January 2013 MTCs

 

1/1/2013

MAINE, Ellsworth. 1963 Bicentennial and Total Eclipse of the Sun Half Dollar. Starting price was $24.50 with FREE shipping. Not surprisingly, it received no bids, even though it was described as "a seldom seen merchant trade token SCD So-Called Half Dollar"! The following week it was offered again at the same price - still no bids. This should be a $5 to $6 item in uncirculated condition.

 

1/3/13

Hawaii. 1976 Aloha Dollar, Bicentennial Musicians reverse. Opened for $19.95 with FREE shipping. Although harder to find than the Aloha Dollars with the regular reverse, this one is worth a bit more than half of what it was offered for. No bids. The seller offered it again the following week at the same price - still no bids. I guess the seller was wondering why his coin was not selling so he offered it once again, but adjusted the price upwards by $5! It still did not sell for $24.95 - nor did it sell at that higher opening price the following four weeks. Finally offered during the final week of February for 99¢, still with FREE shipping, and it received 8 bids and sold for $17.05! There is a lesson in those numbers, sellers!

 

1/4/13

Alaska, Sitka. 1963 Alaska's Historical Capital Silver Trade Dollar. Offered for $28.99 plus $2 shipping , it received no bids even though priced reasonably. Offered the next 3 weeks, each time for $1 less, it finally sold for $26.99, which was just about right. One of the few easily obtainable silver municipal coins.

 

1/4/13

Vermont, Essex. 1963 Bicentennial. Good For One Day's Enjoyment. Nickel silver, with the obverse selectively gold plated. About Uncirculated. Some may question that this is a legitimate MTC because of the unusual "denomination", but I will be listing it. To fit the definition, MTCs need to be TOKENS - to state that they are good for something. I think this fits the bill. Only the second one I have seen, and exactly as the last, it appears to have had a loop removed at the top. I was thrilled to be able to pick this one up for the opening bid of $6.95 plus $1.99 shipping. A nice plus was that the condition was an improvement over my original specimen!

 

1/4/13

Texas, (San Antonio). "1845" The Alamo Penny. Not a true MTC, but because of the denomination, many will collect it. Not especially scarce, but I must have thought it was worth more than the $4.20 with FREE shipping that I won it for.

 

1/4/13

Arizona, Tombstone. "1879" Souvenir Dollar for Helldorado Days. Set of two, copper and aluminum. The copper issue is pretty common, and most collectors have it. The aluminum issue, exactly the same design, is more recent, but is the scarcer of the two varieties. The pair ought to be worth about $10, but this lot was offered for $15 plus $3, and there was a single bidder.

 

1/4/13

Iowa, Goldfield. 1955 Centennial Quarter. The same token with edge damage offered unsuccessfully last month for $5 plus $3, this time offered for 99¢ plus $3 shipping. This time there was a single bidder who won it for 99¢ - really $3.99, with the shipping. About right, I suppose.

 

1/4/13

Florida, Ocala. Pay Dirt Dollar, 1952. A rare silver colored plastic issue for the annual rodeo and celebration. Offered at $3.99 plus a very reasonable 95¢ shipping, this lot drew 9 bids and ended up at $8.59. I think it is a $20 item.

 

1/6/13

Virginia, Charlottesville. 1962 200th Anniversary Half Dollar  Lewis and Clark Variety. This issue is harder to find than its 5,000 mintage would suggest. This About Uncirculated example started off at $4.95 plus $1.95 shipping. Four bids sent the sale price up to $6.50, which is just about right.

 

1/7/13

Kansas Statehood. 1961 Official Centennial Coin in Sterling Silver. Variety marked METAL ARTS / STERLING. Starting price was just 1¢ plus $2 shipping, but the 5 submitted bids, each by a different bidder, were all $10 or more, finishing at $20.50. The final price was just a couple bucks on the bargain side, I think. I also think that this is the scarcer of the two silver varieties.

 

1/8/13

California, Pittsburg. 1987 60 Years of Bowling in Pittsburg. In the style of a Pioneer Era $50 gold piece. Not a Municipal, but I bought it to add to my "wannabe" collection - items that have some of the characteristics of a MTC issue, but just don't make it. This one started at 99¢ plus $3 shipping, and sold for a bid of $8.27 after 8 bids.

