‘Flying Dragon’ Heads Hong Kong Sale
Numismaster
“The Wa She Wong Collection contains rarities that are an honor to view, let alone bid upon,” said Rick Ponterio, executive vice president of Bowers and Merena. “We are extremely proud to have been entrusted with its sale as it is one of the most memorable collections I have had the pleasure of preparing for auction. Bidders from around the world have begun to make reservations to attend the highly anticipated Hong Kong Auction in December for a chance to bid on the lots firsthand.”
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£76,000 For a Gold Coin Celebrating a Great British Victory
Paul Fraser Collectibles
Dating from Queen Anne’s reign, the piece was struck from captured French & Spanish bullion. Just over a week ago, Baldwin’s assisted St James’s Auctions in their coin sale with some very successful results, especially in British gold coins. It was surprising that Baldwin’s had taken the time to be involved, as they had just carried out a two day auction consisting of the last section of The Michael Hall collection of medals and a more standard Ancient, English & World Coins, Commemorative Medals & Orders, Decorations & Medals sale.
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Copper-Plated Cents Not Work of Mint
Numismatic News
How many of the 1943 cents were copper plated? One or two readers apparently missed the point of a comment about the copper-plated 1943 steel cents. This was done outside the Mint, long after the steel cents went into circulation, so there is no record of how many were copper-plated. The genuine steel cent issue was zinc-plated. The copper plating is an alteration and has no collector value.
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US Mint 2011 Silver Proof Set Release in January
Silver Coins Today
Coin collectors will have an opportunity to purchase United States Mint sets earlier next year, including the 2011 Silver Proof Set. The U.S. Mint said that the popular silver set, and at least two other “annual core products” — the 2011 Proof Set and 2010 Mint Set, will launch in January 2011. The Mint is following up on a plan that was first announced in 2008 when it significantly cut the amount of products it sold. One stated reason for doing so was to focus on its bigger products, releasing them earlier in the year to make them “available for customers to purchase for more occasions.”
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A Nostalgia Trip to 1955
Stack’s
Dear Mr. Bowers: re: Coin World, August 2, 2010, and your comments on the year 1955. Although many if not most of today’s “everyday items” were not even thought of in 1955, America under Ike’s presidency was a kinder gentler place where one had time to become an expert, a craftsman or whatever at a much more gentle pace. A 1955 car could be repaired without computer experts, diagnostic technicians and all other manner of “educated idiots” to quote my favorite mechanic.
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‘World’s most valuable penny,’ the Lincoln Cent Coin
Paul Fraser Collectibles
“This is the world’s most valuable penny,” said rare coin dealer Laura Sperber, President of Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, New Jersey, when a rare one-of-a-kind Lincoln cent went under the hammer, last month. In the end, the coin – dating to World War Two and mistakenly struck from the wrong metal, 67 years ago – sold for $1.7m. The key to the coin’s value? It is the only known 1943-dated Lincoln cent to have been incorrectly struck in a copper alloy at the Denver Mint.
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2010 Proof Gold Eagles Debut
Coin Update News
This week’s report of the United States Mint’s numismatic product sales includes the opening figures for the 2010 American Gold Eagle Proof Coins. After the cancellation of last year’s collector offerings for the series, buyers were out in force for the newly released coins. The 2010 Proof Gold Eagles went on sale October 7, 2010. Through the sales reporting date of October 10, customers ordered 13,980 of the one ounce coins, 2,173 of the one-half ounce coins, 2,780 of the one-quarter ounce coins, and 6,945 of the one-tenth ounce coins.
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Weakness Sets In For High End Coins
Numismatic News
There are literally hundreds of plus signs on weekly dealer bid prices, but if you look past the headlines you realize that a very large percentage of these are due to an increase in the intrinsic (melt) values. I find that there is a significant number of rarer items that are actually quite weak in price but not in verifiable published prices. Last weekend I was actively trading at the Whitman Philly event and I was offered two high-grade $20 Saints at nearly half supposed market, both were certified and nice quality.
