Happy New Year!

This weekend was a pretty busy one. I think every weekend from now on will be busy, actually. On Saturday I installed a new chandelier in our house and three switches. Energy saving CFL bulbs don't work well with dimmer switches (at least not the cheaper CFL's) so I got rid of all dimmers in the house. That night we went to a Mexican restaurant ... it was pretty bad. It's tough to find a good Mexican restaurant in our area, I guess. On Sunday, I painted the baby's room.

During the weekend I searched 1,538 half dollars (all loose or hand rolled). In them I found three 90% silver halves (1963D, 2 x 1964), nineteen 40% silver halves (1965, 3 x 1966, 4 x 1967, 7 x 1968D, 4 x 1969D), and one Netherlands Antilles 1 Guilder (worth 56¢). A teller saved another 40% silver half for me, a 1968D. The Guilder is only the second foreign coin I've found in halves. The Franklin I found was one I needed. I was very pleased with that.



I also looked through 5,000 nickels (two boxes and some hand rolled). They produced one Buffalo (dateless, S mint), two War Times (1943P, 1944P), seven Canadians, one US penny and one Bermuda 5¢.

I've got a few more coins to go through that'll count for the year. Let's hope I leave 2007 behind with a bang! Tomorrow I'll tally up all the year's totals.

Found: 3 pennies (1 at Home Depot, 1 at Shaw's, 1 at Sovereign Bank), 1 dime (at Shaw's), 1 quarter (at Sovereign Bank), 1 foreign coin (a Canadian quarter at Shaw's)

Strange Stuff

Last night and this morning I did a lot of searching. Considering the number of coins I looked at the silver I found was pitiful, but I found some strange stuff that kept me a bit amused.

I went through 6,000 halves (6 boxes) and found two 90% silver halves (2 x 1964) and two 40% silver halves (1967, 1968D). I was disappointed. It's not a skunk, but the last twenty-eight boxes from this source have been terrible.

I searched 3,800 hand rolled quarters. In them were five US nickels, four Canadians, and one Philippine 1 Piso.



I next went through 1,450 hand rolled dimes. They produced two Canadians, one Bermuda 10¢, and one US penny.

Finally I hunted 5,700 pennies (two boxes and some hand rolled). In the batch I found twenty-four Wheats, twenty-seven Canadians, one Swedish 50 ore, one Euro 10¢, and one Israel 1 Aborah. The Greek coin and the Israeli coin were found in the same bank roll. I knew something strange was in there as the roll was bulging at two points. I think the Euro coin is the most valuable (not counting numismatic value) coin I've found in penny rolls.





The Wheat varieties from this post and the last one were:

1929, 1934, 1937(3), 1937D, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942(4), 1942D(2), 1944(3), 1945(2), 1946(5), 1947(3), 1947D, 1948(2), 1949, 1950D, 1951, 1951D(2), 1952, 1953(2), 1953D, 1955(3), 1955D(2), 1956, 1956D(3), 1957, 1957D(3), 1958, 1958D(2)

Although there weren't any new Wheat varieties in there, the mix of dates/mints was good. I felt close to finding a good one with the 1937D, anyway.

Found: 1 penny (at the Mobil Mart)

50 US dimes!

Last night, after our a great family dinner, I did a little coin roll hunting. I searched 350 dimes and 40 nickels, all hand rolled. I found just one silver dime (1955). I was hoping it would have a "D" on the reverse when when I flipped it, but it wasn't to be.

After that I broke a bizarre mark for 2007, fifty US dimes found in penny rolls, five dollars! I searched 5,050 pennies (two boxes and some hand rolled) and turned up thirty-three Wheats, twenty-eight Canadians, one Swedish 50 ore, and one US dime.

200+ silver US dimes!, 50,000+ Halves Searched

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope your holiday was a good one.

Things for us went well. So far it has been one of the better recent Christmas's ... it continues tonight as we are having family over for dinner.

I squeezed in some good coin roll hunting during the five days I had off. I kept at the bank hunting, but I didn't have great luck this time around.

I total I searched 4,831 halves (four boxes and some hand rolled). The boxes I got were NOT dated "10/30/07" and with them I officially broke out of my silver skunk streak. They only produced three silvers, but I sure was glad to find them! In all I found two 90% halves (2 x 1964), fourteen 40% halves (2 x 1966, 3 x 1967, 5 x 1968D, 4 x 1969D), one proof (1972S), and four mint set halves (2 x 2003P, 2 x 2007P). I also got one 40% half (1968D) from a teller friend. :) I have now searched 50,000+ halves in 2007!

I also searched 760 quarters (hand rolled) and found one silver quarter (1964) and one Canadian. That's the twenty-fifth silver US quarter I've found in rolls this year.

I made a big push on dimes to hit the 200 silver US dime mark. I looked through 10,700 dimes (four boxes and some hand rolled) and turned up five silver US dimes (1943, 1946, 1952D, 1959, 1964), four Canadians, and three UK 5 pence pieces. One of the Canadians was a 50% silver coin, 1968. With those four silver US dimes I hit the 200 mark for 2007. The 200th silver US dime I found was a Mercury, too!

I searched just 400 pennies and came across six Wheats (1938, 1950, 2 x 1957, 2 x 1957D) and two Canadians.

During the weekend I also went to the Westford Coin Show. My wife reminded me that the week before I said, "Who would go to a coin show two days before Christmas!?" The answer was me, I guess, as I had the time. I was glad I did. I picked up some nice coins and had a relaxing time doing it as most of the usual dealers were there and only about one third of the shoppers were.

Found: 27 pennies (1 at Bank of America, 1 at DCU, 1 at Shaw's, 2 at Price Chopper, 4 at the Berkshire Mall), 2 nickels (1 at the Berkshire Mall), 5 dimes, 2 quarters

Redeemed: $6.05

100 War Time Nickels! ... New Gadget

Last night was a light night, but a fun one. My birthday meal was great. My wife gave me a small digital scale that's good for coins and a 100 gram weight for calibrating the scale. I hope to use the scale to help me determine 1982 US penny varieties, the metal composition change caused a weight change that year, but they look the same otherwise. It'll also be fun to weigh different error coins I have found.



I also searched 4,000 nickels (two boxes) and found two War Times (1943P, 1945S), eight Canadians and one Bermuda 5¢. One of the nickels I came across was a really nice 1950D. That's the third one of that rare variety I've come across. This one is in the best condition. The two silver nickels I found last night put me over my goal of 100 for the year!

Lastly, I hunted 1,850 pennies (all hand rolled) and came across eight Wheats and twenty-two Canadians. The Wheat variety breakdown was:

1940, 1944D, 1946, 1950, 1953S, 1956, 1956D, 1958

33

Today is my birthday. I'm hoping this leads to good things. I'm anxious to go home and enjoy a meal my wife is preparing. It's a bunch of my favorites.

