Having bought and sold coins on Ebay for 5+ years,I have learned a few valuable tips for buyers and sellers.I am listing a few below that should be of some help to a few Ebayers.

Last revised: May 5,2008

1) Never clean coins.But its OK to wipe the dirt off with a 100% cotton cloth like Webril wipes.This removes surface grime but doesn't harm the planchet or toning of the coin.For small hard to get at spots use a cotton swab.Mild soap and water washing is OK as well,as long as they are wiped dry with the cotton wipes.

2) Always check the shipping price of an item(s) before bidding.Some sellers like to sell individual coins and not combine shipping as a way of creating revenue.

3) Read a sellers feedback carefully,as its the best indicator to his personal integrity and customer satisfaction rating.This is important as it shows his preparedness to ship fast and sell items that are exactly as shown on his listings.

4) Pay particular attention to his pictures and how willing he is to show the best pictures possible of the coin and its attributes.If his listing looks shoddy so will the product and service.Its a general rule that if a seller is willing to spend the time to creat an attractive listing.Long descriptions aren't always the best, short and to the point,and as truthful as possible is a good rule.

5) Its my belief that if a seller isn't prepared to back his items 100%,he's not one of the best sellers to buy from.If you receive a coin thats not as described in the listing than you should get 100% refund including the shipping as you weren't at fault,he was.

6) Want to find out how good a service to expect,EMAIL THEM.The speed and quality of his reply is by far the best indicator to his integrity and quality of service you can expect.If you get no rely,don't bid or buy.Its an excellent indicator that you will not end up with a fast and fair deal,with no hassles!!!

7) Know something about the coin your buying.I have seen the Canadian 1 dollar loon listed as a rare gold coin!!!!!!

8) Ensure you work out all details to shipping,loss of item,prices,etc. before you bid,because afterwards you are stuck basically as you committed to the deal.Once you bid you have basically except all the terms the seller has laid out,and if they are sketchy in anyway,you could end up being stung for exorbitant shipping and handling charges.

9) Its my belief and experience that Ebay is a good corporate citizen and trys to cover all the bases.But its a huge plate to cover and you as a consumer have a certain responsibility to have personal awareness for what your getting into when bidding and buying on Ebay.

10) Just a review of #6 .........use emails as an indicator to the seller's customer service.....if he can't be bothered to answer a simple email from you, then he doesn't really care if you become a customer of his,now does he???? So why would you give that seller the satisfaction of a sale?????

11) Coin storage..from years of experience I have learned that 2x2 holders are the only way to properly store your coins.Why pay a high price for a coin and not give it a clean,unhostile environment to be stored in.The value will increase for the coin what way,as its condition will remain relatively the same and not deteriorate as in other holders like open pocket books/albums.

12) A secret regarding shipping coins...keep the packaging flat so they will go as a letter. I lay them on paper , in rows of 10 and fold the paper over them and tape the entire row down.This way is a little frustrating to open but its the cheapest way to package them and its safe for the coins as well.

13) Just as a security hint for all that are not aware of it: A personal router seems to be the most effective way of eliminating threats to your computer as well as your personal information.When I started out with my first computer I was using a Norton Firewall and getting hits every hour from somewhere in the world,trying to access my computer plus the viruses I was getting were unreal..Then I bought a wired router for another computer in the house and since then I have had no problems and the only hits I've had are ones from the cable company themselves or the other computer in the house setting the Norton alert off??...anyway I would never go wireless as there is an inherant risk with that like wireless phones!!! 

(THE ABOVE ARE ALL MY OPINION ONLY AND ARE IN NO WAY  ENDORSED BY EBAY or ANYONE ELSE)

Some technical data about coins I have learned and will keep updating as I learn more:

1) ALL Canadian  coins with a P on abverse side are all magnetic. This is great when trying to find those very rare test coins from 1999,2000 and 2001.Now to  confuse us all,the mint produced a 2006rcm(new mint mark)and 2007rcm (new mint Mark) penny that is both magnetic and some none magnetic....

2) No Canadian 25 cents were produced for circulation in the years of 1997 and 1998.

3) Most circulated 5c,10c,25c,50c,$1 and $2 coins from 1967 to date are not silver but nickle.With the exception of the later "P" mint mark coins,being steel.

4) A 1990 Canada 1 cent coin is as hard to find as,lets say,a 1960 Canada 1c coin.With the 2003 & 2003P old effigy pennies running a close second.

5) A 1971 Canada 5c coin is as rare as the 1996 far 6 or the 1977 high 7 .With the 1970 being the rarest racing with the 2000P.

6) One dollar and two dollar Canadian notes haven't been produced since the introduction of the 1 and 2 dollar coins which is 1986 and 1996 respectfully.

7) Most Canadian pre 1967 coins are silver and ended up in melting pots when the price of silver exceeded the face value of the coin itself. I am sure no one knows for sure how many coins were lost to the meltimg pots and coin books only indicate the actual amount that were produce originally.

