Friday Free Finds - Canadian Penny - King George VI

Canada - Penny

Date: 1942

Mint: Royal Canadian Mint, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

VF-20 - KM#32

Content: Bronze

Catalog Value: $0.25

This is going to be a short Friday Free Find.  Found this one at a Coinstar machine at the local grocery store.  As I always say, check those return slots for coins because sometimes they can be goldmines, literally.  Not quite sure why the machine didn't take this coin, but at least I profited from the transaction!

Finding King George VI pennies in circulation, in Canada, is like finding a wheat cent in the US.  They are not very common anymore, but you will still find the odd KGVI in you change sometimes.  In Michigan, you will find that these are actually more prevalent than in Canadian circulation.  Most Americans tend to ignore Canadian coins, and I've found a few of these in my change over the years.

Enjoy!

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!

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! 

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!

Friday Free Finds - 8 - Canada

Why "Hello There"! I should've posted this yesterday as it was the perfect thing to post, but I ran out of time and didn't want to go to bed so late, but here they are, 2 Friday Free Finds.  And I did actually find both of these yesterday! How lucky!  So as my Korean lunch is being cooked (Korean style pork belly with rice and sesame oil dipping sauce - yum) I will be posting!

First off, I wanted to give a shout out to all of my readers! So thank you to my visitors from Iowa, Illinois, South Carolina (Dr. Math), Pennsylvania, New York (Man), India (Kulraj), Singapore, Thailand, Canada (myself), Russia, Ireland and Germany.  And yes, I listed IOWA first because I'm a Hawkeye (I bleed Black and Gold), so hello to all my fellow Big 10 people!

Anyways, more about the coins. I got both of these from my fiancee, she got the $2 (toonie) as change yesterday and realized that it was new so she saved it for me, and the dime, well she thought it was just a dime, but I saw it and told her that it was silver; she's still learning!

The $2 coin is one of the newest coins to enter Canadian circulation.  It is the second coin to be made from a new material (multi-ply nickel plated steel and multi-ply brass plated aluminum bronze).  Although it is only the second toonie to be made from this material, it is the first commemorative made from this composition.  The coin is absolutely stunning if you have one in hand.  They used their new laser technology to inscribe the maple leaves, so they look perfect and the top maple leaves have a holographic effect.  Really cool coin!  It commemorates the War of 1812, when the United States tried to invade what is now Canada to take it over and take out British interests in North America.  Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful (for the United States), but this coin is really representing the peace between the two countries and commemorates those who thwarted the American attack.  This coin commemorates the involvement of the H.M.S. Shannon, a famous ship from the War of 1812.  There will be 4 more coins coming out within a year and they will be quarters.  If you were lucky enough to buy these from the Royal Canadian Mint website (and you lived in Canada), you would've been able to purchase this coin in a set of 5 in a blister pack for $10 with shipping free of charge!  They did the same thing with the newly released Lucky Olympic Loonie (released 7/19/12), I was in time and bought 3 packs of them for $15, they're going to run out in the next few days, so act fast!

The dime that you see is also quite special.  It's fairly rare that you find silver in your change, but even more when you find a silver centennial dime.  The dime was created to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Canadian Confederation (in 1867), which at the time did not include Newfoundland.  Newfoundland had it's own distinct coinage until 1949 when it joined Canada.  Anyway, the design on the obverse is the Tiara Portrait which went unmodified from 1965 - 1979.  The reverse of the coin has a picture of a Mackerel instead of the typical "Bluenose" ship design along with the double dates 1967-1967.  Also what's interesting about this coin is that in 1967, the price of silver increased so much that the mint had to change the composition from .800 silver to .500 silver with the remainder made from copper.  From the looks of the coin, one is unable to tell the difference between the two, but with a simple check on the scale, a .800 composition coin should weigh 2.33 grams, which this coin checked out to be! This is only the 3rd silver coin that I've found in change, the other two are a dime and a quarter with the laureate portrait of QEII.

Note about the deleted posts:
Sorry that I did not elaborate on why I deleted the posts, but basically, I wanted to alter the photos a bit to thwart anyone using my material for their own pecuniary gain and as an anti-counterfeit measure.  As such, I will eventually re-post the items that were deleted in the coming weeks with upgraded security measures.  I don't want to be on the wrong side of the law, and I don't want to be perpetrating any type of crime via my blog.  Once I get back from my exam and from Chicago, you will see some more new posts, so stay tuned!

Note about new post details:
In the interest of making my blog a little more professional, I will be posting all new photos of my coins and banknotes with their numismatic stats.  Kulraj from "my coin collection" mentioned that I needed more structure, so I will try to keep my posts more uniform in style while still having a story behind the numismatic product itself.  Additionally, I will be taking pictures of my entire collection (which is not at my house, but somewhere safe) for insurance reasons and so that I will always have plenty of material for everyone to look it.  I would welcome everyone to give me some suggestions about the format and style of my posts.  Thanks for any constructive criticism and comments!

-Pockets