Lucky Find

[Bynx]

I sent my son to the local convenience store this morning. When he returned he gave me my change. It included this American penny dated 1870. Rare find, rare coin and in Canada.

 

[JoshuaSimPhotography]

Wow! How much is it worth! Not one cent of course!

 

[SCraig]

We called them "Indian Head" pennies. They haven't been around for a long time. That is a lucky find.

 

[Bynx]

Its not in mint condition and has some wear. But you can still read Liberty on the headdress. I cant judge the quality of the coin, but from some pics Ive seen that have similar wear they were being sold from between $210 and $250. Apparently 1870 didnt produce a lot of these coins which makes them even rarer now. I get strange coins all the time. People slip in coins from other countries which have no value but closely resemble the size and shape of our coins. It shows how little people pay attention to their change.

 

[SCraig]

Its not in mint condition and has some wear. But you can still read Liberty on the headdress. I cant judge the quality of the coin, but from some pics Ive seen that have similar wear they were being sold from between $210 and $250. Apparently 1870 didnt produce a lot of these coins which makes them even rarer now. I get strange coins all the time. People slip in coins from other countries which have no value but closely resemble the size and shape of our coins. It shows how little people pay attention to their change.

Wow! I didn't realize they were that valuable. I have several of them at home that I may have to sell

We get Canadian coins here as well. Not as much these days as in previous years so I guess people are starting to take notice. When I was a kid we got Canadian coins all the time.

Just out of curiosity, primarily because I had never given it much thought, what denomination coins does Canada use? Just my ignorance showing, but we use pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters and I wondered if Canada uses a similar division or whether they were more aligned with the British monetary system.

 

[KenC]

Haven't seen an Indian Head penny in years. Quite a while back a graduate student from India got one in change and asked me what it was, so I told him to keep it in a safe place because they are all worth quite a bit, as far as I know.

 

[Bynx]

Scott, in Canada we use the same denominations as you do. But these days we dont see half dollar coins very often and we have just stopped making pennies a few months ago.

 

[Derrel]

I used to collect coins, years ago, and am not an expert on Indian Head cents, but I "think" I would grade that as being easily beneath Fine ($122), and above Good ($48), or in other words,as being in Very Good rated condition. Say, worth maybe $75 US dollars.

An 1870 US Indian Head cent in Canadian convenience store change....uh....so, there's a burglar in your local area! How nice!

 

[SCraig]

Scott, in Canada we use the same denominations as you do. But these days we dont see half dollar coins very often and we have just stopped making pennies a few months ago.

Yeah, we don't use half-dollar coins any longer either. I have a few at home that go back to the 60's but haven't seen any in use for a long time.

Years ago we stopped at a convenience store, and when I opened the truck door I noticed a bunch of change on the ground. Since there was nobody around I assumed it was mine It was all old for the time and that was back in the 70's. There were a couple of silver dollars, a couple of half dollars, and a few indian head pennies. I just scooped it up and took it home. I still have it to

 

[Bynx]

Thanks Derrel. I have a bunch of coins but Im not a coin collector. If I see something different or interesting I keep it. Ive got a Kennedy half dollar, a few old coins that arent worth much. I can see it being an expensive hobby if you go out and pay money for money. On ebay I saw people asking for $210-$275 for coins that looked in similar shape as mine. Doesnt matter what its worth, Im going to keep it.

 

[Buckster]

A nice find, and nice photos of it!

 

[Bynx]

You might like this Buckster. The camera is a USB Microscope. Its a generic one sold under different names. Cost $40 new and will do 20X-200X. You can hand hold it or clip it on its stand. Great for coins and other close up work. Got something in your eye? You can use the thing to see what it is. In the shot you can see the lens and the 8 LEDs that you can set the brightness.

 

[Buckster]

You might like this Buckster. The camera is a USB Microscope. Its a generic one sold under different names. Cost $40 new and will do 20X-200X. You can hand hold it or clip it on its stand. Great for coins and other close up work. Got something in your eye? You can use the thing to see what it is. In the shot you can see the lens and the 8 LEDs that you can set the brightness.

Nice! It does a good job, based on the photos you posted above! I could use one of those around here! Thanks!

 

[Derrel]

Thanks Derrel. I have a bunch of coins but Im not a coin collector. If I see something different or interesting I keep it. Ive got a Kennedy half dollar, a few old coins that arent worth much. I can see it being an expensive hobby if you go out and pay money for money. On ebay I saw people asking for $210-$275 for coins that looked in similar shape as mine. Doesnt matter what its worth, Im going to keep it.

The "asking price" on eBay is often designed to get impulse buyers and those with too much money, or more money than time, to "buy it now". It all comes down to coin grade, and the desire of a particular buyer to own a specific, individual coin; however, in the case of the 1869 and 1870 Indian Head cents---those are what is known as "key date" coins; they are the rarest and MOST-difficult to find dates!!!! When I posted that the 1870 Indian Head cent showing up in store change indicated a burglar in the neighborhood, I was not kidding, in the least. Vintage key date Indian Head cents do NOT circulate...that penny was somebody's "prized Indian Head" cent...it's a freakin' penny that could pay for a night out on the town if sold...while the other dates in the set in that same Very Good to VG+ grade would not even buy a $5 foot-long Subway sandwich! Of course, I am NOT an Indian Head cent collector or even a good grader of that series: I could be grading it too conservatively--if it really does hit Fine grade, in the eyes of a buyer who wants an 1870 Indian Head cent to fill that last doggone date in the set, she'd bring the $275 in a heartbeat. I however, think it's under Fine...too much circulation wear, too much deep scratching in the field, just not truly up to Fine. (I used to collect the Lincoln Cent series and Jefferson and Buffalo five cent coin series,years ago.) On eBay...it is very likely you'll find unscrupulous sellers trying to subtly "up-grade" a VG 1870 Indian head to Fine, and ask $200 + for it. And to a collector wishing to fill those two key dates, a doggone 1870 in Very Good might very well look like...well...a years'-long desire, just WAITING for a few clicks and a PayPal password! Anyway, wow, the 1870 Indian Head cent...a key date is ALWAYS worth holding..."key date" coins hold value better than almost anything I can think of.

The last Indian Head I got in change was about 10 years ago, and it was worth about $6. So...MAJOR score for you! An 1870!!!!!! GACK!!!!!!

 

[Bynx]

Thanks for that info Derrel. I havent heard of any house robberies in the neighborhood. I have no idea how the coin got into the till of the store. Im often given coins from other countries in my change from there and if they arent american are of no value at all. I just put them in a bag rather than the garbage. Im curious about the travels of the coin but not enough to try to find out. The strange thing is you can easily find pennies lying in the street. People dont bother to bend down and pick them up. Now they arent even minted any more. So how an unusual penny wouldnt catch the eye of anyone who holds it is beyond me. And if someone stole the coin I wouldnt think they would even consider a penny as being valuable, if if they did they wouldnt spend it for the value of a penny.
Just thinking about this, its more likely the storekeeper had the penny. For the most part people dont make change to the penny very often, at least without exmaining the coins more closely so its unlikely anyone would give in that penny for change. The store owners are Asian immigrants who are more unfamiliar with the different coins even if they examined it but might feel comfortable to include it in change they give back to their customers.