Saturday Random Day - Vive La France!

C'est pour mes amis francophonie, et aussi pour mes amis Français qui viens de Lyon (Allez Olympique Lyonnais!) et les autres villes Français.  Je suis désolé pour mon mauvais français, mais j'ai oublié la plupart de la langue.  J'ai pensé qu'il serait amusant de post en français pour la première fois sur mon blog.  L'histoire: j'ai acheté ces pièces dans un magasin à Michigan (E.U.) pour à peu près 0,50 Euro.  C'est pas cher aux états-unis et il y a une grande variété de pièces à choisir.  C'étaient les meilleures pièces françaises que j'ai pu trouver.  Il devient de plus en plus rare de trouver pièces françaises ici.  C'est fatigant (écrit en français)! Fin!

Back to Anglais, I found these at the coin store in Michigan, part of that large hoard that I pulled out.  The 25 centimes coins were about the most valuable in here and they are quite old! I did this post in French because I can speak it (to an extent).  And now that I'm really tired, I'm going to leave you with the stats!

France 5 Centimes – 1901 VF – KM#842		France 5 Centimes – 1912 VF – KM#842		France 5 Centimes – 1931 XF – KM#875		France 10 Centimes – 1918 XF – KM#866a
France 25 Centimes – 1903 VF – KM#855		France 25 Centimes – 1904 VF – KM#856		France 50 Centimes – 1923 VF – KM#884		France 1 Franc – 1921 XF – KM#876
France 10 Francs – 1947 XF – KM#909.1		France 10 Francs – 1948 CF – KM#909.1		France 100 Francs – 1954 XF – KM#919.1		France 1 Franc – 1992 XF – KM#1004.1

Friday Free Finds - Canada 2012 Olympic Lucky Loonie ($1) 5-Pack

Here's something different for Friday Free Finds, and in a way, they were free, so here's the story!

I ordered these about a month ago, 4 hours after they were released for general sale on the Royal Canadian Mint website.  I got them yesterday (Thursday), it took FOREVER!  The purchase was impulsive yet it was also by chance.  I tend to roam the websites of world mints all the time, but it had been about a week since I looked at the RCM's website and by chance they just released the coin for sale so I jumped the bandwagon and got as many as I could since they sell out so fast!  The terms of the sale is what is quite interesting; first of all - free shipping.  Free shipping anywhere in Canada is a big BIG deal, almost no one seems to do it! Second, no tax, since its for sale by a pseudo-governmental agency.  Third, I only had to pay face value! Yes, it is very true that you you only had to pay face value for the coins, so $5 per pack, with a limit of 3 per household.  They started doing this late last year and has continued to do this type of sale of general circulation coins.  I got lucky! I bought 3 packs for $15+free shipping! They sold out about 5 days later and its only available for sale to Canadian Residents. 

So this coin, made from the new plated steel material with the new enhanced security features was created to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics.  It has been a tradition since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens that the RCM produce a lucky loonie to give and send with all of the Canadian athletes participating in the games.  They also produce lucky loonies for general circulation and in silver for collectors.  I thought these were really cool so now I have 3 sets of them!  I was checking eBay to see what they were going for, and not surprisingly, they were going for twice what people paid, but to be honest, $10 is not much to pay for 5 loonies nicely sealed up and in uncirculated condition!  So, on a technicality, this was somewhat free! Happy Friday!

Thursday Terminology - American & Canadian Coin and Note Nicknames!

