End of 2011!

2011 has been an awesome year of finds for me. I finally found a silver coin which was a dime. I only got a handful of foreign coins, but I got plenty of good American coins. I got a 1959-D Lincoln Cent which I had been missing for quite a while. I also got a 1941-D nickel which I was missing. I got only one Dollar coin this year which was an Anthony dollar. I also started a collection of pre-1982 95% copper cents which has turned out alright finishing the year with just over $2.25 face value. I got a few star notes and a CU 1976 series $2.00 bill. My most valuable coin is my 1851-(P) UNC gold dollar that I bought. I got lots of 1964-(P) and 1964-D nickels in my change which I expected because of how many I have recieved in the past. I bought a total of 17 coins not including the 2010 and 1964 Proof Sets I bought. I have been using the 2011 Red Book for values, but since they are already selling 2013 books I will try to get one of those rather than the 2012. Along with finding 6 State/ Territory/ National Parks Quarters, 1 UNC  and a few AU dimes, 5 nickels from the 50's and 60's, and 1 UNC nickel my whole year in coins has been reported here. HAPPY NEW YEAR and HAPPY HUNTING!

(NOTE: While most of the coins I have posted about I got this year I did get some last year so not all coins in my previous posts are featured in this post.)

The famous Buffalo!

This is one of the most well known coins with collectors. It is the famed buffalo nickel that many coins have been modeled after. From gold $50.00 coins to silver $1.00 coins to private mint coins this is a very well known coin. The history of these coins is pretty complex. In 1913, the first year of production, these coins went through a design change. The buffalo was on a mound which ment the "Five Cents" part would be worn away much faster than if it was on the straight line it was redesigned to be on. During the entire production time there were a few errors such as doubled dies and missing legs but relatively few. This coin is error free and worth about $1.25 in G-4 and VG-8. Most high grade Buffalo Nickels are scarce due to being worn down during the Great Depression making them worth at least $22.00 in MS-60 although they can go for $5,000.00 for the 1926-S.

Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty!

This is a 1986-S Half Dollar issued for the 100th birthday of the Statue of Liberty. The obverse shows the Statue of Liberty, a rising sun, the ocean with a ship in it, and the motto. The reverse depicts a family on a pier with their luggage, the city in the background, United States of America, and E Pluribus Unum. This coin and its Denver struck uncirculated counterpart are worth about $6.50 each for the conditions MS-67 for the Denver and PR-67 for this one (San Fransisco). This is in the Official Government packaging and comes with an information sheet that doubles as a Certificate of Authenticity.

Post-WWII Nickel!

As mentioned in earlier posts from 1942-1945 nickels were made of silver, copper, and manganese instead of the usual nickel and copper and the mint mark was moved from the far right of Monticello to right above it. In 1946 the old metal composition and mint mark position were resumed and the final result is this coin. It's a 1946-D nickel worth about $0.35 in VF-20 althought this one is worth slightly less.

Subway Token Video!

Visit this link for a video of subway tokens and slugs that I took in NYC at the Transit Museum. The video is a little loud so turn down the volume especially if you have headphones. Also, this token is worth about $3.00-$4.00.

1964 Nickel!

This is a 1964 nickel and a very common nickel in my collection. I have many of these as I mentioned in my Clarification post a while back. This coin is interesting because the obverse is in AU and the reverse is in fine. This coin is worth about $0.10 and possibly a bit more but only a few cents at most.

1963 Jefferson Nickel!

This is a 1963-(P) nickel and one I was previously missing. I got it a couple weeks ago and now that I think about it it was the day before I got my silver dime. I meant to post about it but I got all excited over the dime that I kind of forgot about it. I just realized that I still had the picture and decided to post it. It is worth about $0.10 and there is nothing particuarly special about it other than the fact that I no longer have to search through change for this one. I will, however, keep any I find as long as it is not badly damaged because of the way I collect which is basically this: If I find any coins older than 1964 I keep them. This is due to the things mentioned in my Clarification post a while back which goes into all of the details.

1932 Washington Quarter!

This is a 1932-(P) Washington Quarter. It was originally intended to be a circulating commemorative for Washington's 200th birthday, but was so popular that it was continued as a regular issue. This one is worth only $8.00 in VF-20. The two more rare versions the 1932-S and 1932-D that are worth $225.00 for the S and $250.00 for the D in VF-20.

