By David L. Ganz, Numismatic News

As the 110th Congress sprinted to a Memorial Day recess, a number of numismatic measures were passed by the House of Representatives May 15.

They now go to the Senate. Some deft parliamentary maneuvers and stealth actions are part of the package.

Foremost on the list is H.R. 5614, a bill whose initial appearance and very title gave the impression that the Mint was being asked to enter mainline production and reproduce a Saint-Gaudens ultra-high-relief gold double eagle. (The original bill’s name was worded this way: “This Act shall be known as the ‘Original Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Ultra-High Relief Bullion Coin Act’).

The name suggests a gold coin that was fabled a generation ago as a production nightmare that took seven bold strikes on the Mint’s coining presses to bring up the design. The real purpose of the bill, however, was the working miners of Montana who produce palladium – the stealth nomenclature opts for that design with the new metal for the Mint to produce.

A gold 27mm pattern replica is the design choice. As the bill’s legislative history notes, “a 34-millimeter version was hand-struck on a standard double eagle planchet using a medal press and, because manufacturing and technical limitations prevented mass production of these pieces, this production resulted in low mintage, with fewer than two dozen specimens of the 34-millimeter version known to be in existence today.”

It goes on to note that “a second, 27-millimeter, version was struck using two stacked $10 eagle planchets,” which is the coin being reproduced in gold for collectors. But the real purpose of the bill is not gold but to produce palladium coinage.

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The 27th Annual MidAmerica Coin Expo will move to a new site this year, the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center. The expo is slated for July 10-13.

Schaumburg, Ill., is a suburb of Chicago. It is just over 10 miles from O’Hare Airport and adjacent to the I-90 freeway.

“The Renaissance Schaumburg has been open for not quite two years and is in my estimation the finest hotel on the entire numismatic convention circuit,” said Kevin Foley, who has been general chairman of the event since its inception.

“The attached convention center is a first-rate, state-of-the art facility offering a level of amenities typically absent from similar facilities elsewhere. The Renaissance offers complimentary parking for both hotel guests and event attendees, a cost that was close to $20 at our previous home in Rosemont,” he said.

The expo will have more than 150 booths featuring a wide range of dealers from 23 states offering different numismatic specialty items.

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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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