2010 01 21: Whats bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

[EpsilonMinus]

2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Answer: The Mexican 50 peso coin I found today!

Hey guys, today was almost 70 F (Absurd for January!) and I had a few hours to hunt a new place again, and although I didn't beat my previous record (53 coins), I got close enough with with 40, plus I scored a little silver toe ring and a giant foreign coin. Not bad at all.

I am so thrilled with the Ace 250 that I can't praise it enough, this machine is awesome. It pays for it's own batteries AND the gas to the location and back every time! Ok, enough whoring the Ace, on with the goods...

Here's the total loot for today.

Total clad: $3.49. Just topped $10 for the week with 3 days left, nice.
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Mexican 50 Peso from 1982 from before the 'economic collapse'. Old face value: nearly $4. Since collapse: .004 cents (USD). Not even a half a penny! The nickel content is a little better at about fifteen cents. No idea if this is 'collectible', but I think it is an awesome find! (Fun fact: After the collapse, the Mexican government issued a 'nuevo peso' ($1 USD = 13 Nuevo Pesos, currently) which had a value of 1000 'old' pesos. And, strangely enough, the 'old' ones are still in circulation. In Mexico, wallets are called wheel-barrows.)

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This ring looks silver to me, and has the 925 stamp, but I'm not -really- sure about it... what do you guys think?

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This one is interesting, as I haven't encountered a penny that has been anywhere near this green. I think it says
1928, but I can't be sure. I am wondering how I could go about cleaning it, if that is even possible. Would electrolysis work on this? I know its probably too far gone to have any real value, but you know, you always value stuff more that you've put work into. Any ideas?

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I know everyone has seen something like this many, many times. It's our good friend, Mr. Rotten Von Explodyzincoln! Maybe I should post this as it's own thread somewhere, but I really have an issue here with what is basically biodegradable currency. I find 'real' pennies all the time up to 8 inches or so that have been there for a decade or more that come out of the ground as it they were dropped yesterday. Then I find this garbage, especially from the 2000's, just under the surface. I am beggining to get quite a collection of these and I have no idea how to get rid of them. Do you guys just take the 10% loss at a coinstar just to be able to unload these? Our money is literally turning into trash. Very sad.

so that's my score for today, I had a great time, and once again, Ace 250 is awesome. Thanks for looking!

-EpsilonMinus

 

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[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Uh oh. Another Mexican penny!

Man! As soon as I saw this, my first thought was about the 'bearded guy' one that you either posted or commented on that I saw a couple days ago, heh. I think you are projecting with your zen-ray again.

 

[Deepdiger60]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Its 3.49 more then you had the day before and nope CoinStar just spits out penny's like that not even the users want them

 

[mikewaz]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Nice haul!
I found a 100 peso coin a few years back and thought I hit the jackpot until I got home and checked it out online. They're still a nice looking coin even though they're pretty much worthless. From the picture your ring looks like silver to me.
Mike

 

[allen]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

the pennies I find eaten up like that end up in the trash !

 

[thrillathahunt]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

We should all save them and have an "ugly penny" contest.

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Nice haul!
I found a 100 peso coin a few years back and thought I hit the jackpot until I got home and checked it out online. They're still a nice looking coin even though they're pretty much worthless. From the picture your ring looks like silver to me.
Mike

It seems to me that these coins, as big as they are, are actually pretty common to find. Even if they are worthless I still wouldn't mind finding more because I am sure every one is going to give that 'jackpot' feeling, which is one of the things we are after as hunters, heh. I wonder, though, why the Mexican government didn't do some kind of recall on the obsolete coins and pay everyone for them the base-metal value in the new coins. The people would get better money, and the government would have more raw materials to make more coins, thus keeping the cost of the raw materials down. Also, as they melted all the returned coins, the ones we find would then be more valuable to collect! I'm not an economics expert, but that would make sense, I think, right?

 

[seger98]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Nice finds, but why did it have to be a Mexican coin!

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Its 3.49 more then you had the day before and nope CoinStar just spits out penny's like that not even the users want them

the pennies I find eaten up like that end up in the trash !

We should all save them and have an "ugly penny" contest.

It's hard to justify keeping them for any purpose other than keeping your box of finds complete for checking at the end of the year. I have thrown them away on occasion but I always feel bad about it. It's like they are in this awkward place between money and garbage, between a keeper and a pull-tab, that no MONEY should ever occupy. Maybe I will just keep them in their own coffee can until the day the government decides that even zinc is too good for our coins and they switch to making them out of glass plated dirt or something. Then, the price of zinc will be were copper is today. Yeah, I'm kidding, that won't ever happen, heh. I agree about the 'Ugly Penny Contest', I think there is great potential there for a new thread. Maybe for April first, we can have an 'anti-banner' of the worst, ugliest finds, heh.

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Nice finds, but why did it have to be a Mexican coin!

That's exactly the question I asked when I found it in the middle of a field with nothing around it, and like one inch below the surface. It's my first foreign coin too, out of like a thousand holes. It's a bit weird, but not entirely surprising, I guess, as my state borders Mexico. But yeah, no complaints about finding big coins, worthless or not, it means I am doing something right!

