SAGINAW — Mark Berg can hold Saginaw history in his hands. In a chance find this year, he uncovered the first three $10 notes Saginaw City Bank issued in 1837. The notes bear the serial numbers 1, 2 and 3 and are in perfect condition. Norman Little, founder of Saginaw City in 1836, served as Saginaw City Bank president and signed the notes Dec. 26, 1837 — 170 years ago today.

“The significance isn’t in the value of these notes or in their pristine, uncirculated condition,” said Berg, a Saginaw Township numismatic hobbyist and small-time collector. “It’s the fact that they still survive today, 170 years later, as a group.”

Little’s bank issued “wildcat” currency in 1837. His ability to sell land in Saginaw City backed the notes, says “Saginaw’s Changeable Past: An Illustrated History,” which Delta College history Professor Jeremy W. Kilar wrote. Read Full Story

Washington, DC — The most important public collection of Renaissance-era medals in the United States resides at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and is the focus of a new publication, Renaissance Medals.

The first comprehensive catalogue of this collection is available as a two-volume set covering 957 medals acquired through 2003. Of these, 163 are currently on view at the National Gallery of Art in the West Building ground floor sculpture galleries.

The catalogue, compiled over more than twenty years, offers the most detailed art historical and scientific assessment of the collection available to date, including technical information such as the alloy composition of each medal. Volume one features Italian medals, including dozens of masterworks by Pisanello, who essentially invented the medium of portrait medals. Volume two focuses on French, German, Netherlandish, and English medals, including works by Guillaume Dupré, Albrecht Dürer, and Jacques Jonghelinck, and continues through the Baroque and later periods. (more…)

Some of Canada’s greatest numismatic rarities have remained in Canadian hands. This happened when after a staggering five British Columbia (B.C.) patterns changed hands in a million-dollar deal.

At the end of August, Ian Laing of Gatewest Coin Ltd. in Winnipeg, Man., and Sandy Campbell of Proof Positive, from Baddeck, NS, jointly bought a silver $10 and $20 coin, a gold $10 and two gold $20 patterns from Sid and Alicia Belzberg. The Belzberg Canadian collection was noted for having one of everything, patterns included, but excluded the modern era.

The private treaty sale was brokered by Heritage Galleries, who conducted the Belzberg sale in New York City in 2003. With the exception of one of the $20 gold patterns, the B.C. coins were included in that sale, but did not make the reserve. All the patterns are dated 1862.

In mid-September, Tony Mah, of Vancouver Coin and Stamp Ltd., purchased the silver coins, and one of the gold $20 items by private treaty for about $500,000. Read Full Story By Bret Evans

I have authored this column since 1965, when I became a professional writer dedicated to covering the numismatic field. At times, I even gaze into the future of the hobby and the world around us.

In looking through my clips, the first reference I can find to this line of work is an article that I wrote on these pages in May 1971, entitled “The unmasking of a seer.” It was never a regular feature of this column, though I did it from time to time.

Historically, I’ve spent a lot of time in the “seer business” when it comes to market analysis. I’ve always, for example, predicted the price of gold, silver and platinum with varied degrees of success. The same is also true of my famous predictions for 1881-S silver dollars in MS-65 condition, something I view as a bellwether of the marketplace as a whole. Less accurate is my plea for Indian Head cents to be given their fair recognition and representative pricing. (Okay, finding a 1906 Indian Head cent in pocket change in 1960 changed my life – and yours). Read Full Article