The U.S. House of Representatives finally took some action (Thurs. May 8th) in an attempt to solve the penny crisis. The question doesn’t seem to be “should we eliminate the penny?” but rather, “what should it be made of?” The bill, HR-5512, calls for a penny made out of copper-coated steel to be issued within 270 days (about 9 months) from the date of enactment. The bill also calls for a steel nickel (hmm, is this an oxymoron?) but doesn’t set a timetable.

U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy opposes this bill, primarily because it doesn’t give the Treasury Department enough authority to prescribe the alloys U.S. coins are made from, plus Moy says that 270 days is too short to allow for proper testing and implementation. Furthermore, he hinted that the price of steel might even go too high in the near future to coin pennies cost-effectively.

Even though this bill passed the House unanimously on a voice vote, it is not expected to emerge unscathed from the Senate. A competing bill is expected to be introduced by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colorado) in the coming weeks, perhaps before the Memorial Day recess. Judging by Moy’s comments about the use of steel, I tend to think that perhaps Moy favors aluminum or some other metal besides steel. The last time the U.S. made steel coins, it was a disaster!

The 1943 steel cent, issued during World War II to conserve copper for the war effort, was widely reviled by the public. It was partially coated in zinc, and therefore silver-colored, which made it easily confused with the dime.

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I have to absolutely frank with you and say that I am stunned that this magazine is free! Mike Byers has published yet another amazing issue of his wildly popular Mint Error News Magazine, devoted to error and variety coins. The current issue, number 23 in the series, has more 200 pages cram-packed with information, photos, and price lists relating to error coins! Even the advertisements are fascinating!

Although all of the magazine is interesting and informative, the error coin price guides painstakingly compiled by Al Levy are the only frequently-updated price guides of this type that can be found anywhere on the Web. Levy scans eBay, the widest-reaching coin market in the world, for the closing prices of hundreds of different types, dates, and combinations of errors. For example, on the page containing prices for the “Speared Bison” Nickels and “Extra Leaf” Wisconsin Quarters, we learn that prices are way down, partly due to new material coming on the market. Levy warns us about the do-it-yourself coin-wrapping equipment that allows people to wrap and crimp their own rolls of coins, so one should be very wary bidding on supposedly unsearched rolls that show an error coin on the end.

The cover story is about a Proof Utah State Quarter which was struck on an elliptical clip. (An elliptical clip is a coin blank that was erroneously punched into an oval, rather than round, shape. Such blanks are extremely rare, but for a Proof coin to have such a blank, with all of the careful handling and multiple inspections that Proof coins go through at the Mint, it’s downright newsworthy!)

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Fred Weinberg is easily one of the most well-known people in coin collecting. He is a specialist in error coins, the coins which result from mistakes and mishaps during the coin minting process. Chances are, if you’ve seen a handsome, bearded coin expert on television, it was Fred Weinberg, as he is probably one of the most consulted coin experts in the country. He has appeared on numerous TV news and radio shows, from the major networks to local affiliates, explaining the way the coins are made in his engaging and easy-going fashion. So, who is Fred Weinberg and how did he get to where he is today?

Fred has been collecting coins since the age of 12. He has been a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) for more than 38 years, and a member of the elite Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) for over 31 years.

In fact, Fred served as President of the PNG from 1999 to 2001. He is fascinated with the things that go wrong when coins are made, and loves trying to figure out why a coin turned out the way it did. As a result of a lifetime analyzing the way coins are struck, Fred is the go-to guy for important entities like PCGS, for which he is the official authenticator for major minting errors.

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Have you ever wondered what an illegal coin minting operation looks like? Are you curious about how the Chinese are making all of those fake coins we have been seeing recently? If so, the Chinese Coin Counterfeiting photo gallery will interest you. There are photos of the coin presses they use, the fake coin dies they make, and the actual coins they strike. I have added some commentary where I was able to get information about the processes, but as you can probably imagine, my sources aren’t exactly being forthcoming about this information.

Some of the photos in this gallery surfaced in coin collecting discussion forums earlier this year. I would like to acknowledge the anonymous owner of the BiddlesBank.com Web site for leading me to these photos, and for providing information that got me started tracking them all the way down to their Chinese sources. It is obvious that this Chinese counterfeiting operation is a large scale endeavor that is flooding thousands of fake coins into our coin collecting marketplace every month. As the photos will reveal, these fakes are dangerous, high-quality specimens that will fool all but the most observant collectors. Read full article by Susan on About.com

Blank Monroe Dollar has Edge Lettering

A “Faceless” Monroe Presidential Dollar has been found by coin collector Garrett Reich of Michigan. This extremely rare error type, of which only one previous specimen has ever been confirmed, is a Presidential Dollar that didn’t get struck by the coin dies, leaving it without any obverse or reverse designs. Reich’s coin is a blank planchet with a very important difference from nearly other blank Presidential Dollar coins: it has Presidential Dollar edge lettering on it! Garrett found the coin in a bank box of 1,000 coins wrapped up into 40 rolls on February 13, 2008, the day before the coins officially went on sale at most banks. (Some banks are known to distribute the coins ahead of the official release date.)

Monroe Faceless Dollar is NGC Certified

Reich’s Faceless Monroe Dollar specimen has been certified by NGC as genuine, with the label reading “2008P (James Monroe) $1 / Edge Lettered Planchet / Mint Error” along with the verification number on the insert. According to Reich’s wife, Erika, the grading service messed up the label the first time around, apparently not recognizing that the particular president was a certain, known fact in this case.

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