Generic Lad

See, that is the key to selling crap coins: overmarketing. That is like over here in the US, you can buy dateless buffalo (Indian head nickels) in bulk for about 6-7 cents, but you can sell it to people who make jewelry and get about 10-20 cents per coin I've always wondered how well coins would sell if not advertised as a "coin" but an artifact of the period. For common, crap coins, I'm sure they'd sell quite well.

After looking at it closely and comparing it with others, it appears like the "N" in SKILLING is weird, when compared to the others on eBay and the design on the reverse of the stars (or flowers?) on either side of the 1 looks interesting. So perhaps it is a rare die variety? I really don't know, I don't know the first thing about Danish coins and so I don't even know if they really have a thriving collector market for minor die varieties, but if so, then perhaps the N and the stars/flowers are the clue.

Are the 1838 and 1848 twopences currency or maundy? I was under the impression that all Victorian silver pennies, twopence and groats (with the number 4, not the Britannia groat) were maundy coins, but when I look in my 2009 copy of Spinks I see that under the young head number 3914E shows a twopence separate from the maundy twopence which is 3919. So why are the Spinks numbers different?

The 1838 and 1848(?) are currency pieces. The 1838 is quite common and doesn't have the higher quality field associated with maundy money. The 1848 is not common. Hm, interesting, guess you learn something new every day! Thanks!

I don't know much about Chinese history but what was the purchasing power of a single coin? Surely it couldn't have been much since they were brass/bronze but were they an early form of representative money? Where you could cash them in and get X amount of silver or gold? Also, was there a point of the square hole in them or was it just decoration/counterfeit protection?

No pics of my actual coins (my phone's SD card is acting up...) but here are some of the things I've bought with pictures to show what they look like: Marisa Theresa Thaler, anyone else have one of these? They are restrikes dated 1780 and still minted today. You can buy it for bullion and they're neat coins with raised edge lettering (think of the old crowns) and you can get the level of wear you want. I've got one I got about a year ago in sharp BU (the edge lettering nearly cuts your fingers!) but the one I picked up today is quite a bit more worn, although it is a modern variety produced in quantity from 1853-present. Picked up a US proof silver dollar, nothing special about it, but it was shiny so I ended up buying it Plus it isn't as hideous as most modern commemoratives. https://store.nwtmint.com/images/products/3189__orig.jpg Bought a 1967 Canadian half dollar, kinda interesting, 80% silver, mine is proof-ish, its got some weird toning on it, but I like my bullion to have some color to it. http://www.apmex.com/Resources/Catalog%20Images/Products/52559_Obv.jpg Got a few other things, a 1847 5 franc (French), an Italian 1875 5L, a 1905 key date 50 centisimo Panama coin, and a Spanish coin with the same size as the 5 Franc and 5 Lira coin. Picked up a 1901 US V nickel and 1960 1/2 Franc (Swiss) too. Along with my bag of 31 silver threepence.

So, not yet having a copy of Freeman (waiting to get some Amazon gift cards/vouchers) how can you tell it is a rarer variety? Is it the left ~ because it looks like it is doubled (or tripled)?

It won't let me edit my post, but if you do decide to grade it and sell it in the US, I'd only certify it through NGC, PCGS or ANACS. The other grading companies, although they might be a bit cheaper, and in many cases may be as accurate as NGC/PCGS/ANACS, it won't bring the extra money at a US auction than the "big names" will.

Hm, this is quite interesting, myself I've never seen anything quite like it, but it appears 1967 Canadian dollar rotated reverses are common, some are known as a "Diving Goose" variety and the values are around $125 in AU. There are also some known double struck ones like yours http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=737326 See also http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5615449 So it appears it is a known error, which is interesting since most rotated dies and double stamped coins seem to occur at random. As for grading, it depends on where you are and where you want to sell it. If you plan on selling it in the States, I would say to get it slabbed before you sell it. On one hand it doesn't seem like slabbed coins go for much more than their raw counterparts in British auctions, on the other hand a certified coin adds more of a guarantee for collectors unfamiliar with Canadian coins. But really, its up to you if you want to slab it or not.