 

1/8/13

Montana, Plentywood. 1962 50th Anniversary Half Dollar. Not a rare issue, but seen less often than its 5,000 mintage would suggest. I think it is a 5 or 6 dollar item. This choice example sold for $9.50 plus a hefty $4 shipping charge. This community just had its Centennial - I can't help but wonder if this town of 1,700 issued another coin.

 

1/8/13

South Dakota, Sioux Falls. Dakota Territory Centennial Half dollar, Redeemable until 12/31/1960. This is one of the most common of all Municipal Trade Coins. A phenomenal 300,000 were produced, and were used throughout the state during 1960 and 1961. Despite the December 1960 redemption date, they were accepted for redemption until the end of the following year. Very, very common. I think these are worth about $2.50 in nice uncirculated condition. This one offered for an opening bid of $9.50, or a Buy It Now price of $12.50, either one with a very high $4.00 shipping fee. Not surprisingly, there were no bids - however the seller was determined and offered it again and again in the following weeks. The first week it was dropped down 25¢ to a $9.25 start. Then to $8.50. Trying a different strategy, the seller raised it to $9.99 the following week and then went down a bit again in the middle of February to $8.99 when someone bid on it, and even bid a second time at the last seconds to make sure no one snatched it away from him. I seems like a lot of money for a common piece, but who can tell - this may be the future of Municipals! But be very cautious - see the next item for a good example of how prices of MTCs can fluctuate.

 

1/8/13

Missouri, Buckner. 1975 Centennial Dollar. Bronze. Offered for $6.95 plus $1.95 shipping. No one else bid on this, so I won it for the opening bid. Actually very scarce, this piece once brought a bid of $69 when offered back in 1992! At least three of these have been offered on ebay in the last year or two, so apparently the collector demand has been met - for now.

 

1/9/13

Alabama, Montgomery. 1961 Civil War Centennial Half Dollar. Goldene. With a very large mintage of 30,000, this piece is readily obtainable. However the Confederate Half Dollar replica on the obverse and the Civil War theme makes it perennially popular. There always seem to be buyers for these Confederacy related pieces at reasonable prices. I would think $3.50 to $4.00 would be its current value to a MTC collector, but this uncirculated specimen was offered for $6.95 plus $1.95 shipping and did get the one necessary bidder to sell at that price.

 

1/9/13

Michigan, Houghton. 1961 Centennial Half Dollar. Copper. Unusual in that this is one of the few MTCs issued in copper, but not at all scarce, as the 10,000 mintage will keep specimens available for some time to come. A single bid at the opening of $6.95 + $1.95 won this choice specimen.

 

1/9/13

Nebraska, Alliance. 1963 Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar. Goldene - the most common of the three finishes it is known in. Only one bidder, so it sold at its $6.95 + $1.95 start. Scarce, and worth just about what the buyer got it for.

 

1/10/13

Ohio, Painsville. Undated Lake County Fair 35¢ Admission token. Looks like late 1940's to early 1950's. Kind of on the border of being a MTC, but at the present time Fair tokens are not listed unless they also note some sort of anniversary, or hint that they might be used at other locations than the Fairgrounds. Three bids sent this one up to $8.00 plus shipping calculated by the buyer's zip code.

 

1/10/13

California, Visalia. 1976 U. S. Bucentennial 76¢ piece. This is a dollar sized aluminum private issue from Ed and Clara's Coins. A small issue of 500 pieces that was issued to coin collectors, so they still remain in collector's hands, but they are not easy to find. My guess is that they are worth about $7.50. This one was offered at $19.95 plus $2.75 shipping, but no one bid. The seller relisted and it was immediately bought on a Buy It Now for the same price.

 

1/11/13

Kansas, Leavenworth. 1973 Buffalo Bill Cody Days Dollar. The fifth year for this series. Start price was $6.50 plus $2.15 postage. Only one bidder for this piece with a mintage of 1,000 pieces who I think won it for just a bit less than it is worth.

