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Name:        E.  Reinhardt
Email Address:   quenobabolon@earthlink.net
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Question:        coin is silver and the size of about a half dollar (US), one side has printed on it AVXILIVM DE SANCTO  P.M.A.X VII  P I V S VII 1818, the coin face has an image of a woman with a dome-like church building, the other side of the coin contains the symbol P X that's as close as I can come to reproducing it typing...  it's a religious (church/catholic?) symbol?  Can you tell me where this coin comes from and what the english translation of the wording is please, thank-you...  your time and consideration is appreciated.

Based on your description, you have an 1818 Vatican, Papal States silver Scudo.  The coin shows the Virgin Mary seated on a cloud, the key to heaven in her right hand and the Church in her left.  The Latin legend, AUXILLIUM DE SANCTO (Aid From the Saints) and the date is around.  The reverse shows a bust of Pope Pius VII (1800-1823), PIVS VII PONT. M. A. XVIII (Pius VII Head of The Church in his 18th Year). Value depends on grade (condition): Range:$15 - $300.

You have a 1793 Bermuda penny. Bermuda was settled in 1612 by British colonists from Virginia and became an official crown colony of Great Britain in 1684.

The first coins used on the island featured a common obverse showing a pig, the animal found in large quantities on the island.  The coins were called "Hogge Money" by the inhabitants and were issued in 2, 3, 6 and 12 pence denominations.

The British issued copper pennies for Bermuda that were struck in Birmingham, England in 1793. This popular issue was restruck years later in various metals as a commemorative. The 1793 pennies show a bust of King George III facing right, the legend GEORGIVS III D.G. REX (George III by the Grace of G-d, King).  The designer's name DROZ.F is found incuse (inside the coin, instead of in relief) on King Georges' shoulder. The reverse shows a sailing ship on water, above, the legend BERMUDA and below, in exergue (the dividing line), the date, 1793.  There are several die varieties. About 72,000 of the regular issue were struck. Values are very much associated with the grade (condition) of the coin.  Approximate value range: $15 -  $350.

Proofs in bronzed copper exist that were struck in 1793.  Only fifty pieces were struck.  Approximate value: $300 -$500.

Copper proofs with the designers name removed from the dies were restruck at a later date: Approximate value: $90 -125.

A version restruck in silver from the 1793 dies exist but is rare:
Approximate value: $850 - $1,500.

Other restrikes exist in Aluminum, Gilt (gold over copper), Pewter, silver and gold.  All of these varieties are rare.

You have a 1870 Spain copper 10 centimos (100 centimos= 1 Peseta). The obverse shows a Lion standing to the right leaning on a shield, the legend above the beaded border is CIEN PIEZAS EN KILOG. (100 Pieces in a kilogram) and DIEZ CENTIMOS. The reverse shows a seated figure within a beaded border, DIEZ GRAMOS (10 Grams) and the date 1870, is below.

The coin was struck under the Spanish Provisional Government (1868-1871). Approximate Value Range: $1 - $80, depending on grade.

1865 Australia, Sidney Mint gold sovereigns are scarce.  The coin features a young head Queen Victoria, her hair tied with a banksia wreath.  The reverse shows SIDNEY MINT at top ONE SOVEREIGN  at the bottom and crown and the AUSTRALIA within a wreath. The original mintage was 2,130,000.  Many may have been melted for other purposes over the years.

Approximate value range in VF: US $250 - $300
Approximate value range in EF: US $1,000 - $1,300.

Gold Coins from 1601 are from the Keicho era (1601-1695).  There are several gold coins in this era all minted in combination with some quantity of silver. None are dated.

Some examples from 1601 are the rectangular Ichi Bu (.857 gold-.143 silver)-approximate values from $500 - $20,000, the large oval shaped Kobans (.857 gold -.143 silver)-values from $5,000 - $20,000 and Obans (.672 gold -294 silver) - approximate values from $150,000 - $300,000.

The reverse contains a shield embossed with a lion with a double tail, standing on its rear legs and facing left, also contained within a wreath. The inscription H . D lies over the shield. Both the obverse and reverse are surrounded by what appears to be handstamped reeding (off-center to the right). I estimate the coin to be in very fine condition. Questions:

1. What do AK and H.D mean?

2. How would you speculate the coin appeared in California-could it be associated with a 1768 colonizing expedition for the San Buenaventura Mission, located about 4 miles from the site, or with an independent German or Austrian traveler?

