1960 Cuba 5 Centavos!

One of my now many Cuban coins. Many may be a little strong when compared to my American collection, but I do seem to be finding them more often. I got this for a slight bargain at $0.20 whereas it is valued at $0.75. It has the lowest mintage of the three years this design/composition was struck and is worth substantially more than the 1961 version in higher grades.

Italy 1913-R 20 Centesimi!

A beautiful coin! Too bad it's my only one. But then, you don't need any more when one coin has this much beauty. I got it for the usual $0.25 which I consider to be a bargain for such a nice coin. It features all this and since I've given a link this post can end here. It is worth about $2.00 which makes it a financial bargain as well.

1923 Poland 10 Groszy!

 Poland: Home to some really girly birds. Germany's are much better. Why is this 90 year old coin in such great condition? Because there were 100,000,000 of them made! Plus, it isn't silver and the design isn't the best. It is better than most modern ones, it just lacks the biceps the German Eagle had. This coin is worth $50.00... in MS-60! In this shape, $1.50.

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!

1969 Bahama Islands 5 Cents!

The last coin of the year and it's rainbow colored. It actually kind of looks like someone did some waterclor painting on it. It features a not-so-prickly pineapple and a not-so-good looking portrait of the queen as it's main designs. Something about that face reminds me of a hamster. Personally I think they should have stayed with the first design but the past is the past and all we can do is look forward- to a possible King Charles. Moving on this coin is worth about $0.10 but the "rainbowing" might make it worth more.

1967 Venezuelan Bolivar!

This is one of three Venezuelan coins I own. The obverse features Simón Bolívar who is the equivalent to George Washington in many South American Countries. The reverse was modified from previous years because the composition was changed from 90% silver to 100% nickel and Venezuela put the silver weight and composition on their coins. For some reason this coin feels rough. I'm not exactly sure why since Canada used nickel and their coins are as smooth (and shiny) as a baby's bottom. Too bad it's not silver because if it was it would be worth about $4.35. Since it's not it is worth only $0.10.

1975 El Salvador 25 Centavos!

Got this in the coin return slot in a CoinStar-like machine. It's the same size as a dime, but magnetic and bearing a big 25 on the reverse. Well, whoever spent it for 10 cents got a fair deal seeing as this coin is worth $0.10. I still wonder how it got all the way up here from there. Maybe a tourist or maybe it just worked its way up being spent as different denominations from different countries until it finally ended up here. Now I kind of wish there was a Where's George for coins.

1895 Austrian 10 Heller!

Got this for free with that Morgan Dollar Love Token a long while back. I also got a 1909 version of this coin for free which hasn't been featured yet. On to the coin. It has no writing other than the date and the 10 which, to a collector who knows little to nothing about these types of coins, could be the Austrian eqivalent to 10 cents or 10 dollars. Well, since 100 Heller = 1 Krone I'd say this is the 10 cent equivalent. It has gained five times it's original value being worth about $0.50.

1975 Dominican Republic 10 Centavos

Look familiar? If not, take a look here at the Indian Head Cent. See the resemblance? I noticed this coin as I was searching for aluminum and zinc coins and quickly stuck it in the pile of coins I was going to buy. One thing that stuck out to me was the fact that the weight is on the coin. For a moment that made me think it was silver since usually only silver and gold coins bear a weight. A few clicks of the mouse revealed it was copper-nickel although silver coins were issued in previous years. Another thing that led me to believe it was silver was the toning on the reverse. Notice how above "Libertad" on the reverse there is a spot of rainbow color. Since silver can tone any color of the rainbow (and sometimes all of them) it kind of furthered my silver suspicion. Anyway since it's not silver it is only worth $0.15.

1968 Panamanian 1/10 Balboa!

Can you guess which one of these is the Panamanian one?

Got this at the flea market when I picked up all of those aluminum coins. To answer the question above it is the 4th one going from left to right. Technically the "heads" side of this coin is the reverse, but in America the "heads" side is the obverse so it looks more natural to me this way. Notice how it says "VN-DECIMO-DE-BALBOA" instead of "UN-DECIMO-DE-BALBOA" which literally translates to 1/10 of a Balboa. A Balboa being a Panamanian Dollar. It reminds me of the Peace Dollar which has "IN GOD WE TRUVST" on it and the Standing Liberty Quarter which has "E PLVRIBVS VNVM" and "IN GOD WE TRVST" on it. From what I understand this coin could be used in American vending machines as it is the same size, weight, and composition as an American dime. Too bad it's only worth $0.10.

1867-(P) No Rays Shield Nickel!

Yes, this counts as a $0.05 coin in my series. I bought this coin that is worth $20.00 for $15.00 2-3 weeks ago. Going back even further to 1867 you'll see that there were two types of nickels minted that year. One had rays between the stars and the other didn't. The one with rays was the original design struck in 1866 and some of 1867, but the rays were taken out of the design when only a little over 2 million were struck. After the slight design change was made, 28 million 1867 rayless nickels were made. With the nickels with rays having a substantially smaller mintage, they are worth $15.00 more than the ones without rays like mine. When both are in G-4 (Good-4), that is.

