What The Tech App of the Day: CoinSnap
BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Tech Reporter
If you have a jar, drawer or box full of old coins, it may be worth taking a closer look. A 1994 penny recently sold for about $12,000.
To most people, it looked like an ordinary penny, but a small difference made it rare and extremely valuable to collectors. That raises an obvious question: how can you tell whether an old coin is worth face value or potentially much more?
One option is an app called CoinSnap.
How CoinSnap works
Like a lot of people, I have a collection of pennies, dimes and quarters that have accumulated through the years.
Most of them probably aren’t anything special. CoinSnap is designed to help find the ones that might be. Using your phone’s camera, you take pictures of both sides of a coin. Artificial intelligence then analyzes the images and attempts to identify the coin.
CoinSnap can provide information about where a coin was minted, estimate its grade and condition, look for errors or unusual varieties, and show mintage and rarity information. The app says its database includes hundreds of thousands of coin types from around the world. Some ordinary-looking coins can be worth more
During testing, CoinSnap identified several older coins and provided estimated values. Kennedy half dollars from the 1960s, for example, can sometimes be worth around $10 or more depending on the year, silver content and condition. CoinSnap also estimated that a 2002 Sacagawea dollar could be worth anywhere from about $1.18 to as much as $150.
But there is an important catch. Don’t take CoinSnap’s value estimate at face value. CoinSnap’s estimated value is just that: an estimate.
The actual value of a collectible coin depends heavily on its condition, mint mark, rarity and whether it has a particular error or variation.
If CoinSnap identifies something that appears valuable, it’s a good idea to verify it through another source. One option is PCGS CoinFacts from Professional Coin Grading Service. PCGS provides coin values, grading information and records of previous auction sales.
For example, PCGS records show that some Sacagawea dollar varieties have sold for more than $1,000 at auction. That doesn’t mean every Sacagawea dollar is valuable. Most are worth much less. But it does show why identifying the exact variety matters.
CoinSnap is free to download, but not completely free:
CoinSnap can be downloaded for free and includes some features at no charge.
Full access, however, requires a subscription. PCGS CoinFacts is free to use, making it a useful second stop if CoinSnap flags something that looks unusual or potentially valuable.
That pocket change may be worth a second look
Most of the coins sitting in jars and drawers are still worth exactly what they say on the front. But occasionally, a small minting difference, rare variety or exceptional condition can make an ordinary-looking coin surprisingly valuable. A 2005 quarter has sold for about $9,000, and a 1964 Kennedy half dollar has brought more than $57,000 at auction.
So before dumping that old change into a coin-counting machine, it might be worth giving it a closer look. CoinSnap can help tell you what you’re looking at. And if the app thinks you’ve found something special, that’s when it’s time to do a little more homework
