12/2/18 Report - Detailed Coin Price Tables. WW II Propaganda Money. Best Information on How To Clean Your Coins and Artifacts.

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

Eagle Photo by Gaylen C.

Gaylen C. caught some great eagle photos north of Fort Pierce.  Here is one.

Thanks Gaylen!

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If you are wondering how much you should ask for a particular coin, or how much you should pay, there is a lot of detailed information you can find.  I was researching the value of some of my finds and found a site that gives a lot of information.

Here is an example of a table that I found for a 1921 Morgan dollar.

As of 2017, a 1921 Morgan dollar in VF 20 condition would go for around $28, while a PG 65 might bring $62,500.  That is a huge range that illustrates the importance of condition and rarity.

You can also see how coins increased in value of the years.  There is a big difference between the 1950 prices and 2017 prices.  There is also a big difference in the value of the dollar, which you should take into account.

While you can get some tables on the web-site you can purchase others.  That could be worthwhile if you are interested in selling or buying coins.

Here is the link.

https://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/rare-coin-values-index.html

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Alberto S. found some interesting information relevant to the paper money photo that I posted yesterday.  It appears to be a 1930s - 1940s Japanese ten-yen note.  But the interesting part is that they issued similar notes during the war with propaganda messages on the back.

Here is that interesting bit of WW II history.

In the summer of 1945, Japan was showered almost daily by aerial leaflets in such quantity that the Japanese people developed a kind of apathy against them. A novel approach had therefore to be sought to attract renewed attention. The ingenious idea was to reproduce the face side of the then current 10-yen banknote and replace the back by a propaganda message. For who could resist money falling from the sky?

There are four different propaganda leaflets. All have the same exquisitely lithographed front to resemble closely the genuine Japan 10 Yen 1930 banknote but with different messages on the back.

One striking difference between the genuine bills and the counterfeit is that the former has red seal on the front whereas the latter has brown seal. The other difference is that all counterfeit bills bear the serial number 450941 and the block number 1124 on the front.

The purpose of the leaflets was to stir Japanese resentment against their government and to create fear of inflation.

Here is the link.

http://nutmegcollector.blogspot.com/2011/03/japan-10-yen-1930-banknote-on-u-s.html

Here is what a genuine note looked like (same source).  Mine was torn.

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If you want to the best information on how to clean and conserve your finds, I always recommend the TAMU conservation lab web site.

This link will take you to a document that details how to clean coins.  It might be too technical for some situations, but it is the best information.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/CRL/conservationmanual/File13.htm

You can find detailed information on how to clean almost any artifact on the TAMU web site.  Check it out.

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The Treasure Coast will have another few days of small surf before we get anything bigger.  The high tides are still decent, but that is about it.  Don't expect any big improvement in beach conditions real soon.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/11/18 Report - Florence and Other Storms. Tools For Identifying Coins. Historic Silver Prices.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The predictions haven't changed much.  Florence is still headed towards North/South Carolina, but maybe a little later than previously expected.  Evacuation orders are out for the Carolinas.

Pray for their safety.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Isaac is still headed into the Caribbean, and Helene into the North Atlantic.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Isaac is still headed into the Caribbean, and Helene into the North Atlantic.  The Isaac path is showing the slightest drift to the north.

Source: magicseaweed.com

The surf predictions have remained about the same too.  Wednesday Florence will be nearing the Carolina coast and sending some northeast/north winds waves our way, creating a bigger surf for a day or two.  After that the wind will turn and the surf will flatten out some.  After that the big question will be Gordon.

At this time is looks like Gordon will weaken and remain well to the south of us.

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Before all the storms popped up, I was inspecting old coin finds and telling how useful a magnet can be for identifying coins.  I told how you can use a magnet to find silver coins or steel pennies, for example.  I showed some Canadian silver coins that I recently found among my finds.  Well, I just found two more silver coins - both Kennedy halves.  That includes a 1967 and 1968 half.  They are both 40% silver and can be identified as silver by looking at the coin edges.

A good scale will show you that unless they've been damaged or something, the 80% silver Kennedy halves (1964) weight a few grams more than the 40% silver halves, which will weigh more than the later Kennedy halves that don't containing any silver.

A good scale can also  help you identify the composition of coins, so if you have a bunch of coin finds to scan, a magnet and a good scale can prove very useful.  Those tools are not only useful for identifying Kennedy halves and other modern coins, they can also help you identify colonial coins and fakes.

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Above is a chart showing historic silver prices in US dollars per ounce.

As you can see there were two big spikes.  One was in 1980.  I remember that one.  The other was in 2011.  If you were smart enough to sell at the top of either of those peaks, in a few months you could buy again at a much lower price.

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Yesterday was the anniversary of hurricane Irma on the Treasure Coast and today is the anniversary of 911.  How the world has changed!

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net