42 Cherry Picked Zinc Coins: Value About $80.00
53 Cherry Picked Aluminum Coins: Value About $30.00
Cherry picking is an art; you have to know what to look for and have a keen eye for odd-ball coins. Coin dealers across the US and Canada almost always have a foreign coin dump bin where the sell various coins for 10-50 cents a piece. If you enjoy finding something for almost nothing, cherry picking dealer dump bins are almost always a sure-shot for finding something valuable. The reason is that the majority of coin dealers will buy estate lots, coins from people who don't collect coins and the like, but they purchase them at a huge discount. Usually these large lots will contain a good amount of foreign coins that the dealer has no idea what to do with, so they end up in the dump bin. Granted, the dealer will always do a cursory inspection for gold, silver and rare coins, the rest of the coins are almost not worth dealing with, so they end up in a coin bin. Although the price on the bin usually says "1 for 25 cents or 10 for $2.00", the dealer is almost always willing to make a deal to have those coins taken off his hands. Whenever I walk into a coin store and see the bin, I ignore the stated price completely and simply ask the owner if I could purchase coins by the pound and they usually oblige. The last place I went to let me pick out all the coins I wanted for $5.00/lb. That's a steal for anyone who's looking for a good deal, it's also beneficial for the dealer, so it's a win-win situation. Online sites will usually charge $8-20/lb + shipping which is a complete rip-off as you don't even know what you're getting. Always go to a physical store if you have one nearby.
If the dealer offers a reasonable price for foreign coin poundage, say $1-8/lb, the first coins I go after are the zinc and aluminum coins. First off, these coins are almost always over-looked. For aluminum coins, people think that since the coin was made from aluminum, the coin is cheap, low denomination and mass produced. Although those assumptions are somewhat accurate, older aluminum coins can fetch a pretty penny! I got lucky this time around and found a WWI Emergency Token from Perpignan, France (posted earlier) and it was worth a lot more than what I paid. With zinc coins, the same can also be said with the additional assumption that the average collector will assume that the coin is dirty instead of coming to the conclusion that the coin is made from zinc and the coin is actually oxidized and not dirty at all. Zinc coins will fetch a higher price than aluminum coins, so if I had the choice, I would just hoard all the zinc coins that I could find before I started going after the aluminum. Zinc coins are almost always old, they were most frequently produced during WWI and WWII as a substitute metal for copper and nickel which were unfortunately used to produce war machinery and ammunition, instead of making beautiful, peaceful coins! When you find a zinc coin, the patina is always very distinctive; dark and dull. That darkness and dullness is a result of the zinc reacting with the elements and oxidizing. This oxidation actually creates a protective layer on the coin, much like copper. I pulled quite a few zinc coins this time around and found some great numismatic pieces. I only paid 4 cents a coin and came out with around $200.00 worth in total from the 442 coins the I bought; not a bad investment.
If any of you have any questions/comments pertaining to anything about coins, paper money or collecting in general, feel free to contact me or comment, I'm more than willing to give you my 2 cents! Happy Saturday!
Excellent post, different coin available. Thanks for sharing important post with us.
ReplyDeleteNo problem, a coin collector that is better informed will eventually have better coins at a discount price!
ReplyDelete