1944-S Philippines 1 Centavo!

What's twice the size of a U.S. cent and only worth half of one in face value? This coin! Two of these (relatively) large coins would make but one tiny U.S. cent despite having more metal content. That was back in the time when the government made money from making money. Now the cent and nickel are getting expensive and people aren't happy. This coin has jumped an estimated five times its original face value (due to inflation) making it worth $0.50.

1980-A German Democratic Republic 1 Pfennig!

Aluminum: a metal that seems to be common among cents these days. If they're still being produced, that is. East Germany is no longer around and does not produce any money at all. I suppose they were ahead of the curve. East German coins seem to be hard to come by, although they are not rare at all. This example is worth just $0.10 but it is the first East German 1 pfennig coin I've ever come across. And on top of that I've only found three East German coins period before this one. I don't mind it though since I prefer pre-1949 German coins to newer ones but still, I don't think it should be easier for me to get 100 year old coins than it is to get 20 year old coins.

1962 South African Cent!

This coin is large, but not in charge. It's quite a few times bigger than a U.S. cent which isn't surprising because the U.S. cent was actually worth more than the metal and production costs back in the day. Now, due to inflation, poor spending, and other things, the U.S. cent is worth less than production cost. The South African cent is no longer made because it is worth so little. In fact, it takes about 10 South African cents to make one U.S. Cent. This coin is worth about 1 South African Rand (as of 7/5/13).

1953 Cuba 1 Centavo!

 Guess who got two Cuban coins for $1.00? Me! I bought this and a 5 Centavo coin for my Cuban coin collection. So now I have five instead of three! I'll admit I overpaid some, but Cuban coins are so few and far between, I couldn't pass them up. This was a commemorative issued for the centennial of the birth of Jose Marti, possibly the most patriotic Cuban ever to live.

Cuba made their coins at par with the USD from 1916-1961. 1 Gram of copper-nickel was equal to 1 bronze U.S. cent. Cuban cents were struck on  1 gram copper-nickel blanks until WWII came along and created the need for blanks of the same size, but made of brass. This was made on one of the brass blanks and is therefore smaller than, but was equal to, the U.S. cent. It is worth $0.15 in numismatic value, $0.01 in official exchange rate, and $0.0004 in actual exchange rate.

British Caribbean Territories - Eastern Group 1964 1 Cent!

Don't pay any attention to the name of the country- it's just the fancy and archaic way to say East Caribbean States. I got this coin at the flea market, of course, and for 10 cents less than it's numismatic value. That's right, a whole dime. Too bad it wasn't a silver one. This coin is worth $0.35, though if it had been marked for a dollar, I probably would have bought it. Well maybe not considering my opinion that QEII looks monkey-ish in this portrait.

Netherlands Antilles 1957 Cent!

What a beautiful cent! And in AU, too. It's from the Netherlands Antilles which isn't a country anymore, but when it was it made awesome coins. First off, they made silver coins from 10 cents to 1 Gulden until 1970. That means they kept on after the majority of the world stopped. It also features a very intricate-looking design which just pops right off the coin. It's worth about $2.50.

(3) 2013 U.S. Cent(s)!

That's right, three. And they all came in early April which means I got them a month earlier than the 2012 one I got last year, which was my first 2012 coin. They came right on time, too, as I just filled up my 50 coin roll of 2012 cents, all of which are UNC, one of which has a D mint mark. So now I can end my hoarding of 2012 cents and begin my hoarding of 2013 cents. I just hope I get a 2013-D earlier than the 2012-D. The above coins are worth just $0.01.

Zombie Penny Back from the Dead!

If memory serves this is my first foreign coin find from change this year. A lot later than last year, I know, but I did get three shiny 2013 Cents (to be posted Friday) earlier this month which shaves a month off of last year's time. Plus, it's a Canadian Cent, the coin that is officially supposed to be in recall mode! It's also one of the newer ones with the newest portrait of QEII, which I did not have before. It's non-magnetic meaning it's made of the same metals as current U.S. Cents are, copper-plated zinc. In this shape, even with it not being struck anymore, it is worth just $0.01. Or if you want to get really precise, $0.0097.

1936 (1944) Ethiopia 1 Santeem!

My one and only Ethiopian coin. It was "Struck at Philadelphia, Birmingham and the Royal Mint, London between 1944 and 1975 with the date EE1936 frozen" according to NGC. With my luck, it's probably one years, but there's no way to tell so it doesn't really matter. It has a mintage of 20,000,000 making it somewhat common and as such it is worth relatively little at $0.20.

