Finding Out Years Later You Were Mislead

[26 Inf]

USMC recruiter told me the weather at Parris Island in July was "beautiful, great for running".

Mine told me 'it's like going out for football.'

[JC5188]

Mine told me 'it's like going out for football.'

Must've visited the same guy...unfortunately, when I visited, asthma was a no-go.




"I just got like, this 5.56 okay? And it's 55 grain ball. And everybody I've ever seen shot with it, it dicks them up."

---Clint Smith
Thunder Ranch

[JC5188]

It happens from time to time. Something you believed to be true/well known proves to be incorrect upon a little simple research.

My recent event revolves around a little hobby I have of going through my change. I don't purchase collectable coins but I do enjoy finding them.

I sort through it looking for silver dimes and quarters. I pay attention to pennies because , well supposedly, there are some valuable ones. I sort out the 82's down, weigh the 83's and try to watch for a few other things.

Well, I scored my first ever steel penny. Always believed they were super valuable. Simple look up showed mine is probably in the 0.50 cent range. I had always been under the impression the were worth around $100.

Womp, womp.

My grandfather left me his modest coin collection...unfortunately I found the same as you...very cool but not valuable.

Pennies...

(a few steel)



Dimes...



Even a couple mercury...



A family member picked the good stuff, including quarters that are all gone, and silver certs, to support a habit. I didn't know for years. Sold a bunch of my dads stuff too.


"I just got like, this 5.56 okay? And it's 55 grain ball. And everybody I've ever seen shot with it, it dicks them up."

---Clint Smith
Thunder Ranch

[Doc Safari]

I used to collect commemorative things from Franklin Mint, usually entertainment or historical. I never expected them to be worth much more than I paid for them unless the "right collector" came along.

The trouble is, with all their warnings of "limited" availability and "you better hurry as these won't last", and "this is sure to appreciate in value", I watched an item I purchased years earlier be reissued by them with the same hyperbole.

Luckily I hadn't spent too much money on "collectibles" and all of them were purchased to have conversation pieces and not as investments. Still, watching their so-called "collectibles" turn into worthless crap was a valuable lesson in not buying something hoping it will be worth a ton of money someday.

I've even applied this to firearms: I had a near-mint pre-ban HK91 and found that it was supposedly worth so much money after the ban that I couldn't find a buyer for it.

I ended up trading it for something allegedly of equal value (a Galil).

[glocktogo]

From my childhood collecting 40 years ago or so, the 1909 S VDB, 1914 D and 1922 plain pennies stick out as valuable if the condition is uncirculated or extremely fine. There are a few others in the 1909-1930's range that can have value beyond their worth as a possession, but after that it would be pretty hard to get excited about the value of a penny.

[jmp45]

Aside from some vintage guitar gear I have this New York Herald 1865 8:10 AM extra from the Lincoln Assassination. It's not a copy, it's from my Great Gramps. I've seen values range anywhere from $75 to $5k. I'm guessing towards the lower end of those estimates. With all the Lincolns in this thread I thought I post this.

[26 Inf]

It didn't hurt them worse than it hurt me.

[SteyrAUG]

From my childhood collecting 40 years ago or so, the 1909 S VDB, 1914 D and 1922 plain pennies stick out as valuable if the condition is uncirculated or extremely fine. There are a few others in the 1909-1930's range that can have value beyond their worth as a possession, but after that it would be pretty hard to get excited about the value of a penny.

Got a 1909 S and a 1909 VDB but I never did manage to find a VDB S. Probably the best "grail penny" of all the Lincolns, especially since ever 43 copper or 44 steel you will see will almost certainly be a fake. The cool thing is I found all my Lincoln pennies the hard way by going to the bank in the early 1970s and buying $10 worth of pennies and hunting for wheats. Then I'd replace them with more modern pennies and exchange them for $10 worth of different pennies every week.

Was lots of fun to do. I still have a thing for wheats.