28th Ed. United States Paper Money

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Borders is going out of business and it is an opportunity to get books on the cheap. The coin and currency sections are mostly gone and in some cases the employees have used the currency book pages to post notices around the windows, very tragic. I did find an unharmed 28th Edition of the Standard Catalog of U.S. Paper Money by Krause Publications.

Granted this is two editions behind the current 30th Ed. Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money but the Amazon preview shows little has changed in terms of values. Borders has everything 50-70% off so this $29.99 book was about $15.00. Although the Kindle version on Amazon is $9.99 I like the feel of real books.

Highlights

• Every fractional, large, and small type is listed.
• Great color photos.
• National bank notes listed by type and states.
• The use of KL# (Krause-Lemke) and Fr# (Friedberg) which are common catalog identification systems.
  

Disappointments

• KL# 24, Fr# 37 1917 $1 United States Notes is listed at $125. in fine when it should be $80.00. (Fixed in later versions)
• Just basic KL# and Fr# no breakdown for runs or printings.
• No printings figures listed at all, huge disappointment.

Overall
The book is great with lots of useful pictures and catalog numbers but it lacks details. The Standard Guide To Small-Size U.S. Paper Money although limited to small size note is vastly superior. For thirty dollars I expect full details and every minor variety that is known which is why I always skipped this book until the price was worth it. Maybe for the 30th edition I will get the Kindle version.

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1935-D Wide $1 Silver Certificate

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My oldest dollar find to date, got it as change after the earthquake but before the hurricane. Although it says 1935-D it was printed somewhere between mid-1949 and early-1953. My previous oldest was a 1935-E found six years ago.

Silver certificates were redeemable in equal dollar amounts worth of silver, either silver dollars or silver bullion. By 1963 they stopped issuing these notes. In 1964 they stopped redeeming them for silver dollars and by 1968 they could no longer be redeemed for one dollar's worth of silver bullion. Like all currency issued by the United States since 1861 they still hold their face value.

Notice the black centering marks below the ONE and on the bottom right margins.

The back number is 4955 which in this case is important because below 5015 means it is a wide variety.

The two rows of almost-squares means it is a wide variety, one row would indicate narrow variety.

The wide and narrow varieties are just minor design changes made to the notes in the late 1940s. The wide being for older notes while the narrow variety are for the newer types. As the captions above show there are two ways of telling if you have a wide variety. First look at the back number for anything 5015 or less. Second count the rows of boxes under the R in DOLLAR on the reverse, if two rows are fully there it is wide.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Dollar / United States
Year: 1935-D Wide
Date Printed: June 1949 - January 1953
Printings: 4,656,968,000 (includes every 1935D printed)
Run: S--------E - F--------G
Value: $3.00 in Very-Fine although this maybe less


This bill is very folded and also has a new cut at the centering mark under and through the ONE in front.

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1968 Australia Dime

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Having displayed eleven of my nineteen Australian coins makes this feel a little less extraordinary. This is a common of the pre-1980 Australian ten cents coin one is worth more than others. I am not sure why this year is worth $4.50 in uncirculated when $2.00 is the average value.

The front has the young bust of Queen Elizabeth II, the country, and year. The reverse has a big ten and a lyrebird.

Here are the stats for this coin...
Type / Country: 10 Cents / Australia
Year: 1968
Mintage: 457,194,000
Metal: Copper-nickel
Value: $0.60 in VF
 
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1960 Argentina Anniversary Peso

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Of the seven Argentinian coins I have this is the oldest and has the highest denomination. It is also special because it it a commemorative coin. They issued a regular 1960 peso but since it was the 150th anniversary of the removal of the Spanish Viceroy of course they needed to celebrate.

25 De Mayo
A week long revolution in May of 1810 ended with the viceroy's ousting from a huge plot of land encompassing at least four modern day countries. After the dust settled a local government was established and more dust got kicked up. War and six years later Argentina was independent from Spain.

25 DE MAYO above building with sun rays, below 1810▴1960

REPUBLICA ARGENTINA ✩ UN PESO ✩ surrounding the Argentinian arms

This coin is slightly heavier than a normal peso and more common but still tastes the same. The entire country has reformed their coinage at least three times since this coin was minted.

Here's the stats ...

Type/Country: 1 Anniversary Peso / Argentina
Year: ND (1810-1960)
Mintage: 98,751,000
Metal: Nickel Clad Steel
Value: $0.75 in XF

Do you have a coin from Argentina 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.

Good For One Unfare

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As a collector you are bound to find some fakes and some pendants well here is nice example of both. Used as part of a key chain or a zipper pull this transit token fake is very popular in New York City.

Almost like a real token expect this one is slightly bigger, has a hole above the Y cutout, and a hoop is attached.

This is an iconic symbol of New York City this Y-cutout type token was used from 1953 - 1970. Accepted on most subways and buses they were modified and redesigned several times. By 2003 the tokens were banished in most places in favor of MetroCards. While now in 2011 the token is one hundred percent eliminated and the MetroCard is seeing its final days thanks to RFID chips in credit cards.

And yes I collect MetroCards whenever possible.

Here are the stats for this fake token...
Type/Country: Y token pendant / U.S.A.
Year: (No date)
Mintage: Unknown
Metal: Possibly Brass?
Diameter: 25.4 mm Weight: 4.44 grams
Value: No Value (Although it probably is sold by the hundreds at $0.05 or more per pendant)
Obverse/Reverse Writing: · GOOD FOR · ONE FARE (encircled), NYC (center)

I could not find the specific wholesaler.

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1972 Guyana Cent

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This one stood out because of the intricate and beautiful reverse. Very rarely do you find a coin that puts nothing but a design on one side of a coin. This is because there are so many things a coin is legally mandated to display that every bit of space is needed.

British rule ended in 1966 and Guyana became a republic by 1970. It was until 1976 that they got there on crest which has been used along side the stylized design for most of the late twentieth century. 

Stylized lotus flowers.

BANK OF GUYANA 1972 on outer circle, ONE 1 CENT on inner circle.

This coin looks much more brass colored in hand but the lack of sunlight mad it more coppery.
 
Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 1 Cent / Guyana
Year: 1972
Mintage: 4,000,000
Metal: Nickel-Brass
Value: $0.05 in VF

Do you have a coin from Guyana 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.