Friday, July 29, 2011

7/30/11 Report - Canadian Foreign Coins, Auction Results & the US Debt Tax



Some Canadian Coins Found on Florida Beaches by Detector.

It is not unusual to find Canadian coins in Florida. Some resort areas are heavily visited by our Canadian friends, who like everyone else, lose coins on the beach.

When I started detecting, to find the value of foreign coins, or any coins for that matter, you had to have a book. Now most everything can be found on the internet. That makes researching foreign coins much easier.

Here is a web site that gives the melt value for Canadian coins.

http://www.silvercoinstoday.com/silver-coin-price-guides/canadian-silver-coin-values/

Don't forget there are foreign error coins that will bring a premium too, so you might want to check for foreign error coins too.


I've been browsing the recent Sedwick Coins Internet-Only auction results. There were what appeared to me to be some real bargains. Also some results that confused me a bit.

There were "imitation cobs" that brought good prices - in some cases higher prices than genuine cobs. I don't know what that is all about. I guess there is always something to be learned.

I also noticed some things you might not expect to find in a Sedwick Coins auction, such as the dinosaur tooth and dinosaur egg, both of which sold for over $400.

And a couple of Megaladon Teeth that sold for good prices too. You can find them over at the Peace River as well as other places around the state.

It is easy for detectorists to not be aware of the value of non-metallic items, but you can find valuable non-metallic items while detecting if you keep your eyes open.

There was a sliver of wood from a famous old ship that sold in the auction too.

On eBay I noticed a ten-foot iron galleon canon for sale. It looks like it hasn't been preserved. I would expect it to fall apart quickly if not properly conserved. In fact it might be too late already if it hasn't already been done.

I think it is well worth browsing all of the various resources to learn more about different types of treasure if you are a detectorist.

Back to the Sedwick auction. It seems to me that there were some good deals and opportunities to turn a profit if you were a knowledgeable buyer.

When you have a large number of lots and a lot of variety in an auction, some good deals can get overlooked.



The big news lately has been what the US is going to do or not do about the debt. No matter what else they may do, I expect the government to continue issuing more money to help pay-off or reduce the debt. Our money becomes worth less, and the existing dept is lessened. That means the money you now hold will be decreasing in value. If you are on a fixed income, you might get the same number of dollars, but every dollar will be worth less. The continuing increase in the prices of gold and silver is in part a reaction to that fact. Expect your dollars to continue becoming worth less while commodities, including gold, silver, food, gas, etc. cost more. This intentional inflationary movement acts like a tax that takes money out of your pocket to reduce the debt. Right now it seems you can better preserve your wealth by holding hard assets that will not decrease in value as fast as our money.

The Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar and Swiss Franc are all worth more now than the US Dollar. You might have picked up a pocketful of Canadian change if you detect in certain parts of South Florida.

And if you want to see what it is worth, here is a currency calculator.

http://investing.money.msn.com/investments/currency-exchange-rates/?symbol=%2fCADUS


According to Daily Finance In 1990, there was just a little over $268 billion in currency in circulation, and around 1.4 billion $100 bills floating around. Today there are more than 7 billion Benjamins out there in the world -- $704 billion worth, according to figures from the Federal Reserve. The majority of those are held outside the country, the Fed estimates. The total value of cash currently in circulation, along with money in checking accounts, is just over $1.9 trillion.

The following link provides the above facts along with a discussion of the US debt.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/07/28/could-the-u-s-print-its-way-out-of-the-debt-crisis/


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is out of the east today and the seas are very calm - running about one foot. That won't change real soon.

The tropics are really heating up. Besides the tropical storm hitting Texas and Padre Island - too bad detecting isn't legal there anymore - there are two other tropical waves. It looks like the one down by Central America won't do much, but there is another that has a 70% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours. That one is still out there pretty far, but bears watching.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net