AboutJim Lawniczak Expertise I will answer your questions about encased coins (lucky pennies), which are advertising and event tokens with coins, unually cents, struck with the token.
Experience Long time collector of encased coins and author of several articles on encased coins.
Publications TAMS -- several articles on encased coins, in particular the encased coins of the 1901 Buffalo Pan American Exposition
Casement -- many articles on encased coins
I have a 1911 Indian Gead 5 dollar coin, but I don't where it was minted, where do I look.I have looked everywhere, but I don't see an "S" or "D" anywhere. My grandmother gave it to me and it is in my opinion in great shape. Are these of value? Thanks so much, Janice
Answer Janice, the 1911 Indian Head half eagle (the $5 gold) came without mintmark (made in Philadelphia) and with D and S mintmarks (Denver and San Francisco respectively). The mint mark was on the reverse Ithe eagle side) in the lower left, immediately to the left of the branch the eagle is standing on. Condition is a very important factor in value (remember that you can't do anything to improve condition, if you try anything like polishing etc. you will surely reduce value), so is whether your piece is P, D or S. The D is most valuable in most grades followed by the S then the P. There are many counterfeit gold pieces around, so to have value your piece will have to be genuine (unless it is a counterfeit made out of gold, that did happen, and those are worth gold value). In the last catalog I have the 1911 P in EF condition was about $285, while an uncirculated version would get into the thousands. If you go to www.ebay.com and do a search for 1911 $5 Indian gold, many 1911 pieces for sale will come up, and you can look at their pictures to see their condition and see what the sellers are asking as an opening bid and what buyers are willing to pay. Generally, if the piece is worth in the $1000 range, it will have to be certified by one of the grading services for it to sell for its value, Jim Lawniczak
