First Harvest!

This is the first wheat cent I have had so far this year thus the title. Its a 1954-D Lincoln Wheat Cent a.k.a. Wheat Penny. I found it earlier today along with another 2012 $0.01 coin (I'm up to 8 now) and some common change. It is worth only $0.03-$0.05 because the reverse is really scratched up and worn.

1916 Belgium 5 Cent Coin

Got this at the flea market a few weeks back. The reverse says Belgique Belgie 1916 and has 5 Cent in the middle. It is heavily corroded and is thus worth only $0.10.

2012 is Finally Here!

My fisrt 2012 coin has finally arrived. Here's my 2012-(P) Lincoln Cent. I got it yesterday but couildn't post due to internet problems. It's only worth $0.01.

***UPDATE***
I now have 16 of these cents. All are still worth just $0.01.

Greek 2 Euro!

I got this in 2007 when my aunt went to Greece. It is a 2002-S Greek 2 Euro coin. It is worth $2.75 and it has some verdigris/rust damage.

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.

1976 Dime!

I found this dime on the ground earlier and since I have never shown one here it is on my blog. It's a regular 1976-D Franklin D. Roosevelt Dime that has a big scratch (for a dime) on Roosevelt's neck. It is only worth $0.10 and is a nice addition to my coins to cash in collection.

6 Months!

It's been 6 months since my first post and I have shown coins old, rare, new, common, silver, steel, copper, nickel, and everything in between. I found my first silver coin in change after years of waiting and got some coins I could've wiated for. So far this year I have added 4 new bills and over 25 new coins to my collection (not including pre-1982 Lincoln Cents and 1964 nickels.) I have had an awesome 6 months and can't wait to see what the next six hold. Happy Hunting!

1941-M Philippines 10 Centavos!

I bought this a couple of weeks ago at the flea market. Judging by the title of this post I'd say it's a 1941-M Philippines 10 Centavos. The M stands for Manila which is the capital city of the Philippines. I can't remember what I got it for, but I do know that it was under $5.00. It is worth $1.00-$2.00.

Let's go down to Trinidad!

Yet another flea market buy. It's a 1966 Trinidad & Tobago $0.01 coin. It reminds me of the song Rum and Coca Cola (sung by the Andrews Sisters) or Rum and Coca Cola (sung by Lord Invader). The reason I bought it is because I play Steel Drums and they originated in Trinidad and I had no Trinidad coins at the time. I also bought this one for $0.20 and it is only worth $0.03.

Bundesrepublik Deutschland = West Germany

Here is another coin I recently bought at the flea market. It is a 1950-F Bundesrepublik Deutschland or Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany 5 pfennig coin. If you have seen some of my previous posts you may notice I like to collect German coins. This is because I am an avid lover of history and coins and Germany has lots of history and has produced many coins in its historic times. I got it for $0.20 and it is worth $1.50.

Deutsche Demokratische Republik = East Germany

This is my recently bought 1971 Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic or East Germany 10 pfennig coin. I bought it to expand my large-ish but relatively non-growing German coin collection. I got it and three other German coins at the flea market which is where I get most of my collectible coins and bills. It only cost me $0.20 and is worth $1.00 so I would gain $0.80 if I sold it (although if I sold it I probably wouldn't get $1.00 for it).

1776 Dollar or 1976 Dollar?

I have posted about 1976 coins before and how they always seem to confuse people. Let me spell it out nice and clear THIS IS NOT A 1776 DOLLAR! Usually if a coin has a later date on it it is from that year not the earlier one. Believe it or not this is a change find which doesn't happen often with Ike Dollars. I got it from a coin dealer at the flea market who didn't have any $1.00 bills. In EF-40  Eisenhower Dollars usually go for around $2.00. This one is worth just $1.00.

What Happened to the Blue Seal?

