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.

CLEANED COINS

                                                  

I've been wanting to do this post for a while now so here it is. The coin you see above is an example of a cleaned coin. Cleaned coins are exactly what you would think they are and, unless an extreme rarity, are only worth metal value. The reason for this is because cleaning washes away a coin's natural look which makes the coin even more unattractive and unwanted. In this way and others cleaning damages the coin, usually scarring it forever. This may seem a bit ridiculous, but any experienced coin expert/dealer/collector can tell you that cleaning does more damage than good, with a few exceptions. On the silver dime above, cleaning has left very shiny fields and raised areas, but the cracks and crevices are filled with tarnish and dirt. Notice how the shininess looks unnatural, unlike a silver dime that was not cleaned. If you visited the link you now see the substantial difference in cleaned and uncleaned coins. If not, you're missing out on a great coin. Cleaned coins can be spotted fairly easily and you should avoid buying them for a collection unless you can get another of that coin with ease or you plan on replacing it in the future. Like I said before, cleaned coins are only worth metal value so around $2.20 today (8/27/12).

1942 Netherlands 10 Cents!

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As all of my faithful readers and those of you who stop by every now and then know, I buy coins at the flea market. Any coins you see that I didn't buy come from change or as gifts. This coin came from the foreign/miscellaneous coin bin at the shop I buy from the most. I usually only buy silver, error, or other more expensive coins from him, but that week I had decided to take this advice and buy as many zinc and aluminum coins as I could. I managed to get around 40 aluminum coins and 2 zinc coins, one of which wasn't originally zinc, but was missing it's copper plating. I also bought 10-15 foreign coins that caught my eye, most of which will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Here comes the exciting part. The coins were marked $0.25 for 1 or 5 for $1.00. That means I would have paid around $11.00 for all of the coins. Since I buy something there every time I go to the flea market he gives me a very good deal on almost everything I buy. This time, though, I had a specific price in mind. I was looking to spend only $5.00. I got the coins I wanted into piles based on what they were (aluminum and plain foreign) and said "How much for all of these coins?" He smiled and said "$5.00!". At that point he got a plastic bag and started shoveling coins into it. The reasons for his enthusiasm and his willingness to let $6.00 of possible profit disappear are these: 1. I buy from him all the time and we have a friendly relationship. 2. Most of the time these coins get overlooked and some sit for weeks, months, or even years before being bought. 3. Most dealers regard these types of coins as excess inventory and are happy to get rid of them as soon as possible for almost any price because when they buy collections they almost always get more. With all of these factors I probably could have bought half of the coins in that box for $5.00. Well, maybe not but it would be worth a try. Whew, this has been a long post and I'm pretty tired so before I fall asleep this coin that I have said almost nothing about is worth $20.00 $2.00.

1993 Netherlands 5 Cent!

$0.10 coins start tomorrow! It's been a long journey so far and we have a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer journey ahead of us. After $0.10 there are still $0.20, $0.25, $0.50, $1.00, $5.00, and finally $10.00. I am also buying and finding coins whenever possible thus adding to this series and expanding it. Okay on to the coin. It features Beatrix who is the Queen of the Netherlands and a relatively simple design. Date, denomination, some lines rectangles make up the reverse. Or is that the obverse? Foreign coins are almost always confusing when it comes to that. Anyway this relatively simple coin is worth $0.10.

2005-G German 5 Euro Cent!

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Just like the last two German coins I posted (1 Euro Cent & 2 Euro Cent) I got this coin in change in Germany so I'm not sure what to classify it as. It's got the G mint mark which means it was minted at Karlsruhe. German mint marks always confuse me because the letter doesn't correspond with the name of the mint, it corresponds with when the mint was opened. Visit here to see the German mints and mint marks from over the years. This coin has the same design as the German 1 and 2 Euro Cent coins with the exception of the change of size and denomination. They took care of the confusion problem by implementing some design features such as: making the 1 Euro Cent one of the smallest coins I have ever owned, putting a special edge on the 2 Euro Cent coin, and making the edges of the 10 and 50 Euro Cent coins reeded. The 20 Euro Cent coins have "dents" instead of reeding and 1 and 2 Euro coins are significantly bigger than this 5 Euro Cent coin making it almost impossible to confuse this coin with any other Euro coin. It's almost like they didn't want to do anything fancy for these 5 Cent coins so they did all of the fancy stuff for the other coins and left this one mostly plain. This plain coin is worth $0.10. Not quite sure if that's an increase or a decrease from late 2008-early 2009 Euro-Dollar exchange rate.