American Coin Nicknames

1 Cent - Penny, Cent, Copper

5 Cents - Nickel

10 Cents - Dime

25 Cents - Quarter, Two-Bits

50 Cents - Half Dollar, Kennedy, Kennedy Half, Fitty Cent

1 Dollar - Golden Dollar, SBA Dollar, Native Dollar, Sacagawea, Dead President Dollars

American Note Nicknames - Greenbacks

1 Dollar - Buck, Washington

2 Dollars - Jefferson

5 Dollars - Abe, Nickel, Fin, Fiver, Five-Spot

10 Dollars - Hamilton, Dime, Saw Buck, Ten-Spot

20 Dollars - Jackson, Dub

50 Dollars - Grant, Half Benny

100 Dollars - Benjamin, Bill, Yard

Canadian Coin Nicknames

1 Cent - Penny, Maple Leaf, Sou, Cenne, Cenne Noire

5 Cents - Nickel, Beaver

10 Cents - Dime

25 Cents - Quarter, Caribou

50 Cents - 50 Cent Piece, Half Dollar, Half Loon

1 Dollar - Loonie, Piastre, Huard, Buck

2 Dollar - Toonie

Canadian Note Nicknames

5 Dollars - Willy's, Fin, Blues

10 Dollars - Purples, Purps, Mickeys, MacDonald

20 Dollars - Queen, Green

50 Dollars - Pinks, Kings

100 Dollars - Bill, Browns, Bordens, Hundy's

Wednesday World Coins & Currency - Canada $2 (Toonie) 2012 & 1999

Canada $2.00 (Toonie) 2012 New Design

Date: 2012

Mint:Royal Canadian Mint, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Grade: UNC

KM#:N/A

Weight: 6.92g

Content: Outer Ring - Multi-ply Nickel Plated Steel / Insert - Multi-ply Brass Plated Aluminum Bronze

Value: $2.00

 

Canada $2.00 (Toonie) 1999 Nunavut Territory Creation Comemmorative 

Date: 1999

Mint: Royal Canadian Mint, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Grade: VF - XF

KM#:357

Weight: 7.3g

Content: Outer Ring - Pure Nickel / Insert - Aluminum Bronze

Value: $2.00

Hello all! Late as usual! That being said, I'm trying to catch up tonight so things will be more on time! For those of you who collect bi-metallic coins, and especially those from Canada, I hope you enjoy these!

The first coin that you see pictured is the brand new Canadian $2 coin.  There are quite a few things new about this coin.  First of all, the composition is different from all previous versions of the $2 but exactly the same as the H.M.S. Shannon Commemorative $2 coin; the outer ring made from multi-ply nickel plated steel and the insert of the coin composed of multi-ply brass plated aluminum bronze.  The coin also has enhanced security features.  The rim of the coin has the inscription "(maple leaf) Canada (maple leaf) 2 Dollars" while the reverse of the coin has shifting maple leaves on the top and 2 laser inscribed maple leaves on the bottom.  All new $2 and $1 coins all have laser inscribed maple leaves on them for enhanced security measures while the rest of the coins remain the same.  The change in Canada's coinage system occurred earlier this year as a cost-saving measure which eliminated the production of the penny from the national budget, and also changed the composition of the $1 and $2 to plated steel.  Although the new coins will likely last longer and be cheaper to produce, many people have rejected the use of the new $1 and $2 because they are unable to use them in parking meters, vending machines and other coin deposit systems.  These coins also have a tendency to tarnish very quickly and look quite ugly after being in only a few different hands.

The second coin is the 1999 Nunavut Territory Creation Commemorative $2 coin.  The coin celebrates the creation of the 3rd and largest territory of Canada; Nunavut.  Many of you might be very unfamiliar with this territory as it's only 13 years old, but it was carved out of the Northwest Territory by an act of Parliament via the Nunavut Act.  It is mainly inhabited by the indigenous people of Canada, has the smallest population of all the Geo-political subdivisions of Canada, a tiny capital called Iqaluit, very cold and has 3 official languages (Inuktitut - the main language, English and French).  The coin was made from the original $2 coin composition with the outer ring made from pure nickel and the insert made from aluminum bronze.  All original toonies will make a ringing sound if flipped in the air as opposed to the new toonies which make no sound at all.  The obverse is the common obverse found on all Canadian coins from that year while the reverse features an Inuit drummer with the inscription "Nunavut ᓄᓇᕗᑦ  Canada 2 Dollars".  ᓄᓇᕗᑦ is Inuktitut for Nunavut.  I have no idea of how to read it, but it looks very interesting! 

