By David Ganz for Numimaster

Edward W. Brooke III, who served two terms as junior senator from Massachusetts from 1967 to 1979, has been voted a congressional gold medal by the Senate where he served and the House of Representatives. He will join the ranks of about 185 other men and women with this coveted award.

Now 89 years old and living in Miami, with reported land holdings in Saint Marten, Brooke has had a life of firsts that Rep. Niki Tsongas recently recited: “the first African American elected to the United States Senate by popular vote. I am proud that he accomplished this feat in my home state of Massachusetts, which he represented from January 1967 until January 1979.”

She relates how, “He has been Captain Brooke, Professor Brooke, and Attorney General Brooke. He has fought for civil rights in our country and against apartheid in South Africa. For his many accomplishments, he has received numerous medals and awards, most notably the Bronze Star and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

What is remarkable is that, “In a political world growing increasingly divisive and polarized, Sen. Brooke has always had the distinct ability to separate the political from the personal. My husband, Paul, ran for the Senate against Sen. Brooke in 1978. Although the race was tightly contested, Sen. Brooke was always respectful, always warm, and Paul, in turn, greatly admired him.”

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The complete NumisMedia FMV Price Guide is now available on NGC’s Web site. The price guide compiled and edited by NumisMedia is an independent report of prices for US coins offered by dealers to collectors. It will be available for free to all site users and updated monthly.

NumisMedia is a leading independent and impartial source for U.S. rare coin values. Since 2005, NumisMedia has served as the official price guide of NGC and the Collectors Society. NumisMedia provides comprehensive pricing available for US coins, including prices for the full range of AU and MS grades, as well as prices for a broad number of modern issues.

To see the price guide, click on the Census & Price Guide tab, select a coin type, and then select the NumisMedia Price Guide tab. [Note: Access requires a FREE Pass Key account, a Collectors Society account, or NGC Authorized Dealer account.]

“Collectors have come to expect the highest quality resources from NGC. Along these lines, we’re very pleased to provide pricing information from NumisMedia. As a truly independent source, NumisMedia is widely acclaimed for the accuracy of its unbiased report of US coin values. By making price information of this caliber more readily accessible, we can enhance the hobby for countless collectors,” said NGC Chairman, Mark Salzberg.

The price guide is part of a suite of collecting resources available on NGC’s Web site, including a coin encyclopedia and variety attribution guide. To access NumisMedia values and other site resources, a login account is required. NGC Authorized Dealers and Collectors Society members should use their existing account login information, and new members can quickly create a free Pass Key account. (more…)

By Patrick A. Heller for Numismaster 

On Dec. 6, 2007, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, Inc., (GATA) filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with both the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury. GATA sought information about possible gold swaps that the U.S. government may have handled and any related information about policies for such swaps.

In mid-April, the Federal Reserve responded, releasing part or all of hundreds of pages of worthless information, but also claiming that it was withholding all or part of the information of about 400 pages of documents. The status of the withheld documents is currently under appeal.

From the Federal Reserve response, it has already been established that there is substantial discussion in the federal government about gold swaps, at least theoretically if not in actual practice. This contradicts the previous position of the Fed and Treasury that gold swaps were never even discussed.

On June 18, the Treasury Department sent its response to GATA. The Treasury denied having any documents for five of the eight categories of the FOIA request. It stated that it was withholding a single document covering two categories because it referred to procedures for gold swaps that “may take place in the future.” It released a single one-page e-mail for the other category. The May 11, 2007, document released was a notice to various Treasury officials that weekly reporting of reserves data was changing slightly to conform to the template specified by the International Monetary Fund. This document emphasized that the reported data did not change.

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By Scott Purvis for CoinLink

NGC announced in a From the Grading Room article  that it has graded a “previously unreported” Matte Proof 1925-S California Half Dollar.

In 1925, California celebrated its diamond jubilee as a State in the Union. It was California’s gold rush of 1849 that assured its statehood in 1850. On the occasion of this 75th anniversary of its admission Congress authorized a special half dollar to commemorate the event .

The obverse features a “Forty-Niner”, as these gold hunters were known, panning for gold. The coin’s reverse displays the image of a fearsome looking grizzly hear. In 1953, the bear was adopted as the state’s official animal. The coin was designed by California artist Jo Mora.

The California half dollar had an authorized mintage of 300,000. A number approaching 150,000 were produced, and more than 60,000 were later melted, leaving a net mintage of 86,594. The coin has an extremely high relief design and sharp detail, and it sometimes comes with a semi-prooflike surface on the obverse.

However proofs are a different matter.

 As NGC Sates: “Matte proof commemorative half dollars were specially prepared for presentation although in most cases very little documentation exists to illuminate their true purpose. The design, rim, and notably the legends on this coin are very crisply struck, much more so than on a business-strike example of the issue. Inherent of proof coinage of this type, it does not possess reflective luster; rather the entire design has a very uniform appearance. Matte proofs allowed designers to showcase the design elements of the coin, and were “fashionable” during the early Twentieth Century. “

Interestingly, Q David Bowers in his book Commemorative Coins of the United States; A Complete Encyclopedia, makes no mention of the existance of any Matte Proof 1925-S California Half Dollars. He does state that “Matte Proofs were struck of certain early (1892-1954 era) commemoratives…. the best documented being the 50 or so 1928 Hawaiian Half dollars” however he cautions that “numerous questionable ‘Matte Proof’ Half Dollars have been made outside of the Mint by pickling or sandblasting normal business strikes” (more…)