Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) is thrilled to announce that it has discovered a new variety of the 1915 10 Dollar Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Note, which has been given the Friedberg number 817b. The Friedberg number refers to Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg’s Paper Money of the United States, the authoritative reference of US currency. The discovery note features hand-signed signatures rather than the engraved or stamped signatures seen on previously known varieties and is graded About Uncirculated 58 EPQ. It will be included in an upcoming Heritage Auction Galleries sale.

Chad Hawk, a grader at PMG, discovered the note. Chad commented, “This discovery is very special to me. I’ve been blessed to see some of the world’s finest notes, but this will stick with me forever.”

On its potential impact, Chad noted, “This discovery is important because it will encourage collectors to keep looking, because discovery notes are out there, waiting to be discovered. If more notes of this type surface, we may be able to find out why they began signing and hand-stamping the signatures in the first place. As Federal Reserve Bank Notes were among the first transitions from Nationals to Federal Reserve Notes, this discovery could help us understand more about the transition from signed notes to engraved plates.”

Federal Reserve Bank Notes came into existence with the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Two separate issues were issued: the series of 1915 and the series of 1918, and they are avidly collected and studied. The 1915 10 Dollar Notes from the Kansas City issuing bank carried the signatures of Teehee & Burke (Register and Treasurer of the US) and Cross & Miller (Cashier and Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City).

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The first known 1976 Bicentennial design Eisenhower dollar “waffle coin” has been reported by Brian Hendelson, President of Waffle Coin Co. of Bridgewater, New Jersey. It was discovered during the continuing examination of Mint-canceled coins obtained by Classic Coin in 2003, each with the distinctive corrugated, waffle-like pattern left by the Mint’s cancellation process,

“It is a Variety Two, dual-dated 1776-1976 Philadelphia Mint Ike dollar, and the first Bicentennial Ike discovered as a Mint-cancelled coin. I got pretty excited when I realized what I was holding,” said Hendelson. “It’s the only one I’ve ever found.”

“The mint takes in coins for exchange that are also waffle canceled. This is, thus far, the only Bicentennial dollar we are aware of that has gone through this cancellation process,” said Dave Camire, NGC mint error consultant and President of Numismatic Conservation Services.

Hendelson also discovered a small quantity of 1999 Susan B. Anthony dollar waffle coins. The SBA dollars now are individually certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) or Global Certification Services.

The Mint uses coin-canceling machines manufactured in The Netherlands to cancel rejected coins and blanks (planchets) prior to sending them to be melted. Rollers on the machine crush and crumple the coins giving them surfaces that resemble a breakfast waffle. Waffle coins are not Mint errors; however, they are Mint products, rejected and canceled at the Mint because of some type of production problem with the specific coin.

”Because they’re a product of the United States Mint, the waffle coins have become a popular collectible. Some people are trying to assemble waffle type sets of the available State Quarters,” said Hendelson.

For additional information, contact Waffle Coin Co., at (908)725-4377 or online at www.CertifiedEnterprises.com.

-Santa Ana, California) – A hoard of Indian Head $5 gold pieces found in an unclaimed bank safe deposit box in Florida has been certified by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). Nearly half of the 262 coins graded mint state, including dozens of rare date 1911-S and 1916-S Half Eagles.

“This is an incredible discovery. They came completely out of the woodwork,” said Lexington, Kentucky and Sarasota, Florida dealer, Jeff Garrett, who jointly purchased the coins with dealer Marc Earle of Saint Petersburg, Florida from a government sale of unclaimed items. They then sold all of them to Bill Gale of New York Mint in Edina, Minnesota.

“This is one of the more unusual hoards I’ve seen in my career,” stated PCGS Founder, David Hall. “There was a group of 1910-D $5 Indians that appeared in the 1970s, but that was over 30 years ago. This is the only large group of mint state San Francisco Mint $5 Indians I’ve ever heard of. By far, the S-mint issue are the rarest $5 Indians to find in mint state.”

The bank safe deposit box containing the rare collection of San Francisco Mint coins and the other gold pieces reportedly had been unclaimed by someone from Venezuela for years and considered abandoned property. PCGS has placed a special “Golden Gate Collection” description on the encapsulation insert label for the coins it certified from this group.

PCGS Senior Grader and Vice President/Director of Business Development, Miles Standish, recalled his initial reaction when he began to examine the individual coins: “My first thought was, ‘This is a fresh and original coin.’ “And then I thought, ‘Wow! There’s a whole hoard of them for me to look at!’ These are really nice looking San Francisco gold coins.” (more…)

Duvall 4-E Variety is Just the Second Reported Specimen

DLRC Auctions is proud to offer this week the second known example of the rare Duvall 4-E variety of the Lafayette dollar. This variety was thought to be unique until the discovery of this coin, which has been graded AU58 Cleaned by Dominion Grading Service (DGS).

According to John Feigenbaum, President of David Lawrence Rare Coins, the coin has “the initial appearance of a mint state coin but the luster is almost too nice and lacks the frosty surfaces of a true mint state. The coin has virtually no wear and has been very lightly cleaned to show evidence of wipe lines upon close examination in proper lighting. The only significant mark on either side of the coin is a 3 mm scratch on Washington’s cheek. Without the mishandling, this coin might have otherwise graded MS63.”

The consignor took advantage of DLRC’s relationship with DGS to initially have the coin graded, and then offered for immediate auction at DLRC Auctions. According to Vice President Win Callender, this relationship offers clients “the best of both worlds” as a truly efficient means for collectors to sell their (previously) uncertified coins.

Bidding Closes on Monday Evening

This rare variety is offered at lot #1425 in DLRC Auctions Monday Night sale which closes at 8 pm, October 6. Lot bids and details can be found at this link: Lot 1425 1900 $1 DGS AU58 Lafayette - Duvall 4-E. There are also 1980 more lots in Auction #289 with offerings from Colonial Coins through California Gold, and everything in between.

The Duvall 4-E Variety

The Duvall 4-E variety is distinctive because of the unique positioning of the olive branch on the reverse. The right side of the branch terminates over the numeral 9 of 1900. All other known varieties see this branch end over the right side of the first 0 in 1900. Prior to the appearance of this coin, the existence of Duvall 4-E was thought to be unique.

The only other known Lafayette dollar of this die variety was sold in August 2007 by Heritage Numismatic Auctions as part of their Signature ANA Auction. (Lot 2090). It was graded MS60 by ANACS and realized $18,400 to a phone bidder. According to the Heritage lot description, that coin was “well struck with dusky chestnut, aqua, and plum-mauve patina. Both sides unusually free from marks, particularly on the portraits.” Based on the description of marks, these are clearly not the same coin.