Tuesday Treasure Trove - 1857 U.S. Half Dime

Today's coin is the 1857 U.S. Half Dime.  This coin was picked up in Chicago and purchased for $35.00.  I'm thinking that I paid a little bit more than I should've, but in all, its probably worth about $35-40 in the condition that it's in.  I was on vacation, so having a keepsake from Chicago was worth it. This is one of 7 half dimes in my collection, but this one is the newest!

The half dime (5 cents) was the second smallest silver coin ever produced by the United States Government for general circulation, second only to the silver 3 cent piece (Thrime).  During the time when the half dime thrived, 5 cents had the buying power of about $2.50 in 2012 terms.  So if you actually think about it, it probably made sense to use silver for the half dime at that time.  The last of the silver half dimes were produced in 1873 while the first nickel 5 cent piece was made in 1866.  What's odd is that, while the U.S. stopped producing the silver half dime in 1873, Canada actually kept producing a silver 5 cent piece until 1921.  Here are the stats for this coin:

United States of America - Half Dime (5 Cents)

Date: 1857

Mint: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Grade: VF - XF
KM#:A62.2
Weight: 1.24g
Content: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Catalog Value: $27.00 - 52.50
Honest Appraisal: $30-40 (Liberty on the shield is still visible with some other finer details also visible)

Monday Money Magic - Saflips

Saflips.  It should be a word synonymous with numismatics and for anyone concerned with preserving and maintaining a collection of coins.  Unfortunately, many are misinformed about how to safely preserve specimens.  They will typically make the mistake of using inferior products that contain PVC which, overtime, will deteriorate and damage coins.  The damage done by the PVC usually results in a sticky film that covers the entire coin and will ruin it's value.  In numismatic reality, the only product, in my opinion, that should be used for safely keeping your coins preserved are SAFLIP's / Safe T Flips.  The package says it all; the product is inert and flexible (to an extent), contains no PVC or oil, heat sealable, and a flip used by some grading services (especially in Canada).

I used to use the cardboard mylar coin flips but found that the SAFLIP's were better when it came to labeling.  The SAFLIP's will usually come with blank inserts that you can use to write on to describe the coin.  Instead of writing on the inserts, I use return address labels and stick them onto the inserts with my own uniform labeling system (Country / Denomination / Date / Grade / KM or Y#).   Although the SAFLIP's run a little more expensive than cardboard mylar flips, the product is definitely worth the money.  Unlike cardboard flips, you can see the rim and edge of the coin very well in these.  So if you are considering products to safely preserve your collection, I hope your consider SAFLIP's.

1999 P Susan B. Anthony $1 Coin

1999-P Susan B. Anthony $1 Coin

So it's Sunday, and I usually don't post on the weekends, but since I've been so busy, this is the only time I've had to produce something on time!  Even though I will usually post something on Saturday, my fiancee and I ended up rescuing a stranded albino rabbit.  The poor thing was pretty scared and looked like it was abandoned by its owner.  So taking care of it and nursing it back to health was my priority last night; rabbits pee and poo everywhere!

So back to the coin, this one was picked up at the border in my usual fashion; as change.  This is only 1 of 2 1999 SBA's that I have, I have around 50-60 other SBA's but they are from 79' and 80'.  The SBA dollar coin has had a very weird production run.  The majority of the coins minted were produced in 79' and 80' with coin minted in 81' for collector sets and then finally again in 1999.  By the time 1999 came around, the amount of $1 coins in circulation bottomed-out and the mint was forced to produce more $1 coins but were unable to mint the Sacagewea Dollar because it did not yet have the authorization to do so, so they made another SBA dollar.  The 1999 is the rarest SBA dollar made for circulation and the 1981 is the rarest in terms of total production figures.  Also, the 1981-P is the rarest of all SBA dollars in terms of production figures from one mint.  So finding an 81 (which is possible in circulation) or a 99 is quite a special thing! 

