Thursday Terminology - Coin Dating Continued

Before I continue on with my Thursday Terminology section, I just had a few random things to say.  It's been a so-so week for finds, when I get to them and have pictures ready, they will be posted.  I also ordered a box of Canadian pennies from a local bank branch and my order should be in sometime in the morning.  Keep your fingers crossed for some magnetic and non-magnetic 2012 Canadian pennies, the last ones to be produced for circulation for Canada, and so far, the hardest to find.  I have yet to find a 2012 penny in circulation, but hopefully my luck will change tomorrow.  On and slightly random side-note, I just found out that my rabbit is not in-fact a female.  The vet told me it was a female a few weeks ago, and now my rabbit has a large set of testicles which leads me to believe that the vet is wrong.  Although, I must say, it's not easy to sex a rabbit in it's early months, but the vet should've known better.  At the least, the cost of getting him fixed will be far less now than was expected and his name is asexual; Binky.  So yes, in summary, my week = far fewer finds and a female bunny with balls.  Enough said.  Here's more on coin dating below!

Vikrama Samvat (VS) (Indian/Nepali Calendar) - Current Year VS 2069.  This calendar was created by the Indian Emperor Vikramaditya.  The calendar, much like other Asian and Middle Eastern calendars, is a lunar based calendar.  It is a popular calendar in Northern India but not an official calendar.  The only place where this calendar is used for official purposes is Nepal.  This calendar is closely tied to Hinduism and depending on where you live, the calendar begins in March or April.

Saka / Shalivahana Era (Indian National Calendar) - Current Year SE 1934.  The Saka Era calendar is the official calendar of India.  It is used in conjunction with the Western Gregorian calendar.  Much like the Vikrama Samvat calendar, it is a lunar calendar with connections to Hinduism.  What's interesting about this calendar is that the months of the Saka Calendar correspond with a Tropical Zodiac.  Here's a link to the wikipedia page for more info.

Buddhist Era - Current Year BE 2555.  The Buddhist Era calendar, one used throughout Southeast Asia (Officially in Thailand) is a lunar-solar calendar.  The calendar in reality is based on the lunar calendar, but to add the solar aspects of the calendar, 30 day months are added at regular intervals.  If you ever visit Thailand and wonder why they are in a different time, it's because they are using this calendar.  Although most Thais use the Gregorian calendar in most aspects of their lives, school papers, official decrees, and the works all use 2555 as the current year.  Unlike the other two calendars mentioned above, this calendar is based on Buddhism.  In my humble opinion, the best days of this year, IN THAILAND, fall during the Songkran festival.  Songkran?! YES SONGKRAN!  The bestest holiday on the face of this planet!  A 3 day national water fight among friends, neighbors, police, foes, foreigners, rich, poor, dirty and clean.  The entire country gears up for a nationwide supersoaker gun battle on the streets!  Best part is that the police don't mind getting shot in the face a few times! Heres some info on SONGKRAN!

I will leave with these three, and give you the final four next week!  Happy late Thursday!

Thursday Terminology - Coin Dating

Coin dating can be quite confusing.  In North America, especially in the United States and Canada, coin dating is quite easy as we date things using the Christian Era (AD) system, and it seems that many countries around the world have also adopted this style.  But then there are those few countries that don't adhere to the Christian Era dating system and many are left scratching their heads wondering what that confusing number really translates into.  So instead of writing down all of the different dates, I will explain them to you. I will be using the abbreviations used in the Krause Catalogs.  I will not be posting every calendar ever created, that will take too much time.

Christian Era (AD) - No explanation needed, the current year is 2012 if you were wondering!  AD stands for Anno Domini, and not after death.  The Christian Era calendar also goes by the name of Gregorian Calendar or Western Calendar.  BC however stands for Before Christ or if you live in Canada, British Columbia.

Muslim Era (AH)  (Islamic Calendar / Hijri Calendar) - Current Year - 1433 AH.  The AH stands for is a Latin abbreviation for Anno Hegirae.  This dating system is used to commemorate the emigration of the Prophet Mohammed and his followers to the city of Medina in AD622, which would be year 0.  This is a lunar calendar which is used to determine the proper time for the Haji (or pilgrimage to Mecca) and to determine Ramadan, the annual fast. This dating system is used primarily in predominantly Muslim countries.  Sometimes you will see a dual system of both AH and AD calendar years presented on coins and currency in these countries. 

Solar Year (SH) (Iranian / Persian Calendar) - Current Year - 1391 SH . The SH stands for Solar Hijri.  This dating system is the official Calendar system of Iran and Afghanistan.  Sometimes you will see the use of AP which is the Latin abbreviation for Anno Persico.  It is one of the oldest calendar systems in the world and one of the most accurate.  The Solar Year calendar is also used to predict the Haji and Ramadan, much like the Muslim Era calendar.

Monarchic Solar Era (MS) (Iranian / Persian Calendar) - Current Year - 2571.  This is a now defunct calendar system, formerly used during the reign of the Pahlavi Dynasty of Iran.  The last Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza, changed the calendar in 1976 to replace the Solar Year calendar to commemorate 2,500 years of Persian Monarchy.  A few years later, the last Shah passed away from cancer after he was deposed during the Islamic Revolution in Iran.  It is exactly the same as the Solar Year calendar except the year is different.

