1947 Panama 1/10 Balboa!

Can you guess which one is the Panamanian dime?

That's right I started this post off like the last Panamanian dime I posted. To answer the question above I honestly don't remember which it is, but I do know that two are Panamanian and the rest are American. The Panamanian Balboa has been pegged to the U.S. dollar for quite some time so this coin is the same size and composition as the U.S. dimes of the time. It obviously circulated well and in this condition it is worth only silver value or $2.47.

1992 Russian Rouble! Commemorative: 1 Year of Democracy

Here's that commemorative rouble I promised last week. This coin is pretty big in comparison with the regular rouble coins of its day. It's around half dollar sized and the regular roubles are penny sized. It is also made of copper and nickel whereas the other roubles were brass plated steel. Though it has a mintage of only 700,000 it did not see circulation therefore it is more abundant and worth about $2.50.

1942 British 6 Pence!

I got this at the flea market for silver value along with a few other coins that have been shown already and a few that have yet to be shown. It is a little dirty and worn but not enough to bring it to only be worth silver value which leads me to wonder why I got it for so little. Well, it's only worth $2.50 and has a silver value of $1.54 so not that cheap but still. Here's a link if you want to read more about it.

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.

MCB Trivia (Answers)!

Another closed poll with three answers this time. Again one was mine and I answered after the other two had. The question was rather easy with the correct answer being "Gold Dollar". Everyone who participated chose the correct answer which wasn't that hard to find. A new poll starts today so go ahead and vote!

1964 Argentina 10 Pesos!

A shot of the nickel-clad steel edge.

 We've finally come to an end. This is the last coin in the $0.01-$10.00 series and, of course, it falls perfectly on a Sunday. That way I can start with the "regular stuff" tomorrow (A.K.A. Monday). The reason regular is in quotes is because this series has become regular to me so to not do it is irregular. Well anyway this coin is a nickel clad steel coin which is kind of unusual- at least to me. I think I've got one other coin that involves nickel and steel and it's right here so go check it out. I may have some other coins that involve both but if so I don't remember them. As can be easily told this coin is in pretty good (AU) condition which makes it worth around $1.50.

Below is an alternate picture of the obverse. I thought it was nice so I figured I'd post it here along with everything else too. 

Cuds and Grease!

Cud- When a piece of metal chips off the die leaving a blank space on the struck coin.
Grease error- When grease gets in the die leaving some of the coin's design off, but not permanently.

Grease error.

A cud.

 Let me clarify the definitions stated above. A cud usually starts as a die crack. As more coins are struck, the die weakens further and eventually a piece of the die falls off. Usually these coins are noticed and recycled which makes them hard to get in circulation- which is oddly where I got mine (pictured above). It circulated from 1983-2012 and ended up in my hands, where it will stay. They're nice errors and can range from hardly any of the design being missing to 3/4 or more being missing. Most carry a high premium like mine does at $15.00.

On to the grease "errors". These are not really errors as they happen so often and are not caused by real die or coin defects. This so-called error occurs when grease gets between the coin and the die and has nowhere to go. It then flees to the deepest, darkest crevices of the die as the coin is struck filling in the design which would be going onto the coin. I've found plenty of these yet I have few. Why? Because they usually carry no extra value so I spend them rather than keep them.

1991 French 10 Francs!

I was considering censoring this but since since "it" is so small there's no need. This is in terrible condition for being so new and having not been in circulation long. I guess it's pretty heavy like the British Pound which makes it easier to be scrached and apparently run over. There are two versions of this coin. One has medal alignment and the other coin alignment which you can read about here. This one has the coin alignment, which does not matter because they have the same value, and is worth around $1.50.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Have a nice holiday and eat lots of food.

1954-R Italian 10 Lire!

Another Italian coin. This one seems to be more farm-oriented. It's also rather plain the one thing that did surprise me was the toning. I mean take a look at that beautiful, peachy reverse. Whew! Despite the toning it still has wear, scratches, and that greenish-brown obverse which makes the value around $0.60. Not too bad for a little aluminum coin!