2002 Barbados 5 Cents!

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Here's another mystery coin. When I say that I mean it's a mystery as to where I got it. I believe this is 1/2 of the Barbadian coins I have, the other one will be featured later in the series. This coin is nickel sized, but has the color of a dirty cent so I'm not sure what I got it as. One thing I love about this coin is that it features the South Point Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in Barbados. Another thing I love is that on both of the Barbadian coins I have feature clouds as a prominent part of their designs. Then again it kind of makes this coin look dreary. On the other side is the Coat of Arms which features a pelican, a dolphin fish, and the motto "Pride and Industry" among other things. This proud and industrious coin is sadly only worth $0.05.  

1989 Brazil 5 Centavos!

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This coin was also from that coin trade around a year ago. Let me also say this coin is not black, it's just the way the picture turned out. All right, moving on. The design is really nice with all of the spirals, triangles, the two fish, and the obverse which can be confusing to the brain. It kind of looks like ancient Mayan art with a gardener instead of a warrior or who/whatever would be on ancient Mayan art. Anyway this not-so-ancient and not-so-Mayan coin is worth $0.25.

2002 British 5 Pence!

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Got this as a gift back in '06 I believe. That's the great thing about having friends and family that travel: they almost always bring back something appealing for each family member/friend. This is the newest 5 pence coin I have followed by one from the '90s with that one being followed by another from the '90s and so on. It is also in the best condition, although that is not because it is the newest. It is because it saw the least action in circulation. I found a 2002 nickel once that looked at least 70 years old and I've found 1960's and 1970's quarters in UNC. Like I said it's about the action seen. Fortunately because this one saw very little action it is worth $0.10.

1998 Peru 5 Centimos!

Here's the only Peruvian coin I own that didn't come straight from Peru. I got it around a year ago in a coin trade. It's in UNC although, since I don't have a foreign coin book, I can't say what grade exactly. I'm guessing that is braille on the obverse, although I'm not sure what it says. What I do know is that the Lima Mint Mark is under the word "Centimos" on the obverse. Click the picture to get a better look. Other than this coin being worth $0.35 I don't have anything else to say.

2004 Egypt 5 Piasters!

Got this in Egypt when I went as well. They use Pounds like the British, but instead of using Pence they use Piasters. If you are unfamiliar with Arabic, that O or 0 on the reverse is a 5, as shown in the diagram below. Here comes the tricky part: the date. In this case it is not too hard, but it can be a bit tricky. For instance, a 1959 coin would look like a 1909 and I'm sure if you look below you'll see all sorts of combinations that look like one year, but are really another. This coin is worth $0.75.

1995 Philippines 5 Sentimo!

This coin just instantly reminds me of my Holey Cent! post except this coin is supposed to look this way. I'm pretty sure this is the only coin I currently own that was minted with a hole in it, although I have had some over the years. It would be a nice thing to keep on a necklace so you wouldn't loose your change. That is, if you could get it off without having to ruin the necklace. If you couldn't it would still be a nice jewelery piece. The 5 reminds me of Kindergarten and 1st Grade when the teacher would tell us how to make a 5 she'd say make a line across, a line down, and a big fat belly. Those words may have been the very inspiration for this coin's 5. That or they needed to fit the hole in. Anyway if you noticed the 1995 on one side and the 1993 on the other the reason is this: Some countries (such as the Philippines) like to put a date showing when the current Central Bank was established. It's kind of like a sign at a factory that says "2 Years Without An Accident" or something along those lines. This lucky coin has gone 17 years without an accident and is worth $0.15.

