Sandon

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Your coin is a 1990-P Jefferson nickel with damage affecting the date numerals. It has no collector value. The earliest Jefferson nickels were struck in and are dated 1938. A nickel dated 1900 would be of the Liberty head type dated 1883-1912 and would look like this 1897:

1937-S Lincoln cent, PCGS graded MS 66RD:

The primary reason for the creation of third-party grading services in the mid-1980s was that they would give an opinion as to the grade of a coin without the biases inherent in being the coin's prospective buyer or seller. That is why it would be unethical for grading services to engage in the buying or selling of coins. Their opinions would then be of no more value than that of any established dealer.

@The Neophyte Numismatist--Respectfully, I largely disagree with your view. Counterfeiters have access to the same print and online resources that we do, and they can (and do) create pieces that are more deceptive than these. If they can post on this board, they can just as easily check out the Counterfeit Detection pages on the NGC website and similar resources. The best protection against counterfeits is understanding how to detect them, including knowledge of what the genuine pieces look like. Bearing this in mind, there are sometimes less obvious characteristics that I don't reveal.

Many unknowledgeable people overpay for coins. The NGC Price Guide does currently list a 2016 1-ounce American Gold Buffalo does currently list $2,750 in MS 70, so it is possible that the coin you saw had been given that maximum grade by a reputable third-party grading service such as NGC or PCGS. They list around bullion value in all other grades. Gold Buffaloes - $50 (2006-Date) | Price Guide & Values | NGC (ngccoin.com).

It means "Original Poster", in other words, the topic author. (I'm not sure what "lol" means myself.) I understand @VKurtB's frustration, but how can we get new or prospective collectors to "Read. Study. Listen." if they don't know what to read or study or to whom to listen? I have no compunction about telling those who post on these forums that they are wrong or have been misguided, but I try to explain why and direct them to appropriate resources. As for an explanation of the "minting process", the diagram on the following topic provides an elementary overview, and there are links to resources about this and other valuable subjects:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Your purported 1794 silver dollar is an obvious counterfeit, likely of the sort that have been mass produced in China over the past few decades. See 1794 BB-1,B-1 $1 MS | Coin Explorer | NGC (ngccoin.com) for photos of a genuine example of this rare coin, of which fewer than 200 are believed to exist. All of these coins were struck from the same pair of ties, so the shapes and positions of all letters, numbers, stars and other design elements are identical on all genuine pieces. Note, just for example, the differences in the appearance of Liberty's face and hair and of the eagle on the genuine piece from the counterfeits. Regarding your purported 1793 Chain cent, another very rare coin, please note preliminarily that (1) it is best to post one coin per topic and (2) you should not touch a coin that you believe may have collector value with your bare hands, except to hold it by its edges if you must. This coin is also a counterfeit, also probably of recent origin, that has been darkened to look old. Compare, for example, the detail in Liberty's hair and the positioning of the date numerals and lettering with each of the known varieties at Chain and Wreath Cents (1793) | VarietyPlus® | NGC (ngccoin.com). Where and when did you obtain these "coins"?

Someone on the forum may be able to identify this token, but it would help if the inscriptions were more legible. Please try to better focus your photos and crop them like this.

1937-D Lincoln cent, PCGS graded MS 66 RD:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The Coin Marketplace forum is for offers to sell or buy coins in accordance with the posted guidelines. A topic of this sort would receive best attention on the "U.S., World, and Ancient Coins" forum.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Please post clear, cropped photos of each full side of a coin about which you have questions. It isn't helpful to magnify an image to such an extreme size. Any significant variety can be identified at 5-7x magnification according to most experts. I assume that you are referring to nicks that the coin acquired from contact with other coins and other objects while it was being distributed and in circulation.

1875 twenty cent piece (much scarcer than the 1875-S), PCGS graded AU details, cleaned:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The NGC Registry program is for topics related to the certified coin registry. A question like yours would best be posted on the "U.S., World, and Ancient Coins" forum for proper attention. (The Administrator will likely move it.) Additionally, if possible, please post clear, cropped photos of both sides of your token, as there may have been a number of tokens produced for this company. Unless the token was issued holed, a hole would be considered a severe impairment that would greatly reduce whatever value it could otherwise have.

Native American dollars (2009 to date) have the date and mint on the edge of the coin. Occasionally, the edge lettering wasn't applied, but the plain edge pieces are only worth a modest premium nowadays.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The reverse of this coin was planed off and engraved with someone's initials for use as a gift known as a "love token". This was done with a number of coins from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, especially with dimes and gold dollars. There are collectors of love tokens, but most other collectors regard these as mutilated coins.