1992 Russian 10 Roubles!

Here's a nice transitional coin. As most of us know, the 1990's were the years that saw the Soviet Union dissolve. Russia issued coins that were rather plain like this as a transition from their communist-oriented coinage. They saved the fancy, expensive looking coins for their commemoratives, one of which I have and will be posting next week. Like I said this coin is rather plain and worth around $0.50.

1952-R Italian 5 Lire!

Yes it's true, Italy was so poor that their $5 coin was aluminum and penny sized. At least they were into marine life. Not much to say about this one as it is pretty boring. The obverse has a dolphin and the reverse has a rudder. Last but not least this coin is worth about $0.10.

My coin Box Trivia! (Answers)

The poll closed today with two votes, one being my own. The correct answer was the one I selected or Kennedy Half Dollar. To be fair I selected it after the first answer so it wasn't like cheating or anything. Thanks to the person who voted and as for the rest of you non-voters please consider taking 5 seconds of your time to click a random asnwer (or a good answer if you have a good memory) or if you seriously want a good answer go check! I'll only make questions that have answers that can be found here on my blog that's why it's My Coin Box trivia! Have fun and VOTE!

1990 Venezuela 5 Bolivares!

Not the best pictures but I was trying to go for the "proof" look. It's got that shininess that is matched only by Canadian coins. I love the incorporation of the 130+ year old design in this short lived coin. By that I mean the composition was changed in 1989 from nickel to nickel clad steel. The nickel clad steel version was made in 1989 and 1990 and then no more 5 Bolivares coins were made. Since Venezuela switched to the Bolívar fuerte back in 2008 this coin is no longer legal tender and I'm not sure if it can still be exchanged.If it can be it's not worth much because it's only worth $0.65 in numismatic value.

1975 Iceland 5 Kronur!

I just realized I have three of these and I got all three on the same date at the same place. I also got that 1976 1 Krona on the same day too. This coin is basically a U.S. nickel which is why they had a reform. Their money was basically worthless even in high denominations so they decided to make it worth more. These coins were demonetized and they got new coin sizes and denominations, although they stopped making the aurar or cents long ago. This coin is worth about $0.15.

1972 French 5 Francs!

Got this from my grandmother when she let me go through all of her coins from her world travels. Most of them were plain except the 1904 Indian Head Cent I got. There were also plenty of other  French and German coins that I picked up, most of which have already been shown. Because this coin is so scratched and dented it's worth around $0.20.

1976 Portugese $2.50!

What an odd denomination. Well, maybe not considering it was used by the United States back in the day. It sort of confused me at first. I couldn't decide if it was $100 (2x50), $250, or $2.50. Naturally I searched for $2.50 first and it was a direct hit, so to speak. It's dime sized and made of copper nickel because by 1976 Portugal was deep in the hole. Since Portugal switched to the Euro, this coin has very little value although it does have a nice design. Unfortunately the design doesn't help much and it's worth around $0.10.

1976 Greek 2 Drachmai!

I got this and two others at the flea market and I didn't even pick any of them out. I usually get a few free coins when I go to the flea market meaning the guy throws in a few coins after I pick out all the coins I want. Somehow there managed to be a few of these on top and I got them. I tried to avoid these since he has 50+ of them in the box and I figured whenever I want or need one I can get it. Plus this isn't the most aesthetically pleasing coin and it's been demonetized. These factors and the wear lead it to be worth only about $0.10.

My Coin Box Trivia!

I recently got the idea to do My Coin Box trivia from that 2 Reichsmark post. I'll use the poll feature to ask a weekly question and then I'll give the results and answer on the first day of the next week. This week's poll starts today!

1939 2 Reichsmarks!