3. Any idea of the coin's value?
Thank you.
Doug McHenry
San Diego, California

You have a 1744 2 Kreuzer from the German State of  Hesse-Darmstadt (The H.D. above the Lion Shield), located in south western Germany.  "A.K" are the assayers initials, Andreas Koch, who was Mintmaster from 1744-1771.  The coin is Billon, that is, a base metal coin, probably copper, with a silver wash.  Value range depends on condition: about $5 - $25 in average circulated condition.

The 2 Kreuzer (8 heller=4 pfennige=1 Kruezer) was a very small amount of money (approximate buying power of a U.S. 5c piece today) and I suspect that the coin was a souvenir of the homeland. The date of the coin is not necessarily an indication of the time of immigration as the coin could have been a family keepsake. You could easily speculate that the coin was lost at the time of the California gold rush when many immigrants arrived to work the gold fields.

Your picture shows a regular quarter that has been gold plated. This is not an error, i.e. struck on a dollar planchet. If that were so there would be a larger border

Gold plated coins are a promotional item, have no collector value, and don't receive an additional market premium for being plated. Note that gold plating coins for advertising, promotions and high school electrolysis experiments have been going on for some time.

I recently found one of the above coins and I would like to find out what it is worth, can you give me an idea? thanks, Ellen

The value depends on the grade(condition) of the coin and the initials of the assayer which appear on either side of the date.

The coin shows the bust King Alfonso XIII (1886-1931) facing right. There is a 6-pointed star under the bust representing the Madrid Mint. The reverse shows a crowned shield with 1 C on either side.

Value range:
1906 1 centimo, assayer SL - V... US 10 cents to $3.
1906 1 centimo, assayer SM - V.....U.S. $50 - $500.

This is one of the "premium" tokens, part of a complete set of privately minted presidential medals that were prevalent in the 1950-1960 era. These were promoted by various companies (it made them look patriotic in the communist-witch-hunting 50's ). There are variations in brass, nickel and copper. There is little or no collector value in your piece, especially in the damaged condition shown in the picture.

The last year of the Susan B. Anthony dollar was 1999.  The coin was struck from 1979-1981 and then 1999. The 1981 issue is only available in Mint sets, they were never released for general circulation.

Though the coin was never really was popular for currency, they were used extensively in Postal Service vending machines, municipal transportation turnstiles and buses and were capable of being used in soda and other types of vending machines and were used in casino gambling devices.

By 1998 the Treasury's supply of these coins was dwindling, the new gold-colored dollar wasn't going to be available until 2000.  The Treasury was forced to order more dollar coins to be able to satisfy the demand  and so another run of SBA dollars was struck in 1999.

This isn't the only time in U.S. History that this has happened.  The Morgan Dollar ceased production in 1904 and then was struck for most of the year in 1921.

You have a modern bullion "round", not a coin.  That is, a fancy way to have a bar of silver but in the shape of a medal. These were really popular in the 1970's when the price of silver was rising steadily. It was also a way for silver bar manufacturers to get a higher premium for an ounce of silver.

Approximate value: the price of one troy ounce of silver.

This is a genuine FRN. It looks as if someone stained the paper either by accident or intentionally to see the watermark. Watermarks aren't part of the printing process, they are part of the manufacture of the paper. This is not a printing error.

You have a coin made into a token.  Remember those jukeboxes that played music in restaurants and bars? (There are still many places that still use them). Usually the machine is rented.

If it got quiet, the bartender would drop a few quarters in to play some music. To get his quarters back they were marked in some way, sometimes with red nail polish and sometimes with a  punch.  When the service man came to empty the coins from the machine, he would return the punched or painted coins to the owner to use again.

Token collectors enjoy collecting these kinds of coins.  Many times the letters are the establishments initials and it is fun to try to discover in what place the coin was used.  Value Range: $3 - $10 with attribution.

