Coin and Paper Money Collecting/unknown coin 1865

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Expert: - 11/15/2009


Question
hello one of my coins is marked 1865 a very tiny silver coin it says  AMERICA CENTRAL at the top and a tree on one side, under the tree it says 5C (also a small s to the right of the 5C the very bottom says  DGW and the other side has some type of crest with an axe coming out of the center with leaves going around the bottom portion and the date 1865

Answer
Hi Chris,
This is a fairly scarce coin from the Central American republic, modern day Costa Rica.
It's a 5 centavos, which is 1.2 grams of .750 silver. This coin has a low mintage of 233,000 and are usually fairly crude or weakly struck. A decent example is worth $5 to $10, while a sharp coin would be in the $20 to $30 range.
Thanks for the question! =)

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Dmitry Livshits

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My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

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Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

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A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

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