1968 Canadian Quarter!

Canada, we meet again. Like Man posted the other day Canadians are coming to America to buy milk and gas to save money. Like the article (linked in Man's post) says the dairy is doing great and loving the new business. Their business must be doing amazingly great because only a day after that post I get this coin. 1968 was not the best year for Canadian Quarters because it was the year that silver became so expensive that it was taken out of them. Silver was replaced with nickel almost like American Quarters except American Quarters were replaced with copper-nickel clad and are mostly copper. Since these coins are 100% nickel it is easy to differentiate between the silver versions and the nickel ones. As soon as I saw the obverse and realized it was a Canadian quarter, and not a silver American one, I immediately looked for the date. Since it was a 1968 I went and got a magnet to see which type it was. Sadly the magnet proved that this is the nickel version. This means that it is only worth $0.25 instead of the $2.60-ish it would be worth if it was silver. It still a very nice find especially since I hardly ever get foreign coins in my change. Let's hope this dairy keeps doing well and bringing in lots of Canadian change!

2012-P Roosevelt Dime!

2012 may have come late for me (back in May), but it came in numbers. I have almost $0.50 of 2012 cents, $0.70 in dimes, and $0.50 in quarters. This is pretty irrelevant to the last two sentences, but I think the dime could use a new look. Quarters change yearly, as do dollar coins. The nickels have changed desings quite a few times since '04 and the cents have had 5 different designs sine '09. I'd say the dime is long overdue for a makeover. They could do the same thing they did with the cent and just change the reverse or do a complete remodeling and make a new design. What would be really awesome is if the mint did a retro kind of thing where they brought the Mercury Dime back from the dead, but in a newer, copper-nickel body. Let me know what you think down below in the comments. Oh yeah this particular dime, like most new coins, is only worth $0.10.

1970-D Roosevelt dime!

There is really no reason for this post other than I like the way the date looks. Same with 1940 coins. I don't know what it is about them they just look cooler than other coins. Like I said before this coin is nothing special and only worth $0.10.

1941-S Large And Small "S" Nickels!

 Got this coin a few days ago in my change. At first I thought it was a very good looking 1944, but a check of the date and above the dome revealed it was a 1941. After I looked at the date and above the dome I checked the far right where the mint mark is and instantly recognized the wide or large S. The only reason I knew it was wide was because of the coin below. It is my 1941-S small S. Click it to get a better look. It almost looks like a D because it is so worn. They're pretty nice finds being so old. Too bad they're both only worth $0.20-$0.30 although, I did get a good deal getting them for face value and all.

1944-? Lamination Error Nickel!

Got this error coin at the place where I get most of my bought coins. I got it and a few other similar "nickels" to add to mt very small error collection. The error on this coin is a result of metal peeling off of the coin's surface due to gas, dirt, or oxides being trapped as the strip is rolled to the proper thickness. Apparently this was pretty common for these nickels and this coin is only worth $2.50.

1967 Canadian Centennial Nickel!

Bought this extremely attractive coin at the flea market. I can say without a doubt that this coin is uncirculated. Too bad it's common. If you didn't already know Canada became its own country in 1867 and issued special coins in 1967 to celebrate. They changed the design on the reverses to have a new design like the bicentennial American coins. Unlike 1976 American coins the dual date was on the reverse. These nickels usually featured a beaver on a log but the design was changed to have a rabbit. It is worth $0.20.

1946 Portugese 1 Escudo!

I don't know much about Portugal but I do know that they made beautiful coins. This one just caught my eye so I decided to get it. The obverse depicts Liberty facing right and the reverse depicts the Portugese Coat of Arms. It is worth about $0.50.

1992-S American Proof Set!

Oooooooo shiny. Here's yet another gift. I'm not sure how it got to be like this but it is. I hope to get some 2x2 holders for them but for now they'll have to sit in my coin box. Maybe I'll get some holders next week at the flea market but for now these coins are unprotected. The whole set is worth $6.00 but this is probably less with no plastic covering, case, or certificate of authenticity.

1965 Special Mint Set! (The Complete Set)

This is the entire 1965 Special Mint Set. It features all the coins, the address to San Fransisco Mint, and the certificate of authenticity/information sheet. Altogether the set is worth about $8.00. On the other hand if you took out each coin and sold them individually together they would all be worth $5.52 for just plain UNC (based on all of my previous 1965 Special Mint Set posts.)

NOTE: I will probably be posting more foreign coins from my "reserves" since I'm running out of interesting American finds/buys. I've got plenty of silver dimes to post, but that would get kinda boring so every once in a while I'll post a dime or two and only as a last resort will I only post the dimes.