by Leon F McClellan as published on columnarios.com

Have you ever wondered why a United States quarter-dollar is called “two-bits”? Or, a half-dollar “four-bits”? Do you know why we call our basic monetary unit “dollar” instead of something else?

Two-bits, four-bits, six-bits and eight-bits make reference to the eight-reales silver coin of New Spain and Mexico. It is also called piece of eight and circulated in the English Colonies and freely in the USA following the Revolutionary War. As a matter of fact, the eight-reales coin was legal tender in the United States until 1857 and was the world’s most used coin at one time. It is the renowned piece of eight that became part of the Spanish Main pirate lore.

The coins minted until 1734 technically, are called a cob coins, because they were originally made by hand stamping “tail ends of bars” or “cabos de barra”, which were sliced as planchets from rudely cast, more or less round, bullion bars which were assayed and carefully weighed. “Cabo” might well have given us the name of cob, although it does mean a lump or small mass (as of coal). The second definition comes from the Dutch “kubb”.

Cob coinage was made at the first mint in the Americas in Mexico City, established in 1535. Authorized by a Spanish Royal Decree dated 14 September 1519 to melt, cast, mark and put aside the royal-fifth of the gold and silver being collected from the Aztecs in Mexico City (Tenochtitlan). He used the palace of Axay catl (father of Moctezuma II) for the task. This may be considered the first foundry of New Spain and of all North America.

When Cortes moved into a home in 1521 in what is today the Mexico City suburb of Coyoacn, he established the second foundry in order to meet the demand for currency and produced “more than 130,000 castellanos”, according to information in documents collected by Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana. “Castellano” (Castilian) was the current coin of the time. These were the first cobs of the New World. The royal fifth was faithfully sent to Spain in the Spanish galleons.

When the Viceroyalty of New Spain was established by Spanish Royal Decree signed by the Queen of Spain the 11th of May of 1535, the Casa de Moneda (house of coin or mint) was formally established. Beginning sometime in April of 1536, according to the best estimates, the first mint of the Americas started coining operations.

Cobs did not start pouring-out into world marketplaces until the reign of Phillip II, after 1556. These crudely minted reales (literally, royals) of silver were undated until 1580 when some were and others were not marked with the year of coinage. The first pieces of eight were struck in Spain, as early as 1497, although it was not until after 1572 that the Casa de Moneda in Mexico City struck them. Before that time, only denominations smaller than eight-reales were struck in Mexico. (more…)

Posted by Skip Fazzari, Authentication Consultant to NGC

A set of high-magnification hand lenses is an invaluable tool for numismatists. However, magnification of 10× and up is only recommended for spotting signs of counterfeiting. Skip Fazzari offers these tips and more.

There are a host of things to see on coins. No matter what you are looking for, after a quick perusal, most collectors will seek some type of magnification to enlarge their view of the coin they are examining. I travel with an assortment of hand lenses. There is a 20×, a 10×, and a combination 3×/4×/7×. Beginning with an overall view to address shape, color, and design, a grader will also be looking at a coin’s luster and for imperfections that detract from its eye appeal. Error/variety collectors will be looking for doubling on its design, planchet/striking problems, overdates, and overmintmarks. Authenticators will need to look more closely at its surface for die polish marks, tooling, and characteristics common to counterfeit or altered coins.

Four or five powers of magnification seem to be the norm for many collectors. At these powers, an entire coin may be viewed all at once, which is especially useful when grading. Nevertheless, unless you are an experienced numismatist, you will not be able to see characteristics such as metal flow, die doubling, and counterfeit diagnostics on many coins when using minimal magnification. The micrograph shows the head detail of a genuine 1861-O “CSA Obverse” Seated half dollar. This view is close to what you would expect to see when using a 10× hand lens.

Read Full Article at NGC

By Razi - Wizard Coin Supply
If you have a valuable coin collection or you aspire to build one, it is imperative that you take the necessary steps to protect your coins and, ultimately, your investment. Much damage that is done through improper handling or storage of coins can not be reversed. As a result, each passing year sees fewer and fewer original, problem-free coins remaining.

