Former television news anchor and Congressman Jay Johnson has died from an apparent heart attack at his home in suburban Washington, DC.

Johnson served one term as a U.S. Congressman, representing the 8th Congressional District in Wisconsin beginning in 1996. Following that, Johnson worked as Director of the U.S. Mint in 2000-2001, and recently worked at Jay Johnson Coins and Consulting and was one of the Spokespersons for GoldLine International.

Johnson, 66, had a 32-year journalism career that included work as news anchor at WFRV-TV from 1980 to 1986 and WLUK-TV from 1987 until his election to Congress in 1996.

“He was a good guy and he was kind to everybody. He was always a gentleman in every sense of the word,” said Mary Smits Larsen, who was Johnson’s co-anchor at WFRV.

A Democrat, Johnson ran twice for Congress, beating former state Rep. David Prosser of Appleton in 1996 and losing to former state Rep. Mark Green of Hobart in 1998.

After he left Congress, Johnson became the director of the U.S. Mint in 2000, appointed by President Bill Clinton. He held for about one year. His most recent position was with Jay Johnson Coins and Consulting where he developed a major wholesale coin sales program for a national bank. Johnson worked as a consultant and returned to the airwaves, this time, promoting gold as a Spokesperson for GoldLine International.

The mantra in almost all areas of collecting is Quality, Quality, Quality! High end coins are always in demand, regardless of the series. Dealers and well heeled collectors often go toe to toe at auctions chasing up prices for the finest graded, finest Known and condition census examples of both great rarities and classic coins.

However there is also another group of collectors out there. They search dealer boxes and online auction sites just as diligently, but usually little attention is paid to their acquisitions. However they are a growing group of “less is more” collectors, all looking for the lowest graded examples of coins they can find; The Low-ball registry set collector. The collectors who try to assemble the Lowest average grade sets, where PO-01 equals MS68-70.

In some respects, their search is harder than one might think. How many PCGS Fine graded Saints have you seen lately?

This month, at Heritage’s Dallas Sale on October 24th, these Low-ball collectors will get a chance of a lifetime, the opportunity to bid on the 1887-S Half Eagle in PCGS P-1.

It’s not only the single lowest-graded example of the date either major grading service has seen (PCGS Population (1/1535). NGC Census: (0/2464)), but it’s also the single lowest graded example of any coin in the entire Half Eagle series.

Interested in bidding on this item?, Click Here

A new series of informative and entertaining educational videos, “Spare Change: Coin Collecting Guide,” is available free at the recently-launched website, www.CoinsTV.com. Eight different videos on popular numismatic subjects already are online, and additional programs will be added in the coming weeks and months.

The website is a joint project of collector and CoinUpdate.com Webmaster, Michael Zielinski, and veteran video producer and collector, Mark Apsolon.

The titles and topics of the eight episodes available for free viewing anytime are:

o Introduction to Coin Collecting
o Liberty Head Double Eagle
o Franklin Half Dollar
o Indian Half Eagle and Indian Quarter Eagle
o American Silver Eagle
o Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
o Presidential Dollar Series
o Morgan Dollar

“Each video provides historical or legislative background for the particular coinage series, information on the coin’s designer, coins specifications, key date coins, and suggestions on collecting or investing in the series. The information is presented in an informative and entertaining fashion, which new and advanced collectors will enjoy,” said Zielinski.

“The website also provides a separate page for each video that allows viewers to rate the video or provide comments. Visitors can also sign up to receive a notification whenever a new video is added to the website.”
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