SmorgasBoard

[bucket851]

Are there any coin collectors out there, or anybody who might know of a website where I could get an idea of how much certain old coins might be worth?

I just acquired a 1937 "winged helmet" dime.  I'm thinking I may have hit a goldmine !

[llecs]

Ahhhh... a fellow numismatic. I picked up the hobby after my grandfather passed along much of his collection. It was a very successful business for him, though I'm barely an amateur at it.

I've used the Professional Coin Grading Service (pcgs.com) and E-bay (great for figuring out what the market is dictating).

I take it your dime is a Mercury dime? The value is largely based on the minting and the quality.

http://www.pcgs.com/prices/PriceGuideDetail.aspx?MS=1&PR=1&c=703&title=Mercury+Dime

[bucket851]

Thanks Ilecs.  I'll check that out. 

I briefly googled 1937 Mercury dime & didn't have much of a chance to click on some of the links, but as I was skimming over them, I saw some comments that lead me to speculate that it may be only worth a buck or two   I'll have to do more research on it...

I stumbled upon it by chance.  I was getting coffee & breakfast on my way to work, & when the lady at the drive-thru window gave me my change, there it was! 

[llecs]

I check my pockets all the time too. Found quite a few finds. Recently found in circulation a 1976-S Quarter minted in silver. It looks like the standard bicentennial quarters out there, but has a brilliant shine. Also found a 1945 Steel penny. During the war, copper was in limited supply, so the gov't printed pennys with zinc-coated steel. Finally found a $10 note after visiting a restaurant made in 1929 issued by a bank in NY. It looks counterfeit, but had the serial number checked out.

Others in my collection include a 1985 dime that was cut in half, through the thin middle, and glued to another cut dime resulting in a coin that has two tails. It probably wasn't cut, but maybe sanded down. But it was precisely attached to the other half to where it looked like a normal dime. Even the ribbed edges matched perfectly. Finally, I inherited a 1944 D penny that had a portion of the first "4" sanded to reveal a "1". It was made to look like a 1914D penny that is valued at over $100k today.

[Imhotrodcrazy]

 llecs wrote,

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Also found a 1945 Steel penny. During the war, copper was in limited supply, so the gov't printed pennys with zinc-coated steel.

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I have a lot of those old war time pennies.  I still remember using them during and after the war as a kid, and well into the 1950's. I must have an envelope full of them.  Don't know why I have kept them all of these years.  Also, I have 2 books of the "war ration stamps".  Interesting the things we keep. 

[deepwaterescue4u]

Go to www.half.com and buy the Coin Red Book it is a good one to give you the best or closest guess of the $ amount the book should be less than $12.00..

[Repo-ed]

Still just a couple collectors here?

I just finished up my BU collection of ASEs (ungraded) and picked up a 1871 Seated Liberty Quarter today and MAY pull the trigger on a 1904 gold walking liberty.  Man....I'm just not sure which direction gold is going to go in.

Somebody invest in Gold around here?  Any thoughts?

Bought a LOT of copper this week, to include a 10lb bar; can't wait for it (and the other pieces) to arrive!

[pipeguy]

Industry standard pricing is the graysheet http://www.greysheet.com/

The specific listings are different every other week (2 week cycle), so be sure to pull the one for Merc dimes (its not free but not much $$).

Of course the best daily reference is to watch eBay over the course of 1-2 weeks - make sure to check completed listings too. With coins "condition" is everything, date and mint mark too, but especially condition. Whatever you do, do NOT clean the coin - bright and shinny have little to do with condition.

[Repo-ed]

Been collection for sometime.  Been a member on coincommunity for some years now.

Would never clean a coin

[crunching_numbers]

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pipeguy wrote:

Industry standard pricing is the graysheet http://www.greysheet.com/

The specific listings are different every other week (2 week cycle), so be sure to pull the one for Merc dimes (its not free but not much $$).

Of course the best daily reference is to watch eBay over the course of 1-2 weeks - make sure to check completed listings too. With coins "condition" is everything, date and mint mark too, but especially condition. Whatever you do, do NOT clean the coin - bright and shinny have little to do with condition.

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+1

My father in law was a coin dealer. Greysheets are commonly called "bid" sheets.  Expect to get less than you see listed, as those are not what a dealer will GIVE you, but the price a dealer will CHARGE, and might still be marked up higher than bid.   If you are interesed in coin grading, "Photograde" is a great reference.