Last night I had a package waiting from me from a trading buddy, Thom. :) In it were four quarters (2 x 2007D Wyoming, 2 x 2007D Utah), three dollars (2007D Adams, 2 x 2007D Madison), and a Buffalo nickel (1929D). Some of these are for trades, the rest are for my albums.

I also searched some coin. I first looked through 1,000 hand rolled quarters. They "produced" just two Canadians and one nickel.

Next, I hunted 11,100 dimes (four boxes and some hand rolled) and found seven silver Rosies (1950D, 1962D, 2 x 1963D, 3 x 1964) and six Canadians. I'm now just two US silver dimes shy of my goal of 200 for 2007.

Lastly, I searched 840 hand rolled nickels. In them were two War Times (1943P, 1945P) and two Canadians. That puts me one below my 2007 goal of 100 silver nickels. The 1945P nickel I found is a beauty, it has a lot of detail and still has its original silver luster.

Found: 3 pennies (1 at Sovereign Bank, 1 at Papa Gino's, 1 at work)

Wheat Stash

Snow again! Luckily the second major snow storm of the season came on a weekend. It still took over 2 1/2 hours to shovel it all, but at least both of us didn't have to go anywhere. It sure is time for a snow blower!

We also met the family for a nice dinner at Bugaboo Creek, did some Christmas shopping, and went out for Chinese. I got ladder, a Stephen Colbert book ("He's the eagle guy," said my 3 year old nephew.), and two onesies that say, "Cheap, Green and Happy, just like my Daddy."

I also did a little bit of coin shopping. I picked up six coins, a 1944C Newfoundland 5¢, a 1864 Nova Scotia 1¢, a 1861 New Brunswick 1¢, a 1898H Canadian 1¢, a 1900 Canadian 5¢, and a 1903 Canadian 5¢. There wasn't much new at the coin store, but an antique store I went to had a surprising number of old Canadian coins.





I also did some coin roll hunting, of course.

I searched 10,000 dimes (four boxes) and found six silver Rosies (1956, 1957, 1963D, 3 x 1964D) and six Canadians. One of the Canadians was a 1960 80% silver one!

I also went through a few hand rolled rolls of nickels, 1,120 coins, and found one War Time (1943P) and four Canadians.

Best of all I searched 4,000 pennies (all hand rolled) and turned up 156 Wheats, 48 Canadians, and one Euro 2¢. That's one of my best Wheat hoards. The varieties weren't so great, but the number was awesome.

1919, 1921, 1926, 1930, 1935(4), 1938(2), 1939(3), 1940(9), 1941(12), 1941D, 1942(4), 1944(11), 1944D, 1945(8), 1946(9), 1948(6), 1948D, 1949, 1950(2), 1951(4), 1951D(4), 1952(3), 1952D(9), 1953(8), 1953D(4), 1954D(3), 1955(6), 1955D(2), 1956(4), 1956D(8), 1957(3), 1957D(15), 1958(3), 1958D(4)



Lastly, I went through the four boxes of halves I had. All were total skunks.

Found: 2 pennies (at the Auburn Mall), 1 dime (at The Imperial Buffet), 1 quarter (at the Auburn Mall)

The Epic Journey

Yesterday afternoon and evening were hellish for my carpooling buddy and I. We got caught in a very bad snowstorm. Our ride which usually takes us one hour (or 45 minutes with absolutely no traffic) took us 6 1/2 hours! We left work at 1:20PM and I didn't get home until 8:45PM. Ugh.

After 1 1/2 hours of shoveling this morning, I relaxed for a bit with some coin roll hunting. I searched 1,700 quarters (hand rolled) and found one Canadians and one Bermuda 25¢. I also went through 1,000 dimes (hand rolled) and found three Canadians, including one 50% silver 1968, my first.

Found: 3 pennies (2 at Sovereign Bank, 1 at the Mobil Mart), 1 quarter (at Sovereign Bank), 1 foreign coin (a British New Penny at Sovereign Bank)

PBR's!

Yesterday was a great day! I took off work to use up a vacation day (if I didn't I would lose it). It was a busy day. In the morning I went out for breakfast and shopped with my wife. In the early afternoon I went half hunting. And then later in the day we made some trial Christmas gifts, decorated the tree, and watched some DVDs.

The half hunting I did went fantastic. Even though only two of the banks I searched had silver halves I broke all sorts of PBR's! (Personal Best Record) I searched 1,851 halves. In the big bunch I found twenty-nine 90% silver halves and thirty-five 40% silver halves. The finds included nineteen Walkers and seven Franklins! That breaks multiple one day records of mine, most silver, most Walkers, most Franklins, and oldest half dollar. Almost of all of this was from one bank, only two 40's were found at the other one. I still can't believe I found seventeen varieties I needed in one hunt. The variety breakdown is as follows:

Dateless Walker, 1934, 1935D, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1941(2), 1942(2), 1943(2), 1943D, 1944(2), 1945(2), 1945D, 1947, 1950, 1951D, 1952S, 1954, 1962, 1963(2), 1964(2), 1964D, 1965(4), 1966(9), 1967(6), 1968D(11), 1969D(5)



I found one solid silver roll too!

Found: 6 pennies (at Stop 'N Shop)

Nickels & Dimes

Sometime last week I decided I'd make a push to find 100 War Time Nickels and 200 Silver US dimes by the end of the year. I think the War Time mark is very possible, but the silver dime mark might be a bit of stretch.

Last night I searched just one roll of quarters. It didn't produce anything.

I also looked through 10,900 dimes (3 boxes and some hand rolled). Two of the boxes were solid 2007P's. I didn't bother opening them. That's the last batch of dime boxes I get from that bank ... I swear! In the other rolls were two silver Rosies (1961, 1963D) and three Canadians.

I next searched 4,520 nickels (2 boxes and some hand rolled). In them I found one Buffalo (1929), two War Times (1943P, 1944P), twelve Canadians, one Bermuda 5¢, one Swiss 20 Rappen, and one key date nickel (1951S).



As a bit of joke, I decided to put some ads on this blog about a week ago. So far I've earned 2¢. They won't pay me until I earn $100 and so I now expect to wait about 100 years for my check!

Up North for Halves

This weekend I hunted even more halves. My wife and I also managed to have both parents over for dinner, shovel snow, clean up, and get our Christmas tree. The weekend went very quickly.

I rounded up 5,583 half dollars (5 boxes, plus some hand rolled). The three boxes with the bad date were silver skunks and my bank hunting didn't produce that many halves except for two stops where I bought two boxes. One of the boxes was awesome. I've had my faith in boxes renewed. In all I found eight 90% silver halves (6 x 1964, 2 x 1964D), nineteen 40% halves (2 x 1965, 4 x 1966, 1967, 6 x 1968D, 4 x 1969D), three mint set halves (1987D, 2002D, 2003P), and one US quarter.

