Young kids growing up in the 1960s often made unexpected discoveries in their pocket change. It was an era long before distractions the likes of video games or social networking was even imagined so they had time to search and enjoy taking a closer look at their coins. Frankly, the thought of having a phone you could carry in your pocket or, more incredibly on your wrist, was left to science fiction the likes of detective Dick Tracy....
What those youngsters (and adults alike) regularly stumbled across were Indian Head pennies or Buffalo nickels issued decades prior. Indian pennies had gone away in 1908 – replaced by the Lincoln cent. The Buffalo nickel, also sporting the portrait of an Indian, ceased production in 1938 in lieu of the still-circulating Jefferson variety. In the 1950s and ‘60s, casual coin collecting was in its heyday. It sometimes provided the chance for sudden profits from a coin with a rare date or mintmark. That still happens decades later.
In the 1980s, a secretary at a firm where I worked stumbled across a few coins in a forgotten drawer. She asked me to take a look. Among them was one of those Indian Head pennies. It was in amazing condition – close to how it might have looked when first minted. The date wasn’t super rare but, thanks to its condition, its value was over $1,000. That was for a lowly penny.
Equally exciting and profitable are some modern coins such as those from the 1940s and ‘50s in exceptional condition. They are out there en masse but too frequently overlooked or ignored.
One such coin is a common penny from 1945. Over 266 million of those were minted that year in Denver. Scads of them still remain in collector hands. Over time, copper pennies often change in color from a bright red to dark brown. It’s the nature of the metal. Collectors always prefer and pay a premium for the red variety.
A particularly nice specimen of a 1945 cent in lustrous red color and impeccable condition (graded 68 on a scale of 1 to 70) just sold at auction. Catalogs suggest the value for a “common” penny from the 1940s in that condition could be $400 or $500. Last month, that cent was hammered down for just under $10,000. One from 1918 in that same “68” grade with an original mintage of 300 million sold for over $30,000. In both cases, the dates weren’t the rarity. The condition was.
Those coins aren’t unique but were in the same amazing condition as coins still in original mint rolls such as those buried in old dressers or overlooked safe deposit boxes. When the value of just one penny can be enough to pay for a new car, it’s always worth a second look.
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Here’s an intriguing if not predictive factoid recently included in an issue of Coin World – the numismatic hobby’s leading trade publication. As we all know, thieves make a handsome profit stealing the catalytic converters found underneath vehicles. Those tubular components of the exhaust system contain platinum and/or palladium, the precious metals that help remove or reduce hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide from emissions. At current prices, between $200 and $400 worth of platinum or palladium is in each converter.
Now, reports are out that silver is being used more and more in the manufacture of modern vehicles. Coin World reported over 60 million ounces of the precious metal being used in vehicles back in 2021. As of this year, upwards of 80 million ounces of silver is being used in the automotive manufacturing process. It’s only expected to grow.
Silver is a key ingredient in automotive air conditioners, window defrosters, and back-up cameras. On top of that, silver excels in conducting electricity and is being used widely in batteries. That means its use will continue to increase exponentially in electric vehicle manufacturing.
A big takeaway from this could be two-fold. First, it’s entirely feasible this need, use and demand may result in silver prices heading northward. No guarantee but possible. Second, it could also increase the reclamation of silver from used and scrapped autos and trucks.
This all harkens back to 1980 when silver hit $50 per ounce and people were melting down everything from silver tea services to vintage US silver dollars. It could be interesting and profitable to see what will happen to prices in the coming years.
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