It might be possible what you are seeing is PVC residue, many plastics contain PVC and it will damage coins, but it usually turns up "greenish" rather than silver/copper. Perhaps it isn't PVC damage but the plastic could hold the key to what caused this.

Yep, the Chinese have managed to counterfeit an entire culture, which is really a shame because the Chinese coin market is rather profitable right now, but there are so many fakes out there, and those that aren't fakes are deceptively worded. Take this for instance: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-Chinese-chun-guang-chan-shou-Silver-Bullion-/110906142671?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d2856fcf At first, it sounds interesting, little piece of silver, might be worth the price but you look at the description and in broken English it says: "Material : Silver/copper-nickel allay/zinc" So the "silver bullion" is actually copper nickel and zinc... It also doesn't help that Cash coins are really easy to fake. I wouldn't mind having a small collection of Chinese cash coins because they are inexpensive but there's just no way to know if they are genuine or not unless you dig them out of the ground yourself.

As a detectorist, just about anything can be considered "silver", granted, I use a cheap Garrett Ace 250 but aluminum cans will go off like a silver coin, copper-nickel will ring in as "silver" and gold rings will ring up as pulltabs. Anyone who uses a metal detector for metallic analysis is doing it wrong. I would believe Pewter would ring up like silver also.

I don't yet have a 5 + G on my site, but if you could post pics I'm sure we could help. Yeah, I'm hoping to get some scans either later today or early tomorrow. The pics don't turn out well enough to tell, though looking at your site I can tell its a reverse G, but it might be a die obverse 6 and not 5 because the more I look at it, the more I can see the die flaw on the final stop on the obverse.

So, in my tin I've noticed I have a better grade 1861 penny, now when I look it up in Spinks it appears to be 5-G which of course makes it worth quite a bit of money, but I'm afraid I may have misattributed it since what I've attributed it to seems to be a scarce combination. So is there a site with better pictures than Spinks has for the varieties? Also, scans coming eventually, I can't get copper to turn out well on my phone and I don't have a scanner at home so I'll have to borrow one.

For me it had to start when I graduated high school. I'd "collected" coins as a curiosity now and then, had a little cigar box with some foreign coins, an old 1923 Peace Dollar my dad got me for Christmas one year, and some "error" coins (really just post mint damage) along with some "unusual" stuff like $2 bills, half dollars, and the old Eisenhower dollars. But I got a few hundred dollars for graduation and didn't know what to spend it on. I thought about putting it in a CD or savings account but there'd be no way that I'd even keep my money once I graduated college, it would be eaten away by inflation. I could put it in the stock market, but with all the manipulation by Congress I could very well just lose everything. So then it came to me, put it in gold. Well, I went to the local coin dealer, bills in hand, and wanted to see what all I could buy in gold. I'm thinking that I can buy these huge kilogram bars... Instead the guy comes out with 3 1/10th ounce American Eagles, and I'm like... that's all!? What about silver... So he goes and gets me some silver rounds and I buy them and so I start to research silver. So I think, hey, the US made silver coins that look just like what circulates today. So I went to the bank and started searching coins and found a few silver ones. So I started researching coins some more and buying some of them both US and foreign. I don't really know when I really got into numismatics rather than bullion and I'm not even sure if I can be considered as much of a collector as I am a bullion hoarder Even today lots of my coins are lower-grade stuff that I bought more for the silver content than for a collection. I suppose that will change as my budget will (hopefully!) get bigger with time.

Let's hope they make it to market soon, some of the Celtic ones look like they might be interesting.