I also found 100 Eisenhower dollars, but they were all 1976's. I'm not sure yet which variety they are or if there is some of both.

Lastly, I searched 280 nickels and found one Canadian.

On Sunday I went to the Auburn coin show. It was my second time there. Every dealer seemed to be the same to me and they were even in the same spots. I got some really cool stuff. Here is a picture of some things I bought (my coins is better than this picture, I wanted to show more pictures, but the coins in those pictures were far worse than my coins):



Found: 1 penny (at Shaw's), 2 quarters (at Shaw's), 1 $5 bill (at Shaw's)

Redeemed: $3.60

Where's the Silver?

Last night my wife and I celebrated her retirement at a new (new-to-us, anyway) Indian restaurant near our home. It was good. Somehow I managed to go through a lot of coin.

I picked up my now usual four boxes of halves yesterday ... all dated 10/30/07, ugh! The curse continues, I think. I only worked my way through one box, 1,000 coins. I didn't find anything.

I also searched 5,600 quarters. In them I found seven Canadians and two US nickels. Sadly, my three week silver quarter streak came to an end and I came out 40¢ short.

Six hundred dimes produced nothing. I think I'll devote next week to dimes. I had been relying on hand rolls to supply these, but there haven't been too many turned into the banks I frequent.

Lastly, I searched 10,600 pennies (four boxes and some hand rolled). It was a respectable bunch. In it were eighty-two Wheats, eighty-five Canadians, one Bermuda 1¢, one Bahamas 1¢, and one Panama 1¢. There were no Wheat varieties I needed in the boxes, but they produced the highest Wheat numbers I've seen in some time. The varieties were:

1917, 1919D, 1934, 1935(2), 1939, 1940(2), 1940S, 1941, 1942, 1944(11), 1945(9), 1946(2), 1947(2), 1947D, 1948(2), 1949(2), 1950D, 1950S, 1951, 1952(4), 1952D(5), 1953(4), 1953D, 1955(4), 1956(2), 1956D(5), 1957(2), 1957D(7), 1958(3), 1958D(2)

I also picked up a new Utah 2007P quarter at the bank.



Found: 2 pennies (at work)

Trading

On the way home from work yesterday I stopped at a local credit union to see if they had any coin. They didn't have much. I got 120 quarters, 150 dimes, 40 nickels, and 600 pennies. In it I found three Wheats and one Canadian penny.

I had a surprise waiting at my door, however. A package from my trading buddy Chris H. arrived. In it was quite a few Canadian varieties I was looking for.

Nickels:

1949, 1953 SS, 1955, 1957

Quarters:

1992 Yukon (upgrade), 1999 August

Dollars:

1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1992, 1992 Confederation, 1993, 1994, 1995 National War Memorial, 1995, 1996, 1996 Peacekeeping Monument, 2004, 2004 Lucky Loonie, 2005, 2006, 2006 Lucky Loonie, 2006 RCM, 2007 RCM

Two Dollars:

1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 RD, 2003 UC, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2006 RCM, 2006 DD Northern Lights, 2007 RCM

Thanks Chris!

1944S

Last night was a good night.

I started out by searching 650 hand rolled dimes. They didn't produce anything.

I then searched 2,100 pennies (hand rolled). In them I found eleven Wheats, thirteen Canadians, and one Ireland Euro 2¢. It was a bit of work. The person who rolled them must have been saving their pennies in a container with water as most of the pennies were very corroded. Sure wish I had something more to show for it. The Wheat varieites I found were:

1941(2), 1946(2), 1949, 1952D, 1954, 1956, 1956D, 1957



Lastly, I searched 4,000 nickels (two boxes). They produced one Buffalo (1936), four War Times (1943S, 2 x 1943P, 1944S), eight Canadians, one US dime, and one Mexican 1 Peso. The 1944S nickel is one of the three I needed for my album! I was very happy to find that one. It had been 157 days since I found the last Jefferson variety I needed, June 29th. It's a bit stained, but still looks great in my album. I wonder how long it'll take to find the last two!



The 1936 Buffalo find got me thinking about the varieties that are keepers, but somewhat disappointing to find. I seem to find so many of these "common" keepers that at times it kills me because I really want something different for my collection. My tiredness of them varies considerably. The 1936 Buffalo is definitely at the top of the list. The list of "common" keepers:

Pennies:

1940-1958 (except Steelies and 1955S) - They're Wheats so I keep the good ones, but I have plenty of these, especially 1946, 1956, 1956D, 1957, 1957D, 1958, 1958D.

QEII Canadians (except 1953 and 1985) - I've found tons of these. I don't keep them, but I count them for my statistics. I'm still looking for varieties from 1953 and 1985.

Nickels:

1936 Buffaloes - They minted a lot of them this year, 118 million, which is about 50% more than the next highest variety, but by my finds you would think it was ten times.


1943P - One of these days I'm going to flip one of these and find the 1943D. They minted 271 million 1943P's, but only 15 million 1943D, so statisticly I should find one 1943D for every eighteen 1943P.

Dimes:

1964, 1964D - About 1/3 of all silver Rosies were minted during 1964, about 2.3 billion during 1964* and 4.3 billion from 1946-1963.

Quarters:

1964, 1964D - These have a story similar to the silver Rosies. During 1964* they minted about 1.3 billion silver quarters.

Halves:

1965-1969 - These only have 40% silver and are worth far less than the 90% silver ones. When I find one something in me always thinks, "damn that could have been a 90."

* - Some coins dated 1964 were actually minted in 1965.

All Halves

This weekend I just searched half dollars. It was a busy weekend. On Saturday I raked leaves and welcomed Santa to my nephews' town and then on Sunday my wife and I went to Babies R Us and Home Depot.

In total I searched 6,019 halves (four boxes and many loose coins). The four boxes were silver skunks as I predicted based on the date of the boxes. :( The whole bunch produced eighteen 90% halves (17 x 1964, 1964D), twenty-four 40% halves (1965, 3 x 1966, 5 x 1967, 10 x 1968D, 5 x 1969D), one proof half (1983S), and four mint set halves (2002D, 2 x 2004P, 2007D). The 2007D is a variety I needed for my album. The last bank stop was one I'm glad I made. While grocery shopping with my wife I decided to check the bank in the store. I'm glad I did. They had nineteen halves, thirteen of which were 90's!

Two Good Ones

Yesterday, I was a bit bummed after picking up four boxes of halves that have the dreaded "10/30/07" date on them. I've gotten four of those so far and they have all been silver skunks. Now I've got four more. So far, so bad, but I haven't gone through them all yet.

Last night though things improved with the quarters I picked up. I searched 5,480 hand rolled quarters and found one silver quarter (1952D) and eight Canadians. The silver quarter is a variety I needed for my albums. My silver quarter streak is now at three weeks!

