Wednesday World Coins and Currency - Kingdom of Serbia 1 Dinar

Kingdom of Serbia - 1 Dinar

Date: 1942

Mint: Budapest, Hungary

Condition: VF-XF

Material: Zinc

Weight: N/A

KM#: 31

  Catalog Value: $2.00 - 6.00

Serbia, a country with a troubled past but a bright future.  This coin came from a time when Serbia was a Kingdom and a sovereign nation - sort of.  Serbia's past has always had some sort of trouble or been part of another country.  It was a suzerain of Turkey and the Ottoman Empire until the late 19th century.  Then it became an independent Kingdom and one of it's citizens was the direct cause of WWI.  Then it became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, then the Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia, then came the Yugoslav wars in the 1990's then finally in 2006 it became a nation-state again.  Sorry to sum up about 2,000 textbooks-worth of history in a short paragraph, but you get the point.

This coin, like many others from WWII, is made of zinc.  Whenever I see zinc in a dealers dump bin, I buy it, and this is a perfect example of why I do it.   This coin came from a hoard of coins that I purchased, which made every coin virtually $0.04 a piece.  So for 4 cents, I got this piece for a steal! Although I may never sell this coin, the collectors value is still there! Maybe one day I will sell my coins off, but I HIGHLY doubt it;  I would rather starve to death then sell off my precious collection - maybe.  Anyways, the reason why it is made from zinc is due to the fact that Germany occupied the country during WWII.  Oops, did I forget to mention that little fact in that short paragraph, ahh no worries, it's just history! Other than the nice coat of arms presented on the obverse and the sprigs on the reverse, the coin is pretty plain.  It's still an unusual piece to own and find in a dump bin, and that's the reason why I'm showing it off to all of you!

Tuesday Treasure Trove - Samoa 10 Sene Proof

Samoa - 10 Sene
Date: 1974
Mint: N/A
Grade: Proof 
KM#: 15a
Content: 0.9250 Silver
Weight: 6.37g 
Mintage: 5,578
Value: $3.25

Here is one of my newest treasures, a silver proof version of a Samoan 10 Sene coin.  I picked it up from a local coin show about 2 weeks ago for more than it is worth.  I paid about $6.00 for it; roughly the melt value for the coin.  To me, the deal was a trade-off, pay a little less than twice the catalog value for a coin that had a very low mintage.  The mintage, noted above, is extremely low.  To me, it was a sign that I should just buy it.  So I did and here it is for the world to see! 

It has great toning on the reverse side of the coin.  The coin is not in the greatest condition considering that it is a proof coin, but despite it's flaws, I find it quite a collectible and affordable coin to add to my collection.  This is 1 of 3 Samoan coins that I own.  The Kingdom of Samoa is very small group of islands, located west of American Samoa.  It was formerly known as Western Samoa until they decided to change their name, which was opposed by the natives of the U.S. Territorial portion of the island chain.  Just a quick fact; American Samoans are not citizens of the U.S., but instead they are American Nationals, which is a step above permanent resident alien and a step below citizen.  Out of all of the inhabited territories within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal and Territorial governments, American Samoans are not granted automatic citizenship at birth.

Anyway, should you run into one of these coins, you should probably purchase it as the mintage is quite low and it is an odd-ball type coin to own!

Happy Tuesday!

Monday Money Magic - 1 Alternative Use For A Penny

If you have ever purchased some flowers, you would be familiar with the fact that they tend not to last so long.  Even when you add those crystals that come with the flowers into your vase, you usually get about 4-5 days worth of extended life.  Well, with a penny and about a teaspoon or cube of sugar, you can extend the life a few more days!

All you need to do is add the sugar (1 teaspoon or 1 cube) and an old copper penny (especially one with a lot of tarnish on it)!.  Throw them together into the water and voila, 2 days of extra life for those expensive flowers!

Go ahead and try it out! Let me know what your results were!

Help Needed!

