A major exhibit on “Numismatics in the Renaissance” will be on view in the main exhibit gallery of the Firestone Library of Princeton University from November 9, 2007, through July 20, 2008. The exhibit will include rare fifteenth and sixteenth century books from the Princeton collection that discuss and illustrate ancient coins and a display of some of the treasures of the University’s numismatic collection, featuring gold, silver and bronze coins of Greece and Rome as well as coins and medals of the Renaissance that were inspired by them. The exhibit will also include manuscripts and prints and drawings from Princeton University collections and a print of Pirro Ligorio’s monumental map of ancient Rome, made in 1561.

While ancient coins were found throughout the Mediterranean region in the millennium following the end of the Roman Empire, it was only in Renaissance Europe that they began to be systematically studied and were reproduced in the earliest printed books to carry engraved illustrations. The Princeton collection is particularly rich in these impressive examples of early printing, ranging from the 1517 edition of Andrea Fulvio’s Images of the Illustrious with its highly decorated settings of each coin image, through Hubert Goltzius’s large-scale chiaroscuro reproductions of imperial portraits of the 1550s, to Antonio Augustín’s systematic classification of ancient coinage and guidelines for detecting counterfeits from the end of the sixteenth century. (more…)

Can a dollar be as cool as a quarter?

The upcoming holiday shopping season will determine whether new $1 presidential coins will catch fire with the collecting public the way state quarters have for the past nine years. So far, so good.

“Our customers are already collecting for Christmas,” says Sylvia Penn, head teller at the Comerica Bank on Mack Avenue on Detroit’s east side. “They especially want John Adams real bad. Right now I don’t think I have any. People keep asking, ‘Can you get them? Please, can you get them?’ ”

Next year, the last of the 50 state quarters will roll off the U.S. Mint production line. Since 1999, 140 million Americans have been rummaging through loose change to find and collect quarters that represent every state. Next year’s Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii quarters will be last in the series. It costs the mint just 5 cents to manufacture a state quarter, so it makes 20 cents off every one.   Read Full Story

Whew! What a show. We are embarrased to call ourselves partners. Jon Lerner deserves 100%++ of the credit for making it a rare show where BOTH dealers and collectors loved it. He really busted his rear for the past few weeks working endless hours to make COINFEST successful. You can tell his heart totally was in it. Congrats Jon! An additional thanks to everyone who donated their time and energies to help make the show work. And of course, thanks to the collecting public for coming by.

Dealer set up was very good. Attittudes were upbeat. We were still hearing the same old broken record: it’s impossible to find any neat coins for sale. For us, even with a limited number of larger dealers in attendance, we outsold a few bigger more established shows we’ve attened this year. We got lucky and had first shot from two of our best long time suppliers who actually had a few coins! Can’t say we spent six figures, but we actually had a small pile of NEWPS in our back case.  Read Full Report

OTTAWA, Oct. 26 /CNW Telbec/ - The Royal Canadian Mint confirms that a small number of 25-cent alpine skiing coins produced for collector products issued on October 24, 2007 bear a 2008 date on the obverse, or “heads” side of the coin, rather than the 2007 date. This error is limited to alpine skiing coin sports cards sold exclusively at participating Petro-Canada outlets and a small quantity of Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games coin collections. The 22 million 25-cent alpine skiing coins produced for circulation are not affected.

The Mint is currently investigating the source of this error and will implement the appropriate measures to ensure it does not occur in the future. (more…)

October 24, 2006—PCGS Currency has announced that, effective immediately, notes with major problems and/or restorations will no longer be placed in “Red Holders.” While the grading standards for problem notes have not changed, with the “Apparent” grade system remaining in place, such notes will be placed into PCGS Currency holders with the normal green-colored security tape label. The word “Apparent” will appear larger and bolder than before, as will the problems described on the holder for each note, but the color of the holder will no longer be red.

According to the PCGS Currency Grading Standards, notes that have major faults such as tears, splits, holes, missing pieces or have been subject to major restoration, such as repaired tears or splits, redrawing of the design, bleaching of the paper, or even reconstruction of missing pieces, will be assigned a “problem note” designation. Such problems will be noted on the grading label. In these cases we will assign an “Apparent” grade followed by a brief and concise description of the problems or repairs. The “Apparent” grade will equate to what the note would have graded without the mentioned problems. For example, “Apparent VF30, bleached and starched” might be a description of a problem note, as might “Apparent XF45, upper-right corner restored”. No net grade will be given. (more…)