Does anyone have crazy/interesting stories about how they found rare/valuable/in some way special coin(s)?
Kinda... I walked into the only coin shop in town, looked in the bargin bin, and found this thing. So, I bought it for like... $20, and I got a discount on a peace dollar.
I am not trying to burst your bubble, but that 1935-D Mercury is MS62/63 and is worth about $30-$35. Now if it had full bands, that would have been a find in the bargain box. The first year of the modern proof sets was 1936. All proofs since 1936 were struck either at Philadelphia or San Francisco. Since his coin is a 1935-D, there is no way it can be a proof.
Do varieties count? I search ebay and heritage routinely. One day I noticed a IHC ending on a Tuesday. I knew the variety and confirmed it by doing a bunch of search. Of course at that point less than 10 of them were known. I paid a little more than the grade was worth - it was an 1882 snow-6, bought 105 then sold $1500. Works for me.
Surprise from the Past I swallowed a Mercury Dime when I was a baby. The 1944 D dime ran its due course and my mother retreived it from my diaper. She cleaned and saved it, and eventually returned it to me. I recently discovered I still have the dime. Now, I wonder...would the third party grading folks forgive my mom for cleaning the coin--back in 1955?
Not sure about that - we have to hear from Doug. I think cleaning was acceptable by a certain percentage of collectors. Plus - depending on how she cleaned it may still be acceptable.
Yeah, I know it is not the BEST find ever, but it was still a nice deal, and it has really nice luster, so I can lie to my self and pretend it is to par with a MS-65...
Good roll finds! Found a 1928 Canadian penny in a plastic-wrapped Brinks roll from the change safe at work! I'm used to seeing Canadian coins mixed in with the US ones, but this was the oldest one I've seen in real life, and in decent shape, too. A younger customer paid for gas with an old paper-wrapped roll of 1964 dimes once, too. I've been saving all the silver dimes and quarters I find, but getting $5 worth all at once? That made my week!
Some of my best finds were more recent. I have found TWO 1921 standing liberty quarters in 40 coin lots for approximately melt($3 or so). The first one, the 1 is very weak and easily overlooked in hand. It is definitely there, but you have to look at the coin under angled light to see it clearly. The second one, the "1" is much more distinct and I'm surprised it wasn't pulled out. Here they are.
