Counting Your Change...

[LizzieMaine]

I haven't seen one of those in a long, long time. Slick Buffalos still turn up occasionally, but getting a V-nickel is as likely as hitting the lottery.

 

[F. J.]

V-Nickels, &c.

My grandfather (born 1927) also calls the old Liberty Heads "V-nickels". He once told me once the story of how he found one. I forget the details, but as I recall it, he was taking out the trash some years ago (probably several decades back) and happened to look down near the dumpster. There before him in the dirt was a 1904 "V-nickel". After he told me that, he handed it to me. I still have it, of course.

I have also gotten a few interesting items in change, as well. I was at the bank once and asked for half-dollars, as I like to spend them. The teller only had a few, but one of the ones she gave me was a 1968. I still have it also.

I have two coin purses I carry with me. One is for spending money; the other for "prop" money. It gets me in that vintage feeling sometimes, you see.
I generally dress in a late '30's/early '40's style, and having period change just adds to it. Right now it contains:

• 1- 1925 penny
• 1- 1927 penny
• 1- 1940 penny
• 1- 1941 penny
• 1- 1941-D penny
• 1- 1943 steel penny
• 3- 1944 pennies
• 1- 1940 nickel
• 1- 1941 nickel
• 1- "1941" nickel (The date is worn away and it looks like a '41, but it's really a '47. The only way to tell is to compare it to both a '41 and a '47.)
• 1- 1942-S nickel with the mintmark over Monticello (35% silver)
• 1- 1941 dime

 

[MPicciotto]

You'd be amazed at what turns up in Salvation Army kettles. We've had some pretty special finds in Annapolis, but the oddest was probably two years ago when a batch of Nazi era Reichpfennig coins turned up. 6 or 7 of them. Old, worn not in coin sleeves. We sometimes get rare coins in coin sleeves. Intentional donations, and quite a bit of foreign money (Annapolis being a town with lots of sailors from around the world passing through). But WW2 German coins were the oddest I've seen.

Matt

 

[Tomasso]

You'd be amazed at what turns up in Salvation Army kettles. We've had some pretty special finds in Annapolis

In Chicago it's become a tradition for mystery donations of gold coins to appear in the SA kettles during the holidays.

 

[MPicciotto]

In Chicago it's become a tradition for mystery donations of gold coins to appear in the SA kettles during the holidays.

We have had one of them, and a diamond ring as well. But those are both intentional donations. The odd pocket change is what's most interesting, that and the several silver certificates that come up each year. Usually about 30 dollars worth of 2 dollar bills shows up too.

Matt

 

[jamespowers]

We have had one of them, and a diamond ring as well. But those are both intentional donations. The odd pocket change is what's most interesting, that and the several silver certificates that come up each year. Usually about 30 dollars worth of 2 dollar bills shows up too.

Matt

I always laugh at the 2 dollar bill in things like charity collections. SOME People have always thought receiving them in change was bad luck. So what do they do? They donate them to charity. Gee, thanks for the bad luck donation there guy. lol lol lol You also see them with missing corners and such that were supposed to take the bad luck off of them. :rolleyes. Yeah, way to peeve bad luck by tearing a corner off of it. lol lol

 

[MPicciotto]

Bad luck really?? Yikes I've got over a hundred dollars in bad luck in the lock box under my bed. 2 dollar bills make up a portion of my emergency cash in the house reserve. I'm not likely to spend them willy nilly but if my finances suffered a meltdown the gas station still accepts them to fill up my tank.

I always felt lucky to find a 2 dollar bill.

Who knew I was actually get unlucky??



Matt

 

[jamespowers]

Bad luck really?? Yikes I've got over a hundred dollars in bad luck in the lock box under my bed. 2 dollar bills make up a portion of my emergency cash in the house reserve. I'm not likely to spend them willy nilly but if my finances suffered a meltdown the gas station still accepts them to fill up my tank.

I always felt lucky to find a 2 dollar bill.

Who knew I was actually get unlucky??



Matt

There are several reasons given but I think snopes covers most of them. http://www.snopes.com/business/money/twodollar.asp If you had that much in 2 dollar bills you would be in trouble with the significant other according to a few of those.

 

[Mr. Hallack]

Being a cashier I find lots of oddball coins. Always find Canadian coins, also coins from the UK, Bahamas, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Panama, and one of the best (wish i still had it) was a 20 centavos silver coin from The Phillipines when they were still a US Territory. My most recent one and my best score I am posting. 1985 One Peso from Mexico. At the time the exchange rate was 3000 pesos to the US Dollar (I believe) so this wasn't worth anything back then. My best score are the Walking Liberty halves that a gal used to buy a Mountain Dew. I was shaking as she handed these to me, which I switched them out with a dollar bill.