The next set of Coin Dating will be on next Thursday's Terminology Post! So Stay Tuned!

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

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!

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!

Thursday Terminology - Coin Alignment

Coin Alignment: When holding the coin in the viewing position, aligned upright for normal viewing and holding the top of the coin with the index finger and the bottom with the thumb, the coin will be upside down when turned to the reverse side. 

Medal Alignment: Holding the coin in the same position for normal viewing, when the coin is turned to the reverse side, the coin will be normal and will not be flipped.  Typically medals are produced in this viewing alignment which gives it its name “medal alignment”.

Error Alignments: An error alignment is a deviation from the original production alignment of the coin; a deviation from either a coin or medal alignment.  Alignment errors are not very rare but they make for great numismatic specimens for any collector. 

Thursday Terminology - 1 - Coin Grading Terms

 COIN GRADING TERMS

I thought that it would be nice to start this first series of posts with something that is quite basic and something that needs to be learned by most, if not, all collectors of numismatic products; Grading Terms.  The various grades that coins fit into are the quintessential facts that determine a coin's value.  Knowing the terms is essential if you plan on becoming a numismatic investor, or if you plan of giving your collection an honest appraisal, they also help you understand what the values mean in coin catalogs.   Coin valuation terms are listed usually from the lowest to the highest grade possible with a numerical value given to the show its degree of quality within each category.  These numbers were established by the American Numismatic Society, and thus are the standard for most collectors.  I should also state that not all numismatists use the following coin grading system, many European countries have their own grading system, but this is what is followed in the United States and Canada.  The following are the most basic of terms that every beginner should know and understand.


Coin Valuation Terms From Lowest to Highest:

Poor (PO, PR) - 1 = The lowest grade possible, meaning that the coin is very worn or even damaged to a high extent, a coin in this grade would have to be exceptionally rare if it were to be collected. Usually 0-1% of the design is remaining in this grade.

Fair (FA, FR) - 2 = The second lowest grade, still very worn, very slight difference between Poor and Fair, you really need to be a professional to see these differences, coin is still undesirable for typical collectors.  Coins will have 2-4% of the design remaining.

About Good (AG) - 3 = The third lowest grade, very worn, and the difference is still slight between Poor, Fair and About Good, as mentioned before, you will likely have to be a professional to recognize the difference in such obscure grades.  You will find that more than 5% but less than 10% of the design is remaining in this grade.

Good (G) - 4, 6 = The fourth lowest grade, probably the lowest grade that a collector would buy a coin it, it will still be very word, but yet still collectible.  This will likely be the lowest grade you would find in any numismatic catalog, if they start here that is.  Usually only 10% of the design will be remaining.

Very Good (VG) - 8, 10 = Another low grade, but many collectors will purchase coins in this grade, many catalogs either start at this grade or at Good.  Around 25% of the design is remaining in this grade.

Fine (F) - 12, 15 =  This grade is low, but it is likely to be collectible as you begin to see many of the details of the coin.  World Coin catalogs published by Krause Publications usually start here.  Here you find about 50% of the design remaining on the coin.

Very Fine (VF) - 20, 25, 30, 25 = This is where you typically seen many coins that have been in circulation for about 10-15 years, they are worn but you can still see much of the finer detail, usually hairlines and other lines that usually get worn off by typical handling of the coin and circulation.  These coins are very collectible and even rare coins fetch a high price in this grade.  75% of the coin design will be intact.

Extremely Fine (XF, EF) - 40, 45 = This grade will look somewhat worn, but also somewhat new, much like a Statehood Quarter that has been in circulation for about 1-2 years. Highly collectible, coins will usually command a good price in this grade.  Usually 90% of the coin design is found to be intact. 

About/Almost Uncirculated (AU) - 50, 53, 55, 58 = Coins found in this grade look like they're almost uncirculated, as the name suggests, they usually have a few dings and bag marks on them and the luster of the coins will have diminished only slightly.  Great coins to collect and to preserve in coin albums.  Here the coin will have 95% of the coin design intact with some luster to be found from the original minting of the coin.


Mint State (MS) - 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 = These coins are uncirculated and have never seen the grimy and oil laden hands of people.  Any coin that is found in this grade is highly collectible, command far higher prices than any other coins and if graded by a professional, it will usually have a nice price tag.  Keep in mind that MS-70 is the highest grade, and coins found in this state are very rare and need to be perfect in every sense of the word!

** It should be noted that within the category of Mint State are two subcategories that divide the 60-70 numerical values in half:

Uncirculated (UNC) - 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 = The coin will be  100% intact but the luster will vary depending on the quality of the dies that coin was minted on or if bag marks are present on the coin.  Many, if not most coins that are sold online by non-professional vendors of coins will give a coin the general grade of UNC without a numerical value as they are only telling you that the coin has never been in circulation and that the grade of the coin is up to you to find out.

Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) - 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 70 = This coin will also be 100% intact and usually with full and complete luster.  You will find very few bag marks or other small scratches on the coin at this grade.

Proof (PR) - This is a coin that was designed only for collectors and thus was not intended for circulation.  A proof coin can have a numerical value if it is graded under the Mint State category, otherwise, coins produced in proof condition will generally only say proof with no numerical value, this is the final grade of a coin, but keep in mind that it may not be the highest grade unless it was graded under Mint State.