(NOTE: On pre-1964 Washington Quarters the mint mark is under the wreath on the reverse.)

More WWII Nickels!

 These are two 1942-P nickels with many differences and very few similarities. First, I will start with the similarities. They were struck at the same mint, they have the same design, and they both contain copper. Now for the differences. The one on the left is made of copper and nickel like nickels today's nickels, the one on the right is made of copper, manganese, and silver, it has a mint mark above the dome as opposed to the one on the left with no mint mark, and the one on the right has a die crack from the "P" in "Pluribus" to the top of the dome on Monticello making it worth about $0.75 more than its approximate $1.84 for silver value. The one on the left is worth about $0.30 in VF-20.

Worn Down to Nothing (almost) Nickel Version!

During WWII copper and nickel were being salvaged for the war effort so some metal compositions had to change. The penny or cent was changed from 95% copper to zinc coated steel in 1943. The same thing happened to the nickel from 1942-1945. During those years it was made of copper, silver, and manganese. This is a 1943-D Silver Nickel and is worth about $1.84 for silver value.

(NOTE: This may be a D/D but it is very worn so I need to have it checked out. Also, the description in the link is wrong it is not 90% silver it is 35% silver.)

Santa Half Dollar!

I was going through some new arrivals on Govmint.com which is a site I used to buy from but now refuse to because of the extremely high prices. I saw a Canadian Half Dollar with Santa Claus on it and clicked on it. It costs about $35.00 plus shipping and handling which brings it to around $40.00. I would not recommend shopping here to anyone except for rich people trying to waste spend excess money or people who want a specific item that can't be found anywhere else. I wouldn't normally do a post like this, but I have seen at least 100 ads for Govmint on sites like Youtube and other popular sites. Some good places for buying coins are eBay, Craigslist, a local flea market, or straight from the mint. For precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium a good place is  Independent Living Bullion.

The coin that helped win WWII!

This is a 1943 zinc coated steel cent. They were made because copper was being used for the war. There are some that are made of copper like the 1942's that are worth thousands of dollars and some from 1944 that are made of steel like this one also worth thousands of dollars. This one is worth only about $0.30.
(NOTE: There are fake versions of the steel 1943 that are copper coated or plated. If it is magnetic it is plated. There are also fake versions of the 1944 that are steel or zinc coated or plated. If it is non-magnetic or very lightly magnetic it is fake. )

Party Like It's 1999!

This is a 1999 Anthony Dollar and currently the only 1999 I have. I have 3 of the 1979 Anthony Dollars which are the first year. Usually the first year is the scarcest from circulation in a series. Some examples of this are the 1916-D Mercury Dime and 1932-D Washington Quarter. The 1979's are and aren't the scarcest from circulation because of the different rim varieties which are mentioned in the 1979 post. As it turns out the 1979's were the most minted and 1999's were the least minted overall for circulation. This one is in XF-AU and worth only $1.00. The reverse looks proof-like in luster and condition in the picture but is actually slightly circulated like how the obverse picture looks.

2009 Gold Dollar!

It is amazing what one can learn in 1.5 years. I taught myself how to collect by reading coin books and going online. I had a basic idea of what was good and what was spare change, but had almost no facts about more modern coins because my first best recource back then was a 1980 Blue Book. Shortly after, I recieved a Coin World 2005 Guide to U.S. Coins that was by far more advanced and up to date, but still not completely accurate. Around that time is when I got this coin. I knew what a Sacagewea Dollar was but had never seen this one with the date and mint mark on the edge so for about 10 minutes it puzzled me. Then I remembered the Presidential Dollars with the date on the edge so I looked and there it was. The edge is fairly worn with many scratches and wasn't really worth putting a picture up for. Since then I have aquired a 2011 Red Book and don't have many coin value or identification problems anymore. Speaking of value this is worth just $1.00.

Worn Down to Nothing (almost) Trime Version!

 This is an 1852 silver three cent piece or trime as they were called back in the day. Back in the mid 1800's a stamp only cost  three cents which is the reason for this seldom seen coin and three dollar coins which were used to buy sheets of 100. There are a few different varieties for this series involving different numbers of lines around the star and an olive sprig above and a bundle of arrows below the III. This date had the highest mintage and is worth about $25.00-$30.00. There was also a copper-nickel version with a different design that was issued because of silver hoarding during and after the Civil War. It was dime sized and not very popular because people would use it as a dime in machines or spend it as a dime in stores. They were soon phased out and not seen plentifully in circulation again.