In my efforts to grow my blog, I'm looking for some help from my viewers.  Firstly, I would like some suggestions about how to make my blog better.  Second, I would like to increase my traffic and the number of viewers reading my blog, so please post my website address on any coin forum, coin website and the like wherever you can.  Finally, thank you to all of my viewers who have come back to read my blog!

Friday Free Finds - Canadian Penny - King George VI

Canada - Penny

Date: 1942

Mint: Royal Canadian Mint, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

VF-20 - KM#32

Content: Bronze

Catalog Value: $0.25

This is going to be a short Friday Free Find.  Found this one at a Coinstar machine at the local grocery store.  As I always say, check those return slots for coins because sometimes they can be goldmines, literally.  Not quite sure why the machine didn't take this coin, but at least I profited from the transaction!

Finding King George VI pennies in circulation, in Canada, is like finding a wheat cent in the US.  They are not very common anymore, but you will still find the odd KGVI in you change sometimes.  In Michigan, you will find that these are actually more prevalent than in Canadian circulation.  Most Americans tend to ignore Canadian coins, and I've found a few of these in my change over the years.

Enjoy!

Thursday Terminology - Coin Dating Continued

Before I continue on with my Thursday Terminology section, I just had a few random things to say.  It's been a so-so week for finds, when I get to them and have pictures ready, they will be posted.  I also ordered a box of Canadian pennies from a local bank branch and my order should be in sometime in the morning.  Keep your fingers crossed for some magnetic and non-magnetic 2012 Canadian pennies, the last ones to be produced for circulation for Canada, and so far, the hardest to find.  I have yet to find a 2012 penny in circulation, but hopefully my luck will change tomorrow.  On and slightly random side-note, I just found out that my rabbit is not in-fact a female.  The vet told me it was a female a few weeks ago, and now my rabbit has a large set of testicles which leads me to believe that the vet is wrong.  Although, I must say, it's not easy to sex a rabbit in it's early months, but the vet should've known better.  At the least, the cost of getting him fixed will be far less now than was expected and his name is asexual; Binky.  So yes, in summary, my week = far fewer finds and a female bunny with balls.  Enough said.  Here's more on coin dating below!

Vikrama Samvat (VS) (Indian/Nepali Calendar) - Current Year VS 2069.  This calendar was created by the Indian Emperor Vikramaditya.  The calendar, much like other Asian and Middle Eastern calendars, is a lunar based calendar.  It is a popular calendar in Northern India but not an official calendar.  The only place where this calendar is used for official purposes is Nepal.  This calendar is closely tied to Hinduism and depending on where you live, the calendar begins in March or April.

Saka / Shalivahana Era (Indian National Calendar) - Current Year SE 1934.  The Saka Era calendar is the official calendar of India.  It is used in conjunction with the Western Gregorian calendar.  Much like the Vikrama Samvat calendar, it is a lunar calendar with connections to Hinduism.  What's interesting about this calendar is that the months of the Saka Calendar correspond with a Tropical Zodiac.  Here's a link to the wikipedia page for more info.

Buddhist Era - Current Year BE 2555.  The Buddhist Era calendar, one used throughout Southeast Asia (Officially in Thailand) is a lunar-solar calendar.  The calendar in reality is based on the lunar calendar, but to add the solar aspects of the calendar, 30 day months are added at regular intervals.  If you ever visit Thailand and wonder why they are in a different time, it's because they are using this calendar.  Although most Thais use the Gregorian calendar in most aspects of their lives, school papers, official decrees, and the works all use 2555 as the current year.  Unlike the other two calendars mentioned above, this calendar is based on Buddhism.  In my humble opinion, the best days of this year, IN THAILAND, fall during the Songkran festival.  Songkran?! YES SONGKRAN!  The bestest holiday on the face of this planet!  A 3 day national water fight among friends, neighbors, police, foes, foreigners, rich, poor, dirty and clean.  The entire country gears up for a nationwide supersoaker gun battle on the streets!  Best part is that the police don't mind getting shot in the face a few times! Heres some info on SONGKRAN!

