Coins picked from circulation

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

Thanks for the response TB.

As a recent collector of paper money spurred by a recent inheritance of coinage, why?
When a coin is covered in dirt, grease, grime and Dios knows what else, is it considered more valuable.
While a paper money note is more valuable the less polluted it is?

If a coin happens to be really exceptionally dirty for whatever reason, it would not likely be of much interest to collectors unless it happened to be a particularly rare coin. Any method of cleaning a coin that I have ever heard of leaves traces of the process behind, resulting in an impaired coin. For example, there may be hairline scratches, visible only under magnification, pitting, or residual chemical damage.
Particularly in the higher grades, original mint lustre is a very positive attribute, but cleaning will eradicate any trace of it. Additionally, especially on raw silver coins, natural toning may occur, to which many collectors attach a premium value. This toning can be spectacular, ranging from blues to yellows, etc. Sadly, I have heard of novice coin collectors that cleaned beautifully toned coins to "improve" their appearance, and by doing so virtually destroyed the value of the coin.

Sadly, I have heard of novice coin collectors that cleaned beautifully toned coins to "improve" their appearance, and by doing so virtually destroyed the value of the coin.

So here is real life situation. I bought a coloured silver maple leaf from a very reputable dealer. The coin gets mailed to me and upon receiving I notice that it has toning on the obverse. I would have accepted the toning except it was highly uneven and I did not consider it to be visually appealing.

To the dealers credit they engaged in a good customer satisfaction approach when I called them about it. Right off they told me that they would have replaced the coin but they did not have another piece (and I trust them for saying this)

Next they tried to tell me the good points about toning. So I turned around and told them if that was worth more how about they buy it from me for 15% more than I paid to them. Of course they would have nothing of it.

The next thing the dealer suggested which surprised the hell out of me was that I could bring in the coin (since I was driving distance from them) and they would remove the toning. They said that they routinely did that without much of a problem.

They even suggested that I could do it myself with an off the shelf product from superstore if I wanted to save the trip.

Wow - I could not believe what I heard. I did want to bring the coin in and see how the dealer was going to clean it given that there was colour on one side. So were they going to clean by dipping or by other means? In the worst case I was going to hang on to the coin because I wanted it for my collection and I had paid a reasonable price.

In the end I just ended up not going and keeping the coin. I can say that the dealer is a member of CAND and is very reputable and well known. I still shop with the dealer because they try to sort out customer issues the best they can.

But I am not sure where that leaves cleaning?

My aversion to cleaning coins is mainly in regard to coins with numismatic value, coins with values in excess of face value. I believe that maple leafs are essentially considered to be bullion, and are typically priced accordingly. Of course, there are some exceptions with certain low-mintage bullion coins that have attained a numismatic premium. Although I would not do it, I suppose that cleaning "bullion' type coins should not be a problem if one so desires.

Yes, I agree, sometimes toning is not attractive, and it can even detract from value. But it can also be spectacularly beautiful and substantially increase value.

I just hate to see any original coin being impaired by cleaning. As a matter of personal preference, of two coins that are otherwise equal, I'd take a poorly toned specimen over a shiny, dipped one, because I think a dipped coin gets an unnatural appearance.

Let me first start off by saying that I don't condone cleaning of any coins with numismatic value....

The coins I intend on cleaning are simply circulated pennies... nothing special about them at all...

So far my best results for a total clean is a 2.5-4 seconds in a vinegar solution mixed with a tsp of salt.....

Immediately after the dip I put a paste on it made of sodium bicarbonate... rubbing in the past with my fingers ... it neutralizes the acid and cleans off the dirt...

I've looked into some other chemicals for copper.... and will try a few... I may try the steam cleaner this weekend and post the results for interests sake...

this is just a little science project for me really...