1948 Netherlands 1 Cent!

A coin on a Monday! This one features the severed head of Queen Wilhelmina, or at least that's my interpretation of it. This coin was one of the last produced before Queen Juliana took the throne and if you ask me, it was a good move! I like the way the N and 1 look on the reverse. They're not something you see everyday, even back in those days. This coin, possibly because it looks creepy, is worth just $0.05. Well, it's either that or the fact that hundreds of millions were made.

British Caribbean Territories Eastern Group 1964 Cent!

Here's a nice coin. Too bad it features one of my least favorite portraits of the Queen. It was equal to a British Half Penny at the time it was made which explains why five of them makes a nickel-brass coin, like the British 3 Pence. It's a bit tarnished which is to be expected of these coins from more tropical areas of the world, but is otherwise in great condition. Too bad it's not the 1963 in this condition. It would be worth a whole dollar more than this coin, which is worth only $0.20.

1936 Mexico 1 Centavo!

Here's a coin from a time when Mexico could actually produce 1 Cent coins. Now their lowest denomination is the 5 Cent coin which seems to be the new norm around the world. The U.S. may even become part of this trend. The reasons I bought it: #1 I didn't have one and #2 I love that eagle. Reminds me of the German ones with the wings all outstretched. Despite my love for its eagle, it is only worth $0.10.

1939 Japanese 1 Sen!

It took me a while to identify this coin at first as I couldn't seem to be able to find it right above the one with the volcano. I was able to find it here and more or less officially add it to my collection. It's another tiny aluminum coin but at least it's got some history and circulated in Japan during WWII. Rumor has it they were kept by Jap spies to give information to the homeland. Only joking, of course. Even though Japan was on the losing side of the war, they did not lose their awesome artistic abilities. They managed to keep some nice designs on their ever decreasing in value coins and bills, an even this coin is an example. It's in rough shape and worth about $0.05 but without the wear and tear it's a nice coin.

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!

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!

1962 Czechoslovakia 1 Haléř!

My first, and only, Czechoslovakian coin. I got it in the junk bin at the flea market for relatively little and, even in this condition, it is worth relatively little. The being a tiny aluminum coin with a pretty high mintage does not help the value at all. It's got an odd-looking Czech lion as its main design and some stars and leaves to keep us occupied. I'm not sure why it's so obscure as to what the value is. Maybe they thought people would just assume it's a 1 cent coin. Then again, if someone was visiting from Iceland back in the day, It would have made perfect sense for this to be the dollar equivalent. Well anyway, it's worth about $0.10 which seems to be somewhat standard amongst tiny, high mintage aluminum coins.

Holey Cent #2!

A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away... this happened. I don't know who but I do know how and possibly why. Someone obviously decided to drill a hole in it. This could have been to wear, an experiment, or just to make carrying it more easy. It is a pretty tiny coin and putting a few hundred on a necklace would be quite the fashion statement.

I'm starting to think someone is out to get me because this Swedish 1 Ore coin has the second lowest mintage in the entire series and somehow it has a huge, gaping hole. It would only be worth about $0.20 but still. In this condition it is probably worth a cent or two for the copper unless I can get a gold or silver chain for it.

1960 Philippines One Centavo!

A little over 10 years after the U.S. left and the Philippines were still using the old U.S. Administration designs. My favorite aspect of this coin is the multi-coloredness <--(not a word). My least favorite is the shotty die work. The "REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES" on the banner looks pretty amateur as do the sun's rays. There's also a possible die crack between the 6 and the 0 but that may just be from that stain. It's worth about $0.05 unless there's a die crack in which case it is worth more.

2002 Severely Damaged Cent!



Zinc Heart (far left) ~ Zinc Sheep (middle) ~ Zinc Foil (far left)

What a beautiful coin (not)! If you stick a post-1982 American Cent on a stove this will likely be the result. Since zinc melts at 787^oF or 419.5^oC it is likely the zinc melted and since the copper is so thin and there is much more zinc than copper it is likely the zinc began to expand and/or boil and burst through the copper. Now that it is in this state it is most likely not spendable 1.) Because it does not clearly feature the issuing country or denmination and 2.) Because more than half of the country still thinks "pennies" are 100% copper. I can't believe they've managed to perpetuate this myth since the 1800's. It's a bit ridiculous.

By the way those zinc figures were completely accidental and I was planning on throwing them away but I may keep them. Who knows maybe I'll need some scrap zinc in the future. Or maybe I can sell them as art. Hmmmm...

1980 Canadian Penny!

Yes these two pictures are the same coin. I took the first picture with no flash and the second picture with a flash and together they look like two totally different coins. I found this sometime during the end of last week in change. It's odd that I keep getting older Canadian coins in change rather than new ones and new American coins rather than old ones. I'm not complaining it's just a bit odd. It's worth right about $0.02 for copper value.