Heritage’s pre-ANA Auction in Philadelphia in 2000 featured the wonderful Mercury Dime Collection of then New Jersey State Senator C. Louis Bassano. No coin in that set graded less than MS65 FB, and all the regular issues after 1934 were MS67 FB. Total prices realized were an incredible, chart-busting 274% of Bluesheet bid — and that didn’t even include his five wonder-gems that were off the Bluesheet charts! After the auction, Senator Bassano wrote to us: “Let me just say it: UNBELIEVABLE! The prices that Heritage realized… were simply unbelievable…. That Heritage sold my coins for double the most optimistic price that I had dreamed was equally unbelievable — at least until I received the check!”

Heritage is honored to now offer The Louis Bassano Collection of U.S. Commemoratives as a part of our 2009 August Los Angeles, CA US Coin Auction, taking place July 30-August 1. Every one of the nearly 150 beautiful coins in this collection grades MS66 or higher.

Senator Bassano was one of the most important and beloved figures in New Jersey politics. A three-decade veteran of the Legislature, he was first elected to public office in 1971, serving four terms as a Representative, and then more than two decades in the Senate. He garnered dozens of civic awards and honors for his service, and wrote many laws protecting public health and safety, focusing on issues affecting children, senior citizens, and the disabled.

His interest in old coins started during the 1950s, as his father’s business generated a tremendous amount of coinage. At the age of 8, he joined his Dad in searching for 1932-dated quarters. As he grew older, he continued to search through circulating coinage, working on sets of Walking Liberty halves, Mercury dimes, and silver dollars, key-date quarters, and other classic 20th century rarities. His appreciation for his coins stems from his enjoyment of history, “evidenced by travels to Rome, Greece, and Israel,” which he described as the “triangle of ancient civilization.” Coins are also an important part of American history, and he believed that “no series captures American history like the classic silver commemoratives.” (more…)

United States Mint Director Ed Moy will present the Nation’s first coin with readable Braille at 10:00 a.m. on March 26, at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. NFB President Marc Maurer will join in the presentation of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, along with invited guests that include mathematician and inventor Abraham Nemeth; and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Assistant Administrator for Education Joyce Winterton. NFB first Vice President Frederic Schroeder will serve as the event’s Master of Ceremonies. The presentation includes a special videotaped message from U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, one of the sponsors of Public Law 109-247-the Louis Braille Bicentennial-Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin Act.

The United States Mint, authorized by Public Law 109-247, is issuing the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar to honor the life and work of the man who invented the Braille method of reading and writing by the blind that has allowed millions of blind people to be literate participants in their societies. The Public Law also provides that a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the commemorative coins is authorized to be paid to the NFB to further its programs to promote Braille literacy.

The 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar features a portrait of Louis Braille on the obverse (heads side). The reverse (tails side) design depicts a child reading a Braille book. The word INDEPENDENCE is displayed on a bookshelf behind the child and the word Braille, abbreviated BRL in Braille code, is featured in the upper field. (more…)

United States Mint Deputy Director Andrew Brunhart today unveiled designs for the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar during the annual Dedication Day Ceremony at Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The unveiling took place on the 145th anniversary of the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address in 1863. Renowned historical documentary director Ken Burns, Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania Vice President Ronald L. Hankey and Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) Co-Chairman Harold Holzer also participated in the ceremony.

“It is my great honor to represent the United States Mint on the 145th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address,” Deputy Director Brunhart said. “It is also my great privilege to introduce the designs for the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar to the American people.”

The obverse (heads side) of the Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Justin Kunz and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart. The image, symbolic of Lincoln’s strength and resolve, was inspired by Daniel Chester French’s famous sculpture of the President that sits inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Inscriptions on the obverse are LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and 2009.

The coin’s reverse (tails side) was designed and executed by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill. The design features the following inscription: WE HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE THAT THESE DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN – THAT THIS NATION, UNDER GOD, SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM – AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH. These immortal words-the last 43 words of the Gettysburg Address-are encircled by a laurel wreath. Above the wreath is the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Below the wreath, Lincoln’s signature is incused in the center of a curling banner. ONE DOLLAR and E PLURIBUS UNUM are incused on either side of his signature. (more…)