Happy 150th Anniversary!

Some shredded bills.

The series dates from two bills.



Some pieces of $100 bills.

Some pices of $20 bills.

Signature of Henry Paulson.

Eagle on shield. Printed in sparkly, color shifting-ink.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the BEP (Bureau of Engraving and Printing) I decided to do a post about paper money! Shredded paper money, that is. I got it at the BEP in the gift shop/store which has a much larger selection in person than online. I also got a sheet of uncut $5.00 bills which I'll be posting in the future. For those of you who don't know the BEP is where American paper money is printed. There are two locations one is in Washington D.C. the other is in Fort Worth, Texas. They both offer free tours of the production facility as well as some other stuff shown on the website. It was a great way to learn about bill production and history as well as technological advances in the printing machinery and the bills themselves. What I mean by this is the security features such as watermarks, security srtips, and new colors on bills. Since this money has been shredded it holds no real value, although $1.50 seemed to be a nice price for hundreds of dollars of shredded money.

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.

1976 Tanzania 5 Senti Tano!

I got this and a few other Tanzanian coins from my uncle when he went to Tanzania. If I recall correctly he went to climb Kilimanjaro, or at least some of it. He said that he was literally being handed back fist fulls of change in shops because they are trying to phase out the coins and use bills more. They managed to get this and some others out of circulation and I got a few more foreign coins so I'd say this is a win-win. It would be even more of a win if it was worth more than $0.05, but it's better than nothing.

1998 Mexico 5 Cents!

 Got this very nice coin a year ago in a coin trade. It wasn't the only one, but it was one of the ones in the nicest condition. To the right ----------------------------------------> is the Mexico City mint mark. It's the same mint mark seen above the ¢ on this coin. I wasn't able to find a Mexico City mint mark that I could copy and paste so I brought a picture instead. This is the same mint mark that has been used since the 1500's to indicate the origin of all Mexico City Mint coins. Below is a darker looking obverse. It was the first picture I took, and since it looked so nice, I decided to put it up as well. In terms of exchange for American money, this coin is worthless. In terms of nuismatics, it is worth $0.15.

1985 French 5 Centimes!

Can't remember where or when I got this coin. What I do know is that it is a very beautiful coin. It's like a mixture of the extremely beautiful Mercury Dime and the extremely old Lincoln Wheat Cent which makes for a great coin. This great coin also has some French on it, of course. Liberte means Liberty, Egalite means Equality, and Fraternite means Fraternity or Brotherhood. Republique Française means French Republic and, of course, centimes means cents. While I don't know where or when exactly I got this coin, I do know that it is worth $0.05.

2008-F German 2 Euro Cent!

 Got this in change in Germany as well. Still not sure if it counts as a find since it is just a regular coin in Germany. Back to the coin. It is pretty tarnished and dirty for being so new when I got it (end of 2008). The extremely small F mint mark means it was minted in Stuttgart, Germany which is a very interesting place judging by that article. Now to nearly end this post the coin featured above is worth $0.05. Down below is a picture of the edges of a few of my 2 Euro Cent coins. Notice how the middle of the edge goes in and the top and bottom go out. Now it's the end.

2007 French 2 Euro Cent!

 Here I am back on schedule. This is one of those coins I got in the return slot of a coin machine. I always check the return slots for coins people have left behind and what do you know it paid off. I got this around 2 years ago which somewhat explains its lack of damage and tarnish. It's still amazing that this traveled across an ocean in someone's pocket and most likely ended up in circulation for a short time before I found it. The only thing that I had to go on at the time was the RF on the reverse. Thanks to the internet it wasn't hard to figure out. It is worth $0.05. the picture below shows the edges of a few of my 2 Euro Cent coins.

1980 British 2 Pence!

Got this as a gift a few years back. It's pretty dull with some wear, staining, and marks. The one thing I thought is pretty cool is the words "Ich Dien" which means ''I serve" in German. To finish this extremely short post it is worth $0.05.