James Z. asks: I am looking for a way to un-tarnish my silver coins. I have seen a metal plate which is placed in water, then you place your silver on the submersed plate and the silver un-tarnishes. Was wondering if you were aware of the product?
Yes, this is a variation of electrolysis and will remove a coin’s surface oxide layer. Although the chemical process is different, dips such as Tarnex or Jewel Luster reach the same end, that is, the removal of the coin’s oxide coating. Both the electronic and the chemical technique remove small amounts of metal from the coin. Repeated “treatments” remove enough flow lines, that are responsible for Mint luster, to degrade a mint state coin to AU or lower. Coins that have been cleaned repeatedly this way are worth much less than coins that possess the original mint surfaces.
Many collectors prize attractively toned coins. Patina can be both aesthetically pleasing and can protect a coin’s surface from exposure to damaging air pollutants.
This 1000 dollar bill is the infamous serial number 8894 reproduction printed on fake parchment. The Bank of The United States was a private bank and the United States of America was their biggest customer. Corruption and fraud were rampant and after quite a battle between President Andrew Jackson, Congress and the bank’s supporters the bank was finally put out of its misery in the 1840’s.
From the late 19th Century to the 1950’s, reproductions of Bank of the United States currency were distributed, often with an advertising message printed on the back. Since the notes are not official U.S. issues, it isn’t considered counterfeiting to reproduce them. Genuine examples of these notes are valuable.
The 1000 dollar bill with the infamous “8894” serial number comes from a firm that copied the original with the above serial number to use for advertising purposes.These notes were reproduced before Congress passed the “Hobby Protection Act” requiring the words “copy” or “Replica” on reproductions of coins or paper money. The “8894” copies today are commonly found in packages of play money along with other reproductions of private issue currency.
(Image scanned by D. McIntyre)
Seth M. writes: I have attached a photo of a coin that I have tried to no avail to identify. I would appreciate any info that you could share with me. Thank you
It seems that you may have a replica of the 1855 Blake & Co. $20 gold piece. Gorham Blake was one of the enterprising individuals that during the gold rush period in California made a living assaying gold. Though other assayers made private issue coins to take up the slack from the repeated closures of the San Francisco branch mint, Blake’s company never really was able to create a circulating medium.
The “coin” you have is most likely a replica since only one of the $20 Blake & Co issue is thought to exist. The Blake replicas are modern twentieth century copies.
Also see: Blake & Co. California Gold $20
Ed P. asks: Who was the “indian” on the Indian head cent? Thanks.  ps. my 86 year old father has been collecting since he was 10 but never knew the answer to this question.Â
The “Indian” cent was designed by Mint Engraver James Barton Longacre sometime in 1858 and the first coins were struck in January of 1859. The Indian is not a Native American Profile at all but probably a derivation from the face of a Greco-Roman statue that was housed in a nearby Philadelphia Museum. Longacre kept many sketches of this profile in his sketchbooks and mentions it in correspondence and official memos over a ten year period. (See the National Archives in Washington, D.C.)
The tradition on coins of the United States, at least until the modern era, was to portray a personification of Liberty, not a real person. The only thing ‘Indian’ about the cent is the headdress. You can see very similar profiles in Longacre’s work on all three types of gold dollar (from 1849), Double Eagle ($20 gold – from 1849) and on the $3 gold piece (from 1854).
V. Z. writes:Â I’ve just started collecting coins (nickels, in particular) and have noticed that there were approximately 3 billion (!!) nickels produced in 1964, more than any other year. Why is that?
The year 1964 was the last year of silver coin production. Silver was rising in price and many people hoarded silver coins hoping they would be worth more than their face value. They were right but many erroneously thought that nickels contained silver too and hoarded them along with dimes, quarters and half-dollars.
The mint was given permission by Congress (Act of 9/3/1964) to strike nickels in 1965 with the 1964 date to help alleviate the coin shortage that had developed, so the reason for the huge mintage.
Look under the words FIVE CENTS on the reverse side of the Buffalo nickel (Buffalo side). If there is no mint mark there, it was minted at The Philadelphia Mint. “D”=Denver Mint “S”=San Francisco Mint. For more information on Buffalo nickel mint marks, see: Mint Marks
L.A. asks:Â Why was the metal in American coins changed for halves, quarters and dimes?
The cost of minting a coin has to be below its face value. The difference is called seignorage. This profit is suppose to pay for the cost of manufacturing coins. The Mint currently loses money on the cent (cost 1.8 cents) and nickel (cost 9.4 cents), but the profit on higher denomination coins offsets that considerably. A dime costs only 4.6 cents to produce and the quarter, only 11 cents. I believe the Presidential dollar cost is about 15 cents each.
The rising price of silver in the 1960’s threatened not only seignorage but the economy. Common coins were on the verge of becoming more valuable than their face value so Congress passed laws eliminating precious metals from most circulating coins. This had no effect on the nickel, it was always made from copper and nickel except for a few years during WW II.
Rising copper prices in the late 1970’s caused a similar experience with the cent and by 1982 the cent’s composition had been changed to 99.2% zinc with a .8% copper plating.
Melinda asks: I have a bunch of wheat pennies and don’t have a clue as to their value. Could you give me a rough estimate to the prices for the different decades they were produced?
Generally, circulated wheat cents after 1934 are worth approximately face value though you might find a retail value of 10-15 cents at a coin shop. Value is determined by a market that values condition and rarity first. For example, a circulated 1934-D cent might only be worth 10 cents but one in new condition with the original red color and no wear, maybe an MS63 example, could bring $25. For circulated coins to bring prices worth mentioning, uncirculated examples would be either unavailable or available but very expensive. Some dates in the teens and twenties match this criteria including a few dates in the early 1930’s (1931-S, for example).
There are catalogs available that show relative rarity (The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of U.S. Coins 2013 by R.S. Yeoman). You can also get a copy of the weekly newspaper Coin World, at a news shop. Coin World prints a section in the center of the newspaper called “Trends”. There you can find current prices for U.S. coins in most grades.