1941 Nickels!

These are two 1941 nickels one with an S mint mark and one with a D mint mark. The one with the S is in vf and is worth about $0.30. There are two varieties for this date and mint mark. One has a small mint mark and the other has a larger mint mark. Mine is the small mint mark version but price does not differ between the varieties. The one with the D is in vg-fine and is worth about $0.10-$0.15. Surprisingly, I found both of them on Martha's Vineyard one year apart from each other. These are also the oldest nickels I have found from circulation.
(Note: that is a British Pound in the background.)

Finally Silver!!!

I have finally found a silver coin from circulation! It is a 1952 silver dime worth about $2.50 for silver content. I almost could not believe my eyes when I saw the edge was all silver colored and when I flipped it over I saw the date. I was astounded that this coin had been through all of these years and ended up in my hands without anyone else noticing it and taking it from circulation. Either that or someone thought it wasn't worth keeping because of the "stuff" on the obverse. Anyway, I'm glad to have this early Christmas present and still kind of in awe that I found it. Hopefully, I will find better coins soon as people are doing last minute shopping and using every last dime to get whatever is on their Christmas list.

My New Blog!

I now have a new blog called My Travels of the World. I wanted to share my travels without putting it all on this blog which is about coins. So far I have only posted about Egypt which was my first trip that I had my camera for. It was an amazing trip and I have about 100 pictures so there will be many posts in the future. Hopefully I will be able to post about some of the new change finds I have in the near future but currently I have no batteries for my camera so I will just post on my new blog for now.

1776 Quarter?

Recently a classmate of mine discovered a 1976 quarter dollar in his change. Because of the dual dates he thought it was a 1776 quarter and a rare coin. I could hardly believe that only 35 years later this very famous and widely publicized coin is now virtually forgotten among the general population. Then again, it isn't very valuable in general but especially not in low grade because hundreds of millions were made in the two year span of minting (1975 and 1976). As mentioned in an earlier post about these quarters there is a silver set that is worth about $30.00. Of course, that is for an Eisenhower Dollar, Kennedy Half Dollar, and Washington Quarter Dollar in UNC, with the one year only (more like two years) design, and is made of 40% silver.

2009 Northern Mariana Islands Quarter!

This is a 2009 Northern Mariana Islands Territory Quarter like the D.C. quarter I posted about yesterday. They were a 1 year only issue and this particular version had the lowest mintage of only 35,200,000 for P and 37,600,000 for D. These are both in AU condition and worth about $0.30 for either mint mark. In UNC they are worth about $0.60 depending on grade.

2009 D.C. Territory Quarter!

Following the popular State Quarters the Territory Quarters are some of the least common quarters seen in circulation. They were a 1 year only issue and had very low mintages like all coins in 2009. I found the one on the left in 2010 and the one on the right a few days ago. The left one is in Uncirculated with a P mint mark so it is worth about $0.60. The one on the right is in About Uncirculated with a D mint mark and is worth about $0.30.
(Note: in AU each coin is worth $0.30 and in MS each is worth $0.60 depending on grade.)

Worn Down to Nothing (almost) Quarter version!

This is a 1996-P quarter dollar. I have posted about a coin like this before which was the dime version. I suspect that this one was ground down with something early on in its life because the back is in vg (very good)-fine although there is some rust (which does not happen on American coins, except the 1943 zinc plated steel cent, so this was near or touching iron or steel and got exposed) and a dark gray color so maybe just good condition. Like the dime I posted about last month this is only face/novelty value so not that valuable but very interesting.

Mint State Pennsylvania State Quarters!

 These are some 1999 State Quarter and is surprisingly in mint state. Most State Quarters are in such low grade that most collectors don't want them in their collection. They were inspired by some Canadian coins that honored the provinces (I'm not an expert in foreign coins but it should be something like that). These are actually in better condition than the Pennsylvania in my uncirculated set which is a good thing for collectors because it means there are still good coins floating around. They are worth about $1.25 in this condition and are an amazing example of awesome finds simply from one's change.