Expert: Dan Moore - 7/13/2008

Question
Just a  few questions on the vaule of a few coins i came across this week, first a real not fake two faced quarter that was mis printed at the mint i obiviosly dont know the year but it has the look the the new quarters, but it's philadephia mint and not really tarnished at all, i also have 1964 kennedy half dollar in great shape except for some tarnish around the edges on the front, another werid coin i found was this really light 5 Francs 1950 with repvbliqve francaise written on the front this also is in mint condition being in a plastic wrapper when i found it. i'd really appreciate if you could help me because i'm clueless when it come to coins, thanks lots:)

Answer
Amanda,

If your two-headed quarter is real, I'll eat my hat.  There have only been 2 coins EVER authenticated as real, and those were double tailed from the 1960's.  If you had a real one, it would probably be worth millions.  But if you weigh yours (S/B 5.67 grams) and examine it along the inside of the rims with a strong magnifier, looking for a seam where the two altered pieces are joined together, I'm sure you will realize you have a fake novelty coin worth a couple dollars.

The 1964 Kennedy half is silver, but with the high mintages, its only value is for the silver it contains -- currently about $5.00

The French coin I cannot help much with, but I would bet it's value is less than a dollar -- it's just not old enough.

I hope this helps,

Dan