By Jack Branswell, CanWest News Service

OTTAWA — It took Canadians a while to get used to having loonies and toonies weighing down pockets and purses, but now they might have to get used to a $5 coin in the not-too-distant future.

In documents obtained by CanWest News Service, the federal government has studied the introduction of a new $5 coin to replace the bill. The Bank of Canada prepared an “optimal denomination structure” report in 2005 and, as part of it, used two theoretical financial models to analyze our coin and bank note system.

One model, called the D-metric, concluded that the elimination of the penny was warranted and recommended the introduction of a $5 coin and a $200 bill some time between 2005 and 2021. Another model, called Boeschoten, concluded that a $5 coin would be needed between 2009 and 2020, “given the price level and other factors would be consistent with the historical shift from notes to coins at other denominations.” Read Full Story

By Ken Potter on Numismatic News

A Spiked Head die crack on a proof 2007-S Thomas Jefferson Presidential dollar has been reported by a San Francisco Bay area collector. It was found in a four-piece 2007 Presidential dollar proof set. The coin exhibits a significant die crack on the reverse running from the second ray from the right in Miss Liberty’s crown up into the field, through the “E” of AMERICA continuing on through the rim. It is the first significant die crack reported on a proof Presidential dollar that runs from a portion of the design all the way through the rim.

The piece also represents the very first major die crack reported on any proof coin dated 2007. The owner (who wishes to remain anonymous) said that he ordered several sets directly from the Mint on June 21 and received them on July 5. Read Full Story

By Mark Ferguson for COIN VALUES

While more experienced collectors may scoff at the idea of third-party grading for recently issued United States coins, the concept is clearly popular with the general public.

If this year’s Christmas catalogs from mail-order coin businesses are any indicator, a growing segment of the marketplace is willing to pay the price for “slabbed” moderns.

How about a graded and encapsulated Mint State 68 1982-D Washington commemorative half dollar for $29? Why would a person pay such a lofty premium for a coin that sells for well less than $10 as a “raw” or unslabbed item? Read Full Story

The Austrian Mint’s four coin gold series “Vienna Jugendstil” concludes with the issue of the coin “House No. 38 in the Linke Wienzeile” on 7th November, 2007.

The series began in 2004 with a coin for the Vienna “Secession”, the exhibition hall in which the “Jugendstil” school of art had its origins. 2005 saw a work of sacral art, the “Church am Steinhof” with its golden dome. 2006 brought the “Vienna River Gate” to the City Park, a monumental work for public use. The series now is rounded off with an apartment house designed by the great Jugenstil architect Otto Wagner, who even took an apartment for himself in this building on the street bordering the Vienna River, the “Linke Wienzeile”.

The house was built in 1898-99 and is one of the best known examples of the Jugendstil in Vienna. Occupying a corner block, its cream façade decorated in gold is a prominent sight in the Linke Wienzeile. The rounded corner of the house itself is flanked on top by two female half-figures who, with hands raised to their mouths, trumpet out their joy to all Vienna. These figures are the work of the sculptor Othmar Schimkowitz, who also created the angels on Wagner’s Church am Steinhof. The façade is decorated with gold medallions of women’s heads, designed by the great Jugendstil artist Koloman Moser. Wagner had hoped to create a row of Jugenstil houses along the Wienzeile; a dream that was not to be realised. (more…)

The Royal Mint has issued a special limited-edition set of coins cast in platinum to commemorate the historic redesign of UK coinage set for 2008.

For the first time since decimalisation the legal tender coins of the United Kingdom will undergo a major design change. In the late spring of 2008 the nation will see new designs on the coinage, from the 1p to the £1, reflecting a more modern twenty-first century Britain.

To mark this watershed in numismatic history, and to commemorate the reverse designs that have served Britain well for almost 40 years, the Royal Mint is producing a limited-edition platinum Proof collection.

* This is the first time that these seven definitive coins have been struck in platinum

* Extremely low issue limit of 250 collections to be priced at £4995.00 (more…)