French Fashion Designer Named Artistic Director of La Monnaie de Paris
Fashionista
From Karl Lagerfeld playing editor-in-chief, to John Galliano being made a national hero, France gives fashion figures as much respect as it does to those in any other field. So it’s hardly a surprising that Christian Lacroix was just named artistic advisor of La Monnaie de Paris: the state-funded organization in charge of designing and making French Euro coins, as well as national medals of all sorts. Despite Lacroix’s recent, saddening financial troubles, he remains an illustrious ambassador for his field and his country–so who better to ask about matters of classical Frenchness? This weekend, the local press revealed that the designer will be in charge of designing limited editions of coins, as well as the PACS medal (French gay marriage), and the Marriage medal (the trinket given when getting married under French civil law).
[ Read Full Article]

Try Your Hand at Writing About Coins
Numismaster
Did you attend your first major convention, and then wished to share the experience? Are you a seasoned numismatist with a bit of new research? Have you discovered a new collecting interest, or a new approach to building a set, or you just want to describe your appreciation for a particular coin? Write it down. Write an article about your pet topic. Even if you are not a professional writer, keep in mind that many publications use coin articles, perhaps including the newsletter for your local coin club. The editor may be constantly looking for new articles and he will welcome your contribution. And you might even get paid for your efforts. Pick your topic. Maybe you spotted a rarity at a coin show, or found your dream coin, or made a find in circulation. What makes this coin special to you? It helps to make an outline before you begin writing the actual article, to be sure you cover everything you want to mention.
[ Read Full Article]

Oregon Territory Gold Coins
Statesman Journal
When the Oregon Territory was established in 1848, the scarcity of printed money and coinage was a serious problem. Trying to get U.S. currency was extremely difficult. When Joseph Lane, the first territorial governor, arrived in Oregon he found some local settlers using Peruvian money as a form of currency, though it was only worth 50 cents on the dollar at the Hudson’s Bay Company stores. In addition to bartering, other mediums of exchange included wheat, beaver pelts, otter pelts, trade blankets, drafts and orders, and Mexican pesos. This situation made it nearly impossible to do business transactions. Oregonians wanted standardized money that was readily available and inspired trust. In a very inventive way, some Oregonians came up with a solution — make your own money.
[ Read Full Article]

The Itinerant Engraver
The E-Sylum
In the 19th century we observe the existence of hand engravers moving from town to town to ply their craft. Victor Brenner did this in Lithuania before he came to America. In New York City he found ample work in that one city. He only left New York to travel to Paris to study (under Louis Roty), or later, to travel to Maine for a honeymoon or vacations. However in 19th century America there arose the itinerant engraver. The cities of Boston, New York and Philadelphia had full time engravers with full time work. In other cities often the amount of engraving work did not justify an engraver staying put in one local. Thus the hand engraver would pack his bag of burins and chisels and travel around taking what engraving work — any kind of engraving — wherever he could find it. It gives true meaning to the term “journeyman.”
[ Read Full Article]

The Difference Between Coin Price and Coin Value
Susan Headley
There is a big difference between the price of a coin, and the value of a coin. Although you often see these words used interchangeably, it is important that you understand the different concepts represented by each. The “Price” of a coin is how much it would cost you to buy it from a dealer.?This is pretty straightforward. The “price” of a coin is merely the amount that it would sell for on the open market, otherwise known as its “retail price.” Coin prices are set by many different factors, including the type and grade of the coin, its rarity and desirability, and to some extent its availability in the marketplace. The most frequently used price guide to U.S. coins is the Red Book. The value of a coin is how much you can sell it for today. Here’s where it gets a little complicated.
[ Read Full Article]

Using $2 Bills and 50 Cent Pieces in Commerce
Union Leader
Every day, his marketing team, which includes Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy, spreads the word about his business far and wide around northern New Hampshire. “People talk about it,” said Nadig, who owns First Run Home Entertainment on Main Street in Colebrook, a one-stop for movies, deli sandwiches, pizza and ice cream. It’s all about the money. Rather than hand out dollar bills and quarters for change, Nadig hands out $2 bills and 50-cent pieces. It’s been his practice for several years now, long enough for just about everyone in the region to know that if you proffer a $2 bill for a cup of coffee, you’ve been at First Run. Nadig will tell you that he’s not a numismatist, a collector of coins, but he knows the value of cash. Money, he says, is not just, well, money.
[ Read Full Article]

