Was A Gilbert Stuart Sketch the Model for Draped Bust Coinage?
The E-Sylum
Famous American artist Gilbert Stuart painted many of our founding fathers and their wives, and his works have been copied onto American currency, commemorative coins, presidential dollars, first spouse coins, and state quarters. I am trying to document these colorful connections for publication. Yet one of his finest impacts is possibly the most difficult to verify, since the artwork in question has not survived. Numismatic scholars have debated Stuart’s involvement in the introduction of the Draped Bust design that graced seven denominations of our early coins, starting with the 1795 silver dollar. I have found long descriptions of Anne Bingham’s life (including an 1787 portrait and 1785 sketch of her by Stuart), but only bits and pieces of her connection to our coinage.
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International Bank Note Society Forms a Russian-Language Chapter
Banknote News
The International Bank Note Society has announced the formation of a new Russian chapter. According to Dmitriy Litvak, president of the new chapter, “The main difference between the Russian (IBONS) chapter and the other IBNS chapters is that it is based on a linguistic (Russian) base rather than a geographical one. The Russian-speaking community of banknote collectors has at least 3,000 members around the world. This is why we face difficulty in having conferences and meetings as we are in 14 countries. To overcome this, a website forum at www.bonistika.net was created for the spread of collective knowledge.
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Odd Coins Soar on EBay
Coin Values
EBay continues to provide a vibrant market for rare coins. As reported in the April 5 Coin World, a 2004-D Wisconsin, Extra Leaf High quarter dollar graded Mint State 67 by Professional Coin Grading Service was sold on March 11 on eBay for $10,000. It was to some a very surprising price, but it is undoubtedly a condition rarity as it is one of just two graded MS-67 by PCGS. The market for these Wisconsin quarter dollar variations has shown strong legs in the past five years, although looking at auction records from 2006 to the present shows a decline in value for commonly collected grades of MS-64 though MS-66.
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A Rare Note Pinned to a Drifter’s Coat Stars at Lyn Knight Currency Sale
Numismaster
An 1891 $100 Treasury Note originally “found pinned to a drifter’s coat” was the star of Lyn Knight Currency Auctions sale, March 18-20, at the 16th Annual Chicago Paper Money Exposition. It sold for a hammer price of $110,000. The Fr. 378 $100 graded PMG VF-20 Restored is one of “only 12 specimens known” and one of four found on the drifter. “The open back 100 Treasury note is far rarer than the early Watermelon issue of 1880,” according to the cataloger.
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Coin and Collectible Show Reveals Local History
KIDK News
Coins, bills, and collectibles, all to buy, sell, and trade, but those aren’t the only things being exchanged. “It’s a part of Idaho history, it’s a piece of the past that very few people know anything about,” says antique shop co-owner, Richard Jimenez. Richard Jimenez is talking about not one, but 270 pieces of Idaho history. He collects local poker chips from the early 1900s. Most gambling was made illegal in Idaho in 1949. “A lot of the poker chips that are out there, when they closed down the gambling they got discarded and thrown out so the only chips that are available are from people who used to own the businesses or the people that gambled that hung on to a few after it stopped,” says Jimenez.
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PCGS Secure Plus Makes Me Feel, Well, Insecure
Coin Update News
Writing this, I’m coming off a week of dealing with PCGS customer service in the USPS mishandling of some of my best regraded coins. I say this for a reason. My trust factor with PCGS rose substantially because of superior service in tracking and finding my coins and getting them to me with regular updates. The coins arrived, and I wrote thank-you notes. Moreover, I have found grading at PCGS to be fair and consistent, for the most part. So this column is written by a satisfied PCGS customer who feels secure sending in submissions. But this new PCGS Secure Plus program makes me feel insecure because of a few oversights in its promotional strategy.
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The Scandinavian Mint March 26 Roundup
Scandinavian Mint
Mint of Finland (Rahapaja Oy) recently changed its logo and mint mark from a stylized cornucopia with coins to a heraldic lion within a circular field. The change will be reflected on all euro coins produced by the Mint that previously used a mint mark. This includes the Estonian national circulating euro coins, which are scheduled to begin production in June, 2010 and expected to be introduced in January 2011 when Estonia adopts the euro.
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Skip Keys and Collect Philadelphia Barber Quarters
Numismaster
The fact that we didn’t yearn to collect Barber coinage and then act on the impulse might have kept the series out of the limelight and the mainstream. As a result, Barber quarters were not as heavily collected and studied as the Standing Liberty design was. The Barber quarters produced at Philadelphia were probably even less heavily collected and studied than those from New Orleans, San Francisco and Denver. But within the Philadelphia run of dates there are possibilities in terms of overlooked good values and it makes the Philadelphia Barber quarters today something on the order of a treasure hunt simply to determine if they are as available for purchase as many always thought they were.
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Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin and First Spouse Medal Set
U.S. Mint
This unique product includes an uncirculated Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin and an Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Bronze Medal bearing a likeness of the image on the popular First Spouse Gold Coin. The coin and medal are held in a durable plastic card enhanced with beautiful representations of the President and first spouse’s portraits, with issuance information on the back.
