Collecting the Atlanta Commemoratives
Heritage Blog
The Summer Olympics of 1996, held in Atlanta, Georgia, were the site of many personal and team successes, but from a numismatic perspective, they were also the inspiration for one of the most ambitious failures in recent U.S. Mint history: the Games’ commemorative coin program. The modern era of commemorative coinage had begun in 1982. Before the 1980s, two separate eras had caused scandals that led to a suspension of commemorative coins. First, the 1930s saw some commemoratives struck on flimsy pretenses, and other designs were struck for several years, changing only the date. A change in law put a temporary stop to the latter abuse.
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2010 U.S. Platinum Eagle Reverse Design Candidates
Mint News Blog
Last year, a six year design series began for the collectible American Platinum Eagle. The core concepts of American Democracy as stated in the Preamble to the United States Constitution were to be presented on different reverse designs. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. provided narratives for each of the concepts to serve as inspiration for the designs. This year’s design will depict the principle “To Establish Justice.” Nine different candidate designs were recently provided by the United States Mint. Six of the designs presented the figure of Justice blindfolded, holding scales, and/or surrounded by other allegorical symbols or people. Two of the designs featured images from the Supreme Court building, figures on the western pediment and the panels depicting the development of law on west front doors.
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History Doesn’t Repeat But It Rhymes
Dave Harper’s Buzz
The Roman goddess of virtue on the seal has a bare breast much as the Standing Liberty quarter design of 1916 has a bare breast. It was designed by George Wythe and adopted by Virginia in 1776. For the staff pins, as with the quarter design of 1917, the goddess now has her own virtue protected by the addition of chain mail at the instigation of the state attorney general. Thus the story line of 1916-1917 extends itself to 2010. It was only three years ago that we had the hullabaloo over “In God We Trust” being placed on the edge of the 2007 Washington dollar. This echoed the arguments of 1907-1908 over the absence of the motto on the redesigned early 20th century $10 and $20 gold pieces. Subsequently in 2009 the motto was relocated to the obverse on Presidential dollars just as the motto was placed on the two new gold coins in 1908.
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Nashville Expo to Proceed as Planned
Coin Collecting News
You’ve likely heard about the record-breaking rains and flooding over the past few days in Nashville. Now that the flood waters are receding, we’re writing to share the latest updates with you and to let you know the first-ever Whitman Coin & Collectibles Nashville Expo will go ahead as planned, and should not be affected in any significant way. Although Gaylord Opryland Resort and some Music Valley establishments have flood damage, we are pleased to report that the Nashville Convention Center (where the Expo will be held) as well as the headquarters hotel, the Renaissance Nashville, will be ready to accommodate us without any problems.
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‘Bad’ $4 Coin Idea Had Strong Support
Numismatic News
Kasson’s letter promoting the idea of a $4 gold coin – dated Jan. 3, 1879, reached the committee towards the end of that month. The Minister claimed that an American gold coin roughly equivalent to the 8-florin gold coin of Austria would somehow smooth international transactions. The problem is, however, that two coins are either the exact same value or they are not and these two coins were not, the values being $4 and $3.86. Rather than a boon to exchange, it would have been more of a bad dream. The Austrian gold piece of 8 florins barely circulated, even in Austria. It was the equivalent of the French 20 francs, which did enjoy wide usage. That the obscure Austrian coin was used as a model is a sign that Hubbell had virtually no support for his international metric coinage ideas.
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Paper Clip Error Note One of Two Known
Numismaster
One of the most remarkable currency errors to come along in many years received rave reviews at the recent Baltimore Coin & Collectibles Expo. Christened “The Paper Clip Note” by PCGS Currency, it is distinguished by a paper clip that is embossed and imprinted onto a 1974 $5 Federal Reserve Note. Joel Cohen, who is a collector/dealer in Philadelphia, owns the only two-known examples. He brought the notes to the Baltimore Expo to have them graded and certified by PCGS. Cohen, who visits many coin and currency websites on a daily basis looking for buying opportunities, spotted these notes in late 2009 on a well-known coin dealer’s site. He described himself as “immediately in awe of the notes,” and anxiously moved ahead to secure their purchase.
