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 Replies: 83 / Views: 16,714 |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
2805 Posts |
I just have a weakness for Arabic coins, the more unreadable the better. Then I can have hours of fun trying to attribute them. Arabic's actually third on my "languages to learn one day" list, so attributing all my worn Arabic coins will be good practice...
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5177 Posts |
I do occasionally buy old nigh-unreadable coins from junk bins - but not as much because of the "challenge to attribute" as because they're so cheap and look so old (they occasionally turn out to be 20th century, but usually they're indeed older).
Got a few interesting coins that way (how about Orleans? Hanover? Baden? Wied-Neuwied? British East India Company? my only Afghan coin was also this; of course there's also plenty of Poland).
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
joecoin85: Quote:
I haven't had any luck in junk bins. I'll have to try to find something silver. I go to one coin ship and the owner has a silver testing kit so it'd be hard to fool him but maybe he doesn't test all of his coins. I know another local shop I can try too. That silver kit will bite him in the butt if he ever came across a silver-plated coin. What a waste of time (to take out the stone, scratch the coin up, drop the acid and observe, and then clean it up) considering how easy it is to look through a book and look up a coin. I used to do this at a fair (junk bins) but came up with a measly 1 coin that was only worth double what it was selling for. You may have found a weak dealer with no intention of ever researching his own business. Imagine what HE paid for the coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
Today I did some more digging, in the world coin bins AND the melt silver bins. I found a 1937 thruppence for 50 cents, almost exactly melt value (at this point it's more about pride than savings). Luckily, I was also able to locate a holed 1898 10 ore from a currently unidentified country (the monogram has got an II) for $1/8.
As for the melt bins, I bought a bunch of mixed crap along with some weird slicks. Nothing was as good as the assayed 1745 shilling, but I did find an 18(2/3)7 thruppence (unknown - it's the same size as my 1937 one, but who knows when it comes to slicks?) with an "IIII" king on the back. As if by a miracle, a subtle dent had saved the "IIII" numerals (and only them) from wear. I think it's William IV rather than George IV, since he faces right, and I know Victoria faces left. There's also some sort of 5 kopeks (from 1842?). And I spent quite a bit on two goodies - a shiny white 1940 gulden and a nicely toned 1942 half crown. I'll post pictures eventually...
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
Finally, a junk bin copper find! This cartwheel was so abysmal that I got it for 20 cents, which is roughly melt.  Miraculously, a quick soak in acetone revealed this. Incredible!!  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
1951 20 centavos from Mexico. This is 30% silver, making it the lowest purity silver coin I own. The design is nice, though! I got it for 20 cents (how appropriate).
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Valued Member
Canada
189 Posts |
Great Thread! I have always loved looking for silver in the junk bins and, I have been very successful!! I am probably close to 2 ounces of silver found for a few bucks. One question though.....On an earlier page of this thread, there was a picture of a bimetallic coin. Do some bimetallic coins contain silver?
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Nal, something inside me just broke. Whhhhhy?!?
Thats a nice lowball you've got there! And without many edge dings, thats perty nice! even if you can get em a buck a dozen.
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Pillar of the Community
Mexico
1304 Posts |
inventor719, absolutely. There are some mexican coins with a hefty amount of silver in them.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
Okay, I wouldn't have done it if the surfaces were original.
But it's the worst cleaned coin ever. You know how things always "look better in hand"? This one looks much worse. It has that cleaned salmon colour, complete with greasy fingerprints - and the other side is half cleaned, half dark. It's really, really ugly!!
And yes, the higher-value Mexican new peso coins (10 and 50) had .925 silver centers with an aluminium-bronze outer ring. I think the 10 pesos became base-metal in 1998, but the 50 pesos are still silver (although you'll apparently never find one in circulation).
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Heheh, the old coppers are rarely in 'collectable' condition. Now, I wonder what the hecks it was doing in Canada?
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Pillar of the Community
Mexico
1304 Posts |
Yeah, I hear that there are some 20 peso coins in the wild...but havent' seen one myself. (A friend got one once) 50 peso? Didn't even know it existed down here!
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Valued Member
United Arab Emirates
283 Posts |
That wouldn't work with me. I need to research each coin first.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
It's been a while, but I've managed to dig up two more silver coins in the strange urban wastes of Montreal.
5-for-a-dollar bin:
Switzerland 1/2 franc 1952
El Salvador 25 centavos 1953
Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to come up with an ASW today.
I was also digging through the face-value stamp bin and found a yellow Victorian 1-cent stamp (used in 1897). I'll have to look it up...
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Picked up a '64 Kennedy in MS62, out of a junk bin for $4, about a month ago.
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Replies: 83 / Views: 16,714 |
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Posted 06/07/2013 8:30 pm