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Seldom Seen Selections: The 1920-S Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
Heritage Auction Galleries
The 1920-S double eagle is a prized rarity in the Saint-Gaudens series, and it holds a unique historical position in that assemblage. Before the United States entered the First World War, gold twenties actually circulated in the western part of the country. Coins from that early period are more available today than later dates such as the 1920-S. The war brought inflation, with consequent rising prices in gold and other metals. Double eagle production in San Francisco was halted in 1916 and did not resume until 1920. A large mintage of 558,000 pieces was produced at the San Francisco Mint that year, but the commercial role of the double eagle had changed. The big gold coins no longer circulated freely, and ordinary citizens seldom saw them. Instead, the government and the banking system kept the coins in reserve. By this time, double eagles served two purposes: The government used some, stored in mint bags, to redeem Gold Certificates. Other coins were used as specie payments to foreign governments and banks.
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Favorite Coin Years Can Be Cheap or Dear
Numismatic News
What is your favorite date to find on a coin? A Lincoln cent collector might choose 1909; a Morgan dollar collector, 1895; and a Mercury dime collector, 1916. Many years produced many interesting and collectible coins. A numismatist looking for something new to collect might pick a favorite year and collect every coin that was produced that year. One of the best years for United States coins was 1796. A famous rarity, the 1796 half cent, was made this year, to the tune of 1,390 pieces. This coin comes in two distinct varieties, with and without the pole to the Liberty Cap.
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Collectors Back in Force at CPMX
Numismaster
Collectors were back out in force at the 16th Annual Chicago Paper Money Exposition, March 18-21, at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Ill. “At the close of the show Sunday, one dealer – who asked us where the restroom was because he hadn’t had time to get away from his table the previous four days – told us that activity was so strong, we may look back at this CPMX as a watershed event in the paper money market,” said CPMX bourse chairman Scott Tappa. “We certainly hope he’s right.”Around 75 paper money dealers, auction firms, grading companies and related groups occupied the bourse floor. General attendance was up about 20 percent from the 2009 show, Tappa said.
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A Texas-Sized BBQ at the BEP Western Currency Facility
Dave Harper’s Buzz
With all the waiting this week for big announcements, it wasn’t until today that I could take a breath and comment on a special event. It wasn’t a big event. It was a nice event. It was an event that makes me think I am glad I am a collector. The American Numismatic Association arranged a Texas-Sized BBQ at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s Western Currency Facility on Wednesday night. The one thing they couldn’t control was the weather. We all got a little wet in a downpour. Nevertheless, it was a great time, because it was a very relaxed and social occasion for convention attendees who ordered tickets. It was a perfect opportunity to look the place over.
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History of Ottoman Coins
The E-Sylum
This is the first in a projected series that will eventually comprise eight volumes, taking the story from the very beginning of Ottoman coinage under Osman Gazi (ruled AH699-724, 1299-1324CE) all the way down to the early twentieth century, and the end of the Turkish Empire itself. Dr. Damali’s first volume covers almost exactly two centuries, from Osman Gazi down to Selim I (ruled AH918-926, 1512-1520CE). The catalog portion of the work is prefaced by a general historical sketch; a detailed account of manufacturing techniques used in Ottoman coinage (of particular interest to me); valuable explanations concerning symbols and motifs appearing on the coinage across time; history of the various denominations introduced and superseded across the centuries; metrology of all sorts, lucidly presented; and useful information about the plethora of mints striking coinage for the Empire, scattered from western Africa all the way to the Persian Gulf.
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Were Carson City Coin Errors Deliberate?
Numismatic News
Were Carson City Mint error coins currently in the Nevada State Museum evidence of an employee deliberately creating them and smuggling them out in 1873? More information has come to light that indicates that this could be the case. It was spring of last year when I first had published an article detailing the exciting find of a broadstruck, brockaged 1873 Trade dollar and a reverse die cap 1873-CC  half dollar, found within the Dr. Simeon L. Lee collection of the Nevada State Museum. The pair of coins excited a large audience of coin enthusiasts, drawn not just by the rarity of such errors but also by the allure of the CC mintmark.
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A Road Report from the Forth Worth National Money Show
Coin Rarities Online
Then we walked across the aisle and perused the collection of Mercury Dimes being previewed at the Heritage table for one of their upcoming auctions, which I would describe as stunning. And then went to the PCGS table and checked out the cool set of Indian $10s and the Simpson Collection of Peace Dollars, both of which were housed entirely in the new Secure Plus holders with a number of + coins thrown in (all of which looked absolutely frickin’ fantastic). Come to think of it, all of the + coins we saw on the floor (and there were a few at a couple of different early-adapter dealer tables) looked extremely high end.  Heck, we even bought one of them and plan to unleash it on our next EB on Tuesday.
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A Decoration and a Safeguard: The Bank of England Museum
Londonist
Although monarchs’ heads have long adorned our coinage, it wasn’t until 1960 that a youthful Elizabeth II’s portrait was printed on the £1 note. This operated both as jolly royalist decoration, given the Bank of England had just been nationalised, and to foil forgers who weren’t as adept at portraiture as the first designer, Robert Austin. There have been 5 banknote portraits used to date. Austin (1960), Reynolds Stone (1963), two from Harry Ecclestone (1970 & 1971) and the latest by Roger Withington (1990).
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