Mint’s $20 offering ignores darker side of Frobisher expedition
OTTAWA - There’s two sides to every coin, and that certainly seems to be the case with the new $20 coin released by the Royal Canadian Mint. Struck to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the International Polar Year, the silver coin depicts, among other things, the 16th century Arctic explorer Martin Frobisher and an Inuit kayaker. The problem, says Canada’s main Inuit organization, is that it’s eerily reminiscent of the kidnapping of an Inuit kayaker by that explorer. Stephen Hendrie of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami in Ottawa said although the likeness was unintentional, he wants more consultation on future coin designs between the Mint and his group.

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South Africa’s leading online marketplace facilitates the sale of an 1892 ZAR Kruger pond sold for a staggering R210 000. The rare South African coin was awarded a grading of MS61 by the NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America), which to those who are not in the know, is one of the highest grading any coin can be awarded. Collecting is said to be a human instinct, a survival instinct that drives us from one objective to the next. It is the compelling force that pushes us much the same manner as our hunter gatherer forefathers, our ability to seek, find and own items that secure our prosperity.

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Heritage Auction Galleries reported realizing $8,831,615.62 from an offering of more than 3,300 lots of U.S. coins in four auction sessions July 12 and 13 in West Palm Beach, Fla., in conjunction with the summer convention of Florida United Numismatists. All prices here include the 15 percent buyer’s fee.

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To hear most coin collectors tell it, the “good-ole-days” were back when they started collecting. It was a time when scarce coins were easy to find in circulation, prices were incredibly low, and bargains abounded at virtually any coin show. Nowadays, of course, the same collectors will tell you that none of the above are true. Prices are “through the roof,” you can’t find anything in circulation, and bargains at coin shows don’t exist.

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