The "Red Book" (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins/dp/0794831486/ref=cm_lmf_tit_3 ) is the main price guide for US coins in the US. However, some of their prices are higher/lower than what you'd find from a normal coin dealer. Also important is that it is a retail price guide rather than a dealer's price guide. Its pretty much the Spinks/Coincraft of US coins and contains the more sought after varieties for most coins (except it doesn't have much info on VAMs for silver dollars) With Barber/Standing Liberty coinage there are a lot of "condition" rarities. There are many coins that sell for bullion when worn, but finding a EF or BU specimen might bring a couple hundred to a thousand dollars. In general, Barber coins are usually found nearly worn slick, Pre-1925 standing liberty quarters are usually found dateless and so on. When it comes to grading, I'd recommend either a copy of the ANA grading guide (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grading-Standards-United-States-Coins/dp/0794819931/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340737616&sr=8-1 ) or, if you have an iPad, the Coin World app has a nice feature letting you compare the grades of various coins (and the app is free) I don't know of any major varieties to keep a look out for when it comes to Barber, Standing or Seated Liberty quarters other than the general varieties for Seated Liberty coins and the 1918/7-S Standing Liberty. Also, the head of the Standing Liberty quarter is usually poorly struck, if you're cherrypicking on eBay look for the ones with a fully struck head, they are worth quite a bit more, if you look at slabbed coins they usually have it indicated on the label with the grade.

And I just realized its all being sold by one of our forum members Might have to buy something if it goes at the right price...

Yes, that is unusual. I've been keeping an eye on the seller's other items too, a lot of them are things you don't see everyday. A good amount of love tokens and other engraved coins.

I think it would be unlikely for counterfeit detection when you compare them to things like Athenian owls. The test cuts there are deeper than the scratches on the coins (granted, a tetradrachm is thicker than most English hammered) and I would think if this was such a widespread practice counterfeiters would make coins with the scratches "built in" like they did for the tetradrachms. Similarly, each new owner would want to verify the silver and would scratch them leaving many hammered with lots of crosses in them, but it is rare to see it. See this site: http://athenianowlcoins.reidgold.com/fourrees.html for more info on the owls and counterfeits made with test cuts

I'd bit, but alas international shipping is a bit high, however, when looking at them, it looks like your 1941 twopence shows a picture of your 1938 twopence

Does anyone know of a good list of major copper (well bronze) rarities to keep an eye out for? I really don't seriously collect copper (I'm more for the silver side) but what are some good years and major die varieties to look out for that are worth significant amounts of money (as in, greater than like $15-20) The reason that I ask is that I've found lots of pre-decimal copper at antique shops and other places priced as curiosities ($2-5 per penny, $1-3 for half-pennies, $1-2 for farthings) and most are fairly low grade (and some have corrosion on them) Now of course, for common dates/varieties these in no way would be collectible, but if there was a rare die variety in there it would be worth purchasing. The most common ones I've found are "ship" half-pennies, George V and VI farthings and pennies from bun head onwards. Chances are I'm not going to have my loupe with me to check for micro-varieties so just the major ones that are easily seen with the naked eye and would be visible on a worn coin.

With the price of silver I'd say you should be able to get back at least what you paid for them back in the 1960s and perhaps make some extra cash. Yes, they really aren't good collector coins, but people who collect other stuff might want them. For example, rather than advertising your Gibraltar crown as a coin to collectors, market it as a WWII collectible and silver bullion instead.

Same law as in the States - you can't melt coins that are or have been currency (though for pre-1816 it doesn't apply). It's not policed very thoughly though as far as I can tell. Witness the number of dealers advertising to buy pre-47 and pre-20 silver coins. Hm, that's interesting. Over here its legal to melt anything other than nickels and pennies, though it isn't really worth it to melt silver coins with the large investment demand for the coins themselves, we haven't gotten the "pure silver" craze of what happened when the Hunt Brothers tried to corner the silver market, "junk" silver is considered to be pure enough for most investors.

Yep, advertise it as a "colonial coin", make sure to put it in the US ---> Colonials section of eBay along with the British one. Say it was like the ones that circulated in the colonies. Heck, put on it first full year of US independence. Doesn't much matter that its a low grade to most US collectors.