Solving Mystery Coin Cases

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I received one 2023 nickel and three 2023 cents in change from a Wegmans grocery store in Rochester on February 13. On February 18, I received three 2023 Bessie Coleman quarters at the same Wegmans. All the coins are from the Philadelphia mint. This is about the time of year I start seeing new cents but it’s early for quarters and nickels. I’ll keep looking for the dime.

Patrick Capuano
Rochester, N.Y.

I regularly get rolls of coins from the bank to hunt. For the calendar year of 2022 the total finds were as follows. 9 rolls of wheat cents, with the steel 1943 D being the most needed to fill a slot in my book, and 1 roll of 1958 D cents and 1 roll of 1954 S cents, 2 rolls of Canadian cents with a 1928 being the oldest, 36 silver war nickels, 30 buffalo nickels, 3 proof nickels, 63 silver Roosevelt dimes, 2 mercury dimes, 1 2005 proof dime, 15 W quarters, 8 2021 Washington Crossing the Delaware quarters with the crown die chip error, 3 proof quarters, 2 S mint quarters, 15 silver Washington quarters, and after searching 108 boxes of half dollars the finds were, 180 NIFCs, 58 40 percent silver halves, 10 1964 Kennedys, 5 Franklins, 4 Walking Liberty, and 7 1987 Kennedy halves. Coin finds were down for the year compared to past years, I felt for the amount of boxes and rolls that were searched, I assume more people coin roll hunting.

Joe Greisiger
Michigan

This dime is the first 2023 coin I have seen, found on the floor at McDonald’s on 3/2!

Gary Biggs
Address withheld

I read an offer on eBay years ago on a mystery coin, unknown to the seller. He or she thought it was a French coin, halfway there. The coin was a silver half Gros from Avignon from Innocent VI from 1342. I offered 50 dollars to own this coin. Knowledge is key.

Name and address withheld

After going through a roll of nickels I have a 1943P nickel, which is magnetic, and has been XRF analyzed. It is in extra fine condition, and contains 65 percent nickel, 18 percent silver, 16 percent copper and 1 percent manganese, which does not match the pre/postwar composition of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel and does not match the “standard war composition” of 56 percent copper, 35 percent silver, and 9 percent manganese. It is 5.0 grams and has standard thickness and diameter. I cannot find any information on similar finds; it is obviously a “scrap run” of metal, and somehow the nickel used did not make it into the war effort. I don’t know how many nickels can be punched from a single sheet of raw stock, but there must be at least a few others in existence. This is my rarest find in 60 years of reviewing coins. Any information about others will be welcomed. This is NOT a Henning counterfeit.

Steve Petersen
Minneapolis, Minn.