#coin varieties

[bwcoin]

1893 quarters and the varieties that will fund your coffee addiction

gather 'round children, it's story time about how ONE QUARTER almost made someone $350 richer.

clears throat dramatically

So this person walked into our shop last month with what they thought was a regular 1893 quarter. "probably worth like $150," they said. WRONG. so beautifully, magnificently wrong.

plot twist: it had a die crack variety worth $500

the AUDACITY of this little coin. sitting there, looking all innocent, when it's actually a certified money printer.

other sneaky valuable features to look for:

die crack varieties (the holy grail of "wait what")

original mint luster (adds 50% because shiny = money)

toronto vs london mint differences (geography matters apparently)

doubled "CENTS" lettering (when the mint had one job...)

moral of the story: check your 1893 quarters before you sell them because they might be funding your next semester/vacation/existential crisis.

We're literally coin detectives and we live for this drama.

[theoman]

1960s Pennies – Large Date vs Small Date

Looking at the image above, the large date is on the left, and the small date is on the right.

If you look closely, the large date 1960s pennies will have the 9 and the 6 closer together. Under a microscope, the 9 on the large date will go higher than the 1. The 6 also has a slightly longer tail. The large dates also feature a slightly larger 0.

The small date 1960s pennies will have a noticeable gap between the 9 and the 6. Under a microscope, the 9 will be the same height as the 1, and they have a slightly smaller 0.

The absolute easiest way to tell just by looking at them without a microscope is by looking at the gap between the 9 and the 6. Once you've seen the gap in the large date vs the small date, you'll never confuse the two again. A gap equals small date, while no gap equals large date.