The Dynamic Coin Market
Stack’s News
The coin market remains dynamic. As these words are being written, gold is down a bit from its recent high—which usually means that numismatists will perk up their ears and jump in to buy dates and mintmarks they are seeking—especially of series with high bullion content, double eagles being the most popular. We’ve been busy with the Johnson-Blue Collection catalog for our Sunday, August 8th, sale in Boston, preceding Professional Numismatists Guild Day (Tuesday) and the ANA World’s Fair of Money, the annual summer convention. Speculation has it that attendance will handily eclipse last year’s event in Los Angeles, which drew about 2,000 to 3,000 dealers and perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 collectors—or whatever the mix was. The total was 7,000 people. While you can attend (well, almost) a convention or auction on the Internet these days, being there in person is a great thing to do.
[ Read Full Article]

Wells Fargo 19th-Century Checks a Part of History
Trading Markets
As a rare currency dealer, Rick Allard has come across some cool cash: a 1950-series $10 federal reserve note with a $1 silver certificate on the flip side, and a $1 silver certificate with Martha Washington printed on it. But the cool factor isn’t limited to cold, hard cash. Allard, owner of Cashman’s Currency in Simi Valley, recently acquired three checks dating to the late 1870s. One check, dated Aug. 9, 1876, was drawn from The Bodie Bank by M.D. Kelly in the amount of $712.95. Bodie is now a California state park and a popular ghost town destination. The second is a $69 Wells, Fargo & Co check dated Jan. 25, 1887, and signed by the Washoe Club in Virginia City, Nev. The club was once an exclusive hangout for silver mine millionaires in the area and has been featured in recent years on several ghost-hunter reality TV shows.
[ Read Full Article]

Vote for the Best U.S. Mint 2010 Coin Designs (So Far)
Mint News Blog
The CCAC voted to form a subcommittee on Coin Design Excellence at their June 28 public meeting. So far the CCAC and subcommittee have adopted a list of 17 characteristics of design excellence and created a visual reference guide. The goal of these efforts will be to help “ignite the renaissance” in coin design. Responses to the subcommittee have ranged from positive to skeptical. As a change of pace, I thought it would be interesting to have a poll allowing readers to vote for the best US Mint coin or medal design so far this year. By my count, there have been 11 different coins or medals released for circulation or issued with a unique design on at least one side of the coin.
[ Read Full Article]

The Reverse of a Capped Bust Half Dollar on a Tennessee Exchange Note
The E-Sylum
At the Whitman Baltimore Expo coin show in November, 2009, Stuart Levine brought out an amazing Tennessee exchange note that depicts the reverse of a capped bust half dollar in full mirror image (Figures 1 and 2). Stu insisted that the image had been taken directly from a genuine bust half dollar, and he asked for some attribution help. Because the note was issued in 1837, it seemed logical to start with the reverses of 1836, the last year of the capped bust half dollar. Out came the Overton book, but there were no matches for 1836. And similarly, no matches for 1835, 1834, or 1833. But just as hope was fading, along came 1832 reverse C, used only (so far as we know) on the Overton 103 variety.
[ Read Full Article]

Ancient Coin Museum in Beijing
Global Times
On a treasure hunt for the old mysteries of Beijing, visitors to the Ancient Coin Museum have hit the jackpot. Located right inside the Desheng gate tower in Xicheng district, the museum has been around for nearly 20 years, but few people even know it’s there. Although it’s only 300 square meters big, it covers ancient Chinese currencies from the Shang Dynasty in 1600 BC to the early 20th century with around 4,000 relevant collections. The currency on display runs the gamut from the earliest examples made of seashells to more recent denominations in gold, pottery and animal bones. In Chinese history, not all currencies were made by central government. For instance, ordinary people were allowed to produce coins in private for market use during the governing period of the emperor Liu Che in Han Dynasty, said Wang Peiwu, a director of the museum.
[ Read Full Article]

India Approves New Symbol for the Currency Rupee
GulfNews
The Indian Cabinet on Thursday approved the new symbol for the Indian rupee – an amalgam of the Devnagiri ‘Ra’ and the Roman capital ‘R’ without the stem. The symbol, designed by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) postgraduate D. Udaya Kumar, was selected from among five shortlisted symbols before the Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni said after the cabinet meeting. “It is just a symbol,” she told reporters.
For Indians used to seeing the dollar symbol on the keyboard, this will be a welcome change. It will be just a matter of a few months for India’s new rupee symbol to be a part of the software code to be easily accessible to users across the world. 
[ Read Full Article]

