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!

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.

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!

1940 Canadian Quarter!

Technically it's a $0.25 coin but quarter is easier. I bought it at the flea market for silver value which was in the $4.50-$5.00 range. The value has changed little being worth $5.02 as of 12/1/12. This coin features King George VI and his title of Emeroro of India on the obverse and a caribou, the date, the denomination, and Canada, the issuing counry, on the reverse. Since it's so worn iy is worth just the silver value.

1961 Canadian Quarter!

This coin comes from wayyy back in the day when coins were made of silver and had actual value. Canada made their coins out of 80% silver instead of 90% like America, but made their silver coins for four years after America stopped. In my opinion this portrait of QEII is one of the most beautiful in our modern coinage. This coin is worth just metal value or $5.10.

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.

1952 Canadian Dime!

Bought this at the flea market a long while back and it is finally getting posted. At the time I bought it it only cost about $1.80 and now it is worth a little over $2.00 giving me a $0.20 gain if I were to sell it. Precious metals are like stocks except their values usually go up with bad times and down with good times. This works in favor of people selling the precious metals in bad times because the price is high when they sell it and low(er) when they buy it (usually in good times). There is little to say about the coin except it is worn, damaged, and gunky which is why it is only worth silver value.

Dateless Canadians

No this is not a post about Canadians who can't get a date although that does sound like an interesting topic to post about. Then again since my knowledge of Canada comes from Dudley Do-Right and other TV shows I may not be the best person to post about such things. These Canadians are coins and their dates have been worn off making them dateless. King George and the denominations are clearly visible which means these coins were minted sometime between 1912 and 1936 and that they are 10 and 25 cent coins. I bought them along with 8 other coins (a few of them being Canadians as well) at the flea market for silver value which is about right for most of them from what I've seen here. There are a few varieties, I believe, for each coin including a silver content change from Sterling (0.925 or 92.5% silver) to 0.800 or 80% silver. The 80% silver versions are the only versions listed on Coinflation and are worth about $2.00 for the dime and $5.00 for the quarter.

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!

1961 Canadian Cent!

Bought this, 8 other Canadian Cents, and this Brtish 3 Pence coin at the flea market a while back. It was after this post I'm guessing some time in June. I bought this and the others because Canada has stopped minting their $0.01 coins and I only had a few. As I've said here I love the way Queen Elizabeth II looks on these coins from early in her time as Queen. This beautiful coin is worth $0.03.

Goodbye Forever, Canadian Cent :(

Yesterday was the last day of striking of Canadian pennies. According to the Royal Candian Mint the penny is "...ultimately a burden on Canada's balance sheet...". More articles here, here, here, and here.  I will miss the Canadian penny since it was my most common Canadian find . Au revoir Canadian Cent.