The rebirth of New Orleans as a tourist destination means collectors who plan a visit should arrange to stop by the New Orleans Mint Museum.

The museum has been back in business for six months, fully recovered from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And there is a wealth of revamped and new exhibitions to see.

When the museum reopened this past October, most of the structure had been renovated, along with a new coat of paint, refurbished plaster, fencing and flagstones, a new carpet and an HVAC system. A brand new and enhanced copper roof replaced what had been stripped, twisted and tossed into nearby streets by the caress of Katrina.

Top of many numismatists must-do list will be the exhibits showing the full range of coins minted at New Orleans. The museum has been blessed by the many collectors and benefactors who have donated or loaned historic New Orleans-struck coins to ensure the display is as complete as possible.

Rick Demers provided his complete date collection of New Orleans Mint silver coinage, with other notable gold and silver coins and coin-related artifacts coming from Lynn Ourso, Frank Patty, Mark Sheldon, and Robert B. Lecce. Read Full Numismater Article

Athletes won’t be the only ones in pursuit of Olympic gold and silver this summer.

Coin collectors will be able to acquire proof gold and silver commemorative coins issued by the China Mint in honor of the games it will host Aug. 8-24.

The precious metal commemorative coins reflect the games’ theme, “One World, One Dream.”

The complete proof 18-coin set, issued in three series, features six gold coins that are each one-third troy ounce and 12 silver coins that are each 1 troy ounce. The collection has a mintage limited to 60,000 worldwide, with 3,000 sets earmarked for the United States.

“With over a billion people in China alone, the limited mintage of these coins makes one realize that they may become as rare and treasured one day as ancient rare art pieces from Chinese history,” said Kitty Quan, chief executive officer of Panda America, one of two U.S. distributors of the Olympic coins.

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As a first-term governor for the American Numismatic Association, I have been involved with making a number of decisions that were complicated, necessary and sometimes not without controversy. The guiding principle that the entire board follows has always been that we will do what is right for the association and its members.

Choosing a new executive director was one such decision that we made during the recent National Money Show in Phoenix. The Search Committee had done its job by narrowing 37 applicants down to six persons who were interviewed in Chicago and then to two finalists who were interviewed by the entire board in Phoenix.

From my perspective, two attributes were critical. Did the individual have a good background in numismatics, ideally from both a collector and dealer viewpoint, and did the individual have a strong background in business (particularly finance and personnel aspects)? Frankly, I wasn’t sure we would be able to find an individual that filled both of my wishes.

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Gold is in a foot race sprint towards $1,000 a troy ounce and beyond. Platinum is already at $2,174 an ounce. Silver exceeds $20 an ounce. The price of oil has gone over $100 a barrel. Copper is now at a record $3.91 a pound; nickel is a $14.82 a pound and even lowly zinc is at $1.27 a pound.

The age of commodities is upon us.

Here’s the scary thing. A couple hundred dollars ago, gold reached its high of the 1980s, then the height of inflation and a series of economic pressures that were very apparent to the nation as a whole and to coin collectors in particular.

Just as a refresher, the consumer price index in 1980 was going at a clip of more than 10 percent, while the previous year, 1979, saw a 13.5 percent average.

The Hunt brothers had cornered the silver market, or tried to, before it topped out at $50 an ounce. Gold followed, largely on Soviet pressure, and withholding of sales, before it reached its zenith in the $850 range. The economic prospects looked dismal. Read Full Story By David L. Ganz

By Harvey G. Stack

I cannot agree with you more! The world mints, especially ones that are closest and dearest to all of us, are unquestionably profiteering on the collector and the public. The sale of specially struck coins, presented in fancy boxes, cases or the like, reminds me how Franklin Mint made its promotions, which almost the entire series fell on its face. The only possible redemption was the fact that precious metals rose in value and the recovery of the cost, no less than profit, was fully dependent on the metal market, not the numismatic or collector market.

Yet the U.S. Mint and other mints promoted these issues as “an investment for the future.” That statement was misleading but it was made by a government agency, and are they wrong. The fact that the Mint produces more than enough coins to satisfy the primary market, but it also makes enough to sell to a secondary market. The new special issues are a profit center of huge proportions for the Mint, and at the expense of those who respond to the tantalizing ads, that the Mint floods the newspapers, magazines, TV spots and the like with. Years ago when I was reviewing the yearly statements from 1993 or so, at that time the Mint made, after all expenses tens of millions of dollars profit. Read Full Commemtary