Back in the 1870's, the years that Morgan Dollars were first introduced and struck, silver certificates were also introduced and printed. They had a blue seal to show that they were silver certificates rather than gold certificates or United States notes. They basically said that for every printed silver dollar, there was a physical silver dollar in the treasury. Of course, when silver coinage was mostly discontinued in 1964 these were not accepted as much and eventually in 1967 you could not use them in exchange for silver. This is one I bought recently and had framed. It is worth about $4.00.

(NOTE: The picture quality makes the bill look worse than it actually is.)

June, 1917

Back in 1917 that pile of change was hard earned and every cent counted. Today, many countries such as Canada are discontinuing (or have discontinued) the cent because it has too little buying power. I suppose that's what happens when you mix aging infrastructure, careless spending, and trillions of dollars of debt and that's only in America. Anyway the picture above is some coins that are all dated before 1917 on top of a June, 1917 issue of the National Geographic Magazine shown in the video below. Most of them have been posted about and the ones that haven't are listed below.
1916-S Dime Worth: about $2.30 for updated price visit here.1900-(P) Cent Worth: about $2.00
1910-(P) Nickel Worth: about $2.00

Olympic and Gettysburg!

These coins are not very special I just felt like posting them because I've had them for quite a while and haven't posted them yet. They are both 2011-P quarters the only difference is one is for Olympic and one is for Gettysburg. These types of quarters came just after the Territory Quarters which came right after the State Quarters. I believe they will be made until 2021 and from what I've heard the series could be extended. These two are worth around $0.30-$0.60 in uncirculated.

1864 Confederate $5.00 Bill!

 This is one of my newest buys. It's an 1864 Confederate $5.00 bill. I got it at the flea market on Sunday for $30.00 which is great because it is worth $50.00. Notice the attention to detail on it. You can see men in suits and women in dresses and the signatures and serial number are hand-written. All of the leaves on the trees are visible and so is every last step on the building. It is amazing how the rebels could gather an army, gather supplies, make uniforms, mint coins, keep the war going for as long as they did, and print money with every last detail visible under the circumstances (Not that I support what they did I'm just saying). This is the oldest bill I own and, surprisingly, it is in the best condition out of all of my old American bills. I suppose someone saved this in a book because it has no folds and is in amazing condition for it's age (I've found series 2003 bills that look at least 50 years old).

What A Lovely Coin!

Here is one of my newest buys. It's an 1875 dime. Not only that, but it is also a "Love Token". That last sentence is half untrue. Technically it is not a token it is a coin although a token could also be a symbol or sign so it depends on the way you interpret it. A Love Token is a coin that someone had one side scraped off of and engraved with the name or initials of their sweetheart. They were very common in the later 1800's and have since been replaced with flowers and chocolates. The initials on this coin are "F", "J", and "M". They could be for just about anyone since I don't know the history for it. I got it for $15.00 which seems fair because this coin could be worth $16.00-$20.00 in just good condition and could have less value for the "damage" the engraving did. On the other hand it is beautiful artwork and could be worth more for the reverse than the coin's collector value. Either way Love Tokens are great additions to any collectable, coin, or art collection and, of course, make great Valentine's Day gifts.

(NOTE: Click ==>here<==to see some other Love Tokens. Go to the comments to see what my Love Token is worth.)

Times Have Changed!

At my local Publix there is a machine that is similar to a Coinstar, but not as fancy. It takes coins and gives out a receipt that you take to the register to get cash. Today I cashed them in and got this. It's a 1985 $5.00 bill in circulated condition. It is the oldest $5.00 bill I have found (the $5.00 bill on both sides of this post is a silver certificate that I bought). There is no watermark or security strip on this bill meaning there are fewer ways to detect its authenticity. There are silk threads in it so I'm almost completely certain it's not a counterfeit bill. It is worth only $5.00 with 332,800,000 made.

Merry Christmas!