 

1/12/2013

Hawaii, Maui. 2007 Maui Trade Dollar. Started at just 99¢ with FREE shipping, this drew 9 bids and ended at $13.83. This is the way to sell on ebay - start low and let the collectors determine the value. To judge by the prices others have brought recently, if this had been started at $7.50, it would not have sold! It seems like collectors get into the excitement of the auction and bid again and again.

 

1/13/2013

Hawaii, Maui. 1996 Maui Trade Dollar. Another Maui Dollar - this the much scarcer Silver version, in its presentation case. One bidder, two bids. Sold for the opening bid of $65 Plus $4.95 shipping. This price seems a little bit high - more than double the silver value - but it costs the same as the current issue from the Maui Trade Dollar Association, so I guess it is reasonable. The Association asks $79.00 for this issue.

 

1/15/13

California, Santa Catalina Island. 1994 Catalina Island Trade Dollar. The fifth issue in this series that ran from 1989 to 1996. Mintage 10,000. Asking a start of $16.75 or a Buy It Now of $18.75, either with FREE shipping, this piece got no bids its first week online, but it did sell for $16.75 on the second go round. I've got a couple rolls of these that I'd love to be able to sell at that level!

 

1/15/13

Michigan, Jones. 1976 U. S. Bicentennial 25¢. An unusual small sized copper issue that I don't know much about. You don't see these around very often, but they are out there. Offered at $2 plus $1.75 shipping, no one else wanted it so I ended up with it at the start price. Probably a $5 item.

 

1/15/13

Maryland, Wicomico County. 1964 "Official Coin". Bronze. At one time I thought these were rare, but now I regard them as only scarce and worth maybe 6 or 8 bucks. This one started at 99¢ and I was the second and final bidder at only $1.04. Not bad! A bargain for my stack.

 

1/15/13

Alaska, Fairbanks. 1962 America's Last Frontier Dollar. Apparently SILVER. This one was exciting - for a while. The 1963 and 1964 coins in this series are known in silver (very scarce with only 49 pieces struck of each), but I had never heard of a silver from 1962. It sure appeared silver in the photo, so I bid a LOT on it and was very pleased when I won it for only $26.00 plus shipping! Unfortunately, when it arrived, it turned out to be an ordinary and very common goldene issue, worth less than $5.00. This was not the first time I have thought I was getting a silver issue that turned out to actually be a minor metal. The seller did not tell what metal it was struck in, and it was too late to get a reply back when I came across the piece shortly before it closed. So I learned a $26 lesson that could have been much more costly if the other 3 bidders had been more aggressive.

 

1/16/13

Nebraska, Crawford. 1961 Diamond Jubilee 50¢ in oxidized nickel-silver. Only 1,000 of these were issued in this finish, but it shows up relatively frequently. I'd say it is worth $10 or a little bit less. This was offered for $25 plus $4 shipping, and did not sell. Relisted the following week at the same price, but the listing was ended a few days later by the seller because the item was "no longer available".

 

1/18/13

Connecticut, Haddam. 1962 Tercentenary. Haddam is the only community in Connecticut known to have issued MTCs, and is known in two finishes - this one (goldene) being the more common. The start was $6.95 plus $1.95 shipping and there were only two bids, both by the same bidder, so it sold at the opening price. The price was just about right.

 

1/18/13

Virginia, Franklin County. Undated (1960's?) Franklin County Money 5¢, aluminum. Only two bidders for this scarce item which opened at 3.99 with FREE shipping and sold to me for $8.88 - not a bad price for a duplicate.

 

1/18/13

Alaska, Cordova. Undated (1960's) Iceworm Festival 8 Bits. About Uncirculated. A somewhat scarce piece that started out at $5 and sold for $5.50 plus $2 shipping. A good price for a slightly used token. This would have been a bargain price if it had been in mint condition.

 

1/19/13

Hawaii, Maui. 2011 Two Maui Dollars. This one started out at only 99¢ and drew a remarkable 22 bids pushing it up to an even more remarkable $20.51 + $2.00 shipping. This is for a single Two Maui Dollar coin! $5 should have been plenty for this one.

