1892-O Barber Quarter! (Flea Market Finds #3)

 I bought this coin for $4.00 or $5.00 at the flea market. Notice the O under the Eagle. That means it was minted at the New Orleans Mint which has since closed. It also means this coin had a mintage of a little over 2 million which is nothing compared to its 6 million mintage Philly counterpart. It is from the first year of issue which is another plus and always a must have for those who collect every date and mint mark. Because of its small mntage and because it is so worn, it is worth about $10.00. Still, it is worth two times what I paid for it.

MCBT Answers!

Again, another survey-like question. All 6 people who answered are indeed excited about my flea market finds and can't wait to see all of them. And I can't blame them! The new question will definitely not be a survey and will be about my flea market finds! See what it is and vote!

1930-(P) Standing Liberty Quarter! (Flea Market Finds #2)

Here's another of my bargains. I got it for $5.00 and it is worth about $12.00 which was a nice find. Somehow almost all of my bad numismatic luck was undone with good luck last Sunday. All right, before I spoil the other finds I should probably talk about this beautiful coin. It features the legends "IN GOD WE TRVST" and "E PLVRIBVS VNVM" in which the U is substituted with a V. It also features Lady Liberty who was bare breasted in the original version of the coin. Sadly, this coin is from the last year of the coin's production and that means she's fully covered. There's an eagle on the reverse that looks way more majestic in the less worn versions of this coin. It is surrounded by 13 stars which represent the 13 original colonies.

Odd how we always glorify the colonies but then supposedly hate the idea of colonization. Also odd how we still have thousands of troops in Japan and Germany and still own islands that we captured in WWII and before. Just some food for thought.

15,666 Pageviews!

At 11:46 PM Eastern Time I got my 15,666th pageview on this blog. Thanks to all who have made it so popular! Now let us commence in a Satanic ritual!

1943-P Wartime Jefferson Nickel! (Flea Market Finds #1)

I've shown about a million 1943-P wartime nickels before and I'll likely show a million more. The reason I'm showing it again is because it is not the exact same coin and and because it is one of my "bargains" from the flea market. I got it for $1.00 and it is worth $1.69 so that $0.69 is pure profit. If I were to sell it, that is. This is the lesser end of my bargains so stay tuned to see the better deals!

MCB Trivia Answers!

Last week's question was more of a survey than trivia. I noticed that my "1961 Republik Osterreich 1 Schilling" post was getting 5-10 views per day so I decided to see of that was what the majority of people were coming for. I got three answers and all were no. From that I could conclude that no one came for it, but since it it still getting around 5 views per day, that would not be true. Anyway, go vote on the new trivia question!

Also, I got some new coins and good deals at the flea market yesterday. Expect some good posts soon!

1947 Canadian Penny!

Here's another one of the Canadian Cents/Pennies I bought before it's demise. It is in awful shape, but even in this condition it is worth at least metal value. Go to this site and you'll see that it is worth at least $0.15 in VG. Of course, that's a little much unless you need it for a set and even then it's a filler. Since I collect these for the sake of having them, I don't mind paying a little bit of money for them, but I don't want to spend too much either.

Also, I will probably be going to the flea market today for the first time in 5ever. Hopefully I will find a few nice, new coins!

Happy Valentine's Day! (1972 Denmark 25 Ore!)

This coin is one of many perfect coins for your Valentine! Why? Because of the heart on the bottom of the reverse! All right I'm a day late or a year early depending on how you look at it but either way a Valentine-themed post has no relevance now. I like the hole through the middle but I don't know who would wear a necklace made of these (that is why governments do that, right?).  It's worth a nice $0.25 in this condition which probably will not impress your Valentine at all.

2006 Canada Bravery/Bravoure Quarter!

 Well, I caved. I have tried not to buy any of the millions of commemoratve Canadian quarters that have been made in the past 20 years as they are of relatively little value and there have been many different types making collecting them almost impossible. I bought this one along with a 1968 silver dime and a 1971 quarter (all Canadian, of course) simply because I didn't have them and they were only being sold at face value. That's right, I got a silver Canadian dime for face value! Now, on to the coin above. It commemorates the Canadian Medal of Bravery as evidenced by the wreath and maple leaf on the reverse. To get the Medal of Bravery you don't have to be Canadian or even live in Canada! You just have to do something that benefits Canadian causes. The obverse features an unflattering portrait of QEII and the RCM mint mark. It's pretty scratched up but has little wear and for that it is worth face value.

MCB Trivia Answers!

So, when I asked if anyone was excited about me showing bills, the majority of you were not. 3 of the 5 people who answered were not, while the other two were. From those results I have concluded that I might show a bill every month or so if I can. Now go and vote on the new trivia!

