1/9/19 Report - Million Dollar Penny From Lunch Money. Reflecting on Metal Detecting and Error Coins.

Written by the treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com

1943 Penny Thought Worth $1.7 Million.

Source: MSN.com link (See below).

This 1943 penny found in a boy's lunch money is going up for auction and thought to be worth $1.7 million dollars.  

As you know, to help the war effort pennies were made of zinc coated steel in 1943, but a small number (probably 20 or less) were mistakenly made of copper.  Those are among the most famous and valuable coin errors of all.

Here is the link for the story on this penny.  Thanks to Dean R. for the link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/viral/holy-grail-rare-penny-might-be-worth-dollar17m-after-it-was-found-in-boys-lunch-money/vi-BBRYXAL?ocid=spartandhp

That is one reason I always pick up pennies and do not discriminate pennies..  They can be valuable too if you know what to look for.

Unfortunately I did not learn much about coin collecting and error coins until fairly recently.  I received a book as a Christmas present - Strike It Rich With Pocket Change: Error Coins Bring Big Money by Ken Potter and dr. Brian Allen.  The Potter and Allen book only covers modern US coins up to recent years, so you might need to occasionally consult other sources.  There are older error coins and new errors being discovered all the time.
  
Not only can you scan your finds for valuable coins, but you can also find valuable coins in your pocket change.   I now enjoy doing both.

Don't think you will find a lot error coins all the time.  The majority of coins do not have any extra value - especially those in poor condition - but you will find some, and there is always the possibility of something big like the penny shown above.  Condition is an important factor, even if the error is rare.

I have one book that lists around 800 different valuable Lincoln cent errors from 1909 up to recent years.  That is only pennies, so you can figure how many types of error coins exist.

That book is Lincoln Cent Error Coin Guide 2019, by Stan McDonald.  The Potter and Allen book is a much better book if you want to identify error coins.  The McDonald book only lists them.  It has very few pictures and is not much help in identifying error coins - only listing them.

Valuable error coins include die errors, such as doubled dies, repunched mint marks, off-center strikes, struck on wrong planchet, struck on wrong metal (such as the one above), die cracks, lamination errors, clipped planchets, strike-throughs and more.

Wheat Penny Showing Strike-through

In the short time I've been looking for error coins I've found some interesting die cracks and strike-throughs.  I haven't found any good doubled dies yet, or any certain repunched mint marks.

The coincommunity.com web site is very helpful when you aren't sure about a coin.  The community will provide their helpful comments and opinions on your coins.  There are also web sites that will verify and classify error error coin discoveries.

When you begin searching for error coins, it might be frustrating.  It can be difficult to tell the difference between damaged coins and coins with real mint errors.  And as you would expect, valuable examples are not real common, yet they can be found.

The strike-through shown above was created by something being on the coin planchet when the coin was struck.  It could easily be mistaken for a simple scratch, but it is not.

Damaged Coin - Not Error Coin

This penny might look like an error coin, but it is only a coin damaged by acid.  That is the opinion of people more expert than I.

I do recommend giving it a try.  The Potter and Allen book can be a good starting place.  It has a lot of pictures and tells you what to look for.

Like anything else, you have to go through a period of learning to become knowledgeable.  That is why good books and web sites are very helpful.  It is another one of those things that you can never learn everything about.  It is a continuing learning process.

I've said this before, but one of the problems with coins that are found by metal detectors is that a lot of them are in poor condition and coin collectors generally only like coins in fine condition.  Even error coins must be in great condition to bring the highest prices.

Learning about error coins and coin varieties can make coin-shooting more interesting and profitable even when it is not easy to find older silver and gold coins.

Another thing you will need is some good magnification.   There are a variety of tools you might use for that.  Maybe I'll do another post on that some day.

Of all the regrets that I have about metal detecting, the vast majority were caused by simply not knowing enough a the time.  I wish I had known more about coin collecting back when I was really digging a lot of coins.  When I started metal detecting I was targeting coins.  Later I started targeting gold, but was still digging tons of coins.  I wish I had known what to look for when all of those coins passed through my hands.