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2010 Central States Professional Preview Experiment Deemed a Failure
Dave Harper’s Buzz
The Central States Numismatic Society experiment regarding having a full day for Professional Preview attendees who pay $75 to get in has been judged a failure and the approach will be abandoned for next year’s Chicago convention, Kevin Foley says. Too many people who had come for the Professional Numismatist Guild Day on Wednesday did not like the idea of paying the admission charge on Thursday. They also did not like hanging around waiting until Friday, so they left. Dealers who spent a large amount of time on Thursday twiddling their thumbs did not like it, either. So, next year, the Professional Preview portion of the convention will see its hours cut back to 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday and public attendance will run from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. on that day.
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2010 U.S. Gold Buffalo Sales Open Strong
Coin Update News
Sales of the 2010 American Gold Buffalo bullion coin have reached 48,500 just one day after the United States Mint began accepting orders for the popular 24-karat gold bullion coins. Earlier this week, the US Mint announced that they would accept orders from authorized purchasers starting on April 29, 2010. Similar to other bullion offerings, the United States Mint distributes the American Gold Buffalo coins through a network of authorized purchasers, who buy the coins in bulk quantities and then resell them to other dealers and the public.
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Iowa State University Student Charged With Counterfeiting
Ames Tribune
An Iowa State University student is facing serious misdemeanor charges after being arrested this week for running a counterfeit “study bucks” operation out of his dorm room.  Christopher Michael Williams, 18, of 2681 Helser Hall, allegedly was caught making the fake certificates after creating a Facebook.com group dedicated to offering his services as a counterfeiter. According to court documents, ISU police were contacted by the Helser Hall director regarding the fake study bucks.” The certificates are handed out to students who use the hall’s commons areas for studying and can be redeemed at the end of the year at a silent auction for things such as gift cards, iPods, a digital camera and a GPS unit. Students can also use the coupons at the Helser Hall Desk General Store to buy snacks.
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Gold in His Veins: The Story of John Daggett
The E-Sylum
Rich Kelly and Nancy Oliver have become well established as the premier researchers of San Francisco Mint history, and the latest fruit of their labor is a fascinating book about the life of a person known to numismatists mostly for the wrong reason. It has long been assumed that John Daggett was the primary person responsible for the creation of a United States numismatic rarity–the 1894-S dime. In addition to chronicling his entire life from birth to death, Kelly and Oliver have provided compelling evidence that Daggett, superintendent of the San Francisco Mint 1894-97, played only a peripheral role in the creation of these coins, though he may have been aware of their rarity at some point.
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Bahamas to Issue New 10-Dollar Notes
Banknote News
The Government of The Bahamas wishes to advise the public that an updated series of $10 banknotes will be issued by the Central Bank bearing the image of Sir Stafford Sands, former Minister of Finance of The Bahamas and a principal architect of the modern Bahamian economy. Sir Stafford’s image was first placed on the banknote on March 7th, 2000, when the series 2000 banknotes were released into circulation, replacing the image of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 2005 the government of the day determined to remove the image of Sir Stafford and to replace it with the image of Her Majesty the Queen.
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2009 a Positive Year for Mint of Finland
Mint of Finland
Last year was clearly positive for Mint of Finland in terms of its results. Turnover, which totalled € 39 million, was up by 56 percent. The company’s operations are measures by its results, security of supply and working capacity. The profits of the financial year turned positive (+ € 0.3 m). Security of supply was 92.6%. Absenteeism, which is an indicator of working capacity, was 5.1%. The Circulation Coins business unit of the parent company surpassed the forecast results and their objectives for the year. In 2009, Mint of Finland minted 1.3 billion coins and entered new market areas e.g. in North Africa. However, the Collector Items business unit did not meet expectations due to the economic recession. The success of new collector’s items abroad compensated for the poor demand in Finland.
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Is My Cent Made of Copper or Zinc?
