Most exciting find you have had?

It wouldn't be that exciting for most..

I was searching through a large box of cents when I first started collecting. In the box I found what at first glance I thought was an Indian head. I turned it over and it turned out to be a fairly rare Civil war token. The exciting part was it was for "The Detroit Flour Mills", which is where I live. Not super valuable or anything, but that was really exciting since I was completely new to collecting.



The most surprise for value was when I purchased a Canadian large cent collection on ebay for around $70. The description said "no key dates", and there weren't many pictures. The collection was large though with a lot of duplicates. I was very surprised when I received it, and it did in fact have many key dates including the 1858 (first issue year), other semi-key dates, many uncirculated, toned, and woodies. I was stoked!

 

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I picked up 2 each of 1982 P & D Souvenir Sets from my local B&M junk box for around $5

 

One exciting coin collecting day that stands out in my mind (and there are quite a few)

It had been a very busy few weeks in my little corner of the world. I had not been able to spend much time with coin collecting.
When things began to slow down a bit, I was able to get onto the Ike Group website to see what had been going on.
I ran across two threads posted there. One concerning the 1974 S Proof Copper-Nickel clad Micro "S" and another
about the discovery of the the 1972 "S" Business Strike Eisenhower with Die Trails.
I knew that I had an example of the 1974 S Proof Copper-Nickel clad Micro "S" in the safe but where was the question
So I began tearing he safe apart and while I was searching for it I found some 1972 "S" Ikes.
The first one I looked at had Die Trails on it and turned out to be the second example of this coin found.

 

I didn't exactly "find" this coin. I just sort of lucked out at a local coin show.
Back when I had LOTS of holes in my type set I was looking at a dealer's layout in a display case.
In it was a bunch of slabbed and raw coins of various metals and issues.
I noticed an NGC-slabbed $1 gold (1862) that I didn't have yet in my type set.
It was AU-58 which for that particular coin fit my budget and liking nicely.
He must have wanted to get rid of it since he sold it to me at graysheet Bid.

I got it home and was ready to put it into my type set database when someone in a chatroom mentioned there were several DDR and one DDO varieties.
So I got my Breen encyclopedia oout and checked it.
Sure enough it was the DDO!
I shipped it back to NGC and paid to have the variety attribute put on the slab.
But it didn't find its way into my type set; I kept it aside as a "special" coin.
Which means I had to go out and find another coin of that issue for my type set.

BOTTOM LINE: As best I can find its value isn't all that much higher than a regular 1862.
About a 50% premium.

 

This:

http://www.cointalk.com/t10176-311/#post828271

 

My best one so far was the 1988 D reverse 89 transition cent. I became aware of the variety through this forum and then found it ! Ot is one of the 4 on the ANACS pop report with only about 12 known. I was so excited I took it to a local dealer for verification before sending it to CONECA.

 

That is soooooo fantastic! I am now looking for one when I roll search cents. I really hope to find that or a 1985 transitional 1986 cent if possible--- now those would be extremely satisfying finds!

 

Kinda repeat information, but I found an 1821 bust dime in my change from a Safeway U-Scan, that's what really got me into collecting. I also found a 1957-D Washington Quarter in the produce section of Walmart. I love it when that happens!:thumb:

 

Mine came in May of 2010, I have found a lot of wheats, even 1909 VDBs. I didn't really believe people ever found Indians in rolls until I saw this when I spread out the coins from an unwrapped roll:



I literally shrieked when I saw that, jumped up and down and my kids came running in wondering what was going on. I then went and got my camera and took a picture.



I remember growing up when my grandmother would tell tales of having spent Indians and even a FE cent when she was young. I was sort of jealous. In over three years of cent box searching I had never found one, and well I sort of had some element of doubt that people actually found them. In the year and a half since I found this one I have found three more - an 1891, a 1904 and a 1907. The 1891 is the oldest coin I have found from roll searching.

 

Tough to find, but they're out there. I seem to find one every twenty boxes or so here in the philly area... one per 50,000 cents.

 

About 30 years ago I got an Indian penny in change, haven't gotten one since

 

By far the the best find was searching through a box of halves. Received 3x 40%, 1x 64, and a 35-S San Diego half in AU shape! First time i ever found an early commem in a half dollar search.

 

Mine would be from a group of Byzantine scyphates I bought. I bought them for $40 for 45 coins, (many were cruddy but I saw a few decent ones in the pic). When I got the group there was an Ostrogothic coin minted in Rome in 485, basically the first dark age coin struck. Its a rare coin, and worth back then about $300 if you can find one for sale.

I have bought other large lots at auction for $500-$1500 and gotten coins worth a couple hundred, but you kind of hope for that. A $300 coin from a $40 lots was a good find.

Chris

 

I checked the rejects on the coin machine at the bank and noticed what I thought was a button at first...turned out to be an 1853 silver 3 cent! AU details but was bent :/ oh well. I was able to straighten it out more or less and traded it at the coin store foe a 55 Bugs Bunny Franklin in MS64 with gorgeous silvery blue toning.

 

Most exciting to find my wife is supportive of my newfound interest :hail:

 

Here in the Las Vegas area, I have found only 1 IHC in the past 2 years. So you guys on the eastern side have a lot better chance of finding them. It seems you get a lot more wheats per box too ? At least that's what my midwestern friend tells me, compared to what I am seeing here and on the west coast.

Silver is another non-existent item here. But I think that may be because the casino count room and coin companies have used Ryedales for so long. For a time they were a component in every slot machine, even.

 

I have found a grand total of four of them - and I estimate I have probably gone through approximately 900,000 cents since 2006. Lately I have more or less given up most of the cent box searching, and restrict to buying bags of cents from coin machines in banks and credit unions. I search cents, nickels, dimes(very occasionally) and all the halves I can find. I got three 40%ers today from the one credit union. BTW I have lots of accounts here and there, nothing opens doors like opening an account.

 

my best find was my 1922 d lincoln. i got a bag of coins given to me by my great grandma about 7 years ago.

 

My most exciting find was my 1942 2/1 Mercury Dime. It came from an old antique 10 cent slot machine that my grandpa bought. He had 3 rolls of 1942 Mercs, and I found it in the 2nd roll. This was about a month ago. He has passed away, and I always wonder if his eyes were bad and he simply missed the overdate, or if he actually planted that on purpose so that one day I would have the thrill of my life.

 

Cool find, I remember when you found that. I am betting he simply missed it. There is a big reason silver dollars are so popular with collectors, they are easy to read! Seriously, small coins take sharper eyes, and this hobby isn't exactly known for its low average collector age.

Not trying to ride your coattails, but I had forgotten about my mercury overdate in answering this question. Its been so long since I collected US seriously, I had simply forgotten about US finds like 32s quarters, mercury overdates, and double die 58 SL halves. I still will go with my cool little Ostrogothic coin as the most exciting to me personally.