 

1/19/13

Arizona, Lake Havasu City. 1992/93 London Bridge Dollar, 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of America. Brass. Interesting design showing Columbus's three ships sailing right up the Colorado River to the London Bridge. I didn't know they got that far west! 10,000 were made, and still available from the Rotary Club for $12.00, this was put on ebay at $9.95 . A second bid pushed the price up to $10.50 plus $1.95 shipping. I'd call it a $5 to $6 coin, a little harder to find than the three or four issues immediately preceding it.

 

1/21/13

Pennsylvania, Sunbury. 1976 U.S. Bicentennial $2. A surprisingly scarce issue, this uncirculated piece was offered for just 99¢ plus a minuscule 59¢ shipping fee. No one else bid, and I won it for the opening price! I'd call it more like a $10 item.

 

1/21/13

Mississippi, Columbus. 1962 Civil War Centennial Confederate Half Dollar, oxidized brass. Obtainable with a little patience, I see this on ebay two or three times a year I'd value it at $6 or so. Offered at $9.99 plus a postage fee of $3.07, and sold to the single bidder at that price. A bit high, but as mentioned earlier this month, you can sell anything related to the Confederacy.

 

1/21/13

Alabama, Muscle Shoals. 1961 Civil War Centennial Half Dollar. Another of those Confederate issues, this coin with a mintage of 10,000 is readily available but easily sold on ebay. This slightly used example was offered for 99¢. There were 17 bids - mostly two bidders battling it out - and it finally ended at $12.25 plus a $2.50 shipping charge. Worth a couple bucks used, maybe $5 if it were uncirculated.

 

1/22/13

Arizona, Prescott. 1979 Frontier Buck. Seller had a starting price of $14.95 plus $2.75 shipping. Not surprisingly, there were no bidders. Value, about $6.00, and usually available cheaper in sets.

 

1/22/13

Guam, Agana. 1974 Guam Dollar. Guam is a U. S. Possession, so its MTCs are listed here. Popular with collectors of "micro nation" coinages, these usually sell very well on ebay. This unnumbered bronze specimen is the most common variety of this issue and started at $1.99 plus $2.07 shipping. Fourteen bids by 8 different bidders pushed it up to $16.05 - which I think is about right.

 

1/22/13

Pennsylvania, Pithole City/Oil City. 1965 100th Anniversary. Private issue 25¢ by Edward J. Stralko. Start was $3.49 and a second bidder brought the price up to $4.41 plus $2.30 shipping. Scarce. I never was able to find out all the details of this issue, but the mintage was reported to be "less than 1,000 pieces", which seems right based on its availability. I would call it a $7.50 token these days.

 

1/24/13

Indiana, Portland - Jay County. 1966 State Centennial Quarter. Offered at $14 + $2 shipping. A somewhat scarce issue, this one didn't sell because it was started too high and was very slightly circulated. An uncirculated one should be worth about $10. If I had needed it, I would not have let the fact that it was priced a few dollars too high keep me from bidding, and I think most advanced MTC collectors would feel the same.

 

1/24/13

Oregon, Statehood. 1959 Uniface obverse of the typical 1959 MTC issues, struck in nickel-silver. Holed. Many, many times scarcer than the city issued versions of this token - and cataloged and collected by So-Called Dollar collectors - this issue usually brings fairly high prices. Started at 99¢, and four bids sent it up to $26.05. In nice uncirculated condition this usually brings about $50 on ebay, and about $100 if you have it entombed in one of those nasty "slabs". I think this one was a real bargain. If this were just a MTC, and not a SCD as well, it's value would be about $10. In the catalog, this one will be valued at the MTC rate, and noted that it is of interest to SCD collectors as well.

 

1/24/13

Alaska, Fairbanks. 1959 Statehood Dollar. Almost Uncirculated. Among the most common of MTCs, this one had over 200,000 minted during its first year, and additional amounts in later years (all with the same 12/31/1959 redemption date). Worth $2 in uncirculated, this one had bad luck being offered for $14.99 plus a reasonable 99¢ postage. The seller lowered his opening price by $2 and raised his postage fee by $1 and tried again for the next 5 weeks, before finally giving up. At this time you should buy a RARE issue MTC for $14.99 - but that will not be the case forever.