After that I quickly went through a few hand rolls of nickels (240 coins) and dimes (300 coins) I turned up. They only produced two Canadian dimes.

Lastly, I searched 10,650 pennies. In them I found one Indian Head (1901), forty-six Wheats, and seventy-nine Canadians. That's a pretty low result for Wheats, but finding the Indian Head was awesome. It's my fifth of the year and is an upgrade for the one I had in my album. I also found my first 1938 Canadian penny and my first clipped planchet Canadian penny. The Wheat varieties were:

1926, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1940(2), 1941(3), 1942(2), 1944(2), 1945(5), 1946(3), 1946D, 1948, 1949, 1950D, 1950S, 1951, 1951D, 1953(2), 1953D(2), 1955(4), 1955D, 1956(2), 1956D, 1957D(3), 1958D(2)



The above is a sample picture of a clipped planchet. Mine is even slighter than that.

Found: 3 pennies (2 at Costco, 1 on the street near work), 1 nickel (at Sovereign Bank), 1 dime (at Sovereign Bank)

Redeemed: $.10

Buffaloes and Keys

Last night was an all nickel affair ... my bank was low on pennies and couldn't give any out. I searched 8,000 (four boxes). In them I found five Buffaloes (1935, 4 x Unknown), thirteen Canadians and two Bermuda 5¢. The Buffaloes were all very crappy, oh well, finding five in one night is a record for me. I was really surprised no War nickels showed up. I've never searched that many nickels and not found one. The last one I need for a complete roll is proving to be difficult to find. The good news is I found two key date nickels (another one sitting record), 1939D and 1951S.

At the bank I bought a silver Rosie (1954) off of some guys at the coin counting machine for 10¢.

I also found out last night that my town is no longer picking up bagged leaves. We're a bit screwed on that one. I should have known better and done them all sooner.

Thanksgiving

This weekend was a nice long four day holiday weekend. My wife made a fabulous feast for both sides of the family at our new house. Others brought dishes, wine, appetizers and desserts. It all came together well. Our only mishap was our sink clogged and then the drain pipe under the sink broke! Chamfer, my father, was able to fix it the next day in under 3 hours (most of the time was spent at Home Depot). I wasn't much help, but I think I'll be able to do better next time. It's been awhile since I've helped him do home repairs. It's got to all come back to me fast!

We also did some leaf raking and bagging (more next weekend), reading, relaxing, and of course coin business! Well to be honest there wasn't much "we" in the coins.

Over the weekend I searched 11,400 pennies (four boxes and some hand rolled) pushing me over the 500,000 mark for the year! I found eighty-three Wheats and eighty-nine Canadians. Two of the Wheats were ones I needed, 1911 and 1929D! The varieties were:

1910, 1911, 1926, 1929D, 1939(2), 1940(2), 1941(4), 1942(3), 1944(7), 1945(2), 1946(11), 1946D, 1948(2), 1948D, 1949(2), 1950D, 1951, 1951D(2), 1952(5), 1952D(2), 1953(6), 1954, 1955(4), 1955D, 1956, 1956D(10), 1957(2), 1957D(4), 1958, 1958D(4)

I also searched 2,150 dimes and found one Mercury (1944) and 680 nickels and found two Canadians. All of those were hand rolled.

I went through a big batch of hand rolled quarters, 9,320. They produced one silver quarter (another 1964), three Canadians, and one South Korean 100 Won.

During the weekend I managed two half dollar hunts. I turned up a massive amount and also went through two boxes of halves. In total I looked through 5,148 halves! The two boxes were total skunks, but the bank finds were great! I rounded up seven 90% silver halves (1935D, 6 x 1964), sixty-two 40% silver halves (2 x 1965, 8 x 1966, 18 x 1967, 27 x 1968D, 7 x 1969D), and thirteen mint set halves (2002D, 2003P, 3 x 2003D, 2004P, 2004D, 2005P, 2005D, 2006P, 2006D, 2 x 2007P). That's my second Walker found and the oldest half I've found to date! Plus, the mint set halves were by far my biggest find of those. I needed five of them for my album!

I also made a trip to my local coin store. I picked up a big bunch of Canadian coins. I thought I had discovered all the good buys at the store and was about ready to leave when I got talking to the owner about how hard it was for me to find modern Canadian silver coins. He told me they had some bins that I could go through. I stayed another hour and found a big bunch I needed for my albums for melt value. The bins had about every date I needed, but I picked through them and bought only the better specimens, some were very worn.

On Sunday I went to the Westford Monthly coin show. It was almost twice as big as the Auburn show I went to two weeks back. About half of the dealers were the same. I found a lot of bargains. I've now just about completed my Canadian nickel album and made big progress on some others. Nobody seems that interested in Canadian coins. Oh well, their disinterest is my gain!

I got too many Canadian coins to list, but here are some stock photos of my favorites with some comments:



This is a Newfoundland penny. On the back is the national plant, a carnivorous plant! My specimen isn't as corroded as this one.



Above is a Newfoundland dime. I picked up four of these for cheap.



This is a Prince Edward Island penny from 1871. They only made these for one year. I found one for $1! The three trees on the left symbolize the three counties of PEI and the big tree on the right symbolizes Great Britain.



This is a very old Canadian penny with Queen Victoria on it, made before Confederation. They made so many of these that they didn't need to make more pennies until 1876!



Above is a picture of a silver five cent piece. They made these before nickels. They have half the silver that a dime does and so are very small. This one has Edward VII on it. I don't have an album to put these in just yet.



This is a relatively modern nickel that celebrates the discovery of nickel.







The above three coins, a dime, a quarter and a fifty cent piece, are old Canadian George V coins. I like these a lot. It has so far been a bit challenging to find good examples that are low cost, but aren't too worn (especially on the back, I saw many with barely legible reverse writing, but passed on them).

Found: 3 pennies (1 at Sovereign Bank, 1 at LCU, 1 at WaldenBooks), 2 foreign coins (1 Canadian dime, 1 Canadian quarter, both at Soveriegn Bank)

Keep Trucking!

Last night I went through two boxes of nickels and some hand rolled. In total I searched 4,420 nickels and found one dateless Buffalo, one War Time (1945P), nine Canadians, one Belgium 1 franc, and three Bermuda 5¢. One of the nickels was a 1951S (a key for Chris H!). It was good to find a Buffalo and a War Time. The last few nickel batches haven't produced either of those.



Happy Thanksgiving!

Pennies

Yesterday was a pretty good afternoon. At the bank I found some change near the coin counting machine including one silver Rosie (1957). I think I'm getting spoiled, however, as finding a silver dime used to make my day, but now it is not the same. The teller also saved me a nice 90% silver half (1964). Six dollars in easy silver isn't too bad!

