By Ishita Singh for the Baltimore Sun

When the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money last came to Baltimore in 2003, it made history: It displayed a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, now valued at $3 million, last seen almost five decades ago.

That nickel returns to Baltimore as a part of this year’s event. The association’s five-day convention at the Baltimore Convention Center features educational seminars, exhibits of historical coins and a treasure hunt and trivia game for children, among many other activities.

“It’s basically a giant meeting for people who have a common interest in the study or collection of money, and an opportunity for people to view and buy rare coins,” said Larry Shepherd, executive director of the roughly 33,000-member association.

Shepherd said the rarest of those coins will be the 1913 nickel. The coin disappeared after its owner, George O. Walton, was killed in a 1962 car crash. An appraiser had erroneously told the coin’s heirs that it was a fake, so they kept it in their Virginia closet for decades. It resurfaced in 2003 when the association held a nationwide search for the missing nickel, one of only five such coins known to collectors.

“At that time, we had a reunion tour of all of the 1913 nickels, and we were attempting to put them all together for our Baltimore show, and we were hoping that the fifth coin would turn up. And it actually did,” Shepherd said.

Other highlights of this year’s show are a $1 billion display from the U.S. Treasury Department, which features $100,000 bills and other high denominations. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will also display its traveling exhibit, Historic Rarities: Early United States Proof Coins. (more…)

One of the two known 1861-P “Paquet Reverse” Double Eagles will be displayed during the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money® convention in Baltimore, July 30 – August 3, 2008. The famous coin’s previous owners include Baltimore banker Waldo Newcomer; former U.S. Treasury Secretary William Woodin; Egyptian King Farouk and Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb.

The $20 denomination gold coin, graded NGC MS-67, is owned by Brian Hendelson, President of Classic Coin Co. of Bridgewater, New Jersey. It will be the centerpiece of a 150-coin date and mintmark display of Types I, II and III Liberty Head Double Eagles from 1850 to 1907 presented by Monaco Rare Coins of Newport Beach, California at booth 644 in the Baltimore Convention Center.

“With the Smithsonian displaying its 1860 specimen at the ANA convention, it’s the perfect time and place to exhibit the finest known 1861 Philadelphia Mint Paquet $20 gold piece. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many collectors to conveniently see both spectacular coins in one location in its former ‘home town,’ Baltimore,” said Hendelson.

The “Paquet Reverse” is a short-lived tail’s side design with slightly taller, slender lettering, and is named after United States Mint engraver, Anthony Paquet.

For additional information, contact Classic Coin Co., at (908)725-5600 or online at www.ClassicCoinCo.com.

The 2008 CNA Convention will take place this week starting on Thursday the 17th and running through Sunday the 21st.

The annual event will take place at the  Crowne Plaza Hotel 101 Lyon Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 5T9

Ian Bennett, Master of the Royal Canadian Mint will be attending the opening of the bourse at 10:00 on Friday morning. He will then remain at the Mint’s booth for a signature period, during which he will gladly sign the Mint’s centennial book, the Annual Report or any other item you may wish to bring or purchase locally. The Royal Canadian Mint will also be exhibiting its $1 Million Dollar Gold Coin.

The Canadian Numismatic Company has been appointed as the Official Convention Auctioneer for the 2008 Ottawa CNA Convention. Catalogues are available throught their website at: www.cpnum.qc.ca. The auctions will fgeature a wide range of rare and collectible Canadian coins and currency, and will be held in three sessions.

There is also an educational Symposium to be held on Thursday the 17th as follows:
9:30 – 10:30 The Canadian Numismatic Bibliography: by Paul Petch  Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow…
10:30 – 11:30 Early tokens of a Town in East Kootenay by  Ron Greene
11:30 – 12:30 Collecting Newfoundland Decimals  by Phil Carrigan
1:30 – 2:30 Pritchard & Andrews, Ottawa Token by  Scott Douglas & Chris Faulkner
2:30 – 3:30 1859 Wide 9 Over 8 Cents  by Rob Turner
3:30 – 4:30 Recent Collector Coin Counterfeits by Henry Nienhuis
4:30 – 5:30 Commemorative Silver Dollars by Michael Turini  (more…)

By Scott Purvis for CoinLink
A 154-year-old $20 gold piece known as the Kellogg Twenty will return to Baltimore next month for the first time in nearly 30 years.

This  one-of-a-kind California Gold Rush coin was once owned by Baltimore resident and diplomat John Work Garrett, and is considered by most collectors to be one of the finest American coins from the mid-19th century.

John W. Garrett (1872 – 1942) was the grandson of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad executive and one-time president, John Work Garrett (1820 – 1884), and the eldest son of T. Harrison Garrett (1849 – 1888), who began collecting coins as a student at Princeton. The coin collection grew extensively under T. Harrison’s sons, John and Robert (1875 – 1961).

Garrett donated the coin, along with his home, Evergreen House, to the Johns Hopkins University on his death in 1942. Hopkins sold the coin at the Bowers and Ruddy auction in 1980 for $230,000.

Subsequently the coin changed hands several times. Contursi has owned it twice; from 2002 to 2005, and since 2006, it is now valued at $3 million. The coin is graded Specimen-69 by Professional Coin Grading Service

“When you pick up this coin, you’re literally holding Gold Rush history in your hands,” said Steven L. Contursi, president of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, Calif., the coin’s owner. “This is a homecoming. It’s the first time it will be publicly seen in Baltimore in 28 years.”

The coin was manufactured on February 9, 1854 by John Glover Kellogg, a former employee of the San Francisco U.S. Assay Office. He gave it to his friend and future business partner, New York City watchmaker, August Humbert, the former U.S. Assayer in San Francisco.

During most of the 20th century, the historic coin was part of the legendary Garrett Collection at Johns Hopkins University and kept in a vault in Baltimore, Maryland. (more…)

The American Numismatic Association will debut a new feature, Artists & Authors Alley, at the 2008 World’s Fair of Money® in Baltimore. Located in aisle 900 of the convention’s bourse floor, Artists & Authors Alley gives artists and writers a chance to display their craft and discuss their work with visitors. The area will feature premier numismatic engravers, scholars and publishers.

Located within Artists & Authors Alley, Collector’s Corner will feature book and artwork signings, demonstrations, and informal discussions with some of the top experts in numismatics.

“I’m happy to be adding this new and exciting element to our show,” said ANA Meeting Services Manager Brenda Bishop. “Hobbyists will be able to meet, interact and learn from several of the most respected professionals in the field.”

The following is a schedule for Collector’s Corner presentations:

Wednesday, July 30
1-2 p.m. – Joel Iskowitz, master designer, United States Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program
3-4 p.m. – Mercer Bristow, American Philatelic Society: C.S.I. Philatelic (more…)