Why you should collect Newfoundland coins.

The 1873 5 cents is quite a mystery indeed. It supposedly had a mintage of more than 44000, but in the past few decades this number was revised in most Canadian reference books to be just 40000 (including all 3 varieties). Who knows, the mintage figure maybe even lower than 40k though... Many examples that do come up in the marketplace are either mangled, holed or worn down to an AG grade, and I think that perhaps the survival rate is lower than some of the other Newfoundland fishscales. Finding a problem-free example is no easy task for this date, and collectors will find themselves paying atleast full trends to get one of these in a decent collectible grade.

The 1873H 5 cent is an overrated coin in my opinion, and this is now becoming obvious. Demand for this coin is beginning to slow especially in lower-grade coins and/or those with problems. On the other side of the coin, demand for the plain 1873 has picked up dramatically over the past few year.

I was looking back at a copy of the Charlton Coin Guide from 1960, and the prices for the 1873 were as follows...

VG: $10.00 F: $15.00 VF: $25.00 EF: $35.00 UNC: $50.00

By constrast, in 2011 the prices are...

VG: $300.00 F: $600.00 VF: $1200.00 EF and better: RARE

Even when you consider inflation, it is clearly obvious that the price of this coin has increased by leaps and bounds.
Currently, this appears to be the best Newfie coin to invest in. Most examples in the marketplace are relatively affordable, and there are no top-shelf examples placing a 'cap' on prices, so who know what will happen to the price of this little coin?...;)

As Ugly points out very well, the value is a relationship of supply and demand. With all dead colonies and countries the demand tends to tail off as those who remember the independent entity die off.

For Newfoundland to find its value, Canadian collectors would have to adopt collecting it en masse.

If Americans showed a couple of percent new interest in Newfoundland, the prices would skyrocket. They support a significant part of the value of the Canadian coin market, I'm sure.

Comments?:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320736899149
http://www.ebay.com/itm/150642429739

Count the differences.

Obverse:

Top of 5 (thick v. thin)
Bottom ball on 5 (oval v. ball)
Top of 1 (short v. long)
Bottom edge curl (on top of dentical/off dentical)

Reverse:

Size of left dot (large v. small)
Top serif of G of D:G: (small v. large)
Horizontal strike of G of D:G: (long v. short)
Position of second : in D:G: (low v. high)
Size of second : in D:G: (large v. small)
Right serif of "U" in Newfoundland (short v. long)
Diag strike of second "N" in Newfoundland(thick v. thin)

But, check the are and I of Victoria. The same loss in the bottom right of "R" and bottom of I. That would seem impossible given all the other differences, unless these are a know feature that had to be replicated.

Both OK? One fake? Both fake?

[Edited because the system insists on changing "U" (without quotes) into you and "R" into are]

If I did have to pick a fake I would pick the 1st one. The G is just so strange. The coin I have matches the second coin a lot better. I can't be certain either way though.

davidmackenzie,

Just out of curiousity, what grades are your 1865, 1870 and 1873 5 cents?

davidmackenzie,

I have an 1885 if you're interested...check eBay if you're interested.

Yes, I have done this in the past. Too bad there was no 1921 50 cent coin made for Newfoundland :-)