At home I searched 12,650 pennies (four boxes and some hand rolled). In them I found 70 Wheats, 99 Canadians, and a US dime. The Wheat varieties were:

1927, 1929(2), 1934, 1935, 1939(2), 1941(2), 194293), 1944(8), 1945(2), 1946(3), 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951(2), 1951D(3), 1952(2), 1953D(3), 1955(4), 1955D, 1956, 1956D(3), 1957(5), 1957D(10), 1958, 1958D(5)

I also looked through 250 hand rolled dimes and three loose halves, but they didn't produce anything.

Found: 1 penny (at Sovereign Bank), 1 nickel (at Sovereign Bank), 4 dimes (at Sovereign Bank, one silver, 1957), 2 foreign coins (2 Canadian quarters at Sovereign Bank)

1940D, Franklin

The good times continued this weekend. I now know how gamblers get addicted. I felt unstoppable this weekend.

On Friday night I went through 11,350 pennies (four boxes and some hand rolled). In them I found seventy-seven Wheats and eighty-five Canadians. One of the Wheats was one I've been looking for for a long time (it seems), the 1940D! It felt great to finally find that one. Here's the Wheat breakdown:

1918, 1919S, 1920(3), 193692), 1939(2), 1940, 1940D, 1941(4), 1942(2), 1944(3), 1945(5), 1946(5), 1948(4), 1950, 1950D, 195193), 1951D(2), 1952D(2), 1953D(2), 195492), 1954D(2), 1955(5), 1955D, 1956(4), 1956D(3), 1957D(4), 1958(4), 1958D(4)

On the way home from the bank I picked up forty-four halves. Only one bank out of five had any. They were great. Including one skunk box I finished on Friday night, I searched 1,044 halves and found three 90% silver ones (1960D, 1964 x 2) and two 40% silver ones (1965, 1969D). The 1960D is my first Franklin half! It was great to find that one.



I also picked up two boxes of dimes which I was able to search extremely fast because the wrappers were clear plastic (I'm going to have to make this bank my dime source from now on). The 5,000 dimes produced two silver Rosies (1964, 1964D) and one silver Canadian (1952). The 1952 Canadian is one my album needed.

I was feeling great after all that. Because my wife left me to my own devices until Sunday, I checked out five nearby coin shops I found in the phone book. The first one had no Canadian, but it did have some fairly priced US silver, the next three were busts, and the last one was great. It's a fairly big store in an old mill. They sell coins, stamps and supplies. They didn't have too much Canadian, but I did search their "Better Canada" box (didn't find the "Worse Canada", although I asked). I found a lot of good coins, cheap. I'll have to go again soon and pick up more!

Canadian Pennies:

1902, 1903, 1907, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919

Canadian Nickels:

1943, 1944, 1945







The above pictures aren't the actual coins I bought. They are just photos of the types. The nickel I bought is pretty cool. It is made of copper and zinc, a mix they call Tombac. It was made during the war to save nickel.

Found: 6 pennies (2 at Sovereign Bank, 1 at Shell, 1 at Bank of America, 2 at Stop 'N Shop), 1 nickel (Pearle Vision)

My Ship Has Come In!

Sweet mercy! My ship came in last night. I found a silver quarter hoard!

Previous to last night I had found 11 silver quarters (plus one Canadian silver quarter) in 125,180 quarters searched, zero in the last 19,370. I last found one on October 10th. And then last night just as I was thinking, "man, why I am still searching these, I should just buy a few," the last roll of the 3,320 quarters I was searching produced 11 silver quarters! I was ecstatic. I yelled out and ran downstairs to show my wife. The varieties were:

1937, 1944, 1947, 1951, 1954S, 1962D(4), 1964, 1964D

Five of them were varieties I needed and the 1937 is now my oldest quarter found. What a night! I also found five Canadians.



During the evening I also searched one box of halves (1,000 coins) and found one mint set half, 2004P.

This morning I finished searching 16,000 dimes (breaking the 400,000 mark for the year). They produced six silver Rosies (1954, 1956D, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1964D), eighteen Canadians, and one Panama 10¢.

Slow Night

Last night was a slow night. I searched just 4,000 nickels (2 boxes). In them I found eleven Canadians and one Bermuda 5¢.

The Wheat breakdown for my last post is:

1935, 1936, 1940(2), 1941(2), 1942(2), 1944(7), 1945(4), 1946(4), 1946D, 1947, 1950(2), 1950D(2), 1951D(3), 1952, 1952D(3), 1953(2), 1953D(2), 1955(4), 1955D, 1956(2), 1956D, 1957, 1957D(5)

This morning I got my virtual collection (on the right) entirely up-to-date! That was a lot of typing.

Where'd the Wheats go?

Last night I went through 12,800 pennies (four boxes and some hand rolled). They came from three sources. I found 54 Wheats, 117 Canadians, one UK 1 penny, one Panamanian 1¢, one Barbados 1¢, and two stamped pennies. The last four penny sources have been a bit disappointing. I'm not sure where all the Wheats have gone. Hopefully, Thursday's supply will be better.





The two stamped pennies I found look like the one above, except both are stamped on the body of Lincoln. The symbol is the Masonic Square and Compass.

I also went through 100 dimes and 360 nickels, all hand rolled. I didn't find any keepers in them.

Found: 3 pennies (1 at Shaw's, 1 at Sovereign Bank), 1 nickel (at Super Cuts)

The Coin Show

This weekend was a good weekend. Things started out a little slow. On Saturday I dumped some coins and then went to a few banks to pick some up. One of the banks looks like a good, close source of hand wrapped coins.

I found seven loose halves, but none were keepers.

I also looked through 760 quarters. In them was only two Canadians. I could have asked for more quarters, but I was getting a bit tired of them as I have searched alot of them lately.

I next went through 2,150 dimes. The produced just one silver Rosie (1954). They were easy to search though as most were in clear wrappers.

After a bit of paint scrapping and door fixing I searched 3,700 pennies (all hand rolled). In them I found just 13 Wheats, 28 Canadians, and one Bahama 1¢. The Wheat varieties were:

1924, 1926, 1940, 1942, 1949, 1950, 1955(3), 1956, 1956D(2), 1958D

Lastly, I hunted 2,000 hand wrapped nickels. In them was only two Canadians.

On Sunday morning I went to my first coin show. It was about 15 minutes from my house. Here's a link to the show's web site. They have a show every month at the same place. I showed up pretty early at 9AM. Within an hour the place was packed. Probably 90-95% of the coins I saw on display were US coins. I had never seen that many Morgans, Peace Dollars, and gold coins before. I was looking for cheap Canadian coins. I bought 12 coins from three dealers for $13, about $1 a coin. I picked up the following:

Canadian Pennies:

1921, 1931

Canadian Nickels:

1923, 1927, 1930, 1937 Dot

Canadian Dimes:

1940, 1953, 1960, 1967

Canadian Quarters:

1966, 1968 50% Silver

The 1966 quarter was the best deal I got as I paid $1 for it and it is worth $2.25 melt. The 1968 quarter wasn't too bad either as I paid $1 for that and it is worth $1.45 melt.

