Mercury Dime & Silver Wartime Nickel
Friday Free Finds is BACK! I found these two beauties in my change this week! But before I get into a blogger ramble, let me give you the stats:
Mercury Dime - 10 Cents
Date: 1941
Mint: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Grade: VF - XF (Notice the bands on the column on the reverse)
KM#: 140
Weight: 2.5g
Content: 90% Silver 10% Copper
Catalog Value: $1.40 - 3.00
Melt Value: $2.00 ($27.80 / OZ)
Wartime Nickel - 5 Cents
Date: 1943
Mint: San Francisco, California, USA
Grade: VG - F (Detail missing on the obverse and reverse)
KM#192a
Weight: 5.0g
Content: 56% Copper, 35% Silver, 9% Manganese
Catalog Value: $0.55 - 0.70
Melt Value: $1.46 ($27.80 / OZ)
So back to the story on how I received these silver beauties, the Mercury Dime I got in change at a local grocery store as change. I purchased some powdered drink mix in a hurry and the girl at the register gave me my change, and when she put the change in my hand, I heard the distinctive sound of silver. So, I looked at my change (as I always do) and sure enough, I saw the reverse of the Mercury Dime and was so excited! I had just got off work and the daily grind was pretty awful that day, so when I got this in my change, I was uber excited! After noticing the great condition the coin was in, I turned the coin around and saw that it was a 1941. That rang some alarm bells in my head as I know that there is a 42 over 41 variety of the coin, but after closer inspection, it wasn't. Regardless, I was still excited! So far, I've been getting a silver coin in my change once every month. I think it has to do with the area where I work, lots of older folks around there who are probably emptying their coin jars that haven't been opened since the 50's or 60's; just a guess.
Now the Wartime Nickel. I got this one at a gas station when I bought some gum. Wartime Nickels are easy to recognize; they look really ugly, almost green sometimes or black. Many people overlook these coins in their change as they think it's just a dirty nickel, but if they just took a second to look at the reverse of the coin and saw that HUGE mint mark, they would know (if they had the knowledge) that the coin was made, in part, of silver. Unfortunately, since most people overlook them and they've been in circulation for 70 years now, they are usually pretty worn. The silver content also makes the coin less durable as silver is a pretty soft metal. Either way, silver is always silver in any amount and it's always a good feeling to find silver in your change!
Happy Friday!
Wow 1 silver coin every month. That's almost as overwhelming as the last comment you left on my blog. Just kidding. Great finds maybe I should move to the area. You'd be okay with one silver coin every other month, right? Haha seriously though great finds! Like I replied back to you on my blog there must be tons of people collecting in my area because I don't find nearly enough coins that are worthy of saving. I also agree with your guess about the 50's-60's coin jars. Their loss. It kind of gets me frustrated that people don't check their change even thoug people checking their change is the reason I'm not getting as many finds. It's kind of odd. Anyways great finds! Can't wait to see some more awesome finds! I can wait to be jealous of your 1 silver coin a month, though.
ReplyDeleteNah, I'd be more happy with about 2-3 a month...j/k! Where I work, all the people know that I collect coins so if they find one, they pass it on to me at face value (odd but a nice gesture) and my family also owns their own retail business, so they run into tons of coin rolls and always look through them before giving change back. Makes it a little easier to find coins when you have a team of people helping you out, but the last 4 silver coins I found were on my own, so I just got lucky! I've been trying to find silver in Canada in some rolls but they are more sparse then in the US, so I quit CRH here. I'm gonna order me a box of halves pretty soon when I have $500 to blow. Doubtful if I will find more than 1 or 2 but I guess that's the fun of it.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of people not checking their change, that's gives me something to live for! LOL! Ignorance really is bliss in that case!
Thanks Dr. Math! Good to see ya!