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Coin News for April 20, 2010
Time is Money: The Internet and Numismatics
Stack’s
Increasingly, business as well as other communications are being done on the Internet. Another auction firm stated that just 17% of its sales are to floor bidders. In the same vein, in our sale in Baltimore in March, preceding the Whitman Coins and Collectibles Expo, there was a point at which there were eight floor bidders present. However, record prices were realized for that segment-with Internet bidding fast and furious and our bank of telephones bringing in additional bids. The Internet will probably have a profound effect on coin shows in the future. Last year’s summer ANA convention, held in Los Angeles (generally regarded as a hotbed of numismatic activity), drew only a dismal attendance of 7,000 – the lowest figure in decades. The recent ANA spring show in Fort Worth was very sleepy regarding business done by bourse dealers. Some said they should have stayed home.
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Doubled Die Vs. Double Die
The E-Sylum
Numismatists whom I respect say that 1) the proper term for the phenomenon under discussion is “doubled” die, not double die, and 2) at least in the 20th century, the overdated 1918/7-D nickel, the 1943/2-P nickel, both 1942/1 dimes, and the 1918/7-S quarter overdates can also be considered as “doubled” dies. These coins were twice hubbed, once with each date in question. Especially on the dimes, the date numerals show the telltale shift of a slight rotation from the first hubbing to the second, being just slightly out of register. Thus, these overdates can also be considered as “doubled” dies.
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2010 Hot Springs National Park Quarter Rolls Available
U.S. Mint
The Hot Springs National Park quarter is the first of 2010 and the first overall in the America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program. Each two-roll set consists of 80 quarters: one roll of 40 coins with the “P” mint mark for Philadelphia and one roll of 40 coins with the “D” mint mark for Denver. The quarter’s reverse (tails side) image depicts the façade of the Hot Springs National Park headquarters building with a fountain in the foreground. The headquarters was built in the Spanish colonial revival style and completed in 1936.
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ANS Medal Honoring Q. David Bowers Announced
American Numismatic Society
In 2006 the ANS honored Q. David Bowers for his contributions to numismatic scholarship and for promoting coin collecting to a broad and growing audience. Bowers was awarded a uniface medal, designed by Alexander Shagin, which is being issued by popular demand as a two-sided medal. The medal is available by subscription only in both silver and bronze until October 31, 2010. After the close date of October 31, 2010 the dies will be placed in the ANS collections and there will be no further editions of the medal. Internationally acclaimed coin and medal designer, Alexander Shagin, is the recipient of the 1995 J. Sanford Saltus Medal Award for distinguished achievement in the field of the art of the medal. Shagin fuses the classical tradition in numismatic art with contemporary concepts of space, form and the dimension of time. His works celebrate “the hand-held mini-monument which can be prominently displayed on office desks, book shelves or coffee tables.”
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A Two-Cent Coin On a One-Cent Planchet
Heritage Blog
Odd denominations are always a favorite of mine, and the two cent coin had a practical application when it was first struck in 1864, supplementing the new bronze cent as small change in the difficult Civil War economy. In the postwar period, though, it didn’t have much reason to go on. Along with several other coinage denominations, the two cent piece was abolished in a major “housekeeping” bill passed in 1873. A two cent coin, in and of itself, is certainly interesting but not necessarily expensive. A two cent coin on a one cent planchet, though? That’s a lulu. Error coins from the 19th century are extraordinarily popular with collectors, since far fewer of them have survived compared to 20th century errors, and this wrong-denomination coin is a beauty. It has light wear, possibly from being kept as a pocket-piece, or else passing through a few hands before somebody looked at it closely and saved it as a curiosity.
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Roosevelt Dimes Full Torch and Full Bands
Coin Update News
Sometimes we purchase or receive back from grading companies holdered coins without our fully understanding the attribution on the label, as happened to me three years ago when I received an MS67 “FT” designation from NGC on a 1946-S Roosevelt dime. Because I subscribe to Coin World, I keep an inventory of my holdings on the Coin Values Web site, which lacks the NGC attribution and instead uses the more common “FB” or “full bands” to designate split bands on the reverse torch of Roosevelt dimes. I knew that the term “full bands” meant that each of the bands on the reverse of the torch be distinct, indicating a good strike on coins meant for circulation (as proofs are almost always fully struck). “Full torch,” I deduced, must mean the same thing.
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About the Author
Tim Shuck is a life-long Midwestern resident, and started collecting coins after finding an Indian Head cent on the ground at his childhood farm home. Additional encouragement came from looking through a collection of well-worn late 19th and early 20th century coins kept by his grandfather in an old leather coin purse. Current collecting interests include U.S. types from the Civil War era through the early 1930's, and Colonial and Early American coins.