Susan Headley
If your Lincoln Memorial penny has a date before 1982, it is made of 95% copper. If the date is 1983 or later, it is made of 97.5% zinc and plated with a thin copper coating. For pennies minted in 1982, when both copper and zinc cents were made, the safest and best way to tell their composition is to weigh them. Copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams, whereas the zinc pennies weigh only 2.5 grams. Be sure to use a scale that is accurate enough to detect the tenth of a gram (0.10) or better. If you weigh a zinc penny on a scale that can only register full 1 gram increments, the penny will usually display 3 grams, since the scale rounds the 2.5 gram zinc penny upwards to 3. The wrong type of scale can be misleading when you are trying to sort copper and zinc pennies.
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Sikyon and Its Chimaira
Coins Weekly
No wonder that the staters of Sikyon belong to the most beautiful coins that have been engraved by Greek craftsmen. How realistic the legendary creature Chimaira is modeled! Clearly we see the three elements from which the beast was composed: The head and the body of the lion, the tail formed by the head and the body of a snake, and in the middle the head of the animal that gave its name to the whole of the creature: the goat, called in Greece Chimaira (= c?meira). This monster was considered to be the sister of the hell-hound Cerberus, of the polycephalous Hydra that was killed by Heracles and of the Sphinx from Thebes. Her breath was fire and that was the reason why ancient mythologists already connected her to the fire-spitting volcanoes. Sikyon was far away from any volcano. So why did the aristocrats of Sicyon choose this motif as symbol of their community? Why did they banish the dove that former had been their emblem to the reverse of their coins?
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PMG to Grade and Encapsulate the Bebee Paper Money Collection
Paper Money Guarantee
The American Numismatic Association has contracted with its official paper money grader, Paper Money Guaranty LLC, to encapsulate, grade, appraise and provide a complete certification report for the ANA Bebee Collection of Paper Money. The collection, donated to the ANA Edward C. Rochette Money Museum by Aubrey and Adeline Bebee in 1987, is one of most comprehensive collections of US paper money ever assembled. It features 904 notes, including national bank notes from virtually every state and territory and perhaps the finest collection of large size notes outside of the Smithsonian Institution.
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Top Franklin Half Dollars Becoming Popular
Numismaster
No one ever expected the 1963 Franklin half dollar to be special. With a mintage of 22,164,000, there simply was no reason to save it. Even in 1963 there were not a lot of Franklin half dollar collectors. There were simply too many other seemingly better options in circulation. At the time one could still find Mercury dimes and Walking Liberty half dollars. Another factor was that the 1963 had a proof mintage of 3,075,645. While many who bought the 1963 sets would not want to break them up, if the price was right few would doubt that Philadelphia 1963 could be found if there was any sort of demand.
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Show-And-Tell Coin Holders
Coin Update News
At coin clubs, shops and shows, I meet collectors and dealers who complain about bad grades by the top four grading companies–NGC, PCGS, ANACS and IGC–keeping suspect slabs for show and tell. “Look at this Morgan dollar!” a collector might say. “Why did it grade AU58 when it is obviously uncirculated?” Well, mistakes and misgrades happen. Moreover, the complaining collector often is right about the misgrade for the simple fact that he or she has kept it as a prized possession. I call these “show-and-tell” holders because collectors use them as talking points when talking down grading companies.
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2010 $1 Centenary of Girl Guides Coin Released
Royal Australian Mint
As announced in August 2009 by the Assistant Treasurer, Nick Sherry and Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, a circulating coin celebrating the Centenary of Girl Guides is being released into general circulation during 2010. Australian Girl Guides are an important, iconic movement and one of the largest organisations for women and girls in Australia. This movement has influenced many outstanding women leaders since its establishment in 1910, supporting Australian girls to grow into confident and inspiring young women. To acknowledge the invaluable contribution made by Australia’s Guiding movement over the past 100 years, we are proud to release this $1 rolled coin. Wrapped in exclusive Royal Australian Mint paper, each roll includes the Girl Guides centenary logo.
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