1971 Japanese 50 Yen!

50 Japanese dollars and it's worth $0.54 in exchange value. That, my dear children, is why we don't get into world wars and lose. The Yen was falling in value, anyway but the war just crushed it. So this coin is pretty small for a half dollar and has a hole, both of which save money. That money goes into the production of more coins, or the increasing of debt depending on which one benefits the rich. Oh wait! That's America! Joking aside the engraving on the reverse is beautiful and the hole makes it a nice touch for those rice paddy farmers with no room in their pockets. All they need is a string and they can easily wear 1,000+ yen around their necks! It's worth about face value for the scratches and dents in the hole.

1979 Italian 100 Lire FAO Issue!

Stainless steel coins are some hard coins to get pictures of! I swear, someone should have paid me to take this. Complaining aside, it's a nice coin that was issued along with the regular design in honor of the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, and all of their fine work. It features a female head facing left (according to pretty much all of the websites I have visited) on the obverse and a cow nursing a calf plus the date and motto/slogan "Feeding the World" in Italian on the reverse. It is worth about $0.15.

1963-A $1.00 Bill!

Hey it's my oldest circulation find! For bills, that is. I got it near the end of last year from my sister. I traded her a plain one for this and since she couldn't care less about the collectibility of coins /currency everyone wound up happy. Family can be good after all! As you can see, the U.S. Government does not really care how counterfeited their $1.00 bills are. The design, excluding the signatures, has not changed a single bit since this bill was printed back in the day. Then again, people would probably rather counterfeit $100's than $1's but still. It's got some mild folds and some rough corners but other than that everything is A O.K. It's still worth just a dollar, though.

1927 Canadian Cent and Trivia Answers!

Now that the Canadian cent has had it's life support cut off, it will soon see less and less time in circulation. With the hoarders and government aggressively recalling them, some people may give them grotesquely large price tags because of their newfound "rarity". Therefore, it is wise to avoid dealings with anyone who claims to have a "XXX RARE CANADIAN PENNY" unless it is known to be rare. If you still wish to attain issues of the Canadian Cent, do not fret. Most of them are still relatively cheap and will be for the foreseeable future. This is because there have been 35 Billion of them made since 1908 when the RCM opened. They will still be in the $0.25, $0.50, and $1.00+ junk bins at coin shows and flea markets which is where I got the above coin. It's worth about $3.00 and is, in high grade, an exception to that "XXX" rule above. Still it's not much to get excited over unless you find one in circulation. I got it for between $0.15 and $0.20 as it was in the "$0.25 for 1; $1.00 for 5" box and I got a few freebies.

On to trivia! This week's question was "What coin did I feature on December 30, 2012?" and the answer was "Bahama Islands 5 Cents". 5 people answered, all with the correct answer. In other words participation is up from last week! Thanks guys! Be sure to vote on the new question!

1988 Republik Osterreich 5 Schilling!

Yes, I did get the alignment off but the picture still gets the job done. For a $5.00 coin it is relatively small, but considering Austria didn't have the best economy, it's not too bad. It's only a little bigger than its 1 Schilling cousin but that coin was made of aluminum-bronze which is cheaper meaning more, just not too much more, money could go into the production of one of these than into the 1 Schilling even at relatively similar diameters, widths, etc. The exchange rate for this coin was 5 Schillings=$0.49 USD  but since it was demonetized, it has no exchange value. Luckily it has the $0.60 numismatic value which is more than I paid for it!

NOTE: Go ahead and play around on that site a while. It has most of the living and dead currencies from around the world and it's pretty fun to see how much your collection would be worth without the numismatic value.

1960 Tunisia 1 Millime!

I just love this coin. I guess it's the sheer worthlessness of it which draws me in. It is 1/1,000 of a Tunisian Dinar and worth even less in USD. Still, it's not so bad. I suppose it could be 1/1,000 of a Japanese yen and then it would have so little value no one would know what to do with it. They'd probably be thrown away in that case. Since 1 Tunisian Dinar =$0.64 USD you can do the math. Or you could click this link if you're too lazy. The coin isn't totally worthless as it has its $0.10 numismatic value which is a pretty big jump from face value. Not too shabby when all that gets factored in. Otherwise, it's just another tiny aluminum coin.

Republica De Colombia 1974 20 Centavos!

Another one and only coin, just from a different country and in far worse condition. There are some varieties which are mentioned here and here. I'm pretty sure it's a large date but since I have nothing to compare it to besides a small picture, I'm not too sure. In this state it's worth $0.10-$0.20 depending on what exactly it is. Not too big of a difference in price, though. Plus I probably got it for less than it's worth so I'm not too worried.