Alright, I'm back, here's some pics, then the story below.
Front...
Back...never looked close at these, not bad looking...
And a close-up...
I work in the self storage industry and today, a long time renter moved out of a space he has occupied since January 1994.
Ever watch Hoarders on cable?
I can't describe this pile of tetanus the guy threw in this 15x20 space 16 years ago, put a lock on the door and never came back to even visit.
He did pay his bills, mostly on time for years, but in the last year I had to chase him down every month for payments to keep him from being certified for auction.
He eventually paid the company I work for over $30,000 dollars over time...unbelievable!
Anyway, a few days ago he sent a moving company to move most of his stuff, but they left a few things they couldn't move.
Today, he sent another guy to pick up the rest.
He still left me a pretty big mess to clean up so I am real happy about that.
When the second guy was done, there was some papers and garbage on the ground around the front of this outdoor unit, so I kicked it all back into the space so my property would look good and I am going to clean it up in the next couple of days.
Then I looked down and saw what I thought was a penny laying on the driveway..
But it looked a little strange.
When I picked it up I realized it was Canadian, and when I looked at the date it was 1949.
Cool!
Not a wheatie but kind of like one!
Curious, I googled 1949 Canadian penny to see how much it was worth.
A penny, 5 cents, maybe a dime, that would have been fine.
Turns out, one particular kind this coin is pretty rare, a certain kind which is called "A to denticle".
I found out a denticle is those little lines that come straight down off the rim.
A to denticle means that top of one of the A's in the word Gratia points to a denticle, not between two of them.
Then I saw a post on a website that addressed the same question of worth that I had..
"The wording on the front of the coin is Latin. The critical word is 'gratia' - and the middle 'a' in that word.
Denticles are the little ridges around the outer edges of the coin. If the tip of the 'A' points between two of the ridges, it is 'a off denticle' and if it points directly to the denticle it is 'a to denticle'. The latter is the valuable one."
So far so good. The first A on my coin appears to point to a denticle.
Further research on sales of these coins got me real confused because some sites and e bay had this rare coin worth anywhere from a couple of bucks to 10 bucks for a circulated coin and $35 in vg condition and $90 in fine or extra fine.
Other sites had this thing worth almost nothing to just a little.
Then I found this sale of a MS64 condition coin for $550 (Canadian).
http://www.icollector.com/1949-A-to-denticle-ICCS-MS64-Red-Ver_i5927405
I have no idea what grade this particular coin I now own would be.
Not that much into coin grading.
Then I found this site which has several posts about this particular coin.
http://www.coincommunity.com/numism...m/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=26573
They seem to concentrate on the second A pointing to denticle, not the first.
Looking at the pictures on the different posts, however got me more confused than ever because in some it appears the first A points to a denticle in some the second in others.
The difference seems to be in microns, and these old eyes have a little trouble with all this close-up stuff, nowadays.
The authority quoted on these seems to point to the second A being the important one, not the first.
I am so confused at this point I really have no idea what is going on.
I know I have something worth at least a penny, maybe it might be worth a couple of bucks, or maybe a few more than that.
I guess I will join stealers recommended site or some other and see what they say.
Whatever it turns out to be, at least I had a couple of exciting hours tonight.
Almost as fun as digging something rare, but I would still rather be digging!
Thanks all!
HH