I’m a coin collector. But I’m not very organized about it. I’ve been collecting rare coins, US and foreign, since I was a kid. I’m not sure how I got into it, but I think my father probably gave me a handful of Walking Liberty half-dollars to start me off and then I just began finding old coins to add to my collection.
I remember a few of the coins I’ve found over the years. 3rd Grade – received a 1912 Liberty Head nickel as change in the school cafeteria. 9th Grade – my father and I found a box of Buffalo nickels and Indian head pennies in my grandfather’s attic after he died. Throughout the years, people have given me coins, or I would buy some at tag sales, or trade some at school. Currently, my collection exceeds about 500 coins.
But like I said, I’m not very organized with them, and I truthfully don’t know what individual coins, or even the whole collection is worth. Several years ago I started putting them together in a binder with sleeves, but the majority of the collection is just in a big box of loose coins.
Recently, I was doing some organizing in my home office, and my son Joseph came across the box, so I opened it up to show him. He’s really into “quarters” and liked the coffee can full of bi-centennial quarters, so I let him sift through it.
As he was sifting, he picks up a coin that isn’t a quarter and shows it to me asking, “Daddy? What’s this?”
I take it from him and look at it. It’s a goldish-looking coin, in excellent condition, with the word “Maroc” and “10 Francs” on the front-side. On the back is a star with a date, clear-as-day, of 1371.
I have no idea where it came from or why I’ve never seen it before, but I immediately sit in front of my computer and start my internet search. A few years ago I realized the usefulness of the internet for coin research, and the first place I usually go is Ebay.
I type into the Ebay search box “maroc 10 francs 1371” and hit search. I get a hit of one auction actively running for this exact coin.
I almost shat myself when I saw this coin being auctioned for $30,000.
I gently put the coin down on my desk, afraid that the oils from my fingers might be damaging the “mint” quality condition of my son’s financial ticket to higher education.
After a few moments of controlled breathing, I realize that even though this coin is being auctioned for $30K, there is no one actually bidding on it. I could auction off my left nut for $30K, but that doesn’t mean anyone would buy it.
I spend about an hour researching this coin, finding some other opportunists trying to cash in on ignorant collectors by selling this coin at more reasonably believable prices. One site claims this coin to be extremely rare, stating that only about 1,000 exist in the world – and will sell me one for $99. While other sites, mostly French and Moroccan sites, don’t make any claims to their value, and simply list them under other dated currency.
I finally come across a website that provides some detailed information about my coin. The coin is a Moroccan 10 franc coin, dated in the Islamic year 1371, which translates on the Christian calendar as 1951. Between 1912 and 1956, Morocco was under French protection, and these coins (along with 5, 20, and 50 francs coins) were issued for the French Protectorate in Morocco. These coins were only a one-year issue and are considered collectors items with a value range around $30-$50.
I guess $30 is better then the actual face value, which is about .05 cents US.
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