I will definitely go back in December and will also check out another show in two weeks (that one is 35 minutes away). It was alot of fun to see some coins, chat with the dealers, and actually shop. Nowadays it seems like I never shop. If I want something I look for it online, find it cheap, and get it sent to me. There's no fun in that!

Found: 1 nickel (at KFC)

Redeemed: $7.25

Seven In A Row

After missing my alarm clock yesterday things turned around. At work I beat my record and made seven consecutive shots using my co-workers office basketball hoop. And then at lunch I found a mini coin hoard outside of the bank consisting of seven coins.



When I got home I searched two boxes of halves (2,000 coins). They only produced one mint set half dollar (2004P). That was a little disappointing.

I also searched 10,250 pennies (four boxes and some hand rolled). In the bunch was forty-eight Wheats (including one steel!), eighty-seven Canadians, one Australian 5¢, one US dime, and one plastic penny. The plastic penny is great. A teller has shown me some she's found in rolls, but this is my first one. I found a picture of a package it could have come from. In the same fed wrapped roll I found the steel penny in was a chrome plated 1945 penny. At first I thought I found two steels in one roll, but I was wrong.





The Wheat breakdown for the past two posts is:

1927, 1929, 1938, 1941(3), 1942(2), 1943, 1944(3), 1945(6), 194692), 1947, 1947(S), 1948, 1950, 1950D, 1951, 1951D(3), 1952, 1952D, 1953(2), 1953D(4), 1955, 1955D, 1956(2), 1956D(5), 1957D(3), 1958D

Found: 2 pennies (outside Sovereign Bank), 1 dime (in Sovereign Bank), 5 foreign coins (1 Canadian penny, 4 Canadian dimes, all outside Sovereign Bank)

Alarm Clock

Today was a first ... I slept in late. I woke up over an hour past when I was supposed to get up. Somehow I managed to get out of the house in a about 5 minutes, but I picked up my carpool buddy 15 minutes late. :( The good thing is I'm well rested!

(My coin roll hunting statistics are from memory, so might be inaccurate.)

Yesterday I picked up some hand rolled coins. I was hoping they would have more, but it varies week to week.

I was able to search 4,320 quarters (all hand rolled). In them I found six Canadians and one East Carribean States 25¢. It has sure been a while since I've found a silver one.

I also looked through 500 dimes, 320 nickels and 400 pennies. They produced one US dime (in the pennies), one US penny (in the nickels), two Canadian dimes, two Canadian nickels, six Canadian pennies and three Wheats.

Chamfer - a proof coin is a coin made especially for collectors, it is handled very carefully to avoid scratches and has a mirror like surface from the polished dies used. Recently such coins are produced at the San Fransisco mint and so they are the only coins currently minted with an "S" mint mark. Some denominations are also minted as silver proofs. I haven't found one of those, yet.

200,000+ Nickels

Last night was a slow night. I did top the 200,000 mark for nickels searched, however.

On the way home I stopped at the local credit union that had been kind to me two weeks ago. They had some more change for me. It wasn't much, but they remembered me and told me to come back on Saturday. I collected 3 half dollars, 160 quarters, 200 dimes, 200 nickels, and 50 pennies. In it was only one Canadian nickel and two Canadian pennies.

I also searched two boxes of nickels (4,000 coins). In them I found three War Times (1943S, 1944P, 1945S), ten Canadians, and one US penny.

Another Indian Head!

Last night was a good night. After putting some of our bathroom back together I hunted pennies. I looked through 10,000 (four boxes) and found one Indian Head (1879), sixty-seven Wheats, sixty-seven Canadians (including a 1939, the first time I've found this one in a roll), one Bermuda 1¢, and one Bahamas 1¢. The Indian Head is extremely worn, almost totally smooth. If you hold it at the correct angle you can read the date, but it is tough. I think there's a chance it was in circulation for most of it's 128 years. I also found one new US variety I needed, 1926D. The coin is beat up, but it's one I needed!



Last night's Wheats were:

1926D, 1927, 1929, 1929S, 1936, 1938, 1939(2), 1940(2), 1941(2), 1942, 1944(4), 1945(3), 1945S, 1946(4), 1946D, 1946S(2), 1947, 1948(6), 1949(2), 1950D, 1951S, 1952, 1952D, 1953(3), 1953S, 1954S, 1955, 1956(3), 1956D, 1957, 1957D(6), 1958(2), 1958D(6)

Found: 5 pennies (at the Sovereign Bank), 1 foreign coin (a Canadian penny at the Sovereign Bank)

Skunk Bag

This weekend was another busy weekend. My wife was still a little sick so we stayed in town, but we both got some good stuff done. I spent my time painting the trim in our upstairs bathroom and reading about home insulation. The painting is now done, but I still have a lot of touch up work to do and somehow I have to remember how to put back up all of the hardware I took down to make the painting easier.

On Friday I searched 15,550 pennies (4 boxes and some hand rolled). In them I found one hundred twenty-six Wheats, one hundred twenty-two Canadians, three US dimes, and one Bermuda 1¢.

The Wheat breakdown was:

1916, 1919(2), 1920, 1926(2), 1930, 1934, 1936(2), 1937, 1938, 1939(2), 1940, 1941(6), 1942(3), 1942D, 1944(17), 1945(11), 1946(9), 1946S, 1947(2), 1947D, 1948(2), 1949, 1949D, 1950S(2), 1951(2), 1951D, 1952(3), 1952D(3), 1953(6), 1953D, 1953S(2), 1954(2), 1954D(2), 1954S, 1955, 1956(3), 1956D(7), 1957D(7), 1958(3), 1958D(8), 19?3

And then on Saturday morning I looked through 1,160 nickels (hand rolled). They produced one War Time (1943P) and five Canadians.

After dumping my coins on Saturday I looked for halves at a couple of banks. I found 2,018. They all came from one bank. I got some loose halves and a bag. I was all excited when they told me they had a bag I could buy ... dreams of silver, but when I got home I was disappointed to see that it was someone else's waste coins. It was a total skunk. I also found one Eisenhower dollar.

In the past few days I have acquired some coins through trades. Thanks Thom and Chris T! With some help I was able to get two Canadian pennies (1937 and 1938) and one Canadian nickel (1959) I needed.

Found: 4 pennies (2 at Sovereign Bank, 1 in Marlboro center, 1 at Papa Gino's), 1 quarter (at Home Depot)

Another Good One!

This week has been good to me, an Indian Head, a 1909 VDB, a Liberty Head, and now a Walking Liberty!

