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)