 Yes.  You have a "fold over" error. The paper was accidentally folded over when printed.  When you open the fold it is blank underneath.  The value depends on what kind of "fold over" error it is (there are ones with extra paper from a miscut sheet) and the size of the fold.  For this error, a minimum market value is about $50 and depending on the degree of the error up to about $400.

5 dollar gold pieces dated 1905 exist. The denomination, 5 D on the reverse, at the bottom, is clearly visible. All U.S. coins show denominations.  If your coin has a large "V" on the back, you'll also notice the word "cents" below. Then you have a nickel that someone gold plated. It is not unusual to find gold plated coins of any denomination.  They are used as part of a promotion or advertising campaign (or a high school science experiment).  Electrolysis is easy to do. Plating coins do not increase their value.

Not a rare date, but the "O" Mint (New Orleans) 1/2 dime is scarce. There were 955,000 1850 Philadelphia half dimes struck. Approximate value range: $5 - $200.

'Cool story! You have a 1941 China 5 Yuan. It is lilac-brown. The bust of Sun Yat Sen facing forward is at left.  The reverse shows a pagoda near a mountain slope (Wang He Lou).  The note was printed by Thomas De La Rue in England.  These notes are usually found in quantity. Value depends on condition. Range(VG - uncirculated) $US 40 cents - $4.

I know only a little about grading, but the coin looks to me to be in very good shape. There are no major wearmarks or scratches on the coin surface. There is however a rather substantial dimple above the wreath that looks like a die imperfection of some sort. Can you give me anymore information about the coin to help me determine it's value? Thank you

You have a 1879 Morgan dollar struck at the New Orleans Mint (O).  Morgan dollars were struck in 90% silver.  The coin has been plated to create the "gift".  Though colorizing coins can seem attractive, the collector community doesn't pay a premium for them. The coin in its case and chain would go more under the heading of "Jewelry" than "Rare Coins".

You have an altered coin in which some of the elements have been "colorized".  This seems to have become a popular souvenir item and ads for just this kind of business can be found in the Sunday papers and in journals like "Parade Magazine". The colorization is not the way the coin was originally minted but simply a modern scheme to sell circulated, common date Walking Liberty half-dollars at a significant premium.

The examples I've seen usually grade about EF and have been cleaned and polished to make them look "new" to the uninitiated. Circulated "Walkers" can be purchased for a few dollars.  They are available in any quantity you can imagine.

Collectors prefer to buy uncirculated specimens of this date since the date is common and relatively inexpensive. "Colorizing" the coin makes it just worth its silver value to most collectors (about $1.50). If you like this sort of thing, enjoy it but don't expect altered coins to appreciate in value.  This is not a rare coin.

The monogram AAW is found under the tip of the wing feathers and are the initials of Adolph A. Weinman, the designer. Coins without mint marks were struck in Philadelphia.

You have a "cud" caused by a broken die. A piece of the die literally fell out and the missing area filled with metal on striking, causing a raised lump. Dies can crack from being at the end of its useful life or from using too much striking pressure. Coin from cracked dies have a raised jagged line at the cracks location. If the die is used further it can, as in this case, begin to actually fall apart.

On Washington quarters, normally, small cuds bring $10 or so and large ones $25.  The State quarters have become so popular, especially the errors, that I have no idea what cuds for those currently bring.  I'm sure it is far an above the normal market (Sell it while everyone is delirious).

Barring the error of cent planchet being struck by a nickel die, (some of the outer parts of the design would be missing and the flan would be thinner), the most likely explanation is the following:

The coin was struck from planchets from improperly mixed alloy. Five cent pieces are 75% copper and 25% nickel.  The nickel is very hard, does not corrode and gives the coin its characteristic silvery color.  It is possible for the copper to come to the surface creating a coppery look to the nickel that eventually tones to a dark brown or black color. These do not bring a premium as they are of full weight and of the proper metal.

Only 762 1896 proof Morgan Dollars were struck.  I'm not sure what you mean by "still in its casing" as the coins were delivered in an envelope to the people who had ordered them in that year. Proofs were only made at the Philadelphia Mint and have no mint mark. Approximate value range depending on grade: $1,500 - $5,000.

