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Gothamist tends to throw our small change into the tip jar at coffee bars or in our piggy bank at home, awaiting getting changed into bills, but after reading about how an avid coin collector is putting valuable coins into circulation in NYC, we'll be looking more closely. Scott A. Travers tells the NY Times, "I'm planting a seed and I hope that a new generation of people will come to appreciate the history that coins represent," with the help of three coins:
- A 1909 penny with the initials "VDB" (for engraver Victor D. Brenner) on the back and an "S" below the date (from San Francisco) - worth more than $1,000
- A 1914 penny with a "D" under the date (it's from a Denver mint), worth $350
- A 1908 penny with an Indian girl in headdress, worth $200
The Times says he spent the 1914 penny at a Times Square hot dog and pretzel vendor in Times Square - if only that vendor knew!
Fun! Just wash your hands after you handle your change. Here's information about National Coin Week (it starts on Sunday) from the American Numismatic Association. And the American Numimastic Society is located at 96 Fulton Street - you can do coin research there. Plus, Wikipedia on U.S. coinage and Victor Brenner. Did you know the U.S. Mint is selling 2006 American Egle Platinum Proof coins for up to $1500?
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Here's a link to a group producing a much needed alternative to "not-worth-the-paper-it's-printed-on" US currency:
The Liberty Dollar
Sure would like to know where you uncovered that photo. The "1909-S VDB" penny you speak about (and, presumably, depict) is an iconic coin to collectors. While far from the rarest American coin produced, it has somehow acquired a cache that makes it so desirable, collectors are willing to pay more than $1000 for it, depending upon its condition. And like most antiques and collectibles (watch one episode of PBS' Antiques Road Show), the value of a coin depends upon more than its rarity: condition
counts. So, in the example you feature here, the intense shine, the reddish-brown color, the absence of flaws and the detail on the wheat stalks (do you have any pre-1959 'wheaties' at home? take a look at these features on them...i bet few of them have the individual wheat stalks visible and certainly are not free of dings,nicks, fingerprints, etc.)
makes this '09 S-VDB worth more like $1600.
In fact, most collectors would submit such an example to an authentication and grading service, which would encapsulate the coin in a
holder that would protect it from future mishandling/deterioration and assign it a grade, based upon its condition (this one would probably earn a 'mint state-65' designation, adding another several hundred dollars to its value). Happy hunting!
I got a nice shiny 1958 D penny a few weeks ago in change. It was neat to get something so old, yet so shiny.
Toby: That's a sweet find. Definitely worth saving in some sort of protective sleeve.
You see the color, the detail and the absence of flaws? You've got a "mint state 65" there...worth about a buck to a collector.
I got a nice mercury dime in my change at Starbucks a few weeks ago. It was a 1943 D variety, that makes it worth about $1.50. Probably the cheapest cup of coffee I ever will have at Starbucks.
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