Yesterday afternoon and last night I went through 2,000 half dollars (2 boxes). In them I found four 90% halves (including one 1945 Walker), eighteen 40% halves, one proof half (1995S), and one mint set half (2002P). The Walking Liberty half is great, a bit worn, but it's my first and I've been looking forward to finding one ever since I started searching halves. Now I just need to find a Franklin half. Here's a picture of the type.



I also searched 2,720 hand rolled quarters. They produced nine Canadians, two US nickels, and one French franc. I've been searching a lot of hand rolled quarters lately and they just haven't produced. I might switch back to boxes soon. I'm not sure why they'd be any better, though.

Lastly, I looked through 16,950 dimes (6 boxes and some hand rolled). It was so-so. In the bunch I found eight silver Rosies (1946, 1947, 1952D, 1953D, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1963D) and thirteen Canadians.

Halloween

Halloween was good to me last night. Not to my wife, though, she was sick. :( We had twenty kids come to our door.

While waiting for the trick-or-treaters I searched 4,680 nickels (2 boxes and some hand rolled). It was a good lot. In it I found one Liberty nickel (1904), one Buffalo (yet another 1936), four War Times (1943P, 1945P, 1945S x 2), eleven Canadians, and one Bermuda 5¢. The Liberty nickel is only the second I've found and is now the oldest nickel found!



My nickel is not the one above! I wish it were as only five 1913 Liberty nickels were minted. One recently sold for almost 1 1/2 million dollars. Mine is extremely worn, but this is a good picture of the type.

Found: 3 pennies (1 in the elevator at work, 2 outside Papa Gino's), 1 dime (outside Papa Gino's)

VDB

Last night was an all penny night. After doing some work on our bathroom I went through 13,700 pennies (4 boxes and some hand rolled). It was good batch. It produced seventy-one Wheats, one hundred thirty-four Canadians, and one Bahamas 1¢. One of the Wheats was a new variety, a 1909 VDB! On the bottom of the back are the initials of the coin's designer, Victor David Brenner. They are extremely small and off center, Before the year 1909 ended public uproar over the vanity of placing one's initials on a coin caused them to be removed, and so there are four varieties that year, 1909 VDB, 1909S VDB, 1909, 1909S. I had never seen such a cent in person so it was pretty exciting to find it. It's hard to believe something so small caused a problem.



The above is a sample picture, mine is not in as good condition.



The Wheat breakdown was:

1909 VDB, 1918, 1919, 1920D, 1930, 1936, 1939, 1940(4), 1941(4), 1942, 1944(7), 1944S, 1945(6), 1946(6), 1947(2), 1948(2), 1950, 1950D, 1950S, 1951, 1952, 1952D, 1953D(4), 1955(4), 1956, 1956D(2), 1957(4), 1957D(6), 1958, 1958D(3)

Light Night

Last night I didn't do too much coin roll hunting. I had to reinstall the fixtures in our bathroom and clean the room up. That took a little longer than I thought.

I searched some hand rolled coin that I got during my Monday box pickup. Two rolls of halves (40 coins) produced nothing, fifty rolls of quarters (2,000 coins) produced one Canadian, and twenty-two rolls of dimes (1,100 coins) produced two Canadians. A little disappointing ... oh well.

1899 Indian Found, Sox Win!

This weekend was a good weekend. My wife and I painted our upstairs bathroom, we celebrated my nephew's baptism, and the Sox won the World Series. I'm a bit tired this morning from it all, but it was well worth it.

Things started out good on Friday. I searched 11,200 pennies, four boxes and some hand rolled stuff. This bunch pushed me over the 400,000 mark! In it I found one Indian Head (1899), seventy-two Wheats (one was a very rusty steel cent!), one hundred twenty-two Canadians, and one mystery coin (looks like some sort of slug). The Indian Head is the third I've found in a roll! It replaces a corroded one I had in my album.

The Wheat breakdown was:

1929S, 1931, 1935S, 1936(2), 1938, 1940(2), 1942(5), 1943, 1944(8), 1944D, 1945(2), 1946(6), 1946S, 1948(2), 1949(2), 1950(3), 1951(2), 1951D(3), 1952, 1952D(5), 1953, 1953D, 1955(4), 1956(3), 1956D(4), 1957(3), 1957D(3), 1958, 1958D(4)

I also looked through 340 hand rolled nickels. They only produced two Canadians and one Bahamas 5¢.

After dumping my waste coins on Saturday the teller sold me three rolls of halves she had. There were some silver ones in there so I decided to try to hit every bank of my way home. I only made it through half of the banks before my cash ran out. I found one more silver. In total I found one 90% half (1964) and five 40% halves (1966, 1967 x 2, 1968 x 2).

Found: 6 pennies (1 at Home Depot, 5 at Shaw's), 2 dimes (1 at Sovereign Bank, 1 at Shaw's)

Silver Load

Last night was a good night. The Sox won and I found lots of silver.

I searched 2,000 half dollars (2 boxes). In the boxes I found forty-six 40% silver halves (1966 x 18, 1967 x 27, 1968D x 2) and one mint set only half (2004D). The silver in the halves totals 6.8 troy ounces, about $95 worth!

I next hunted 3,280 quarters, all hand rolled. In them were seven Canadians, one US nickel, and an Indian Rupee, 1997. That's my first coin from the subcontinent.



I also went through 15,600 dimes (6 boxes and some hand rolled). The batch produced nine silver Rosies (1946, 1949, 1951D, 1954D, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1963), two Canadians, and one UK 5 pence coin. I was surprised to find that many silver dimes with no 1964's. The 1951D is one I needed! I now need just six Roosevelts to complete my album.

This morning I read this article about finding coins. I'm not sure I'd go as far to call the coins I find on the ground lost souls, but it does feel good to find money.

Found: 1 penny (at work on top of the vending machine), 2 dimes (at the Sovereign Bank)

13-1

Last night I didn't do any coin roll hunting. Instead my wife and I watched the World Series at a friend's house. Somehow she managed to bake muffins, too.

Before we left I went through a stack of 1965 Canadian pennies I had, about thirty coins. The 1965 penny comes in four varieties. To tell the difference I had to use my magnifying glass. It was tricky at first, but eventually I was able to spot the differences between them. I had to train my eye a bit. It was easy after that. I found all four varieties in the stack.

I picked up eight half dollars at Bank of America yesterday, but didn't find anything of note.

Found: 1 quarter (at Costco)

New Bank?

Last night on the way home I decided to check out the local credit union. It is open two nights a week until 7pm. That time fits my schedule and I've been thinking that it'd be in my interest to establish a relationship with another bank or two. They were friendly to me there and I can open an account with only $5! They had no halves (my opener), but they had no problem with me buying all the hand rolled coin they had. I bought a big, heavy bag.