I will leave with these three, and give you the final four next week!  Happy late Thursday!

Wednesday World Coins & Currency - Mexico

Mexico: State of Chihuahua

10 Pesos - 1913 (Mexican Revolution)

Pick# s133 - G

Value: $5.00

This is an interesting note.  It's from the time of the Mexican Revolution which lasted between 1910-1920.  It was not legal tender throughout Mexico, but only within the State of Chihuahua.  This note was used to pay the local militia for their efforts during the revolution.  The obverse has a picture of a Mexican cattleman, or Charro, herding his cattle while the reverse has the typical Mexican emblem with the eagle and snake, which is derived from the time of the Aztecs.  The Eagle represents the Mexican people while the snake represents Mexico's enemies.  I think that this is a very great looking note; it's very detailed and has a few colors, something which was quite rare for notes during that time. 

I picked this note up from a local shop for $0.25.  It does have some water/other type of damage present on the note.  If you look closely at the bottom of the note, you will see the damage.  Despite the notes faults, the note is immensely huge.  Note the biggest note I've ever seen, but definitely one of the bigger ones out there.  

Enjoy!

 

Tuesday Treasure Trove - Singapore

Singapore probably one of the more well-known city-state countries in the world.  It is one of the financial hubs of Asia, and probably the financial center of Southeast Asia.  It's competition is Hong Kong, although now it's part of China, it still retains some autonomy and city-stateness.  Anyways, here are some coins that I found in a bin.  They were cheap and since I didn't have these, I purchased them! I have tons of the newer type Singaporean coins but none of these.  Once upon a time, I lived and studied in Singapore and that's why I was able to amass tons of coins, but never really had the time to look for a shop that sold coins and paper money - although I know they exist!

Anyway, here's something that most people don't know, not even collectors of numismatic products: Singapore and Brunei have a currency union! Meaning that you can use Brunei Ringgit and Singapore Dollars at par in the two respective countries!  Although in practice, it is very rare that someone would spend Brunei Ringgit in Singapore.  Just doesn't happen!

So these coins, 20 Cents (KM#4) and 10 Cents (KM#3) were the part of the first coins produced by an independent Singapore.  Formerly, Singapore used the currency of Malaysia, but after Singapore was expelled from the political union, they were forced to create their own currency. The first coins were very beautiful, more beautiful than the coins produced today.  Regardless, I got these in UNC condition and they are 80 cents and 35 cents respectively!

Monday Money Magic - Coin Shows

Well, after a 2-3 week hiatus, whichever way you look at it, I'm back.  I was trying to figure out a new format for my blog, but instead, I just changed the colors.  If any of you have any ideas, please let me know!

Anyways, COIN SHOWS! If you haven't been to one, then maybe you should go to one if there is one around your area.  Coin shows are great places to meet other collectors and find more dealers in the area.  It is also a great place to find some bargains and unique pieces for your collection.  In terms of bargains, the ones that attract me the most are the foreign silver coins.  Typically they will sell silver foreign coins by their silver weight multiplied by the current price of a silver ounce.  Last week, I went and bought an ounce, well roughly an ounce, for about $32.  The coins, which I will post soon, are nice, not the greatest specimens, but I found them to be interesting.  Additionally, I found some other great pieces for my collection, to help finish some sets that have been waiting to be finished for some time now.

One other tip, if you buy something from a dealer at the show, walk around and buy something again, they will usually give you a discount.  Now if you have established a relationship with that dealer, they will also give you a discount as well.

Here are some sites to check for current coin shows in you area!

http://www.coinshows.com/

Numismaster - Coin Shows

Congratulations Dr. Math

I just wanted to congratulate Dr. Math on his 200th post! He also blogs about coins and paper money, so if any of you are interested, please visit his website here.