Package of coins in the mail!

I recently got a kick-ass package in the mail from a fellow blogger (and bank teller!), Ben from The Wealth Gospel. I had known he was sending me something since he had emailed me a few weeks back, but I thought at most it would be 4-5 coins. Not 75! Happy birthday to me! :)

I spent a good hour or two sorting through them all (as any of you fine folks would do), and here’s everything we’ve got:

United States:

• 1944 Wheat penny
• 1956-D Wheat penny
• 1943-D Steel penny (x2)
• 1957-B $1.00 Silver Certificate [prob. worth $3.00’ish]

(Sadly I already had those penny slots filled in my Blue Book, but they’re still fun!)

Canadian Coins:

• 5 Cents, 1961
• 10 cents, 1978
• 10 cents, 1983
• 10 cents, 1992
• 10 Cents, 2002
• 10 Cents, 2007
• 25 Cents, 2002
• 1 Dollar, 1987

European Coins:

• 2 Euro Cents, 2006
• 5 Euro Cents, 2010
• 20 Euro Cents, 2002
• 2 Euros, 2002

Mexican Coins:

• 20 Centavos, 2011
• 1 Peso, 1984
• 1 Peso, 1993
• 1 Peso, 2012
• 5 Pesos, 2008
• 10 Pesos, 2004
• 50 Pesos, 1984
• 100 Pesos, 1985 [pictured below]

Jamaican Coins:

• 1 Dollar, 1996
• 1 Dollar, 2005
• 1 Dollar, 2006 (x2)
• 1 Dollar, 2008 (x4)
• 5 Dollars, 1996 (x2)
• 10 Dollars, 2008
• 20 Dollars, 2006

South African Coins:

• 5 Cents, 1992
• 5 Cents, 1996
• 5 Cents, 2003
• 5 Cents, 2004
• 5 Cents, 2005
• 5 Cents, 2006 (x2)
• 5 Cents, 2007 (x3) [pictured below]

Chinese Coins:

• 1 Jiao, 2007
• 5 Jiao, 2010
• 5 Jiao, 2012
• 1 Yuan, 1999
• 1 Yuan, 2011
• 1 Yuan, 2012

French Coins:

• 20 Centimes, 1996
• 1 Franc, 1972 (x2)

Italian Coins:

• 50 Lire, 1986
• 100 Lire, 1978 [pictured below]

Cayman Island Coins:

• 1 Cent, 1996
• 10 Cents, 1992

Chilean Coins:

• 100 Pesos – Chile, 1991 [pictured below]
• 100 Pesos – Chile, 2006

All Other Foreign Coins:

• 1 Baht – Thailand, (?)
• 1 Penny – Ireland, 2000
• 1 Ngwee – Zambia, 1983 [pictured below]
• 2 New Pence – Great Britain, 1971
• 5 Córdobas – Nicaragua, 2000 [pictured below]
• 5 Centavos – Brazil, 2005 [pictured below]
• 5 pfennig – Germany, 1979
• 10 Bani – Romania, 2012
• 50 Lipa – Croatia, 1993
• 50 Kopeks – Russia, 2003
• 100 Bolívares – Venezuela, 2002
• 1 Dollar – Bermuda, 1997
• 5 dollars – Hong Kong, 1998 [pictured below]

My Favorites!

These are the guys who stole my attention, in order of my favorites:

• 100 Pesos – Mexico, 1985 – I’ve dubbed this one “Gnarly Beard” ‘cuz just look at that thing (upper left)! It’s killer! It reads $100 on the front, but I assure you it’s anything but ;) The neat thing though (besides the beard, of course) is that World Coins has it the edge labeled as “segmented reeding” which I hadn’t seen before. They kinda look like this:  ||||||      ||||||       ||||||         |||||| – where the spaces in between are flat. Kinda neat…
• 100 Pesos – Chile, 1991 – The leaves look exactly like a Cadillac’s symbol – automatically making me love it (I own a cherry red ’93 Caddy Deville with fake convertible top :)).
• 5 Córdobas – Nicaragua, 2000 – Look at that triangle!! Never seen a coin like that! Kinda reminds me of that triangle eye (the “Eye of Providence”, had to go look it up) we’ve got on our US dollars, right?
• 5 Dollars – Hong Kong, 1998 – This guy’s edge is also a BEAST. And again one I’ve never seen before (why am I so obsessed with edges?). It’s raised heavily on both sides, and then has a groove that runs directly down the middle – kinda like the opposite of a bowling alley, actually. It was the first thing I noticed when I picked it up too – the coin is thick! (Unfortunately no note in World Coins as to what type of edge this one is…)
• 100 Lire – Italy, 1978 – Next up is this beautiful Italian coin, which I’ve always had a soft spot for since I visited there many times in my youth… My grandparents had a house in Italy and I fondly remember throwing Lire coins in the water and then diving after them because apparently it was really fun ;) They’ve always seemed more regal than other countries I’ve found, with maybe the exception of French coins.
• 5 Centavos – Brazil, 2005 – Looks just like Jesus!!!
• 50 Kopeks – Russia, 2003 – That’s the one in the upper right. I just liked how that guy was riding that horse with some sort of snail (?) below it.
• 1 Ngwee – Zambia, 1983 – My first Zambian (?) coin! Tiny and looks like a penny… Only with an aardvark on the reverse. (FYI: 100 Ngwee = 1 Kwacha)
• 5 Cents – South Africa, 2007 – The tone of this copper is just beautiful.
• Guardian Angel token! – Always enjoy seeing these pop up. As if we’ve got someone above watching out for us :) The last time I came across one of these things was in change from a Bank! They mistook it for a Sacajawea – full story here.

 [You can see those thick reeded edges and groove of that Hong Kong 5 Dollars there on the left, and then we have the Brazilian “Jesus” coin on the right ;)]

This Collector is Happy.

There weren’t any surprise treasures here (I think the most valuable (non-modern) coin was worth $1.00?) but any time you receive a box of coins in the mail it kinda doesn’t matter WHAT’S in there ;) Half the joy is just opening it up and researching what you’ve got! So many thanks again, Ben. You officially made this collector very happy, indeed. I shall keep a few of these and then pass the rest to other deserving homes…

Stay tuned for our next post! Hopefully I’ll get another package in the mail to salivate over…

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Resources used today:

• 2013 Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 40th ed. [Cuhaj / Michael]
• Whitman United States Currency, 5th ed. [Kenneth Bressett]