I ought to make an admission here, although it makes me cringe in hindsight.
When I was a young lad, an uncle gave me a couple of those old dark blue Whitman coin folders.  After awhile I'd filled in most of the holes and noticed that the coins were all in different stages of "shiny-ness". So..........I took all my coins into the kitchen, got out the abrasive comet cleanser and vigorously scrubbed each and every coin! They then all looked nice and shiny. 
Only later on, when I became a serious collector in my teens, did I realize the damage I had done.

From Toonie roll today

2010 - 14 serration variety
2012 - old variety

It seems I have run into a few 2012 old variety lately.

When I first looked at the edge of coins in the roll I saw this one with lesser serrations and thought it was a 2012 without edge lettering but it turns out to be 2010 with 14 serrations. Exciting but 2012 without edge lettering would have been even more exciting.

I picked up $78.50 in pennies and $140 in hand rolled 1973 quarters from the bank yesterday.  (I wonder if there's a large bust in the lot somewhere...  )

In the $3.50 in loose pennies there were:


1 x 56
1 x 62
1 x 63
1 x 64
1 x 66

USA
1 x 1945

I dunno when I'll have time to sort out the rest...I have 20 boxes to search now and they keep coming...

Oh well, I can always take back what I don't keep...eventually...

Dean

From Toonie roll today


When I first looked at the edge of coins in the roll I saw this one with lesser serrations and thought it was a 2012 without edge lettering but it turns out to be 2010 with 14 serrations. Exciting but 2012 without edge lettering would have been even more exciting.

I believe all 2011 and 2012 $2 were minted like the 2010 with 14 serrations.

I believe all 2011 and 2012 $2 were minted like the 2010 with 14 serrations.

Hi JB-2007,

I was a bit confused about that. However if you check there is an anomaly with some 2010 toonies. The normal are with 16 serrations and the other ones are with 14 serrations.

To the best of my knowledge there has been no report of 2011 or the old style 2012 with 14 serrations they are all 16 serrations.

The 2012 security ones (new ones) are 14 serrations. Some research indicates that the mint was proposing 14 serrations on the new security toonies with regard to their plan to have edge lettering. There was some speculation that during the production of some of the 2010 toonies the mint may have tried to experiment with 14 serrations and therefore that variation.

The 2010 toonie varieties are listed in the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins. The 16 serration is listed as $10 and the 14 serration is listed as $20 in the MS-64 grade.

Would love to hear of any other information.

Had just enough time to pick through $10 worth of pennies today.  Here's what I found:

1 x 57
1 x 62
3 x 63 (1 trace red)
2 x 64
3 x 67 (1 red/brown)
1 x 68
1 x 69

USA
1 x 1924

Anyone else out there doing roll hunting?  I like to hear what others have been finding.

Dean

I haven't had much time myself.. although after this weekend that should all change for the better...

I'd like to finish off the pennies and then move onto some other denomination.... either nickles or quarters....

Based on advice from someone here I joined the coin community forum for error coins. Some of you guys who have not been there might want to see some of the error coins including pennies that people are showing on that forum. It seems there are some great examples from the pre-1970 times.

Totally amazing.

I'd like to finish off the pennies and then move onto some other denomination.... either nickles or quarters....

I would try nickels first.  It's $250 up front but you can still find some interesting coins.  The dimes and quarters are almost all steel plated ones now.  One strategy is to go to your friendly neighbourhood bank and ask for customer wrapped rolls.  That way, you can be sure that the coins are circulated.

That's how I got $140 worth of 1973 quarters last week.  The teller just told me that she had some "old" quarters come in and I could buy them before she had to ship them out...

Good luck,
Dean

I would try nickels first.  It's $250 $100 up front but you can still find some interesting coins.  The dimes and quarters are almost all steel plated ones now.  One strategy is to go to your friendly neighbourhood bank and ask for customer wrapped rolls.  That way, you can be sure that the coins are circulated.

That's how I got $140 worth of 1973 quarters last week.  The teller just told me that she had some "old" quarters come in and I could buy them before she had to ship them out...

Good luck,
Dean

Oops,  I was thinking about something else as I was typing...Nickel boxes are 50 rolls of $2 or $100 total price.