8) 4  Canadian 1c coins were produced in  2003 : with and without the P and with the new(no crown) effigy and the old(crown) effigy...this also applied to the 5c,10c and 25c but only 2 of each of these were produced and all with the P

9) The P basically denotes that the coins is composed of  multi-ply plated steel.Hence they are MAGNETIC.

10) A 1983 & 1990 Canadian 25c seems as hard to find than the scarcest 1991!

11) Older pre 1968 silver Canadian silver dollar are larger that the post 1968 dollar coins by approx. 4 mm

IDENTIFYING  CANADIAN 1 CENT VARIATIONS

1) 1985 blunt and pointed 5 - relatively easy if you ever find one,good luck!

2) 1983 near and far bead - actually need to see each to ID but one is about halfway closer to the rim than the other.

3) 1965 has 4 varieties,(1) small bead/pointed 5 (2) small bead/blunt 5 (3)large bead/blunt 5 (4) large bead/pointed 5 ....the large and small bead are distinguished by the A in REGINA in the small bead it point between the side denticles and in the large bead it points to a denticle...as for the pointed 5,they all look pointed anyway but a the pointed 5 has extra metal at the end to make it really pointed...a hard one to identify until you see both side by side.

4) 1955 shoulder fold and no shoulder fold...the NSF has a flared I in DEI which points between denticles where as the SF has a straight I in DEI that points to a denticle....same applies to the 1953 ....1953 SF being the rare one and the 1955NSF being the rare one.

5) 1948 & 1949 each have 2 varieties...in one the A in GRATIA points to a denticle and in the other the A points between denticles.

6) 1947ml has 2 varieties- blunt 7 near leaf and the pointed 7 far leaf...they are easily identified by the distance the maple leaf is from the 7, in the blunt 7 its the farthest away.Don't take this for gospel as I am still trying to figure them out!!!(far and near leaves that is)

7) People will argue that there are more varieties but these are all that are noted in Charlton Standard catalogue  so they are the only ones I recognize.I feel the rest are error coins.

8) The W mint mark on some collector coins were produced by the Winnipeg mint.They were available in sets only.

9) The Royal Canadian Mint announced in May/2006 it was going to add a new mint mark to circulated coins. The new mark will be a circle around a stylized "M" /maple leaf

10) In 2003 4 different varities of the 1c were produced..the 2003 old effigy,2003P old effigy,2003 new effigy and 2003P new effigy.The mint mark is on the reverse of these coins.also the P mint marks were all magnetic or steel.

11) 2006P 1c is very rare

12) 2006,2006P & 2006ml  5c are all about as equally available none are that some are saying "rare".

13) 2006ml pennies come in both magnetic and non-magnetic varieties..magnetic (steel)2006ml seem to be scarcer.

14) 2007ml pennies now also come in the magnetic and nonmagnetic types.Non-magentic being the rarer as they seem to have only come in mint sets.Time will tell for sure!..As of Dec.5th 2007 this still applies!!!

15) There is also a 2001P Canada 1 cent that was issued for test thats very rare but there are some as I found one in circulation once.

16) No major events for the 2008rcm penny yet.

Numismatic Abbreviations and Latin Inscriptions

DEI GRATIA - by the grace of God

REGINA          - queen

REX                 - king

IMP                 - emporer

DEF                 - defender

FID                  - (of the) faith

IND                 - (of) India

DEI   (D)          - (by the) grace

GRA (G)           - gratia

BRITT OMN - Brittanniarum Omnium - of all the britons

ET AL            - and others or and coworkers

Some information about Canadian nickles:

1) In 1942,because of the World War,the five cent coin was made with a brass-alloy called "tombac"to conserve nickle.It as made with 12 sides to avoid confusion with the 1 cent coins.The touch and the "V" design on the 1944-1945 coinage was designed to promote the war effort.It had the words "we win when we work willingly" stamped in morse code around the edge.The obverse bears the head of King George VI.It was made mainly of steel due to the demand for copper and zinc during the war.After the war ended,the five cent piece was once again made of nickle and because the 12 sided shape was so popular,it was retained as the design standard.

2) 1981 - 2000,2001 & 2006 Canadian nickles are not magnetic. All the P mint mark nickles are magnetic as well as so the new mint mark (ml).

3) If one wanted to just save one year of nickle,I would choose 2000P,then 1996,1990,1991,1970,1971.

4) 2003 nickles came in 2 varietes...2003P old effigy & 2003P new effigy.

5) 2006 nickles come in 3 varieties 2006P 2006 no P and 2006Ml....2006ml being the scarcest.

6) Note that all 2006 nickles are male...check just in front of his back leg !!!!!!!!!

7) 2008 nickles seem to be full of errors.

PS: If you have a question regarding any coin, don't be afraid to email me...I always answer my emails and enjoy the challange,provided I don't get buried at sun up :>)