Before I checked out the bag I finished a box of nickels from the night before. It had one War Time in it (1944P) and five Canadians. One of the Canadians, as I mentioned before, was one I needed, 1972, and one of the US nickels was a key date, 1950D. The 1950D is the rarest (by mintage) nickel.

From the credit union I got 2,850 hand rolled quarters. They produced nine Canadians, one UK 10 pence, one US dime, and one US nickel. No new varieties were in the bunch.

I also got 1,500 dimes. In them I found two silver Rosies (1960, 1963D), two Canadians, and a East Caribbean States 10¢.

They only had 450 pennies. Sadly, they only had one Wheat and five Canadians in them.

Lastly, I checked the 1,280 nickels I got. In the batch I found one Buffalo (1936) and six Canadians. I think I have about half a dozen spare 1936 Buffalo nickels at this point. More were minted in that year than any other, but my numbers still seem out of proportion. I'm still feeling good about the 1930 Bufflao I found a few days ago, however.

Nickel Push

Yesterday at the bank I was told they were running low on pennies and quarters, and so I got four boxes of nickels. Their stock of dime boxes is tainted with 2007P's, so I didn't bother with those.

Last night I searched three of the boxes (6,000 nickels). In them I found two Buffaloes (1930, date unknown), three War Time (1943P, 1944P, 1945S), twenty Canadians, one Singapore 20¢ (KM101), one Kenyan 50¢ (worth .7¢, KM19), and one proof US nickel, 1990S. The 1930 Buffalo is one I needed.





On the way home I picked up eleven loose halves, but didn't find anything.

This morning I started going through the fourth box of nickels. So far, so good, I've found a Canadian I need, 1972, and a key Jefferson nickel, 1950D.


I've also been giving a lot of thought on how best to organize all of the foreign coins I have. I've got a bunch from many sources over the years. I'd like to put them in some sort of album.


Found: 1 penny (at McDonald's), 1 dime (at Sovereign Bank)

Go Sox!

Yesterday was an extremely light day. I went through just one box of nickels (2,000) and found two Canadians.

Sixth Continent

Last night was a slow night. I searched 7,500 pennies (three boxes). In them I found forty Wheats and one hundred fifty-seven Canadians. I didn't find any new varieties, but I did find a 1954 Canadian. I hadn't found that one in a roll yet, my specimen came through trading.

This morning I finished up a box of nickels (2,000). It was a light box as it produced just one Buffalo (1927) and two Canadians. In the box was a 1949S. I have come across that one before, but it has been quite a while since I've found a key date Jefferson.

The biggest news is I came across an Australian 5¢ coin. It's the first coin I've found from that continent, the sixth this year.



Found: 2 pennies (1 at Boston Market, 1 at Auto Zone), 1 dime (at Sovereign Bank), 1 quarter (at Sovereign Bank), 1 foreign coin (an Australian 5¢ at Sovereign Bank)

Silver Dearth

Unfortunately this week has been a bad week for silver. So far I've only found two silver dimes and one War Time nickel. Perhaps next week will be better?

Last night I searched 2,000 half dollars. In the two boxes I found four mint set halves (1987D, 2002P, 2004P, 2004D). In certain years the mint only sold circulation halves directly to collectors in mint sets, 1970, 1987, and after 2001. Each run had a limited mintage of less that 3 million. Like proofs they show up now and then in circulation. Two of the ones I found were varieties I needed.



I also searched 2,000 hand rolled quarters. The produced only two Canadians.

This morning I went through 10,000 dimes. Two of the boxes were 95% 2007P's. I don't think I'll bother going through them. The other two boxes were disappointing. In them were only one silver Rosie (1964), six Canadians and one Bermuda 10¢.

I tried to turn things around with a box of pennies, 2,500, but it didn't work too well. In the box I found eleven Wheats and forty-five Canadians.

I did get a free lunch yesterday, however! Papa Gino's (a New England pizza chain) has several express lunches that they guarantee will be available in 3 minutes. I got mine in about 12 minutes, so it was on them. This was right after I won my battle with Chase Bank by proving to them that they "lost" one of my mortgage payments. It took about 6-8 phone hours to solve the problem, but it the work was obviously worth the time, just highly frustrating.

Found: 1 penny (Papa Gino's)

A Few Nickels

Last night I only went through a few hand rolled nickels. In all I searched 1,680 nickels. In them I found one War Time (1943P), three Canadians, one Bermuda 5¢, and one US penny.



I also sorted some Kennedy halves for trade. In two boxes of halves (2,000 coins) I found all pre-2002 circulation halves except, 1964D, 1993D, and 2001P. About four of the ones I found weren't very acceptable.

Crazy Dimes

Last night I went through four boxes of pennies and some hand rolled. It was a pretty good night. I searched 13,550 pennies. In the mix were 105 Wheats, 171 Canadians, eleven US dimes, and one UK 1 penny. I found a variety I needed, 1915D! That's an extremely large number of US dimes in the four boxes. It was very strange.

The Wheat breakdown for the last two posts is:

1909, 1915D, 1920, 1929, 1937(2), 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941(2), 1941S, 1942(7), 1942S, 1944(9), 1944S, 1945(8), 1946(6), 1946D, 1947(2), 1947S, 1948(2), 1949(2), 1949S, 1950(2), 1950D, 1950S, 1951(2), 1951D, 1952(4), 1952D(4), 1952S, 1953(2), 1953D(6), 1955(5), 1955D, 1956, 1956D(7), 1957(3), 1957D(6), 1958(2), 1958D(6)

This morning I finished up my new Canadian album sheets. The Gardmaster albums I employ a system which allows easy modification. The binders are composed of plastic sheets on top of paper sheets with dates. I made some Word documents to duplicate the look of the paper sheets and modified the dates on them to be more accurate and current. It took a bit of time to get the measurements and holes just right, but I'm very pleased with the results.



Found: 3 pennies (2 at Burger King, 1 at Staples)

A Little Piece of NH

Last night was a light night. I only searched some hand rolls.

I first looked through 1,440 hand rolled quarters. In them I found a Wyoming 2007P (one I needed), five Canadians, and a New Hampshire highway token (still worth 25¢, I think).



I then searched 2,900 hand rolled dimes. They produced one silver Rosie (1951), six Canadians and one UK 5 pence. I got two boxes from the bank, but they were all 2007P's so I didn't even bother to open them.

Lastly, I hunted 3,350 pennies. Sadly, this effort was mostly in vain. In the mix were three Wheats, thirty-one Canadians, one US dime, and one Euro 2¢. I had high hopes for the batch because 50 of the penny rolls came from one source. Such a large dump usually produces a high number of Wheats. Not this time, however.



I did a little exploring to figure out who was on the Euro 2¢ I found. It's Queen Beatrix, the current queen of the The Netherlands.

Found: 1 penny (Gulf)