What Is Your Best Find Ever?

Well, it's a little hard to say what is my best purchase (very few of my purchases were actual decent deals, but even with those that were it's hard to find an estimate for the proper value; yet more, like the Rentenpfennig issues, are easily findable well under official value estimates, so it's unclear whether they were indeed good deals or it's the official values that are wrong).
With that in mind, I return to the original topic of this thread - best finds either in circulation or for free...


This actually is still an unclear choice of four coins (for one of which I also have several duplicates). So I think that I'd better just list them all, with respective stories...

Coin #1: 1955-S LWC (XF- or so)
This relatively tough date is unlikely to be anyone's best find (it's less abundant than many more valuable older dates); nevertheless, it was my first uncleaned LWC in Fine or better, and the story of how I got it is interesting in itself.
One of my relatives in Israel had heard that I'm collecting coins, and asked several travellers she knew to get me some coins from wherever they were going to. So when I visited her this April, I got a little bag containing about a hundred various recent world coins, some withdrawn Israeli ones... and this little cent.
I've noticed this was an S-mint wheat (and thus presumably uncommon) immediately, but didn't think of checking the catalogue until well into May; and only then did I realize just how uncommon it actually was (it's actually the lowest business strike mintage since 1940).

Coin #2: clipped 1992-MMD rouble (AU if not higher)
I've heard of the existence of error coins for a long time, but until recently all errors I had in my collection were either die clashes (lots of these on steel 10 and 50 copeck coins, and I've seen an example on a 1 copeck but don't remember where I put it) or something weird of unclear provenance (this includes two 10 rouble coins with identical errors in design - I wasn't able to pin down any specific term for these, though if I ever could I'm sure they would gain their place on this list).
One day, just after reading about clipped planchets and the Blakesley effect, I've noticed a shiny 1992 rouble on my father's desk that looked exactly like it got clipped. I've seen it many times before, of course, but was sure it had to be PMD and didn't give it a second glance - but now I knew it could be an error, and looked more closely. Sure enough, the Blakesley effect was there: I've found an actual error!
Of course, the next thing I did was asking my father (also a coin collector) whether I can have this coin. He said that he didn't even suspect it could be a real error, and that of course I could have it; which I did (I currently have it in a small Ziploc bag just like most of my other coins).

Coin #3: 2005 Transnistria 25 copecks (IIRC AU-)
This was a circulation find, and by far the coolest coin I've ever found in circulation.
It wasn't the oldest - that would be an 1991 Soviet steel 10 copeck (not in list as that single-year type is actually incredibly common, it's just unlikely to turn up in circulation due to being long since demonetized); it wasn't the most valuable - that one is featured as #4 below; yet I don't think I'll ever find anything that's anywhere near as cool as this coin - an issue actually minted by an unrecognized country!
If you wonder, this, like the 1991 coin, was given to me as a 10 copeck piece; however, unlike the 1991 coin (and some other coins I've got as 10 copeck pieces over the years), it doesn't have a prominent 10 (though it's indeed about the same size and color as a real 10 copeck would be).

Coin #4: 1999-SP 2 roubles (varying grades)
Either this little piece (of which I have four) or its rarer Moscow version (which I don't yet have) is probably the rarest Russian coin realistically findable in circulation (at least if one doesn't do serious roll hunting, which I've never heard of anyone doing in Russia).
The year 1999 came right after the new-coinage frenzy that was 1997 and 1998, so all denominations got noticeably smaller mintages that year; all differently though: 1 and 10 copecks just barely, 5 copecks and 5 roubles to zero, and 50 copecks well into the ultra-rare category, leaving only 1 and 2 roubles as interesting tough dates. Of these, the 2 is by far the more valuable - a decent 1999-SP 2 rouble (like mine) is thought to be worth about $1.5, and the rarer 1999-M easily twice that. If I ever find the 1999-M, that would likely be the jewel of my circulation finds (since, as mentioned above, I don't really do roll searching); but as it is, even the 1999-SP is still the most valuable coin that I've ever found in circulation (at least in Russia).



At that, I finally end this reply; hope it won't bore everyone out of this thread

Spent a lot of time roll searching in the late 50's to mid 60's. Tried to pick my "Best Find Ever" but was only able to decide on my best three.







Many other honorable mentions but this will have to do for this thread.

By far my best is cherrypicking 1864 Indian cents with the pointed busts. This diagnosis means they are actually "L on ribbon" examples. Even though the 6 I bought were G-VG examples, I ended up turning about $25 into $225 a few days later.

My best find/deal ever:

In addition to U.S. coins, I also collect certain toys as a hobby, especially Star Trek. I had an extra "Generations" movie USS Enterprise Engineering playset in the box, retailed at about $20, worth maybe $40. Last year I traded it to a guy who had some coins he wanted to get rid of. They were:

-Six 1971 Eisenhower silver dollars unopened in the blue folder.
-5 or 6 pieces of junk silver, I sold on ebay for about $40.
-a double handful of wheat and indian head pennies, in circulated condition ranging from 1887 to the 1940's
-a handful of foreign coins, some from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. (I don't collect foreign coins so this is still an ongoing project to identify some of them)

I went to an auction and bougth a three ring binder with a big mess of world coins. I was the only bidder and got it for about $20.00.

In the back of the binder, in a couple of manila envelopes, where an 8 Reale and a 4 Reale dated 1522 from a sunken ship off of Florida.

I sold the world coind for about $40 and the smaller reale for about $400 and still have the Peices of Eight (8 Reale)

Wow! I could list a few.

1854-O With Arrows (HUGE O variety) for $10 in a dealer's junk box (Fine Details, holed and repaired at 6 and 12 o'clock. BV Fine $3,000)
1908-s Indian cent VG in a dealer's common Indian cent box.
1917 Doubled Die Lincoln (G) from a dealer's mixed Wheats box
Four 1999 WAM from bank rolls
Three 1983 Doubled Die (ear) Lincolns from bank rolls
1939 Henning Nickel from a bank roll

Those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Right? best free gift ever! I was absolutely sure it was fake.. but its the correct weight, and the dealer I asked about it offered me $375 cash right there.