 

[Tattooguy67]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Got some cool stuff there, as far as the rotten pennies go if they are that bad I usually just pitch them in the trash, but shouldn't we be able to turn them in for new? like with paper money? not that it would be worth the hassle really but...oh well.


Chuck.

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Got some cool stuff there, as far as the rotten pennies go if they are that bad I usually just pitch them in the trash, but shouldn't we be able to turn them in for new? like with paper money? not that it would be worth the hassle really but...oh well.


Chuck.

I agree, we should be able to turn them in. As the Gov. issues millions for of them every year, we are going to be finding more and more of them as the coppers get dug up and replaced with zincs. Maybe banks should have a special system set up just for returning ruined money. Let's say you find an average of 100 of these things per week while out hunting. That would add up to around 5000 at the end of the year, which is a good chunk of the way toward a new coil or something. I'd like to find out what would happen if someone walked into a bank with a coffee can entirely full with rotten zinc pennies.

 

[Digginman]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

The ring is silver, .925 means sterling. Great finds.

DM

 

[Texasgopher]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Nice finds EM! I Got out today also but didn't find anything near as good as you did. Man O man the wind was a pain! Nice toe ring and yes it's most definitely silver, nice score! That is one strange looking wheat penny. I definitely think it says 1928. I've found some bad wheats before but they haven't looked like that. It looks like it is flaking away, or maybe it's just the pic. I have seen some other guys on here find them like that. I think they said it's a kind of fertilizer that does that to 'em. I don't know how I would clean it. Sweet find though for sure!


TG

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

The ring is silver, .925 means sterling. Great finds.

DM

This is what I like to believe, but some people have brought up that it's not all that uncommon to see the 925 on fakes, and I haven't enough experience with silver to know what happens to it over time and in various ground conditions. I think this one passes though, heh. Thanks!

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Nice finds EM! I Got out today also but didn't find anything near as good as you did. Man O man the wind was a pain! Nice toe ring and yes it's most definitely silver, nice score! That is one strange looking wheat penny. I definitely think it says 1928. I've found some bad wheats before but they haven't looked like that. It looks like it is flaking away, or maybe it's just the pic. I have seen some other guys on here find them like that. I think they said it's a kind of fertilizer that does that to 'em. I don't know how I would clean it. Sweet find though for sure!


TG

Thanks, man! I thought about going out today but the wind, as you said, is ridiculous, plus there was the looming chance of rain which did realize itself. I went out a few days ago in the heavy wind and it was so frustrating! Every time I pinpointed something my detector would get blown off the mark. I applaud you for trying, though, you gotta get out there when no one else is willing if you want to find the good stuff, right? I have read about the fertilizer effect on copper that you mentioned. I think the penny itself may be mostly intact beneath the corrosion, as the green stuff seems to be sort of thick and bubbly, but there's a hole in part of the green that shows some flat brown copper, so it's hopeful. I know that in any case it's not going to be worth anything, but these small curiosities are part of what makes this hobby so interesting. Did you see my last post where I found two silver rings? I really thought it would take longer to be able to find anything other than clad, but the Ace showed the me that error really fast.

 

[mountainplayer]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

I'd use Don's peroxide method on that wheat. Heat up the peroxide in the microwave and soak the coin. When it stops bubbling, give it a brushing with soapy water, and repeat as necessary. It can be a little "dry" looking when done. If that happens, I usually coat mine with some beeswax. Works great.

MP

 

[EpsilonMinus]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

I'd use Don's peroxide method on that wheat. Heat up the peroxide in the microwave and soak the coin. When it stops bubbling, give it a brushing with soapy water, and repeat as necessary. It can be a little "dry" looking when done. If that happens, I usually coat mine with some beeswax. Works great.

MP

Interesting advice, I will give that a try and see what happens. I have seen a video somewhere that showed a guy using electrolysis on a coin and it made the corrosion simply peel right off the surface, it was the coolest thing, but I lost the link for it... Thanks for the tip!

 

[extractor]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

WtG! I get all my batterys from the 99 cent store. They last just as long as the ones I've tried at the big box stores.

 

[DrJoePrime]

Re: 2010 01 21: What's bigger than a Half but worth less than a penny?

Those green Copper pennies can be soaked in vinegar for a few hours or overnight (just enough to be able to date the coin). I've also smacked them hard against ceramic tiles (in the bathroom .. don't tell my wife) and the greencrud does flake off. Sometimes they're not bad under there and sometimes crap.

The zincoln's .. well I've got a 5 gallon bucket full. I've heard (on one of the forums) they can be taken to a place (Los Angeles, downtown in my case) and if thew coin is at least 50%+ it's redeemable. Also have heard you can roll them up and write damaged on the roll and certain banks will take them. The crudier ones, for sure Coinstar won't take.

BTW I separate out all the real copper pennies and am saving them for the copper content. I also save sinkers for the lead content (LOL).

HH Joe