Father's Day Antique Store Finds

For Father's Day, my brother and I took our father to his favorite Texas BBQ joint, City Market in Luling, Texas.Whenever we go to Luling, we also always go to a little antique store to look around. We have bought vinyls, Pyrex bowls, furniture, and other odds and ends there in past. This time, I took a dig through the coins.

I bought two foreign coins:

1907-D Germany - 1/2 mark


This coin was minted in Germany before WWI, when the Mark was actually worth something. How cool is that? It is also in pretty good condition. The internet tells me the mint mark "D" is for Munich. This coin is 90% silver and weighs 2.77 grams. I paid three bucks for it, which is only about 50 cents more than the melt value, but I managed to find the same coin in similar condition on ebay and it sold for twenty bucks!
EBAY Listing

1909 Ottoman Empire - 40 para (a subunit of the Ottoman currency)


I just liked the way this coin looked. I didn't know where it was from or how old it was, but I thought it was from either Egypt or Turkey. I got it for a buck. I was very happy when I got home to do some research and it turned out to be from 1909! It is made of nickel.

And now for the American coins I bought:

1945-S Jefferson "War" Nickel - 5 cents


Many people don't realize that Jefferson nickels from 1942-1945 were actually 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese. The nickel from the original 75% copper, 25% nickel composition was taken out for the war effort. 35% silver isn't much, but a Jefferson "War" Nickel is always worth at least the melt value of the silver, which as of this writing is $1.61. I paid two bucks for this "War" nickel, because it still has some of the shine that is usually worn away in circulation.

1976-S (Proof) Kennedy Bicentennial half-dollar - 50 cents


This coin is a real beauty. As you may know, after 1964, coins meant for circulation no longer contained any silver. However, the US Mint sells what they call "proof sets" directly to anyone interested. The coins in these sets are mint condition and sealed. Generally, coins in the proof sets were not made of silver until 1992, when they started issuing both silver and non-silver proof sets. However, in 1976, they made silver proof sets. This coin is the silver half dollar from one of those proof sets! It is 40% silver, meaning melt is around $4.25, but this coin carries a premium since it is from a proof set. I got it for five bucks, but I see a ton going on ebay for eight or more. Score!

1877 Seated Liberty Dime - 10 cents


Yes, this is a coin. Yes, it has seen MUCH better days. BUT, this 1877 Seated Liberty Dime is now the oldest coin in my collection. It is ugly, I know, but was a steal at a buck. It is 90% silver.

So I paid a total of $12.00 for these five coins. I think I made off pretty well, and added some nice coins to my collection!

Don't Stop Digging!
Krakken