 

1/24/13

Wyoming. Undated (1993) Buffalo Dollar. "Sterling Silver". This was a tourist souvenir made in two sets of 3 finishes and sold originally for $47.50 per set in a plush case. The silver colored one was not marked silver and, strangely, weighed the same as the copper and "gold " issues.  A set with two-tone finishes was available as well. These all soon disappeared and today are scarce, but I can't help but think that there is a warehouse of them out there somewhere. A single "silver" piece was described on ebay as having 30.49 grams of sterling silver, and it started at 99¢, but 4 bidders sent the price up to $27.66 - very close to the value of silver at that time. Postage was an additional $3. Scarce enough to be worth $10 in any finish, but without precious metal content, not worth the price this one brought.

 

1/24/13

Kansas, Cherokee County. 1961 Kansas Statehood Centennial Coin. Cherokee county is a moderately scarce issue in the set of 105 counties. Offered at $7.50 plus $1.50 postage, this one was pushed up a bit to $9.00 by 3 bidders. A $10 coin, this one sold at just about the right price. There has been more and more interest in these Kansas Centennial Coins recently - I think there is a good core of collectors growing. Get them while you can!

 

1/25/13

Oregon, Albany. 1858 Oregon 100th Anniversary Half Dollar. Offered as "Silver". The only official issue was 10,000 pieces in golden brass, or goldene - but local jewelers at the time plated these in silver, nickel or gold and sold them at a premium. Although not silver, and not official - these are collected today. Certainly much scarcer than the regular issue, I don't think these are worth a large premium, as they can easily be made today by anyone with a simple electroplating kit. If you have one you suspect might be silver, weigh it. If it is significantly heavier than the goldene issue you might have a truly rare issue - but I have yet to see even one. Almost forgot - this started at $23, and 3 bidders sent it to $29 plus $2.85 shipping. A real silver one, if one exists, would be a huge bargain at $100, and the goldene issue is worth less than $5.

 

1/25/13

Hawaii. 1973 Aloha Dollar. Sterling Silver. Somewhat scarce even in oxidized brass, this has a reported mintage of only 25 pieces in Sterling Silver - each marked with an incuse SS on the edge. Started off at $27.50 plus $2.80 shipping, 6 bidders submitted a total of 14 bids and it sold at $99.88.

 

1/26/13

Michigan, Fremont. 1954 Centennial Half Dollar. Goldene and holed - as all are. Uncirculated. Start was 99¢ with an option to buy more at your winning bid if you want them. Postage was an additional $1.99. No bids. Offered in succeeding weeks at the same price, after two weeks one sold, and the listing ended. Seemed pretty cheap to me - I'd say it is a $4-$5 issue in uncirculated condition.

 

1/26/13

Arizona, Lake Havasu City. London Bridge Rotary Dollars. Set of 4: The (expiration date) 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 issues, in their standard base metals. Each with a mintage of 25,000. The four are currently available from the issuer for a total of $268, if you are really desperate. These were offered at a start of 99¢ plus $2 shipping and eight bids advanced the price to $20.50 - which is just about what I think they are worth in today's market.

 

1/26/13

Iowa, Emmetsburg 1976 Irish Dollar. Part of the longest running series of MTCs, this 11th issue was offered for only 25¢ - which it sold for to a single bidder. Sounds like a bargain until you add in the $3.95 postage, and then it comes out to be a little more than the $4.00 I catalog it for. Just right! Exactly the same story on the 1974, 1977 and 1978 issues offered by the same seller at the same price - except that no one wanted the 1974 issue. The same bidder bought three issues that did sell, and with the combined shipping deal offered by the seller, the lot came out at a pretty good price!

 

1/26/13

Oregon, Warm Springs. Undated (1960's-70's) Dollar. Aluminum. Worn and beat-up, the gold colored anodized surface almost gone. Worth 4 or 5 bucks in nice condition, I don't see the $8.39 that this one brought. It did look cool and old, which probably is why it brought so much, but it is rather recent. It also comes in a slightly scarcer oxidized brass version which probably came out first. These are listed in the latest version of the MTC catalog, but I am probably going to delete them in the next, as I now believe them to be just trade tokens for use at a casino/recreation complex, and not a "community" coin. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.

