By Thomas K. DeLorey – Copyright – Reprinted with permission. Harlan J Berk

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

When asked to write an article on the ten most significant U.S. commemorative coins for this issue, I chortled and thought to myself what an easy assignment this was going to be! I had just that day finished reading galleys for the commemorative coin section of the Coin World “Comprehensive Catalogue and Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins” edited by David T. Alexander and myself, and all of the material was fresh in my mind.

However, when I went back over the listings with a consideration in mind of their national importance rather than a straightforward documentation of them, I suddenly realized how hard it was going to be to find ten pieces that were truly significant! After weeding out the 14 state commemoratives and most of the town, county, island, mountain, trail, bridge and music center commemoratives, there were scarcely ten pieces left that were both national and significant. Here’s what I came up with, though you might disagree.

Number one on my list is the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition half dollar of 1892 and 1893, in part because the fact that Columbus landed in what we now call “the Americas” in 1492 was one of the major historical events of the last millennium, and in part because it was the first U.S. commemorative and set the stage for all that followed, good or bad.

The design of the coin is not the greatest, but it is ruggedly handsome after its own fashion, adequate to the task and not an embarrassment to the nation as some of its modern successors have been. Though some have complained that the portrait of Columbus is not accurate, there is no known portrait of Columbus taken from life, so nobody can prove that it is not accurate. The designs of the 1992 Columbus commemoratives are perhaps more imaginative, but as they repeat a theme already covered I have chosen not to include them in my top ten listing. (more…)

By Robert L Taylor, JD

Why should a coin collector and investor buy and collect professionally graded and certified coins? Commonly called “slabs”, they are housed in a protective plastic holder. There are many companies – over a dozen are less than 2 years old – which will put your coin in a slab after Certifying that it is Authentic, and assigning a Grade to the coin. The first reason for buying and collecting Certified and Graded Coins applies to all of these companies. However, the most important reasons apply only to the Top Four companies: PCGS, NGC, ANACS, and ICG.

Reason No 1. To Protect Your Coin from Damage.

Visible Damage, which includes anything from finger prints/oils to being stepped on. More importantly, Environmental Damage, including such things as exposure to the air, or the wrong kind of air, chemicals in the air, and touching other objects (e.g.: certain plastics, liquids, food) and other coins, which will change the appearance and even structure of the coin. Damage causes loss of Value, which means Your Investment. A slab is an air tight container, and its purpose is Protection.

Reason No 2. To Establish Authenticity.

You want and need to know that your coin is not only the Real thing, but that it has not been altered (changing a mint mark – fraud) or changed, for example by cleaning, polishing, changing the appearance or surface of the coin, in any way that would render your coin unfit to collect. If it is Unfit to Collect, there won’t be many Buyers or Sellers. Many coins graded by lesser companies end up getting Rejected by one of the Top Four for these reasons. (more…)

Before the invention of money, the only way to trade goods was via barter. If you had a spare goat but wanted a big pile of wheat, you had to find someone in the reverse position. This would have been fine in a community where the only possessions were wheat and goats, but once you threw a few more items into the mix the limitations of the barter system became glaringly obvious.

First, there was the problem of matching up desires. What if the person with the wheat was only interested in swapping it for hand axes? It could be a long time before the first man found an axe-rich individual in desperate need of a goat. In the meantime, he might starve.

Second, what if the wheat man did want a goat, but not until his daughter’s wedding in three months’ time? Had they been able to read and write, the protagonists could have drawn up a contract, but at this stage there were no literate societies. Even if there had been, a system relying on written records of who owed what to whom would have become hopelessly unwieldy once there was a reasonable amount of trade going on.

As it was, the parties to the deal would have had to rely on memory. This was open to abuse (“What are you talking about? I never said I’d give you a whole goat!”) and still more liable to become overtaxed (“If Ug owes Stig seven axes, Stig owes Rok four clubs and Rok owes Ug two goats, how many bear hides does Stig owe Yed?”). And there was always the risk that the poor old goat might turn up its toes before the wedding day. (more…)

By Douglas Winter – www.raregoldcoins.com – CoinLink Content Partner

Until the establishment of the double eagle in 1849, the Eagle (or Ten Dollar gold piece) was the highest denomination produced by the United States mint. These coins were struck from 1795 through 1804 but this denomination was discontinued until 1838 when the new Gobrecht Liberty Head design was introduced.

Early Eagles have proven to be very popular with collectors over the years. These coins are big and beautiful and more available than the quarter eagles and half eagles produced during this time period. The dates from the 1790’s have proven to be especially popular and price levels have risen to record highs during the last few years.

Here is a date by date analysis of these coins which is written with the new collector in mind.

1795

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All eagles produced from 1795 through the first part of 1797 are found with a Draped Bust obverse and a Small Eagle reverse. The 1795 has two major varieties. The more common of the two is seen with thirteen leaves on the reverse. The rarer of the two has nine leaves on the reverse. Generally, collectors focus on the more available 13 leaves but the 9 leaves is recognized by both PCGS and NGC. Advanced collectors generally include this variety in a date set of early eagles, even when they do not focus on other die varieties. (FYI, there are a total of five die varieties for this issue).

There were of 5,583 1795 eagles produced. It is believed that around 5,083 employed the 13 leaves reverse while the remainder used the 9 leaves reverse. There are an estimated 400-500 1795 eagles known, including around 15-20 of the 9 leaves coins. Most 1795 eagles grade in the VF to EF range. AU coins are scarce but available. Properly graded AU55 to 58 coins are very scarce and Uncirculated coins are rare although they are far more available than the 1796 or 1797 Small Eagle. Most of the Uncirculated pieces in the MS60 to MS62 range are not choice. Examples exist in MS63 and MS64 and I am aware of at least four of five Gems that have been graded MS65 or better by PCGS or NGC. The 9 leaves variety is usually seen in AU and appears to not have circulated much. There are probably six to eight Uncirculated examples with the finest grading MS63.

The 1795 tends to be the best struck and most aesthetically appealing of the Small Eagle ten dollar gold pieces. The typical example has some weakness on the obverse hair behind the ear and at the lower portion of the cap. The stars are sometimes flat at the centers and on many the denticles are flatly impressed. The reverse shows weakness on the eagle’s neck and head and the denticles are often flat with a partially beveled appearance. The surfaces often show numerous small marks and on many of the 9 leaves coins, there are mint-made die chips and/or planchet defects in the fields. The luster is often frosty with a somewhat grainy texture. Some are known with reflective prooflike surfaces and at least a few have fully prooflike fields on the obverse and reverse. The natural coloration tends to be a deep yellow-gold. Others are seen with orange-gold or greenish-gold hues. There are a number of higher grade 1795 eagles with superb color but these are becoming very hard to find as more and more are dipped. Most circulated 1795 eagles show processed surfaces and original, attractively toned pieces are rare and worth at least a 20% premium over a typical example. There are a good number of extant 1795 eagles with acceptable eye appeal. The collector who is seeking one is urged to be patient as most of the examples offered for sale at auction or at coin shows are low end for the grade.

An “entry level” 1795 eagle is now worth in the area of $40,000-50,000 and a nice, solidly graded AU will cost at least $50,000-70,000+. Expect to spend over $100,000 for a nice Uncirculated example and multiples of this for a piece that approaches Condition Census. (more…)