By F. Michael Fazzari, Numismatic News

In this column, I shall try to put an end to some misconceptions about technical coin grading. I have seen some inaccurate postings on numismatic online forums. Then, at a coin show recently, I listened as a dealer explained the difference between technical grading and commercial or market grading to a couple of older gentlemen purchasing some Indian $10 gold coins. It was clear to me that the young dealer had little understanding of technical coin grading or its roots.

So, who needs to know about a grading system that numismatists no longer use? Sit back, read on and you be the judge.

Let me first state that I was very closely involved with the conception, augmentation and refinement of technical coin grading beginning in 1973. My involvement continued up until the time technical grading was gradually replaced by commercial grading standards, beginning in the late 1980s. I’ll make no judgments or complaints here, just an effort to set the record straight in this limited space and provide an insider’s perspective about this chapter of numismatic history.

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By Tom LaMarre, Coins Magazine

Large cents dated 1793 have attracted collectors for at least 150 years. They were the first coins struck by the new U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, a city with a population of about 40,000 at that time.

Nothing involving the first cents came easily. Finding a skilled engraver was a challenge. So was the acquisition of the copper needed to strike the coins. Many 1793 cents are found dark or corroded.

Coming up with the right design for the cent was also difficult. It was a hit-or-miss effort involving a lot of trial and error. Designed by Henry Voight, the earliest cents had an obverse depicting Liberty with windblown hair. One critic said she appeared to be “in fright.”

The reverse was equally controversial. Its circular chain of 15 links - one for each state at the time - was supposed to symbolize unity. But the chain’s association with slavery made it a poor choice for a cent which had the inscription “Liberty” on the obverse.

The letter punches used for the inscriptions on the cent were made by Jacob Bay. On the first cents, struck from Feb. 27 to March 12, 1793, “AMERICA” was abbreviated as “AMERI.” The next chain cent variety spelled it out in full.

Adam Eckfeldt soon redesigned the cent, replacing the chain with a wreath and strengthening the modeling of Liberty’s face and hair. Eckfeldt also added a three-leaf sprig above the date. But the revised cent was only in production a few months before it gave way to the more successful Liberty Cap cent. Its designer, Joseph Wright, died from yellow fever later the same year. He was one of 5,000 Philadelphia residents who died during the yellow fever epidemic that lasted from August to November 1793.
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By Gary B. Marks for Numismatic News

Charles Vanderwater reports in his letter (April 15) that he read that David Rice Atchison had served as President of the United States for one day due to a glitch in American law at the time. Based on this information, Vanderwater wondered if this one-day president is entitled to a dollar coin as part of the Presidential $1 Coin Program.

The claim that Atchison was president for a day is one that has drifted through American history for over 150 years. In fact, Atchison was not president du jour and he is certainly not entitled to a presidential coin.

The legend is as follows. President James Polk’s term expired midday on Sunday, March 4, 1849. Being a devout Christian, President-elect Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn into office on a Sunday because it was the Sabbath. Instead, Taylor was sworn in on the next day, Monday. Taylor’s vice president, Millard Fillmore, was also sworn in on Monday.

Since Polk’s term had ended midday on Sunday and Taylor did not take office until mid-day on Monday the legend claims that Atchison – who was the President pro tempore of the Senate – became President during the 24-hour gap in accordance with the terms of the Presidential Succession Act of 1792.

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By Patrick Heller, Market Update

There has been a constant stream of terrible financial news over the past nine months. This news makes investors leery of owing US dollars or dollar-denominated paper assets like stocks or bonds. When investors try to protect themselves by switching to other assets or currencies, the result is a decline in the values of the dollar and American stocks and bonds.

Apparently, the top priorities of the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve is that the US stock market must be supported and the price of gold held down, so as to avoid a massive exit from the dollar and American stocks and bonds. To accomplish this manipulation, the Federal Reserve trades short-term repurchase agreements with 20 approved primary government securities dealers. Among American dealers on this approved list are Bank of America Securities, Bear Stearns, Cantor Fitzgerald, Countrywide Securities, Daiwa Securities America, Goldman Sachs, Greenwich Capital Markets, HSBC Securities (USA), JPMorgan Securities, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch Government Securities, and Morgan Stanley. As long as these companies use the liquidity provided by the repurchase agreements to do the government’s bidding, they will be allowed to make profits from the fees of the transactions.

When significant negative financial news is released, government officials know that this could scare investors into selling their US dollars and stocks and bonds and buying gold and silver with the proceeds. To diminish this effect, the Federal Reserve and Treasury (who know the bad news before its public release) give orders to boost stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and to knock down the price of gold. Read the Full Numismaster Article Here

By David Ganz for Numismatic News

The 1838-O half dollar is a genuine rarity, with only 20 pieces struck and the fate, 170 years after striking, of just about a dozen known pieces in existence leaves some unaccounted for. I’ve liked this coin for many years and made it a centerpiece of my new book that Krause is publishing in July, “Profitable Coin Collecting.”

More than 50 public auction sales of this coin are of record, some over a hundred years ago. The Mickley sale in 1867 by Woodward saw the coin offered as Lot 1782 and the selling price of $2.75. The same coin was acquired by J. P. Clemens and when Edward Coogan sold his collection in 1878. Lot 159 contained the same coin and brought $15.

Frossard sold his own collection Oct. 2, 1884 and Lot 400 in that sale featured an 1838 New Orleans half dollar which brought the “enormous” price of $63 only to find an early case of economic recession in the coin field so that by the time Lorin Parmalee sold his collection in 1890, the coin stepped back to $23.50.

Thomas Elder sold the Wilson collection in October 1908, and Lot 346 featured the very same 1838-O half dollar. It resounded to a $570 mark. In the span of 40 years, the coin rose in value from $2.75 to almost $600 – weekly wages in the United States at the time averaged about $6.

In the 1950s, the Anderson-Dupont sale by Stacks yielded a $3,500 price realized for an impaired proof specimen. That coin would be resold nine times in the succeeding half century and form the basis of the mystery that has existed for almost 20 years.

The unknown answer: an August 1989 sale as Lot 202. What was the price realized?

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