The U.S. Mint took home three Coin of the Year awards at the ceremony held Feb. 2 during the World Money Fair in Berlin, Germany. Ed Moy, U.S. Mint director, was on had to accept the awards.  Here is how the U.S. fared:

- A commemorative silver dollar depicting Benjamin Franklin as an old diplomat won the Most Historically Significant category. The coin was struck to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Franklin’s birth.

- The Nevada state quarter won judges’ votes for two categories: Best Trade and Most Popular. Best Trade refers to circulating coins, and Most Popular often boils down to mintage numbers. The quarter showcases galloping mustangs, the wild horses native to the state. Read Full Story

American Buffalo gold coins will be available in fractional sizes in 2008.

Proof and uncirculated 2008 Buffaloes will come in half-ounce, quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce sizes, the U.S. Mint announced Jan. 30. Four-coin sets including one-ounce coins are to be sold as well. The 2008 one-ounce uncirculated Buffalo will continue to be available singly. Proof Buffaloes in fractional sizes are expected to go on sale this summer.

American Eagle gold coins, which come in the same fractional sizes and have been available since 1986, are made of .9167 fine gold. Gold Eagles were assigned face value denominations of $50, $25, $10 and $5. Other than size-specific information, all four sizes share the same Saint-Gaudens double eagle obverse design and “Family of Eagles” reverse design. Read Full Story

Court summonses were served to Barry Stuppler, president of the American Numismatic Association, and Gary Adkins, president of the Professional Numismatists Guild, Jan. 10 on the floor of the Florida United Numismatists convention in Orlando.

The summonses spring from a lawsuit filed by National Numismatic Certification LLC; ASA Accugrade, Inc.; PCI Coin Grading, Inc.; Sovereign Entities Grading Service, Inc.; Treasure Gallery, Inc., and Centsles, Inc., against the two numismatic groups and against eBay claiming defamation and interfering with business.

The suit was filed in United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Read Full Story

By Allen Mincho, Bank Note Reporter

This January 2008 column for Bank Note Reporter marks the 10th year that my musings have appeared on a monthly basis. It has been a truly amazing ride that we in the currency market have enjoyed for the past decade, with a market that has widened beyond the scope of even the most optimistic prognosticator, with more buyers, sellers and dedicated collectors taking part than any observer could reasonably have predicted at the start of 1998.

The advent of truly unbiased and objective third-party grading, the explosion of modern research techniques into hitherto uncharted fields, the expansion by all of the major coin auction houses into the currency auction arena, and the realization by the numismatic community that currency was both undervalued and considerably scarcer than its metallic counterparts all have played a major role in defining where this market has progressed as we start 2008. Read Full Story

Two top grading companies are seeing many of their staff members switch teams following a recent change in ownership at one firm. Significant portions of the Independent Coin Grading Co. staff have joined ANACS and its new owner James Taylor, while several graders dismissed from ANACS have been hired by ICG.

Taylor purchased the assets of ANACS from Anderson Press, Inc. on Dec. 21 and moved the ANACS office from Austin, Texas, to Englewood, Colo., where ICG is located. Up until Dec. 3, Taylor had been president of ICG.

The switch in staffing may have legal repercussions, according to attorney Kevin Kline of the Miami law firm of Kline, Moore and Klein P.A. Kline told Numismatic News on Jan. 7 that 20 or 21 members of the ICG staff moved to ANACS following its purchase by Driving Force, Taylor’s limited liability corporation. Read Full Story