I accompanied my wife to another estate sale last weekend and found some silver. Not a vintage bar this time, but some Constitutional silver and some Mexican silver. My wife left me in the dust heading into the sale as I checked my phone to get a rough idea on melt value. At the time, I believe a Mercury dime was valued at $1.96 (the value is $2.05 as I'm writing this!), so I figured that every 10-cents of face value was $2.00. Right off the bat, I selected the bags above, which fit that rough value perfectly.
Same with the bag of quarters, 25-cents face value equals $5.00. The Mercury dimes were pricier and I didn't intend to buy them...but I did. Now, the good news. There were 8 quarters in the bag, not 7, and one of the bags of dimes above had 11 dimes, not 10. Scored! Helps make up for the Mercury dimes ;)
I didn't do as well with the Mexican Un Peso coins. I didn't know anything about them, but some had dates in the 1950's and 60's, so I paid $20 for a bag of twenty. These 8 were older and larger than the more recently dated versions. Looking up the silver content was disappointing, but "live and learn."
This final coin was purchase at an antique store while scouting around for wildflowers in Johnson City, Texas. I didn't know that at one time nickels contained silver. I knew there was a steel penny from the war years, but I had no idea that there was also a 35% nickel in 1942 - 1945.
According to Coinflation,
"World War II prompted the rationing of many commodities. Nickel was highly valued for use in armor plating, and Congress ordered the removal of this metal from the five-cent piece, effective October 8, 1942. From that date, and lasting through the end of 1945, five-cent pieces bore the regular design but were minted from an alloy of 35% silver, 56% copper, 9% manganese. It was anticipated that these emergency coins would be withdrawn from circulation after the war, so a prominent distinguishing feature was added. Coins from all three mints bore very large mintmarks above the dome of Monticello, and the letter 'P' was used as a mintmark for the first time on a U. S. coin."
The melt value of this coin is $1.59 today, given current melt values. I paid $4.00, but only because it was a unique find for me. Well, we're off to the movies now, but my wife is already looking for yard sales and estate sales and planning an early start tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Good luck for the hunt!
Oh man I remember when I was a kid and me and my dad collecting coins. I forgot about those nickels with the P on them. All the other markings too. Around 1965 I had a silver dollar shaped piggy bank... With a whole bunch of silver dollars in it! Wish my dad hadn't "borrowed" it back haha.
Oh, man! It would definitely be nice to have those silver dollars, along with all those coins collected back in the day.
Oh man I wish. I can still remember playing them and how heavy they were,
You were on a treasure hunt!
These sales are always like treasure hunts. Sometimes the estate sale company doesn't realize what they've got.
Thanks @ewkaw! Your support is very much appreciated :)
Way to go! Some nice silver yo picked up there!
!BBH
Yeah, thanks. Next time I'll be a little bit more careful about buying coins that I know nothing about though.
I've taken gambles on mystery bags at yard sales and done well and not so well. I would definitely price them to be safe. But when the price is a few bucks sometimes I'll gamble on them too!
@kunschj! Your Content Is Awesome so I just sent 1 $BBH (Bitcoin Backed Hive) to your account on behalf of @thebighigg. (3/50)
Wow! What a find and haul!!!
You had fruitful day, @kunschj !!!
!BBH
@kunschj! Your Content Is Awesome so I just sent 1 $BBH (Bitcoin Backed Hive) to your account on behalf of @silversaver888. (12/20)
My wife showed me a bunch of coins in an estate sale ad today, but I think we're headed to another one with a rug she wants...so we'll see if I can be as lucky this weekend. She deserves to find the rug she wants though, so I can't complain.
Hehehe! Give in a little, so that she will give in a lot!
Ha ha! Well said, and a great attitude.
😁
Even though those 1960s One Pesos were only 10% silver they are fun to have, I think I have a dozen of them in my collection. Otherwise a pretty good score @kunschj
All in all, it was a pretty good score. Even the Cu-Ni One Peso's are kinda cool to have. I have a bag with foreign coins that I've picked up over the years. They went in there. Fun to share with the grandkids :)
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