The outer layer of clad coins is composed of the same 75% copper, 25% nickel alloy of which "nickels" are composed of homogeneously. This alloy darkens to a deep red or even black color when the coin has been buried or exposed to other corrosive environments. Such environmental damage is what has occurred to this 2015-D Homestead quarter. There are clad coins that are missing part or all of a cladding layer, usually on one side of the coin. There are even lamination errors within the outer clad layer, which doesn't expose the copper core. See https://www.error-ref.com/?s=missing+clad+layer. This coin isn't one of them.

We have an old but still valid expression, "buy the book before the coin." Knowledge is vital for more enjoyment of collecting and avoiding costly mistakes. For collecting Canadian coins, the Charlton catalogs and guides are, I understand, considered basic references. See https://www.charltonpress.com/collections/current-editions/products/canadian-coins-vol-1-numismatic-issues-2024-2025-77th-edition and related pages on that site. For U.S. coins this would be the "Red Book" and other resources described in the following topic:

The apparent lack of doubling on any design elements other than the ear suggests to me that these coins were not struck from a doubled die and that the anomaly is due to some form of die damage, as is now believed to be the case with the similar appearing so-called 1997 DDO, FS-101. See Lincoln Cents, Memorial Reverse (1959-2008) | VarietyPlus® | NGC (ngccoin.com). Obviously, this 2024 variety is worthy of further investigation.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Please note that the Coin Marketplace forum is for offers to buy or sell coins in accordance with the posted guidelines, not for questions about coins or their values. Such topics are welcome on the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum. You should post clear, cropped photos of each side of a coin, not distant, blurry photos like these that are mostly of the surface surrounding the coin. Based on the photos, these are circulated Sacagawea and Native American dollars that have no collector value and are worth their face value of $1 each. You may keep them if you find them interesting or spend them.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Please post clear, cropped photos of each full side of a coin about which you have questions. Based on the current photos, your coin appears to have defective plating, not any form of doubling. The following links may be helpful to learn how to distinguish coins struck from doubled dies from those exhibiting other forms of doubling, which have no collector value: Double Dies vs. Machine Doubling | NGC (ngccoin.com), https://www.doubleddie.com/144801.html.

The so-called and misnamed 1964 "SMS" coins don't have mirror surfaces like your coin, which is obviously a proof strike, one of 3,950,762 issued in proof sets. It is now believed that what are now described as 1964 "Special Strike" coins "consisted of ordinary coinage of the type made for circulation, but the dies were fresh and sharp, retaining the satiny fields characteristic of new dies, along with the fine, irregular polishing lines also typical of new currency dies." 1964 50C SP | Coin Explorer | NGC (ngccoin.com) (Emphasis added). Without this satin finish and die polish, like that shown on the image of the coin in the NGC Coin Explorer, any "die markers", assuming your coin has them, are meaningless. It appears that all of the known 1964 "Special Strike" originated from a specific source from which they were distributed in the early 1990s, and none has been found elsewhere. A number of claims of having found examples, which usually turn out to be ordinary circulation strikes, have been made on these forums, and none has been validated to date. Ongoing research may reveal that even the authenticated pieces really shouldn't be regarded as "special" either. See Comprehensive Research on the So Called 1964 "SMS" Coins Is In the Works - What Questions Do Members Here Have About these Coins? - US, World, and Ancient Coins - NGC Coin Collectors Chat Boards.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. First of all, please note that a coin struck from a doubled die would be classified as a die variety, not as a mint error. The variety would pertain to most or all coins struck from that die, while a mint error is generally produced by a problem in producing a particular coin. Based on your photos, which are somewhat blurry, there are faint, shelf-like extra images that are not indicative of a doubled die. This is likely strike doubling (a.k.a. machine or mechanical doubling), which results from the die being loose in the press and is very common. See Double Dies vs. Machine Doubling | NGC (ngccoin.com). Such coins do not command a premium and should not be submitted to third-party grading services, which will not attribute them. For more about strike doubling and other forms of doubling on coins that do not have collector value, see https://www.doubleddie.com/144801.html and links therein on mechanical doubling, die deterioration doubling, and abrasion doubling. Since 1996, when the mint changed its method of manufacturing dies to a "single squeeze", there are far fewer significant doubled die varieties. There are some minor ones that can be found on the doubleddie.com and varietyvista.com websites.

This appears to be a normal 1960-D large date cent, not the small date over large date variety. Please post full, cropped photos of both sides of a coin about which you have questions.

The coin is genuine but has been counterstamped by one or more metal punches with a political slogan after it entered circulation.

1875 Indian cent, PCGS graded MS 63 RB: Photos courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries.