Effective June 28, 2007, PCGS began grading Mint State Silver American Eagles for the years 2006 and 2007 based on their condition at the time of grading, without regard to the probability of future spotting. In the past, PCGS was reluctant to grade any Silver Eagles MS-70 because of the significant possibility of future milk-spotting on the surfaces of the metal, which often seem to appear after the coins are minted and even after they have been graded. While milk spots are still an issue for Silver Eagles, the quality of the 2006 and 2007 Silver American Eagles is fantastic and the coins merit consideration at the top grade of MS-70 (the PCGS grading standard for MS-70 requires “flawless surfaces under 5x magnification”).

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Scotsman Auctions will offer a newly discovered repunched date variety on an 1866 Shield nickel in its July 27 sale. The piece was discovered by Scotsman president Jay Woodside at the 2007 Florida United Numismatists convention, and since confirmed by error and variety authority Bill Fivaz. “After some research and showing (this coin) to a few Shield nickel mavens, I’m convinced that it is a new, unlisted variety,” said Fivaz. The nickel is graded MS-65 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. Scotsman’s pre-sale estimate is $3,000-$4,000

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Spink, one of the world’s oldest collectables auction houses, sold over $2,000,000 of historic United States Paper Money in New York City today. The collection, which was made up of nearly 600 lots, was estimated to fetch just over $1 million. Collectors from around the world crowded the auction room to participate in what has been commented on as the “sale of the century.” The highlight of the sale was lot 201, a $10 in gold coin, The First National Gold Coin of Stockton. This lot attracted several bidders and quickly climbed in price from it’s

pre-sale estimate of $12,000 with the hammering coming down at $83,000.

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Coined for Maryland ca. 1658, Only Seven Specimens Are Known

(NEW YORK – July 11) The collectible population of one of the rarest and most historically important of all colonial issues has increased by 50% with the discovery of a newly discovered specimen, making a total of three Maryland denariums in private hands. A pair of metal detectorists working in the historic riverside community of Middlesex County, Virginia – near where the Rappahannock River meets the Chesapeake Bay – uncovered the tiny copper coin in the spring of 2007 and contacted Stack’s upon finding the extremely rare coin listed in the Guide Book of United States Coins and realizing they had discovered something of great importance.

While two examples of the Maryland denarium have sold at public auction in the last 25 years, those two examples appear to be the only other specimens in private hands from a total population of just seven coins. Specimens are known in institutional collections in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Smithsonian Institution (where two reside permanently), and the St. Mary’s County (MD) Historical Society. One of the Smithsonian coins and the St. Mary’s County coins were also dug up, apparently both in Maryland, as was the John Roper specimen (sold by Stack’s in 1983), which was found with a metal detector by a Maryland college student in 1977

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