Hot Research and the Coins It Affects
PCGS Library
At PCGS we are constantly leading numismatic research efforts. The object is to make the numismatic information used by PCGS and indeed the entire numismatic community as accurate as possible. One of the most exciting aspects of numismatic is that it’s an evolving field with new information and even new discoveries always coming forth. Below is a partial list of pending PCGS research questions and the coins involved: 1841 $2.5…the famous “Little Princess.” This important gold rarity is supposed to be a proof-only issue. In his seminal 1975 book on United States Quarter Eagles, David Akers speculated that only a few of the 14 or so survivors were actually true proofs and the others were actually regular strikes. Inspired by David’s thoughtful position on this major gold rarity we have led a big effort to round up actual coins and get a variety of expert opinions.
[ Read Full Article]

Early U.S. Mint Set Release?
Dave Harper
The U.S. Mint releases its United States Mint Uncirculated Coin Set July 15. As is often the case with other Mint product releases, I had an e-mail from a reader saying that a TV shopping show was offering the sets days ahead of time. He demanded to know how the show gets coins early. I telephoned the Mint July 12, as I have done from time to time with other offers, and received an official denial that the sets were released early. I relayed this back to the original e-mailer and he does not believe it. So, does anybody out there have actual possession of the official mint set or coins from the mint set that are slabbed as the first day of issue? These must be the actual coins, not images or promises.
[ Read Full Article]

New Orleans Gold $10 Began Slowly
Numismatic News
If you are looking for some true hidden values, the place to look might well be the Coronet Head $10 gold pieces from New Orleans. Gold eagles from anywhere tend to be overlooked, but somehow those from New Orleans seem to have a special place in obscurity. It’s probably a result of gold eagles not getting quite the same attention as some other gold denominations, such as double eagles, but it almost certainly has to do at least in part with New Orleans itself as the facility despite some awfully tough coins like the 1854-O and 1856-O double eagles just does not seem to get mentioned a great deal when gold coins are discussed.
[ Read Full Article]

Col. William Wood Stalks His Foes
Numismaster
President Abraham Lincoln had grave concerns about the security of the Legal Tender Notes and other paper evidences of government debt. As related by Presidential Secretary Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln confided in Secretary Chase: “It strikes me that this thing is all wrong, and dangerous.…[T]here seems to be no protection against a duplicate issue of every bill struck, and I can see no way of detecting duplicity until we come to redeem the currency; and even then, the duplicate cannot be told from the original. t was impractical for the Treasury to record serials of the millions of redeemed currency notes, but U.S. bonds were a different matter. Indeed the proverbial chickens finally did come home to roost, as we have seen, when the government began redeeming $1,000 bonds with duplicate serial numbers.
[ Read Full Article]

Veteran Numismatist Starts Company Focused on Classic U.S. Gold Coins
PR Newswire
Steve Deeds–a 40+ year veteran of all aspects of the rare coin market–is pleased to announce the formation of Morgan Gold. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Morgan Gold will focus on the sale of classic United States gold coinage and will also offer European gold coinage and modern bullion coins. “I am pleased to announce the formation of Morgan Gold,” asserted Founder Steve Deeds. “My team of numismatic professionals–including Vice President of Operations Louis Palafoutas– specializes in the sale of classic, pre-1933 United States gold coinage and other gold coins to collectors, private investors and brokerage firms. Our goal is to help those with an interest in collecting and investing in gold to obtain both coins and bullion in a comfortable and confidential manner.”
[ Read Full Article]

Six Easy Steps To Detect Fake Silver Coins
Susan Headley
Coin fraud is an unfortunate reality in the coin collecting marketplace, but you can avoid buying fake silver coins, and avoid coin fraud in general, by learning how to spot fake coins. We will use a fake Silver Eagle to demonstrate some easy steps to avoid buying fake coins. Avoiding coin fraud boils down to one basic point: knowledge. If you want to avoid buying fake silver coins and becoming a victim of coin fraud, you first need to learn what the genuine coin looks like. Then it’s just a matter of making some comparisons, and employing a little bit of common sense.
[ Read Full Article]