New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Designs Reviewed by CCAC
Coin Update News
I attended the October 26th meeting of the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee in the Mint’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and witnessed the members’ discussions of the obverse and reverse designs for the New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal. The medal honors the space missions of John Glenn aboard Mercury Atlas 6 (first American to orbit the Earth) and of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins aboard Apollo 11 (first and second people to set foot on the Moon, and the pilot of the mission command module).
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SpinkSmythe Sells Sheets
Numismatic News
Andrew Mellon left the office of Secretary of the Treasury in 1932, but now from the estate of his son, Paul, collectors will find uncut sheets of paper money issued during his father’s term of office in a Nov. 20 auction to be conducted in New York City by Spink Smythe. Included will be the third, seventh and 10th uncut sheets printed of the small-size Series 1928 Silver Certificates.
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Pricing Questions: Guides are Just Guides
Numismaster
Price charts are perhaps one of the most confusing part of the coin collecting hobby. Almost every day I get a question or two about the value of a coin—a question that can’t readily be answered. For example, if I quote the value range for an 1873 Trade dollar (from $100 in Good to $12,500 in Mint State-65) guess which figure they will assign to their coin. And, guess how mad they will be if a dealer offers a reasonable price for the actual grade.
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Mystery Surrounds Silver Coin Find
Belfast Telegraph
A Roman coin discovered by a cleaner was struck at the time of Christ by a “Del Boy” forger who could not spell and did not know one emperor from another, it has been claimed. Experts say the coin is a mystery because it is made from solid silver and probably cost the forger as much to make as he received in profit. The silver denarius is based on coins struck to commemorate the Battle of Actium between Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31BC.
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The Australian Proof 1930 Penny
The E-Sylum
In our October 17th issue we published excerpts from an article profiling Australian coin dealer Belinda Downie. Mentioned in the article was a Proof 1930 Penny for sale “from the celebrated collection of A.M. Le Souef, former deputy master of the Melbourne Mint.” But the provenance of the coin has been questioned. On the web is a transcript of a July 2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation program interviewing people familiar with the piece. Here are some excerpts.
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COIN QUIZ: Believe It Or Not!
Stack’s
From your editor’s files here is a little quiz you may find interesting. Give it a try! The late great Robert Ripley’s column furnishes the heading for this quiz. In each instance the answer is rather unlikely, from a logical viewpoint—but it is surrounded with other unlikely possibilities, so this is not as easy as you might think! This is in the line of one of Walter Breen’s favorite comments—that a guinea pig is not a pig or is it from Guinea, etc.
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Branch Mint Half Dimes Start With ‘O’
Numismaster
When the 1838-O half dime was produced it was the first half dime to be issued at a mint other than the main facility in Philadelphia. It would be the start of an interesting group of frequently lesser known coins as the branch mint Seated Liberty half dimes are not heavily collected but they are a fascinating group to study and with limited collector demand they are also a collection of early silver coins that are usually at very affordable prices.
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November 2010 Coin Collecting Calendar
Coin Update News
The following events related to coins and coin collecting will take place during the month of November 2010. The schedule for the month is packed with three different coin shows, two coin launch ceremonies hosted by the US Mint, and a flurry of new US Mint products. The month begins with the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo held in Baltimore, Maryland. Grading firms PCGS and NGC will both be available at the show for on-site grading. The official auction for the show will be held by Bowers and Merena.
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Prices Reflect Not Only a Coin’s Grade…Quality Matters, Too
Rare Coin Market Report
New and experienced collectors alike are often confused when they see two coins in the same grade selling for very different prices at auction. Dealers are quick to say that the coins that sell for more are nice for the grade, while those that don’t sell for the high end of expectations are at the low end of the grade. But when it comes to the higher end of the market, the answer can be both supply alongside the merits of the coin itself.
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Disabled Veterans Silver Dollar Commemorative Coins End Dec. 13, 2010
Silver Coins Today
The proof and uncirculated Disabled American Veterans Silver Dollar Commemorative Coins will go off sale on Dec. 13, 2010, the United States Mint revealed Monday. The U.S. Mint placed the remaining 2010 commemorative silver coins on its “Last Opportunity” website page indicating they are to be discontinued at 5:00pm ET on the 13th. The $1 silver commemoratives were authorized by Public Law 110-277 and honor the service of disabled veterans who made enormous personal sacrifices while serving their country.
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ANA Chooses Civil War Theme
Numismatic News
With the Civil War sesquicentennial next year, the American Numismatic Association has selected the theme “Blue, Gray and Greenbacks” for National Coin Week, slated April 17-23, 2011. The beginning of the observance will be almost on the April 12 anniversary date of the 1861 Fort Sumter bombardment, which began the war.
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25 Year-Old French Underwater Gold Theft Resolved
The E-Sylum
Three amateur divers in 1985 stole a dish of Roman coins and gold from the “treasure of Lava. The testimony of one of the robbers, who was arrested last Thursday. After 25 years of investigation, the Department of underwater archaeological research and submarine (DRASSM) of the Ministry of Culture and Communication have laid hands on a dish and Roman gold coins from the “treasure of Lava “.
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Three Exceptional Coin Collections Go Under the Hammer in Baltimore
Paul Fraser Collectibles
‘The #2 collection’ of Standing Liberty Quarters is among the highlights at next month’s US auction… Auction house Bowers and Merena will conduct the official sale of the November 2010 Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo, scheduled for November 4-5. The sale will present more than 3,500 lots of important United States coins and currency, with three consignments in particular standing out…
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Popular. But Did We Do it Our Way?
Numismaster
Many of us as collectors have roots in the circulation finds era. The coins that are the most popularly collected and have the highest prices tend to be those that we started collecting many years ago because we could find them in circulation. I know I am not the only one who committed key mintage figures to memory and treated the 484,000 figure for the 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent as some sort of yardstick against which all other rarities were measured.
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PCGS…It Really Did Start As A Book
PCGS Blog
PCGS is about to celebrate its 25 anniversary! We opened for business in February, 1986. The story about how PCGS came to be tells a lot about the coin market and what happened. And it also tells a lot about what will most likely happen in the future. I was obviously there, so I’ll give you my insider’s view of what happened 25 years ago, and I’ll also give you my feelings about where all of this is going.
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1796 Quarters Preserved in Hoard
Numismatic News
The 1796 quarter had an important place in history and this, combined with its very low mintage, results in it being very valuable. Its current prices are $11,000 in G-4, $82,500 in MS-60 and $235,000 in MS-65. The fact that there even is an MS-65 price for a 1796 quarter indicates that there is more to the story since most often we do not even see prices listed in MS-65 for coins of 1796. The quarter was authorized along with the other denominations on April 2, 1792, but production of the quarter and dime was delayed until 1796.
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2010 Silver Piedfort Maple Leaf Coin Sells Out
Silver Coins Today
Released late last month, the single 2010 Silver Piedfort Maple Leaf Coin from the Royal Canadian Mint sold out in less than a week, leaving only a gold and silver piedfort set remaining. Their quick disappearance from Mint shelves is not entirely surprising owing to their unique design and limited 6,000 mintage. Each coin continues the tradition of a maple leaf image which dates back to 1988 when the first Silver Maple Leaf was introduced by the Mint.
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Quick US Mint Updates
Mint News Blog
There are a number of recent news items related to the US Mint that I wanted to briefly cover. These deal with two upcoming coin launch ceremonies, the 2011 Mint Set, and designs for the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Dollar. The US Mint announced details for the coin launch ceremony for the 2010 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Dollar. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 18, 2010 at 10:00 AM ET. The location will be President Lincoln’s Cottage on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, DC.
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