Here's the stats on this coin:

United States of America - Susan B. Anthony $1 

Date: 1999

Mint: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Grade: XF - AU
KM#: 207
Weight: 8.1g
Content: Copper-Nickel Clad Copper
Catalog Value: Face Value ($1)

Friday Free Find - 1934 D $5 Silver Certificate

United States of America

$5.00 Silver Certificate

Series 1934 D

Pick 414A(d)

Catalog Value: $6.50 in F

Redemption and Use Ceased in 1963 by Act of Congress

Signatures of Georgia Nesse Clark (Treasurer of U.S.) & John Wesley Snyder (Secretary of Treasury)

Finally, something really special found TODAY on a FRIDAY! This made my entire day! I got this at 6:30 this morning as change from buying some coffee and doughnuts at the local Dunkin' Donuts close to where I work! I was in a rush this morning and only saw the back of the note and figured that it was only an older $5 that I see every once in a while.  To my surprise, when I actually had a chance to check out what was in my wallet, I noticed the tell-tale signs of a silver certificate (BLUE SEALS)!!!!  Now, I was going to post something different for Friday Free Finds today, some stuff that I found earlier this week, but I guess that will have to be put off until tomorrow!
 

To those who are unfamiliar with Silver Certificates, once upon a time in America, there were 3 types of circulating currency; per se. There were Gold Certificates (redeemable in gold), Federal Reserve Notes (what is currently circulating) and Silver Certificates (pictured above, redeemable in silver).  Gold Certificates were created to represent the actual amount of gold held by the U.S. Government.  When the U.S. was taken off the gold standard in 1933, gold certificates were withdrawn from circulation and were made illegal to possess (until 1964 when restrictions were lifted).   Silver Certificates were similar to Gold Certificates in that you could redeem them for silver and they also met the same fate as the Gold Certificates and were eliminated in 1963 by an act of Congress.  You will find far more Silver Certificates in circulation than Gold Certificates, but you can still find Gold Certificates (with their signature Gold Seals) in higher denomination notes like $50's and $100's, just ask the guys at your local gas station, I'm sure they've run into a few and kept them! Silver certificates can be easily spotted, as mentioned earlier, they have a Blue Seal.  Some Silver Certificates command very high prices, especially in CU condition or a Star Note, but the rest are quite common and aren't worth much more than face. 

Happy last 20 minutes of Friday!

Thursday Terminology - Star Note

Relevant Portions of a $1.00 U.S. Star Note

The star note, more commonly known as a replacement note in the currency community, is a note that is produced to replace an existing note that contained an error during it's production.  The purpose of the star note is to replace a faulty existing note for accounting and economical  purposes.  Instead of reprinting the entire serial number from the faulty note, the U.S. Bureau of Printing and Engraving has an entirely different serial number created solely for the purpose of replacing the faulty notes.  Notes containing errors found in the auditing phase of production are noted and then replaced with a star note.  For accounting purposes, it keeps track of the number of note produced for a given day/week/month/year, and for economical purposes, the note is reprinted with an entirely different serial number with a "star" at the end, instead of reprinting all of the different serial numbers that contained errors.  

The note that you see above is a star note from the 2003 A series, from the Atlanta, GA Federal Reserve Bank.  This one was printed during the 5th printing run for error notes and approximately 3,200,000 were printed during this run.  This makes this note not as rare as most others bearing the FXXXXXXXX* serial.  Despite it not being as rare as most others, finding a star note in your change is still pretty hard.  I have a collection of approximately 100 or so $1 star notes in my collection starting from 1988A series to the current series of notes.  I also have various other star notes in different denominations, but nothing noteworthy.  Happy Thursday!

Wednesday World Coins & Currency - Japan 10 Yen With Wartime Propaganda Overprint

Japan

10 Yen

ND (1930)

Pick 40z

*With Propaganda Overprint in Red*

Catalog Value: $20.00 in VG

Hello all! Still trying to pick up the pace a little, and still running a little behind.  Some of my family members have been in the hospital, and work has been a little crazy, so my posts have been a little late! But I'm still posting what is supposed to be posted! So stay tuned!  