You have a 1987 Mexico 500 Pesos. The coin shows the characteristic eagle with a snake in its mouth, the legend ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS (United States of Mexico), the reverse shows a bust of Francisco Madero, the Mexico City mint mark is to the right, the denomination, 500 Pesos, is below.

This coin was struck between 1986 and 1992 in copper-nickel.  It was during a high inflationary period in the Mexican economy. Monetary reform occurred in 1992 and 2 zeros was removed from the currency, therefore 500 Pesos became 5 pesos.  This coin still circulates at the value of 5 pesos (about US 50 cents).

The term "Gem" is used to describe a virtually flawless specimen that in addition to not having any trace of wear and full original mint luster has virtually no evidence of contact marks with other coins. For example an 1896-S Morgan in average circulated condition can be purchased for $50 or so, even a strong AU will bring less than $400.  It is the condition that matters.

Though a 1892-S Morgan in uncirculated condition is rare, circulated specimens are available at reasonable prices.  (Uncirculated means no trace of wear). A VF specimen of this coin brings $25 or so but one in MS63 (Mint State 63) might bring $40,000 or more at auction.

The 1901-O Morgan Dollar is a common date and brings under $20 in nice uncirculated condition.

If you wish, you can have your coins graded by NGC or PCGS.  See the Links on the CoinSite Links page.

I'm not sure what you have or from what country.  Austria uses the term Schilling but not until the 20th century.  The earliest Austrian paper money that I know about would be the 1759 Wiener Stadt Banco issues and those are denominated in Gulden. The term Shilling (spelled differently than the Austrian denomination) from Great Britain was not used as a denomination on currency that was issued by the Bank of England prior to the 20th century.  The first shilling denominated note was the 1914 Treasury issues - 10 shillings.

The earliest Bank of England paper money goes back to 1694 but those again are only issued in pound denominations. In any case there is no 1723 issue but there are pound denominated issues of 1725 and 1739.

The answer to your question about what it is, is in your hands.  The issuer would be clearly apparent on the note as well as its obligation.  Since paper money in this era was more like a promissory note and not currency, you might have a privately issued note from a individual, company or some other entity.  It seems that you might want to include that information in your description.

"Blank Back" errors are rare. Collectors pay from $100 -$200 for Blank Back $10 FRN.  Condition and series date is important in establishing market value.

Name:        Grover Skinner
Email Address:   guns@bellsouth.net
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Question:        I have a gold coin, on one side it has a picture of a pirate with a smaller picture of a ship to the right of the pirate, above the pirate are the words "PIRATE GOLD" and below the pirate is the date 1650. On the other side there is a picture of some sort of crest or something (not sure)and it has the words "ONE DOUBLOON" and "ANNO DOMINI", and the date also 1650. Can you tell me what country made this coin and what it's value is? Thanks.

You have a modern 20th century token or medal, probably made in the USA most likely struck in brass not gold. Similar pieces are used as game tokens or prize award counters in Arcades.

(To the uninitiated to modern Canadian coins, the above coin is a $2 piece that commemorates the new Nunavut Provence in Western
Canada). You have a "struck-thru" error.  A special cloth is used to clean and polish dies in between specific number of strikings. A piece of cloth adhered to the die and became imbedded in your coin when it was struck. Coin errors like this are pursued by error coin collectors.  Value:??

Mint sets are regular issue coins that are packaged at the Mint. Collector's buy mint sets to get nice examples of coins to complete their year sets. Usually, even new coins gotten from a bank have been damaged by high-speed counting machines, so collectors are willing to pay the premium for the nice pieces in the mint sets.

There has been a sudden interest in post 1964 U.S. coinage in gem condition, though I feel this is mostly hype, there is a genuine shortage of gem examples of some modern issues. The question is if coin collecting should be solely based on pursuing gem grade coins and not on any other basis? I would keep those sets for a while and see what develops.

There is no English coin called "a bit" (there was such a coin in the 18th century Caribbean-a "bitt" from Tortola-Virgin Islands). Perhaps you are asking about a silver groat or 4 pence. This coin shows the young head of Queen Victoria facing left, with Britannia seated on a Rock, holding a shield and a trident.  Value depends on grade (state of preservation). Value range:(VG - choice unc) US$2 - $125.