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We haven't been getting much surf lately.  Friday it might be up to four feet, but that is all.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/10/18 Report - Always Some Where To Hunt and Something To Find. Don't Overlook Valuable Modern Coin Finds. Amazing Buried Things.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

One thing I've repeated often is, "There is always some place to hunt and something to find."  That has been as true this year as ever.

It has been a slow year for finding old shipwreck items on the Treasure Coast beaches.  We haven't had any big beach-ripping nor'easters.  We've had a little erosion, but not much.  It was usually a day or two of small cuts that quickly refilled again.

Like I said, "There is always some place to hunt and something to find." My favorite finds this year were from inland hunts, which resulted in a 1914 ten-dollar gold eagle coin, which was my favorite coin find of the year, and a couple dozen Morgan and Peace dollars, which were my second favorite coin finds of the year.

As you know, hunting shipwreck treasure depends on conditions a lot.  Sometimes conditions don't cooperate and you have to be creative, or at least flexible.

There are always the modern finds.  Better beach conditions will definitely help you find more of those, but you can always follow the crowds and pick up whatever was just lost.

Not only were Treasure Coast conditions not good for finding shipwreck treasure, conditions weren't good for finding beach fossils or sea glass either.  Beach fossils are most easily found during the same kinds of conditions that produce shipwreck finds.  Sea glass is most easily found in big shell piles, and there have been few good shell piles this year.

My local bottle hunting spots have not been good lately this year either.  I miss that, because when conditions are right I can take a little walk and often pick up a nice bottle or two.

One of my better glass finds this year was what I now believe to be an antique fly trap (below).

I posted that find before and there were other opinions about what it is, but I recently saw one somewhere almost like it.  I forget where I saw it now, but that one was suspended by a string from the top.

The year isn't over yet, and usually some of the best Treasure Coast beach hunting comes during the winter months, so there is still the possibility of some good 1715 Fleet finds this year.

One thing that I learned more about this year is modern error and variety coins.  That has kept me busy.  I wish I had learned more about that years ago.  I could have inspected many thousands of my earlier coin finds, but the information wasn't so easily available back then.  Now you can find so much more good information on the internet.  You can also get answers to your questions.   I like coincommunity.com, for example.  It is a very active site where many questions are posted daily, and questions are answered quickly.

A modern error penny can be worth thousands of dollars, yet people discriminate pennies.  I'm sure I must have let some valuable ones pass through my hands when I didn't know what to look for.

Just to give a few examples of one type of error -

1. there is a doubled die 2014 penny that can be worth $150,
2. a 1997 penny showing Lincoln with a doubled ear lobe can bring up to $200,
3. a 1995 D doubled die in good condition can be worth $800, and
4. a 1983 doubled die that can be worth over $2000.

I just picked out a few of the more recent ones.  There are hundreds.

There are many other types of mint errors besides doubled die errors.  Here is one that I found on a 1974 penny.  See if you can see it.  It is small.

Here is a closer look.

Notice the depression between the rim and the word "STATES."  That is what is called a strike-through.  A sliver of the rim, called a rim burr, was between the planchet and the die when the coin was struck, leaving the depression.

That is just to give you an idea of a few of the many thousands of valuable error pennies that can be found.  A coin doesn't have to be old to be valuable, but you do have to know what to look for.

Error and variety hunting is much more difficult than I ever expected, but it can be fun and worthwhile.  There is a lot to learn.  It is not easy to correctly identify some of the errors.  It can also be difficult to tell the difference between post-mint damage and a mint error, but you can find the information and get answers to your questions online.

I also got into paper money a bit this year, and have been inspecting the serial numbers.  That is fun and easy.

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Amazing what is buried under out there!

Here is the link for the article.

https://inhabitat.com/man-buries-42-school-buses-to-build-north-americas-largest-nuclear-fallout-shelter/

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According to MagicSeaWeed, the Treasure Coast will see a little bump in the surf on Wednesday.  Here are the predictions.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like we'll have a northwest wind during the first part of Wednesday before it turns south again.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net