So this note is another note that I bought for 50 cents!  It had an overprint on it and it caught my eye, so I had to purchase it!  It actually a very nicely detailed note and the front has a portrait of Wake-no Kiyomaro who in Japan, was regarded as the one who helped keep Buddhism from being involved in Politics; the Japanese creator of the Establishment Clause per se.  His face has been on many Japanese 10 Yen notes since the 1880's up until the late 1940's.  The 4 characters in red on the front and back are interpreted as Military Payment Certificate.  This note was made for Japanese Servicemen in Occupied China.  My grandfather (who can read Japanese, Chinese and Korean), told me that when he was in his teens living in Japanese Occupied Korea, men in the military would receive 4 of these per month in Korea.  He really didn't tell me what the other characters were saying (because he was occupied with watching the news) but I'll have to ask him later I guess.  These payment certificates were valid throughout the Japanese Empire at par with the Japanese Yen.  10 Yen was quite a bit of money in those days! 

Tuesday Treasure Trove - Belgium

Pictured Above - Coins from Belgium

So I picked these coins up at one of my favorite coin shops in Michigan.  Anyways, they are part of that gigantic 442 coin hoard that I purchased!  You will notice a lot of zinc here, and that's because I love collecting zinc coins!  Most of these were overlooked by other collectors and left in the bin for me to collect!  Instead of my traditional format that I've been using, I have instead opted to use my labeling format, where I use return address labels to label my coins, this is exactly what I type on them so that I'm able to identify the coin in the future!  Have fun!

Here are the stats on these lovely coins, from left to right, top to bottom!

Belgium 5 Centimes – 1910 VF – KM#67		Belgium (German WWI Occupation) 5 Centimes – 1915 XF – KM#80		Belgium (German WWI Occupation) 5 Centimes – 1916 AU – KM#80		Belgium (German WWI Occupation) 10 Centimes – 1916 VF – KM#81
Belgium 1 Franc – 1930 VF – KM#89		Belgium 1 Franc – 1934 XF – KM#89		Belgium 2 Franc – 1944 AU – KM#133		Belgium 5 Francs – 1939 AU – KM#117.2
Belgium (German WWII Occupation) 5 Francs – 1941 (French) XF – KM#129.1		Belgium (German WWII Occupation) 5 Francs – 1943 (French) XF – KM#129.1		Belgium (German WWII Occupation) 5 Francs – 1941 (Flemmish) AU – KM#130		Belgium (German WWII Occupation) 5 Francs – 1941 (Flemmish) AU – KM#130

Monday Money Magic - Modern Numismatic Security

Scan this code and it should read / or take you to my website!

Nowadays there are tons of options available at anyone's disposal.  Some have vaults, some have safe deposit boxes, safes and the like to protect their collections and their investments.  There aren't too many budget friendly options available, but I have figured out my own solution to this problem!  My solution, a self-inking stamp with a QR code imprinted on it.  You can use it to stamp your entire collection if you get the right size; and you can stamp rolls, boxes, coin flips (vinyl and mylar), and anything else that the ink will dry on.  Thieves may be able to steal you collection, but if they sell your coins, notes or anything else that is valuable and never bothered to take the QR code off and someone scanned it, all of the information that you would want on the QR code would be available and it would be easy to prove ownership.  

The QR code is great, especially in the age of smart phones and better technology.  QR codes say absolutely nothing on the face, so they really disguises a great deal of information in a little code.  Many people used to put "Property of John Doe, Address, Telephone, etc" but it was obvious and someone would see it and likely take the coin or paper money out of its holder and sell it to a buyer.  The QR code is very clandestine in the way it holds information in a not so obvious way.  You can put a number of things in your own QR code like Name, Address, Telephone, Email, or whatever you want.  You can easily get one made at Staples, on-site, for about $25.  To create your own QR code, you can visit the following website:  QR Code Generator: Kaywa.com

The QR code pictured above was created using the Kaywa QR Code generator.  Give it a try and see for yourself!

Saturday Random Day - Cherry Picking Dealer Coin Dumps; Zinc & Aluminum Coins

 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!

