1943 Indian 1/4 Rupee!

This U.S. Cent-sized, .500 (50%) silver coin is a quarter? Yes, it is. Four of these would have made an Indian Rupee and now it takes quite a few Indian Rupees to make one of these. The silver value alone is $54.02 Rupees ($0.90). I got it for $0.25 which was, at the time, a much better deal. Now that silver has dropped it doesn't seem like much profit. Except for the fact that it's worth $8.00! Numismatic value dominates silver in this case and the coin is actually a great bargain. I'm glad I noticed it and picked it up when I did or else someone else could be blogging about a great find.

1954 Netherlands Antilles 1/4 Gulden! (Flea Market Finds #4)

This is my second favorite of my flea market finds. It's got a rather small mintage of 200,000 and is worth around $8.00 which is 8x what I paid for it. Yes, it's true that I paid only $1.00 for it which is less than the $2.11 melt value as well. One of the reasons I like this coin so much is because the Netherlands didn't produce silver coins for circulation from the time Juliana took the crown except the 1 and 2-1/2 Gulden and even those were only for a short time. The Netherlands Antilles, however, produced silver coins from 10 cents to 2-1/2 Gulden until 1970. Sure, they're only 64% silver but silver is silver. I also find the portrait of Juliana quite attractive and the denomination 1/4 G rather than 25 Cent a nice change from traditional Dutch coins.

1892-O Barber Quarter! (Flea Market Finds #3)

 I bought this coin for $4.00 or $5.00 at the flea market. Notice the O under the Eagle. That means it was minted at the New Orleans Mint which has since closed. It also means this coin had a mintage of a little over 2 million which is nothing compared to its 6 million mintage Philly counterpart. It is from the first year of issue which is another plus and always a must have for those who collect every date and mint mark. Because of its small mntage and because it is so worn, it is worth about $10.00. Still, it is worth two times what I paid for it.

1930-(P) Standing Liberty Quarter! (Flea Market Finds #2)

Here's another of my bargains. I got it for $5.00 and it is worth about $12.00 which was a nice find. Somehow almost all of my bad numismatic luck was undone with good luck last Sunday. All right, before I spoil the other finds I should probably talk about this beautiful coin. It features the legends "IN GOD WE TRVST" and "E PLVRIBVS VNVM" in which the U is substituted with a V. It also features Lady Liberty who was bare breasted in the original version of the coin. Sadly, this coin is from the last year of the coin's production and that means she's fully covered. There's an eagle on the reverse that looks way more majestic in the less worn versions of this coin. It is surrounded by 13 stars which represent the 13 original colonies.

Odd how we always glorify the colonies but then supposedly hate the idea of colonization. Also odd how we still have thousands of troops in Japan and Germany and still own islands that we captured in WWII and before. Just some food for thought.

Happy Valentine's Day! (1972 Denmark 25 Ore!)

This coin is one of many perfect coins for your Valentine! Why? Because of the heart on the bottom of the reverse! All right I'm a day late or a year early depending on how you look at it but either way a Valentine-themed post has no relevance now. I like the hole through the middle but I don't know who would wear a necklace made of these (that is why governments do that, right?).  It's worth a nice $0.25 in this condition which probably will not impress your Valentine at all.

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.

1963 Letzeburg 25 Cmes!

Letzeburg = Luxembourg 25 CMES = 25 Centimes or Cents. It's hard to believe there was a tiny $0.25 coin made of aluminum when America was making big, thick, silver quarters. I have two of these, both of which were purchased at the flea market. The other one is badly corroded and only in my collection because I got it 1 week before this one when it was the only Luxembourg coin I could find. The corrosion on that one doesn't matter much, though, because both coins are worth only $0.10 in MS-60. So this coin is about $0.05 and the other, corroded one is about $0.00000000000001.*

*= It may actually be worth more for aluminum value.

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.

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.

I Got A Cud!

Close up view of the cud.

Here's a first. I've found die cracks and strike doubling, but never have I found a cud. A cud happens when a piece of the die chips off leaving an unstruck area on the coin. It can be classified as a sub-group of the Defective Die group (defective dies can range from minor die cracks to entire pieces of a coin's designs being missing). This quarter, that I would have thrown back into circulation at face value had I not done a re-check of my change, is worth a hearty $15.00 making it my most valuable coin find... EVER. Sure, I've bought $200.00 coins but I have found none that had a value over $10.00.

Let me know how you think this coin escaped capture for so long below in the comments!

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.

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!

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.

1979-(P) Quarter!

Got this change find yesterday. For coming from change it's in pretty nice shape. It was probably in a mint set and got tossed into circulation or was saved since '79 or the early 80's. It is worth about $0.75.  

1965 Special Mint Set! (Part Four)

This is the fourth part of the set. It is the quarter, of course. It was the first time that the copper-nickel clad was used in the quarter because silver was becoming too expensive. It is worth about $0.50-$0.75. 

Happy Fourth of July!



United States Bicentennial Silver Uncirculated Set
1776-1976
I believe this set is worth around $30.00 .

Obverses to the coins in the set.

Reverses to the coins in the set.

Obverse of the 1976 Kennedy Half Dollar. The date was modified to have the 1776-1976 dual date instead of the usual single date.

The reverse of the 1976 Half Dollar designed by Seth G. Huntington.

Dual dated dollar. I love alliteration.

Reverse of the 1976 Dollar was designed by Dennis R. Williams.

Dual date on the quarter as well.

The reverse to this coin is more commonly seen in circulation since Ike Dollars and Half Dollars are rarely seen in circulation.

All of these coins feature an S mint mark on the obverse near the head/bust of the former president/national hero that is on the coin. They are all made of 40% silver. Also Happy 4th Everyone!

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.

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.