When I worked for Coin World, I was Secretary of the local coin club. The Treasurer was the number two man in the local police force. He had an arrangement whereby all of the coins collected in the city's parking meters were delivered to his office so that he could check them before they were deposited. Over the years he found two or three $2-1/2 gold pieces that had been deposited as dimes (they are essentially the same size).
When I worked for Harlan J. Berk in Chicago we once bought the CTA's accumulation of rejects from the fare box counting machines. I would go through it when times were slow. Found a Mexican 2-1/2 Peso gold coin that was close in size to the smaller fare tokens then in use. Also found a Polish silver coin from the late 1600's that was about the size of a nickel.
Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
@mannie gray said:
I have not.
Nor have I heard from someone that I would believe that has.
Honest truth.
I bought a bag of junk at a local auction last year for $15.00 that had a holed, soldered gold dollar in it. It was crap, but it was gold. Nobody looked.
I also won 5 rolls of dimes for $30.00 that day. Three of them were rolls of mercs....again, nobody looked. Everybody thought I was crazy paying that for dimes.
My dad was in charge of cleanup after some of the high school football games when I was a kid. I would find all kinds of silver under the bleachers and around the concession stand while picking up the paper wrappers & cups.
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
Way back in the early days of eBay, I bought a coin collection at auction. It was a single picture showing mostly silver coins. I won and when it arrived, the face value of the silver coins was more than I paid. There was also a 1/4 ounce gold bar tucked in one of the coin tubes. I am talking about $1200 face value of silver by the way. There was so much more in the box than you could see in the image on eBay.
The good ole days when it seemed everything was an auction and there was no sniping. Man did I clean up then.
A few years back I was throwing out old proof and mint set packages. Fortunately I collect the decals, tokens, and ephemera that come with these since there was an old Australian kangaroo proof set box that had some fancy stuff embedded in it. Trying to remove a piece of what I thought was gold foil imagine my surprise when it turned out to be about 3/4 OZ of 10 K gold!
I'd found little tiny gold bars in junk before but never a big chunk like this, and in "garbage" no less.
I once got a box of quarters from the bank. Opened a roll and found a gold............ colored chuck e cheese coin.... made my heart stop for about 5 seconds
@Wabbit2313 said:
Way back in the early days of eBay, I bought a coin collection at auction. It was a single picture showing mostly silver coins. I won and when it arrived, the face value of the silver coins was more than I paid. There was also a 1/4 ounce gold bar tucked in one of the coin tubes. I am talking about $1200 face value of silver by the way. There was so much more in the box than you could see in the image on eBay.
The good ole days when it seemed everything was an auction and there was no sniping. Man did I clean up then.
In the 1970’s my mom bought an empty trunk at a garage sale for $2 or $3. When she got home, she found an envelope that had become wedged under the fabric liner or a board (don’t know the exact story). Inside the envelope was a $5 Liberty 1880. A bit dirty...more like cruddy.
In 2003, I was walking in Central Park and found a 1920 Dos Pesos coin in a bezel. I feel really bad for the person who lost it, and would gladly not have it if she could have it again!
Comments
I have not.
Nor have I heard from someone that I would believe that has.
I wish.
When I worked for Coin World, I was Secretary of the local coin club. The Treasurer was the number two man in the local police force. He had an arrangement whereby all of the coins collected in the city's parking meters were delivered to his office so that he could check them before they were deposited. Over the years he found two or three $2-1/2 gold pieces that had been deposited as dimes (they are essentially the same size).
When I worked for Harlan J. Berk in Chicago we once bought the CTA's accumulation of rejects from the fare box counting machines. I would go through it when times were slow. Found a Mexican 2-1/2 Peso gold coin that was close in size to the smaller fare tokens then in use. Also found a Polish silver coin from the late 1600's that was about the size of a nickel.
I bought a 90% Struck Thru Cloth (now in PCGS Plastic) silver dime from a man who found the coin in a dealers silver junk bin
No. I did find a few golden dollars people claimed were gold.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
A friend was in the bank when the teller opened a roll of dimes and it was $2.50 gold pieces.
He convinced her to let him have.... ONE
Dang.
This was in the 60's.
Back in the early 1960’s my local bank got the parking meter cents and saved them for me. I found an Indian Head $2 1/2 in one bag.
other dealer across town, found some small foreign gold coins in a bag of junk foreign
I have never been that lucky..... but I continue to look....yard sales, antique shops and metal detecting around old ruins. Cheers, RickO
Honest truth.
I bought a bag of junk at a local auction last year for $15.00 that had a holed, soldered gold dollar in it. It was crap, but it was gold. Nobody looked.
I also won 5 rolls of dimes for $30.00 that day. Three of them were rolls of mercs....again, nobody looked. Everybody thought I was crazy paying that for dimes.
I have not but I am happy for those that have.
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Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Someone will find one of my most recent $5 Liberty Half Eagle give away contest
My dad was in charge of cleanup after some of the high school football games when I was a kid. I would find all kinds of silver under the bleachers and around the concession stand while picking up the paper wrappers & cups.
I knew it would happen.
Great thread! I simply cannot imagine getting a roll of dimes for $5 and having it turn out to be all Indian 2.50 coins. That would be incredible!
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I don't wait for such luck, I just go buy gold coins if I feel like I want one.
I've heard of someone finding an 01-S quarter in junk silver.
Collector, occasional seller
no i never have
No, never been so lucky.
Not yet, but I keep on looking.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
Wow... a roll of $2.5 gold pieces?!! Wow... I'd buy that for $5!!
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Way back in the early days of eBay, I bought a coin collection at auction. It was a single picture showing mostly silver coins. I won and when it arrived, the face value of the silver coins was more than I paid. There was also a 1/4 ounce gold bar tucked in one of the coin tubes. I am talking about $1200 face value of silver by the way. There was so much more in the box than you could see in the image on eBay.
The good ole days when it seemed everything was an auction and there was no sniping. Man did I clean up then.
A few years back I was throwing out old proof and mint set packages. Fortunately I collect the decals, tokens, and ephemera that come with these since there was an old Australian kangaroo proof set box that had some fancy stuff embedded in it. Trying to remove a piece of what I thought was gold foil imagine my surprise when it turned out to be about 3/4 OZ of 10 K gold!
I'd found little tiny gold bars in junk before but never a big chunk like this, and in "garbage" no less.
Yes. I found this roll searching years ago. Gold plated

https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
I once got a box of quarters from the bank. Opened a roll and found a gold............ colored chuck e cheese coin.... made my heart stop for about 5 seconds
About 10 years ago, I bought a bag of silver Mexican pesos at melt and found a gold 20 peso mixed in !!!
Nice!
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That's awesome!
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Yes.
In the 1970’s my mom bought an empty trunk at a garage sale for $2 or $3. When she got home, she found an envelope that had become wedged under the fabric liner or a board (don’t know the exact story). Inside the envelope was a $5 Liberty 1880. A bit dirty...more like cruddy.
In 2003, I was walking in Central Park and found a 1920 Dos Pesos coin in a bezel. I feel really bad for the person who lost it, and would gladly not have it if she could have it again!
He who knows he has enough is rich.
I like those little two peso coins!
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