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New Olympic 50p Designed by Public Unveiled Today
Numismaster
Today, on the 41st anniversary of the 50p becoming a UK circulating coin, the Royal Mint has revealed 29 new Olympic and Paralympic 50p coin designs to collect. The new designs are the result of a nationwide competition with members of the public submitting nearly 30,000 designs for consideration. The competition, launched in January 2009, was the biggest national competition the Royal Mint has ever undertaken and offered the nation the opportunity to design a coin of the realm. The coins feature each of the 29 Olympic and Paralympic sports to be contested during London 2012.
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Old Coins Worth a Mint
Sydney Morning Herald
The managing director of Coinworks in Melbourne, Belinda Downie, has been involved in the rare-coin industry for 38 years. Among her career highlights have been placing the top three examples of Australia’s first gold coin, the 1852 Adelaide Pound, and the sale of a Proof 1930 Penny for a record $620,000 in 2005. This was claimed as the world’s most expensive copper coin but may not be for much longer. She has another Proof 1930 Penny for sale (currently under negotiation), this one from the celebrated collection of A.M. Le Souef, former deputy master of the Melbourne Mint.
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Future Money: New Currency for Space Travelers
The E-Sylum
Scientists have come up with a new currency designed to be used by inter-planetary travellers. It is called the Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination, or Quid. It is designed to withstand the stresses of space travel and has no sharp edges or chemicals that could hurt space tourists. It was designed for the foreign exchange company Travelex by scientists from the National Space Centre and the University of Leicester. “None of the existing payment systems we use on earth – like cash, credit or debit cards – could be used in space,” said Professor George Fraser from the University of Leicester.
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Early Commems Often Disappointed
Numismatic News
Many times we talk about the abuses and problems of commemorative coin programs before the start of modern commemoratives in 1982. Collectors who grew up in the circulation finds era knew the Treasury scotched any possible new ones after 1954. That created a drought that lasted 28 years. Realistically, while we talk about such abuses and problems of the old programs the past problems of various commemorative issues are rarely explained.
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Locked In a Vault For 43 Years: The Philip Keller Coin Collection is to Sell
Paul Fraser Collectibles
One of the most comprehensive collections of colonial and early American coins ever to reach public auction, The W. Philip Keller Collection of US Colonials, is the principle highlight of Heritage’s upcoming Rare US Coin auction in conjunction with COINFEST in Stamford, Connecticut. Mr Keller apparently stopped actively collecting around 1966, with intermittent purchases through the early 1970s, and stored his collection in a bank vault where it was discovered nearly 40 years later by his surprised family after he died last year.
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1943 “Copper” Cent is a Magician’s Piece
The E-Sylum
The hollowed-out 1943 “copper” cent with steel lining is a magician’s piece. A dime fits into the hollowed out reverse. The magician, with a palmed magnet, passes his hand over the “penny” and turns it into a dime. I have no explanation of how the cataloger saw the wheat ears on the reverse. The 1943 cent obverse shell is indeed part of a magician’s token. I would surmise that the matching piece had a small, thin magnet glued to it or embedded in it, which would attach itself to the steel shell until the magician performed his sleight of hand.
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Mintmarks Added to 1932 Quarter
Numismaster
At the last coin show I attended, a dealer stopped by the Independent Coin Grading booth to have me authenticate a group of 1932-D quarters. Unfortunately, a few of his coins were altered. I covet altered and counterfeit coins for my teaching set; but for a host of reasons, I find that they are very difficult to acquire. I guess the main roadblock is the fact that they are usually offered to me at or close to the price of a genuine specimen because that’s what they cost the dealer in the fist place.
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Series 1891 $1,000 Face Proof Among Highlights
Coin Values
Stack’s Philadelphia Americana sale, conducted Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, realized a total of $9,637,957. The auction at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia was held in conjunction with the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Philadelphia Expo (www.whitmanexpo.com).The auction offered nearly 6,300 lots of coins, paper money and exonumia from multiple consignors.
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Old Coins Unearthed
Mass Live
For the better part of this city’s history, the Park Square Green served as Westfield’s center of commerce and the main gathering place for its citizens. As the green is being dug up to make way for a progressive new traffic plan, so too is its history. Literally. Witness a 1752 Spanish reale, coined not quite a century after Westfield’s 1669 founding. It’s among the finds that attorney Robert Walker made during a summertime exploration of the Park Square Green.
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