Friday Free Finds -1961 Canadian 12-Sided Nickel & 2011 Presidential Dollars

Pictured Above:
1. United States - James Garfield - 2011 - P - Presidential $1

2. United States - Rutherford B. Hayes - 2011 - P - Presidential $1

3. Canada - Laurate Portrait - 1961 - 12-Sided Nickel

So it's been a slow week for Friday Free Finds, and it's also Saturday, so my post is a little late, but forgive me, I've been running a little behind this week.  Regardless, the change in my pockets weren't so full, and hence, the finds were only somewhat amusing.  I received the two Presidential Dollar coins at the border.  They just raised the toll which I'm not too happy about, 75 cents on the U.S. side and 50 cents on the Canadian side, so now I get one dollar coin less and instead, it's replaced by a quarter.  The Canadian 12-Sided Nickel was received as change at a local Mac Convenience Store (a Canadian take on the 7-11) when I purchased a bottle of Canada Dry Ginger Ale (which is free from corn syrup here).  Here are the stats:

United States of America

Presidential Series - $1
Date:2011
Mint: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Grade: UNC
KM#: 502
Weight: 8.07g
Content: Copper - Zinc - Manganese - Nickel Clad
Catalog Value: $2.00 in MS-63

United States of America
Presidential Series - $1
Date: 2011
Mint: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Grade: UNC
KM#: 501
Content: Copper-Zinc-Manganese-Nickel Clad
Catalog Value: $2.00 in MS-63 

Canada
12-Sided Nickel
Date: 1961
Mint: Royal Canadian Mint, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Grade: XF-40 (Notice the shoulder folds and the detail on the hair)
KM#: 50a
Weight: 4.59g
Content: Nickel 100%
Catalog Value: Face value =(


Happy Friday/Saturday!

Thursday Terminology - C.R.H.

 Roll of 2012-P Pennies

Welcome to Thursday Terminology, I think that this term is one that is getting around more and more often nowadays given that coin collecting is getting more popular on the treasure hunting forums. So here is the definition!

C.R.H. = Coin Roll Hunting/Hunter = One who amasses a large amount of rolled coin and searches them for either silver, copper, die varieties or foreign coins. 

CRH exists in many forms in the U.S. and Canada.  The majority of CRH's in the U.S. search 50 cent pieces for silver coins as they usually contain a higher proportion of silver per roll, on average.  Typically a CRH will go to a bank, also known as the "buy bank" and purchase either a few rolls of coin or a few boxes of coin.  The buy banks will usually not charge a fee for providing such services or if they do, the CRH really likes banking with them.  Once the CRH has finished searching their coins, they will either take them, loose or rolled, to a "dump bank" or a coinstar machine.  The "dump bank" is usually a bank that the CRH dislikes for one of a variety of reasons, or just doesn't care, and deposits the coins into an account that they have their, or if they are loose, then they put them through the sorting machine which may or may not charge a fee.  It is common courtesy to not buy and dump at the same bank as each one is doing you a favor, and the tellers may become accustom to you and disfavor your activities eventually.  Also, some CRH's mark coins that they have gone through by marking the coins with a dot from a permanent marker or a slash from a key.  This is traditionally looked down upon by the CRH community, but nonetheless, it happens.  I have yet to delve into this hobby, but I will try my luck eventually and purchase an entire box of U.S. half dollar coins for a nominal price of $500.00.  When I do it, I'll post a video of how it went!

Wednesday World Coins & Currency - Burma (British Colony)

Currency Stats:

Burma (British Colony) 5 Rupees 1938-39
Overprint "Rangoon" on Reverse **RARE**

Pick# 4

G-F
$1.00 - 5.00 (Without Overprint)
Honest Appraisal - $20.00

Since I've shown a lot of coins in the past and on top of that, deleted some of my former paper money posts, I think I will continue on with posting some more notes to keep you guys interested.  This one also came from the dealers dump bin, and it also caught my eye.  For a whopping 50 cents, it was a steal in my mind.  First off, British Colonial notes from Burma are hard to come by, you will usually find them online at a premium (but in much better condition) but you won't see many of them.  This one was particularly special given that it has an overprint on the reverse of the note with "Rangoon" stamped on it.  I suspect that this note was in use for the British Armed Forces during WWII and the overprint "Rangoon" specified that it was only for use in that area to prevent Japanese control of the black market.  This was typical practice at the time, if any of you have a U.S. note with a Hawaii overprint on it, the reason that it was printed in a different color and had the overprint was to control the black market in case of a Japanese invasion and so that congress could make the note completely worthless and easily distinguishable if an invasion had occurred.  Likely the same circumstances for this note.  It's in really bad shape unfortunately, but even notes in terrible condition can have some value, especially those that are rare and harder to find, obviously.  

