I just received several coins and I have a couple of questions since I haven't seen these issues yet: 1 - Are there any rare/valuable Army Navy tokens? If so, can someone supply a link. I've been doing Google searches, but haven't found any links with decent pics/price guides. I got one today that appears to have several unique issues. (Ex: 7 stars on her hat instead of 6, an "L" above the date, the "A" in NAVY is lighter on the reverse, minor doubling on reverse, etc.) 2 - How can you tell the difference between a V nickel that was dipped in an alternate metal vs one that was originally created with an alternate metal? (I have one that looks more like the metal used on an indian cent vs the silver color that my other V nickels have.) Thanks! Army Navy Coin (Seems to have a star on the reverse that others don't have, an L on the obverse above date & misc other issues): 1883 V nickel (My others all look silver as seen on the R, this one on the L looks bronze instead...dipped?)
I can't help you with number 1. As far as number two, it's most likely plated. I've heard of the v-nickel being struck on a copper nickel planchet used in another country, but it's still silver in color. I've NEVER heard of a v-nickel being struck on copper. Also, please post a picture of it! Is this what your talking about? This is what a nickel looks like after its been in the ground for some time.
No...It's a very common date V nickel, but in pretty good condition (not dug). It's been holed, so I'm assuming it's dipped, but I haven't been able to find any silver metal showing through near the hole, so I wanted to ask. Let me get some pics of both issues posted to make it easier to describe. The Army & Navy coin is starting to seem more unusual the more I research it. I've been going through pics on HA.com's site and noticed that mine has a star on the reverse above the word ARMY that those don't appear to have & has some other upraised mark on the very bottom of the reverse. It's a shame that the most expensive one seems to be going for around $100, because this coin seems different. It's the first token I've owned, so I'd love to hear from others who collect these or have a book about them.
I'm not up on these but I can point you to a place where the folks are both knowledgeable and helpful...... http://www.numissociety.com/forumdi...tes-Exonumia-Tokens-Medals-and-Commemoratives
Thanks Green. I'm headed there now. Just posted a couple Detecto. If either of these do end up being unique, I'll take them out of the squares and get better pics.
Try this link: http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1121&lotNo=6235 There are Liberty nickels struck on cent planchets, foriegn placnchets, etc. The first thing one should do when faced with a copper-looking Liberty nickel is to weigh it.
I just weighed it, but I don't know how accurate the reading will be since there's a hole in it. It weighed in at 5.08 grams. For comparison's sake since I don't know how accurate this little scale is, I used the same scale (without moving it) and weighed the other V nickel. It came in at 4.67 grams. That nickel is worn more. Let me see if I have any others handy to also weigh. Ok, after weighing another normal V nickel, it shows up at 4.76 grams.
The army navy token is from the civil war probably 1863. On Ebay a price guide to civil war tokens is on sale. Good luck finding prices for tokens, medals, etc. Usually you need to look at heritage auctions or do a general search on Google to find the price. good luck
From what I understand civil war tokens were privately made to take the place of coinage; which was scarce at the time. So many varieties exist, you may not find the same combination often. I think the key to civil war token worth is the rarity of one of the dies. The army navy die I think is fairly common, but the other die may not be.
Thanks! It looks like I may need to invest in a Fuld book then. Ah, ha! I think I figured out why my V nickel looks like this. It must be a racketeer nickel. Check out this blurb I found on the web: http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/Liberty-Nickel-key-dates.html "The new Liberty Nickel, also called the "V" Nickel, was released into circulation in February, 1883. Very soon thereafter, the Mint realized a serious omission on the new "V" nickel design had occurred. No where on the coin did the word "CENTS" appear. This oversight gave swindlers the idea of gold-plating the coins, and passing them off as $5 gold coins! Since the Liberty Nickel was new, many victims were taken in. The word "CENTS" was quickly added to the reverse, creating two major varieties of the Liberty Nickel in 1883. These gold-plated "V" nickels came to be known as "Racketeer Nickels" and carry a slight premium due to their connection to one of the strangest events in American numismatics."
The Fuld book will tell you how rare a die is but not how much it is worth (at least not an up to date version). I do not have the book I mentioned before, but it is only about $23 and may give you an up to date price guide. Just checked the EBay listing. You would need the Fuld book along with the price guide to determine worth.
Hello PittsburghMom, Here are some previous threads describing the “racketeer nickel” & the Josh Tatum fiction which was mandatory reading in the ANA correspondence course. http://www.cointalk.com/t174135/ http://www.cointalk.com/t152749/ http://www.cointalk.com/t139946/ http://www.cointalk.com/t86377/ http://www.cointalk.com/t44983/
Thank you for the extra links Collect89. They've been very informative. Mine doesn't have the reeding, so it could be a more recent version. Even if that's the case, it's still worth more than I paid for the entire group of coins, so I'm thrilled with this purchase!
There are 36 different Army and Navy dies. 13 of them have some kind of star between the ends of the wreath. 2 have a large star like yours. Yours appears to be die #300. Die #300 only comes paired with dies #16 and 18. 18 does not have the L above the date. So you have a 16/300 in copper and it is an R-3 which would be between 501 and 2000 pieces estimated to exist. Those numbers may sound low but it is actually a fairly common piece. (Better than an 18/300 which is an R-2) Now that you know specifically what it is you may have a little better luck searching out a value on Heritage or somewhere else. There is only one comprehensive pricing guide to the Civil War tokens and it was published almost 14 years ago. Unfortunately the author has died so it will probably be a long time before anyone else tries to do one or revise the existing one.
That's a huge help Conder. Do you have the name of the book or author in case I decide to purchase more tokens in the future? I'm assuming that the coin is only worth $25 - $30, but it's still much more than I paid. Also, the reverse appears to be rotated 90 degrees and has some doubling in case that adds any value. Regardless, thanks again for looking into it for me!
This is the standard for tokens of the 19th century. The cost is from $40 up. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sta...1002388095?ean=9780873414791&itm=4&usri=rulau
Yes but that book only touches on civil war tokens. The guide I mentioned is The Civil War Token Collectors Guide: Including Complete Token Valuations Year 2002 by Bryon Kanzinger and it wasn't quite as long ago as I thought, published in 2001. Hardbound runs between $55 and $70. I've found a seller who has a new paperback for $25 and a used one for $20
