Hi all, newbie here. Looking for help on my first interesting find!

[Prov3rb]

Hi everyone. Two days ago I found out that one of my quarters was actually worth 50 cents and one thing turned into another and now I'm totally hooked on coin hunting! Very relaxing but very exciting at the same time.

I'll spare you a long winded story and start by asking for your help with my first interesting find! I am a Canadian and I've found a few coins that may be worth a little more (common misprints like missing FG 1969 american penny, missing MG 1964 canadian penny, etc.) but just a little while ago I came across a 1909 American penny in seemingly good condition! Here are some (not extraordinary) pictures of it. 1909US Penny - Imgur

If you guys have a few extra minutes I was wondering if you could spit-ball a rating at it? Or maybe point me in the right direction to get it properly rated? I'm still learning how to use/find the ratings,etc. I was also wondering if there was any good guides on how to properly clean coins? I was warned that cleaning coins can sometimes depreciate the value so I want to be careful.

I have a lot of questions to ask but maybe I'll leave it to just this for now! Thanks so much in advance for all your help, I look forward to hunting with you all

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[boristhespider88]

I would advise you against cleaning your 1909 cent; it is a 1909 V.D.B.

They are selling upwards from $2.50 (USD).

1909 vdb in Coins: US | eBay

Welcome to T-Net!

- DS

 

[crhgymnast1]

Welcome to tnet. It is highly unreccomended to clean coins at all. It will only decrease the value.

 

[bigscores]

Never ever clean a coin. Ever. Never.

Looks XF, value prob around $10.

 

[coinguy*matthew]

Dont mess with it or you will be sorry. Nice score!

 

[WheatWaffle]

That is one great find. They are VERY rare to find in circulation. I wouldn't clean the coin, because it is in fairly good condition. Congrats on a great score.

 

[bigscores]

That is one great find. They are VERY rare to find in circulation. I wouldn't clean the coin, because it is in fairly good condition. Congrats on a great score.

I've found three in circulation, they're not that rare. Now if it was an 09-S VDB, or a '14-D, or a '31-S, or just a plain ol' '09-S...

 

[oooldman]

Here is a nice place to look at conditions of coins. Everyone has their own ideas about grading. This can serve as a guideline and let the buyer or seller determine what they believe is proper condition.

PCGS Photograde Online

 

[CoinHELP!]

The no FG 1969 must not have an remnants of the FG, you need to turn it in the light and make sure you can see any shapes or shadows where the FG should be. The no FG was caused by the dies being abraded by mint employees to get rid of clash marks when the dies struck each other without a coin in between them.

Take the advice here, don't clean your coins.

Rating coins is grading coins and we use the numbers 1-70 and the letters to assign grades. I think it's best to see this in images and here's one place http://coinauctionshelp.com/US_Coin_Grading_Guides.html

 

[Prov3rb]

Thanks a lot for your help guys, going to look into getting it rated and maybe throw it up on ebay.

I'm thinking right now with those charts you guys linked that it might be an XF45 or so

 

[enamel7]

Graded.

 

[YumaMarc]

Never ever clean a coin. Ever. Never.

.

What would you do with a coin like this? 1892-S Barber dime......

 

[enamel7]

Cleaning this coin wouldn't improve the grade. It's still worth a premium so I wouldn't clean it. If it were a common coin in that grade then it would be worth only melt anyway.
HH
enamel7