So this note was actually produced and backed by the Bank of India, in fact, most of Burma was governed from India at the time and Rangoon only had some basic offices.  The front of the note has a portrait of King George VI and a peacock at center with the entire face of the note in English.  The reverse of the note had a picture of elephants working in the forest, as they still do today.  The reverse also has traditional Burmese script and English on the back showing the value in both of the respective languages and the overprint "Rangoon".  

As I stated in the previous post, I used my rule of thumb to find this note and although it may or may not be worth too much, I still find it to be rare and a pretty neat find!

Enjoy!

Tuesday Treasure Trove - Turkey

Currency Stats:

Turkey 5 Lira

Pick #155 

VF-UNC

$16.00 -  130.00

Honest Appraisal - $50.00

So here is something that is truly from a treasure trove find.  If any of you are familiar with treasure trove, it involves finding lost, buried or mislaid property in a hidden or buried place.  Well this one was found hidden in a stack of foreign notes that a dealer was selling for 50 cents a piece.  I saw this one, among others that will also get posted (the Korean notes previously posted were also found in the stack of notes) and had a slight inkling that it was worth something, so I bought it.  When I got back home and checked it out in my currency price guides, it turns out that I was correct and that it does have some value.  Unfortunately it has a few corner folds which is probably a result of people sifting through the notes in a hurry to find what they wanted which lowers the value of the note significantly.  Each fold is basically knocking off value from the note and considering that it has at most 2 folds, I would take it to be in AU condition since it is still very crisp and still has the original print feel to the note.  

The front of the note depicts Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first President of Turkey and founder of the republic.  You see him on almost every coin and note from Turkey, a very revered figure for Turkish people and a great statesman of modern Turkey.  The reverse has a picture of three peasant women holding baskets of hazelnuts.  Hazelnuts are apparently grown for domestic and export use in Turkey, and they are delicious!  I find that the older notes from Turkey are quite beautiful.  This is the only one that I have, but the ones that I've seen in reference guides and the like look beautiful, one day I will own more, but for now this will have to suffice. 

On a side note, my general rule of thumb for finding great and valuable notes in dealer dump bins is this: crisp, old and haven't seen it very often = value.  So for instance if you see Japanese Military Occupation notes, very few are worth any money and they usually are the majority of notes found in the dealer dump bins, therefore, ignore them.  Oh and one other thing, countries that don't exist anymore or have been rarely heard of like (Monaco, Liechtenstein, Straits Settlements, Malaya & British Borneo, ETC) will usually command higher values.  Also pre-decimal notes from current and former British Colonies also command a high value.  

Enjoy!

Monday Money Magic - Numismatic Origami "Bow-tie"

I thought that it would be fitting that since I will become a lawyer in the near future, a bow-tie made from a $1 note would be the perfect origami to make for this Monday Money Magic.  Here are the instructions:

Step 1. Find a crisp note that you don't mind folding

Step 2. Fold in half, length-wise with the face on the outside of the bill.

Step 3. Fold corners to the center of the bill.

Step 4. Fold the outer side lengths into the center of the bill.

Step 5. Take the ends of the bill and fold in half

Step 6. Fold the ends to the center, then flip the bill and do the same to the other side so that there are folds on each side

Step 7. This is the tricky part, the folds that you made in "Step 6" need to go on the inside as you see on the right side of the note in the picture

Step 8. Next take the bill and fold over the triangle that you just made (see photo)

Step 9. Fold each of the four ends of the note to the center of the note as in the picture, with 2 of the corners folded to the center on each side.

Step 10. Carefully open the note from the ends, and as you pull the ends you will notice the square "tie knot" of the bow-time coming through, this is also tricky but see the pictures.

Step 11. Once the "knot" is made, flatten it out with your fingers and "tada" you have a bow-tie made from money!