 

[jamespowers]

Being a cashier I find lots of oddball coins. Always find Canadian coins, also coins from the UK, Bahamas, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Panama, and one of the best (wish i still had it) was a 20 centavos silver coin from The Phillipines when they were still a US Territory. My most recent one and my best score I am posting. 1985 One Peso from Mexico. At the time the exchange rate was 3000 pesos to the US Dollar (I believe) so this wasn't worth anything back then. My best score are the Walking Liberty halves that a gal used to buy a Mountain Dew. I was shaking as she handed these to me, which I switched them out with a dollar bill. View attachment 5976 View attachment 5977

You did well on the halves. Silver at $20.65 today means you had a nearly 20 to one exchange there.

 

[MPicciotto]

The Bermudian dollar is tied to the US on the markets so it's 1:1 there.

Matt

 

[F. J.]

Recent Additions

I have two coin purses I carry with me. One is for spending money; the other for "prop" money. It gets me in that vintage feeling sometimes, you see.
I generally dress in a late '30's/early '40's style, and having period change just adds to it. Right now it contains:

• 1- 1925 penny
• 1- 1927 penny
• 1- 1940 penny
• 1- 1941 penny
• 1- 1941-D penny
• 1- 1943 steel penny
• 3- 1944 pennies
• 1- 1940 nickel
• 1- 1941 nickel
• 1- "1941" nickel (The date is worn away and it looks like a '41, but it's really a '47. The only way to tell is to compare it to both a '41 and a '47.)
• 1- 1942-S nickel with the mintmark over Monticello (35% silver)
• 1- 1941 dime

Three recent additions, which brings the total to $1.24 in period specie:

• 1- 1937 dime
• 1- 1935 quarter
• 1- 1936 half-dollar

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I cashed my coins in at the bank today. I had $63 & one French Franc.

 

[buelligan]

Not exactly a story about finding change but getting change. I once stopped at a Pizza Hut drive though to pike up a personal pizza, after handing the girl at the window a $20 I noticed when she gave me my change that she shorted me by $5, after bringing this to her attention she responded with "Oh I thought you gave me A $15" yes she thought I gave her a $15 bill. I wonder how many $15's she has accepted.
I came across a silver dime and have an unusually high amount of I think it's 1963 pennies for some reason.

 

[Talbot]

Three recent additions, which brings the total to $1.24 in period specie:

• 1- 1937 dime
• 1- 1935 quarter
• 1- 1936 half-dollar

Carrying vintage coins is a great idea.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I feel fortunate to have a few large jars of coins from the 1940's from my late Father, he was a collector and kept many items from the WWII time era. I have one old coin that is I think a quarter that is silver, but from the 1800's, and would be worth a lot of money if I wanted to sell it, but, someone along the road of it's life drilled a small hole and had it on a string or small sized chain. From what I was told, the hole in the coin takes away the collector value a great deal. I would have to find it but I think it is maybe the first or second type of quarter made in the U.S.?

As my Father was in the Navy, he also collected some money from around the world. My Husband was also in the Navy, and has a few weird coins from other places.

 

[HudsonHawk]

As my Father was in the Navy, he also collected some money from around the world. My Husband was also in the Navy, and has a few weird coins from other places.

I'll occassionally bring home spare bills and change from other countries I visit. I usually give them to my nephew, who is a real collector of odd things, and he's building up quite the international currency collection, a good deal of it at my expense.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I cashed my coins in at the bank today. I had $63 & one French Franc.

Last summer I had some work done on my kitchen and I paid the man $1,100 in quarters and dimes. And when he and his sons who were his helpers was counting it, it was like a scene from a Western. The whole thing weighed 85 lbs.

 

[F. J.]

Another nickel . . .

Three recent additions, which brings the total to $1.24 in period specie:

• 1- 1937 dime
• 1- 1935 quarter
• 1- 1936 half-dollar

I found another '41 nickel the other week, which makes it a buck twenty-nine.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Last summer I had some work done on my kitchen and I paid the man $1,100 in quarters and dimes. And when he and his sons who were his helpers was counting it, it was like a scene from a Western. The whole thing weighed 85 lbs.

"How do you feel?"

"Like a million bucks...in nickels"