I've shown one of these before, but the picture was pretty blurry and that was over a year ago. One of these was featured, the other two I bought some time over the summer so I figured I might as well update. (A little My Coin Box Trivia: What day did I originally feature the first 2 Reichsmark and what was it's mint mark? Comment below.) Each of these are made of 0.625 silver or 62.5% silver and the rest is copper which is surprising when you consider there was huge inflation all over the world and especially in Germany during the Great Depression. Like I said in the other post they were issued to rally Nazi support by featuring Paul von Hindenburg on the obverse and the infamous Nazi Swastika on the reverse.

With a few exceptions, these coins are not rare but are heavily advertised as such. I've seen them on eBay with eye grabbers such as: XX RARE and SUPER RARE!!! which are usually not true. Each of these coins goes for about $6.00 and they are not rare at all. In fact, when I went and bought the first one it was in a case just lying around with about 50 others.

Happy Veterans Day!

1953 Vatican City 2 Lire!

 This would be my favorite coin if it wasn't so damaged. Sure it's not worth much, but it's a cool Vatican City coin and not many people have them. I found it somewhere in a foreign/junk coin box at the flea market. Since I collect even the most damaged/unrecognizable coins, I quickly added it to the pile of coins I was buying. I'm not quite sure what made it like this since it seems to be XF if not UNC underneath the "stuff". My guess is it was thrown in a wishing well where it sat for a while and then someone either spent or kept it leading it to be sold and bought a few times until I got it. In case you were wondering what it looks like without the "stuff" go to this website and check out the picture. It's a beautiful coin with a low mintage and a low demand. The low demand leads it to be less valuable which is why it's worth around $0.05 (especially with the damage).

1954 Greek 2 Drachmai!

This really should be a silver coin. Instead it is a quarter-sized copper nickel coin. It is one of my most worn coins, though not my most worn. It's story is basically the same as this coin's except this one is very worn. Because of this it's worth about $0.20.

1981 French 2 Francs!

Got this modern looking French coin at the flea market a while back. By modern looking I mean it looks like the traditional design in the whole picture, but not as much in the details. Notice the obverse looks pretty flat and the Sower's face looks pretty disproportioned. It's pretty dirty as well, most likely from sitting in the same foreign coin bin forever. It's made of nickel and worth only about $0.40.

Day Off

I think I'll take this day to transition from all of the election and celebratory posts to the coin posts. Plus I still have to take some pictures and hopefully get some posts started. Feel free to go through my older posts and I'll post again tomorrow!

OBAMA WON!!!!

OBAMA WON AGAIN!!!!!

 

Now that Obama has been re-elected we can all CELEBRATE!!!!!!

 

WHEEEEEEW PARTAY!!

 

Happy Election Day!

Election Day 2012!

Now that election day is here the question is "Who will you vote for?" No matter who you vote for just vote. Make your voice heard, stand up for what you believe in. It's not a dictatorship- not yet anyway so...

choose to be heard and V O T E !!!!!!

9,999 Views!

Surprise! Just thought I'd let everyone know that I now have 9,999 pageviews. Thanks for visiting, commenting, and following! It all helps! 

Happy 5th!

"Remember, remember the fifth of November."

1936 Venezuelan Bolivar!

This is probably my second most worn coin. It's quarter sized and almost 90% silver which is a nice coincidence since Simon Bolivar was the George Washington of many South American countries. since it's so worn it's worth silver value or $4.52.

1979 Belgian Franc (French Text)!

Another flea market buy, in fact I probably got it with that other Belgian Franc I posted. This one's a bit bigger in diameter less thick. As you may have noticed this coin and the other one have different designs, this one with a woman on the fron and a plant, and crown and the other featuring the king. Not sure why they decided to use his image then since he'd been the king since before this coin was issued. Anyway it's worth about $0.10.

1998 Japanese Yen!

Got about 20 (actually it's 6) of these when I got all those other aluminum coins. It's pretty scratched and worn for being so new, the again this happens very easily with aluminum coins so it's probably not that bad. Kind of funny how this coin and yesterday's coin are from the same year and I didn't even plan it. This coin is practically worthless as most aluminum coins are at exchange value or $0.01.