmark is slightly flat and it could be simple hub doubling. I cannot honestly tell the difference in this case and I have no other Euro RPM coins to check against. Opinions or links are welcomed in solving this mini mystery.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 10 Euro Cent / Italy
Year: 2008
Mintage: 104,956,400
Metal: Aluminum-Bronze
Value: $0.15 (starts at $1.50 if RPM)

Do you have any Euro from Italy 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 Pride Canadian Quarter

Have a Canada quarter and want to know its value? Leave a comment

This was the premiere millennial quarter for Canada in 2000. It is also the most common. This January 2000 quarter looks like a party as it was meant to look like a New Year's celebration. Some were colorized with a red ribbon and the three smaller maple leafs also in red. Of course I have only found the more common uncolored version.

 

Pride or Fierte (in French) is how the Canadians wanted to recognize the new millennium, although the true millennium was 2001. It is a beautiful coin and the only one I can recall that has confetti.

Some sharp eyed visitors may notice the front of the coin has what seems to be trails and extra metal on the design. There is no good explanation for these trails but die deterioration or some kind of die variety is likely. This error does not really add value although a large community is starting to develop to study and trade trail dies and other "extra metal" varieties. Extra is in quotes as it is not actually extra metal but holes and scrapes on the die.. 

Here are the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Cents-January Pride / Canada
Year: 2000
Mintage: 50,749,102
Metal: 100% Nickel
Value: $0.25 in EF-40

Do you have a Canadian quarter 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.

2004-A $10 Bill, GF-A

Have a ten dollar note and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Like the 2006 and 2009 ten dollar notes this one is colorized and watermarked. Also just like the next two notes in the series this bill has no real extra value. They are common and can still be found n high grade in circulation.

Last minute Christmas shoppers may want to put aside any new bills or odd change not only for your investment but as gifts to the numismatic (coin or currency collector) in your life. Even if the note has no extra value the person receiving it can always just spend it

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Federal Bank: $10 Note- Fort Worth / Atlanta
Year: 2004-A
Printings: 134,400,000
Printed: April 2006
Run: 4th of 15 from GF19200001A - GF25600000A
Value:  $15.00 in CU 

Do you have currency 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.

Coined For Money: Round-Up Dec. 17-23, 2012

The power of coins to influence is strong. Still that does not mean printing money will stop anytime soon.

For 2 weeks girls and boys competed to raise money at a school. Coins were collected and counted but any bill would take away from the final total. Clever coin drive with interesting results as the girls raised less but won.

It might cost Canada about $40 million to redeem those cents over the next 6 years. You can multiply that number by at least 100 if you try to do the same for the U.S. cents.

Coin vs Dollar debate round 211: Making coin dollars will bring jobs to America not to mention the delivery and distribution jobs. It also makes it less efficient assuming the price of gas will continue to rise.

New alloys are being tested at the U.S. Mint for future coins.

The world did not end and to celebrate we enjoyed a silver Mexican coin.