 

1/26/13

Indiana, Mount Vernon. 1966 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar. Started at $6.95 plus $1.95 shipping, a single bidder bought this scarce coin. Worth nearly $10.00.

 

1/27/13

Colorado, Statewide. 1959 Centennial "Gold Poke" quarter. This unusual item was a small cellophane pouch printed on the outside with the Centennial Seal and redemption information. Inside were sealed ore tailings from the Boulder Mill. You couldn't see the tailings, but you could feel them inside the opaque packaging. You can bet a lot of these were opened up, especially since the package stated it contained real gold. I know I just had to open my first one up - I absolutely had to see what was in there! I was kind of disappointed, it just looked like plain old gravel to me. An incredible 1,000,000 of these were made, but relatively few are left today. This one started at 99¢ and went up to only $1.78 (plus $2.00 shipping) and was the cheapest I have seen one of these sell for in years. A nice bargain for someone! Expect to pay about $10 to get one of these for your collection.

 

1/27/13

Michigan, Tawas. 1949 Chamber of Commerce Quarter. Not too scarce, but this one was very choice. I think a slightly used one is worth $5 or $6, so this gemmy 64 year old coin ought to be worth at least $10.

 

1/29/13

Montana, Missoula. 1960 Centennial Half Dollar. Very nearly uncirculated. An attractive piece from a popular part of the country, not seen every day, but with a significant mintage of 4,500. Offered at $15 plus $2.24. No sale, the seller just wanted too much. I'd say this piece is worth about $6 today. There is potential there, but there are just not enough collectors right now for it to regularly bring this much - especially with uncirculated ones available.

 

1/29/13

Hawaii. 1983 Centennial Dala, Silver. Among the most common of Hawaiian Silver MTCs. Mintage 10,000 and readily available. Offered at $129.00, this one was another neat coin that didn't sell because it was priced too high. To me this is worth 1 1/2 times silver - at this time that would be about $45. $129.00 was just too much, even with the FREE shipping.

 

1/29/13

Nebraska, Crete. 1967 State Centennial Dollar. Offered for 99¢ plus $2.75 shipping. This one is worth at least $5.00, and I was surprised that there was only one bidder, and that it sold for a very reasonable $3.74, including shipping.

 

1/29/13

Nebraska, Wilber. 1965 Czech Capital of Nebraska Half Dollar. Alright, lets go 9 miles south from Crete to Wilber. Another nice uncirculated token offered by the same seller for just 99¢ + $2.75. Once again, a single bidder took this $4 - $5 token for the opening bid.

 

1/29/13

Alaska, Kodiak. 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake and Tidal Wave. Good for one snort. Private issue by Solly's Office. Aluminum, numbered. I thought I already had this token, but when I checked, I didn't have the numbered version, so I was pleased when I won it for the opening bid of $5 plus $3 shipping. About what it is worth, I suppose.

 

1/30/13

Arizona, Lake Havasu City. 1976 U.S. Bicentennial Dollar. This one started at 99¢ plus $1.50 shipping and three bidders sent the price all the way up to $1.29. Mintage 25,000 and current value about $5.00, this is currently offered on the Lake Havasu City Rotary Club website for $103.00, which is just silly for a large mintage piece like this. However, when you buy it from the website, the profits go to a very good cause.

 

1/30/13

Colorado, Breckenridge. 1978 1 Krone. This scarce issue started at $5.99 and sold for a very reasonable $8.27 plus $1.99 shipping. Easily worth $12.50 - $15.00, this was a nice bargain for a lucky bidder.

 

1/30/13

Ohio, Lexington. 1964 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar. a relatively common issue, worth $4 to $5. This started at $6.95 plus $1.95 shipping, and got a single bid. Not too much to pay, but a little patience would have gotten one for the winner for a few bucks less.

 

1/31/13

New York, Eden. 1962 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar. Oxidized brass. A very scarce issue, currently catalogued at $12.50. I was quite pleased to pick this up as a duplicate at only $7.50 after an opening of $6.95 plus shipping of $1.99.