It's not really Christmas, of course, but that dollar seems to bring a little Christmas spirit with it whatever the season. I got it at my local Publix a few years ago for $2.00. I'm not sure why but now they go for $2.50. Probably not enough profits for either the supplying company or Publix. Notice I said supplying company. What I mean by that is that there is a company that there is a company that produces stickers to put on the bills. The bills can be obtained from just about anywhere, but crisp bills from the bank are best. The Uncle Sam's 3 Coin Register Bank is one of my other collectables. I got it at an antique shop on Martha's Vineyard for around $12.00. From what I have seen on eBay I am missing the little rubber or plastic tip on the handle. The only other damage is the paint peeling off where the coins are deposited. I can also say I got it for a steal compared to what this person was selling it for.

Backstage on Broadway!

Here are some backstage pictures from the play Billy Elliot. The coins all seem fairly new except the cent in the top left which looks to me like a pre-1982. All I can say about the play is that it was amazing and if you ever get the chance to you should go. I will also be posting more pictures on my other blog My Travels of the World so click the link to see them.

Worn Down to Nothing (almost) Cent Version!

Here is the oldest and one of the first coins in my collection. It's an 1827 cent or penny. I went to a Civil War/Revolutionary War antique shop 4-5 years ago which is when I really started getting interested in coins and historic items. It came with a Civil War bullet as well and I paid about $28.00 for both of them so it comes out to $14.00 a piece. Technically  I could count this as VF because all of the letters in LIBERTY are showing (even though the picture doesn't show it). Without that, though, I would call it a Good-Almost Good meaning it is worth about $10.00-$20.00.

One Million Dollars!

Here is a video from my travels of Washington D.C. and more specifically the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This was in the hallway that leads to the anteroom so I decided to take a video of it because pictures and videos are not allowed in the production facility. The entire process of making bills was explained and shown during the tour. It is also free which makes it a great spot to visit. The only down side is you must have tickets to enter and tickets are usually gone by 10:00 AM. The gift shop had a wide variety of bills and bill related items such as shredded money, uncut money, old money, books that help you learn oragami and come with a $1.00, pens with money designs, buttons with money designs, and, of course, a plethora of other little trinkets. I have noticed that many tourist traps in NYC and D.C. have gift shops that offer a few actually historically signifigant items or replicas and then the rest is pretty much worthless. It really annoys me.

Smithsonian Native Sun Symbol Coin!

I got this at the National Museum of the American Indian which is inside of the Alexander Hamilton Customs House in NYC. This was most likely the least costly item at $1.00 and a nice coin so I decided to get it (as opposed to other things that costed anywhere from $16.00-$100.00 and probably more). Now more about the museum. There was a great self-guided tour that showcased many different artifacts that were a part of the daily lives of Native Americans. My favorite parts, of course, were the dresses and bags that had coins sewn into them. From what I could tell most were Capped Bust or Seated Liberty half dollars. There were also some other types of coins, but not many. One of the most amazing parts of the museum was the art exhibit. There were many pieces made of different mediums and with many different inspirations. Some had a god, some a person, some were skulls, some were scenes of something happening in ancient times, and many, many more.

(NOTE: There are also many other exhibits and sights to see. To find out what they are you will have to visit yourself. )

Cuban 5 Centavos!

Here is my first and only Cuban coin. To be honest I know nothing about it other than what the words mean in English which is REPUBLICA DE CUBA= Republic of Cuba, cinco centavos= 5 (five) cents, and Casa Colonial= Colonial House. I got this, some other coins, and, of course, cash as a trade for some coins I was looking to sell last year. It is worth about $0.10 in USD.
(NOTE: The translations above are rough. I do sell but ONLY on MY local Craigslist. If you can somehow track me down and want to buy or sell I will give it consideration.)

My sub-Coin Box!

Most of these coins are not new, but the container is. I have decided to expand my coin box by getting this little container and putting foreign coins, proofs, and some non-monetary coins into it to make room in my main coin box. My main box is looking a little bare, but with all of the new finds I've been getting it shouldn't be long before it fills up again.