The incremental cost of quality hobby supplies and tools for the proper storage and handling of one’s collection is marginal compared to the value of the coins in the collection. While there are countless products on the market that claim to offer the best protection for your coins, we have identified what we believe to be the 10 best coin protection products available today.

10. Flat Clinch Stapler

– One big category of coin damage we see is from staple scratches. Much of this damage comes from staples that are not completely clinched. Normal staplers leave a curl of the staple rising above the surface. This piece of staple can easily scratch adjacent coins as the coin shifts in a box or is removed or inserted from the box. Flat clinch staplers fully compress the staple into the surface of the holder leaving nothing behind to damage other coins. We like the Max HD-50DF because it is full size and uses regular staples. Max also makes half strip and palm size versions for collectors that prefer a smaller stapler. All three staplers completely clinch the staple as part of the stapling process.

9. Gloves

– A second big category of damage type we see on coins is fingerprints. The oils and acids present on one’s hands can damage coins if left on the surface of the coin for an extended time. Initially, they can cause a fingerprint pattern toned area that is unattractive and lowers the value and grade of the coin. Left unattended, these oils and acids can eventually etch the surface of the coin making the fingerprint permanent. Even handling coins by their rims still allows the dangerous compounds onto the rims of the coins. Using a pair of soft cotton gloves when handling raw coins helps protect all three surfaces of the coins. Make sure you get a pair of thin gloves so that you can still feel the coin. Bulky “work gloves” make it harder to handle small items and increases the risk of dropping the coin.

8. Silica gel

– Metal and water do not go well together! Almost everyone intuitively knows to keep their coins from getting wet but many collectors do not realize that even the moisture present in the air (humidity) can be enough to cause damage. Silica gel absorbs moisture that makes its way inside your safe deposit box, safe or other storage area preventing it from reaching your coins and causing damage. Silica gel can be easily reactivated in the oven when it has absorbed as much moisture as it can hold. Before shopping for silica gel, measure the size of the area to be protected and then buy the appropriate size of silica gel for storage space. (more…)

By Doug Winter - CoinLink Content Partner

If you collect very rare or finest known coins, figuring out what to pay for an item that you need for your collection can be difficult. Here is a real-life example of how I came up with what I believe to be an accurate value for a one-of-a-kind coin.

The coin that we are going to use as our Coin Pricing Lab Experiment is the Finest Known 1860-C half eagle; an item that my firm recently handled.

When analyzing any complicated, rare issue, there are at least four things that I give major consideration to:

1. Establishing rarity

2. Determining comparables

3. Gauging the depth of the market

4. How nice is the coin for the grade and for the issue

So let’s take the scenario that I am bidding on this 1860-C half eagle at auction (as opposed to selling it by private treaty) and assisting Collector X. The first thing that I am going to help him with is a basic understanding of the rarity of the issue.

According to the soon-to-be-released third edition of my book on Charlotte gold coinage, the 1860-C half eagle is a moderately scarce issue with an estimated 125-150 pieces known. My best estimate is that there are seven to eight properly graded Uncirculated examples with one in MS64 (the present example) as well as at least two or three in MS63. I would suggest to Collector X that he remember that with as many as three known in MS63, the chances are pretty good that at least one will magically transform into a second MS64 in the future. And should this happen—and his coin is no longer “population 1 with none better”– it will lose value.

Most collectors eventually check out the PCGS and NGC population reports. As of April 2008, PCGS had graded a total of eleven 1860-C half eagles in Uncirculated while NGC had graded twenty-five (!) in Uncirculated for a combined total of thirty-six. Now, I would be quick to tell this collector that these figures are dramatically inflated by resubmissions and that virtually every 1860-C half eagle that I have seen in a PCGS or NGC slab below MS62 is debatable about whether or not it truly is Uncirculated. But there is no denying the fact that there are enough purported Uncirculated 1860-C half eagles out there to make this MS64 lose a bit of its luster. It is a scarce coin but not one that could be called a fundamental rarity as it is readily obtainable in circulated grades and even available in the lower Uncirculated grades from time to time. (more…)