Coin Finds: Collecting Craze

Send your "Coin Finds" to numismatics@aimmedia.com and we'll get them in.

Please include your name, city and state. Names and addresses will be withheld from publication upon request. The editor reserves the right to edit for content, style and length.

I am 62 yrs. old and about 20 years ago I went on a weekend trip to Jefferson, Texas. While I was there I went to all kinds of little shops. One Antique shop had a lady by the door at a desk and glass cases all the way around with different things inside them. I made a pass by all the displays and at the last one by the door I saw 2 wheat cents in 2x2’s upside down. I thought no big deal, wheats are common, but then I decided I better look at them, so I asked the lady if I could see those 2. When I turned them over one was nothing special, but the other was a 1955 DDO in all its glory. It had $20 marked on it, so right away I thought it was fake but as I looked at it with a loupe it was pretty good, so I thought I would take a chance. At that time is was 50/50 chance on a loss or a gain. When I got home I looked in my red book and it said on the real ones 2 light die scratches under the T in CENT would tell, and they were there. I took it to the next big coin show in Houston and graders were there. A man with a microscope looked and said it was real and he thought it would grade XF to AU, did I want to slab and certify it and I said yes. It came back AU 50 and I had $20 in it plus grade fees. At that time the book on it was $950. I still have it today and the book is about $1500. That to date is my best amazing find, so don’t give up, keep looking for that next great find large or small. They are all fun.

Robert
Texas

The coin sorting machines where full of stuff in May. Best month I've had in a real long time!

On four different occasions I found coins in the reject bin totaling $8.11, not including Canadian and other foreign coins.

Highlights include:

1999 SBA $1

1963-D and 64-D Washington quarters

1961-D Roosevelt Dime

1919,1925,1942-D, 1957-D, and1958-D wheat cents

1943-S Mercury dime

And one of my better single finds ever a1893-O Barber dime - good condition. This one actually filled a hole in my dime book.

Keep searching folks!

50 + year collector.

Steve M
Address Withheld

Until somewhere around August 2020, I was unaware of the “W” quarter craze. Sometimes you have to pay a price for avoiding what passes for news the past 43 years.

Starting Sept. 1, 2020, I started searching rolls of quarters for the “W” quarters and anything else of interest. The following are the results up to June 1, 2021:

The last nine months I have searched through $12,510.00, equaling 50,040 quarters. I’ve found 36 “W” quarters, which is a ratio of 1 for 1390 quarters. Nine Weir Farm, 7 Wilderness, 5 American Samoa, 4 Northern Mariana Islands, 4 Marsh Billings, 2 San Antonio, 2 Salt River Bay, 2 Lowell and one Guam.

During my “W” search, I discovered 7 Proof quarters, A 1969S and a 1970S. A 2000S New Hampshire, 2017S Frederick Douglas, 2018S Apostle, and a 2019S Northern Mariana. Including in the 7 proofs is also a 2000S Silver New Jersey, which really struck me as peculiar.

Discovered only ONE pre-1964 silver quarter, a 1959 in very fine condition, and saving the best for last, I also found one 2004D Wisconsin High Leaf error quarter.

Even though I know they are not really worth anything numismatically I also kept track of the 1776-1976 Bicentennial quarter, finding a grand total of 305, including A 174 Philadelphia Mint and 131 Denver Mint.

A few other interesting notes- The Tall Grass Prairie, (butterfly) quarter which was released November 16, 2020. Discovered my first one from Philadelphia on April 23, 2021. The Tuskegee Airmen quarter was released January 4, 2021. Seen my first one on May 16, 2021, from the Denver Mint. Then six days later I received ten rolls, all Tuskegee Airmen, all from Denver and all from the same bank. It must take a while for them to arrive here in the beautiful hill of East Tennessee.

The Crossing the Delaware quarter was released April 5, 2021. Found my first one May 28, 2021, which is not too bad. Also, from Philadelphia.

The last odd thing I will mention is in one bank wrapped roll I found 2 “Ws” back-to-back.

If you have attentively been reading thus far and you are thinking, “man this guy needs a life”, I want you to know I DO have a life (such as it is). Spent my time searching through the quarters while I’m watching football and the Atlanta Braves. So there!

Marc
Tenn.

This dates all the way back to 1971. My mother worked as a bookkeeper for a full-service gas station. I would tag along to see what cool cars they were working on at the time. One hot afternoon, I wanted a Coke, put my quarter in the slot, opened the and pulled out my Coke. Waited for my change, yes that is right, change. Out dropped two Buffalo Nickels, 1915 D and 1914 D. I hadn't ever seen one before. Asked the mechanic and he said they quit making those back in '38. I ran off to the local library and did some research. Wow was I surprised. Went back to gas station and proceeded to empty the Coke machine. I had an upset stomach for the next two days. In all, I got 13 Buffalo nickels out of that machine. Here we are in 2021, I still have them.

Kevin Q
Tenn.