Hello all, I have a coin I was wondering about. On the Obverse (I think it's the obverse, this coin doesn't really have a 'heads' or 'tails'), it says "Republica Portuguesa," "1964," and it has a picture of a ship. On the reverse, It has a shield with four stars around it and underneath it says "2$50". The coin is silver in color and does not feel particularly light or heavy. Does anyone know what this coin is worth? Why it has the USD '$' symbol on it? Thanks in advance, Kenneth P.S. Sorry I can't supply a picture, my camera is busted.
The $ is is not exclusively used to represent US dollars. It is also used for "Peso" in Mexico and "Escuedo" in Portugal.
Thank you. It is definitely NOT BU, but that's as much as I can tell. It is circulated, but in what I would call very-good-considering-it's-circulated condition. It is not scratched at all and still has a lot of its original luster, and has almost entirely even toning. Not that you would be able to tell the exact price from that description, so everything I just said was probably not worth writing. :computer: Interesting. I thought I read somewhere that the $ symbol came from the letter U over the letter S (as in United States) and then was simplified to an S with two (or sometimes one) vertical strikes. I'll have to read up more on why Mexico and Portugal use it and where it came from. Thanks to both of you for your help!
One of these days I'm gonna have to see about "editing" that article and presenting the best origin explanation of all
The 2$50 coin doesn't worth more than a few dollars, the CN coins only worth something in UNC/BU. Regarding the $ sign, we've used since the XVI century (D. Manuel I) for bookkeeping (example: 2$000 = two thousand reais), but we're pretty sure Portuguese don't came up with that and the $ sign its an older symbol. If you don't mind using a online translator here's a link to the discussion in the Portuguese numismatic forum: http://www.forum-numismatica.com/viewtopic.php?t=856 Be warn, some theories are a bit sarcastic... And it can happen that the $ have a few completely different origins or was simply used trough several moments in time to fit certain uses (as monetary symbol insted of the example above), we humans tend to use symbols we find interesting in anything (to replace words), if more people like those "signs" or "symbols", they could became widespread and in this case the $ sign is definitely a "hit". Jose
Thank you. It is definitely NOT BU, but that's as much as I can tell. It is circulated, but in what I would call very-good-considering-it's-circulated condition. It is not scratched at all and still has a lot of its original luster, and has almost entirely even toning. Not that you would be able to tell the exact price from that description, so everything I just said was probably not worth writing. Actually this gives a very good picture of its value. These can be pulled out of poundage which puts its value at about a dime but they are somewhat unusual with any remaining luster. If there were any real demand for these coins then this would be about a $10 coin but, of course, with no demand it doesn't really have a premium. Things are changing with the modern coins which is why the uncirculated version of this coin lists at $45 now. Even though the demand for these is tiny the supply of most moderns is nearly non-existent. This particular date is probably fully priced by Krause.
Jeeze. Apparently things are changing with the moderns faster than I can keep up. I was thumbing through my 2005 Krause yesterday and saw that the '64 2.5 E lists for $20 now in XF. The last time I looked a few years back it was a dime. You'd probably have a very hard time getting $20 for it since there are few buyers. It really is a tough coin though and someday there should be demand.
