Coin News for February 12, 2010

By Tim Shuck on Friday, February 12, 2010
Filed Under: Coin News Daily

Chilean Mint Error With Misspelled Country Name
Mail Online
Embarrassed Chilean Mint chiefs have sacked their general manager after thousands of coins were made with the name of the country spelt incorrectly. Instead of ‘Chile’, the coins, minted in 2008, are marked ‘Chiie’. The 50-peso coins, worth about 6p, circulated through the South American country for a year before the error was noticed.
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Heritage To Offer a Signed Adams Letter Authorizing Gold Medal Payment
Heritage Auction Galleries
One page, 7.5″ x 9.125″, paper watermarked “J. Honig & Zoonen”, Auteuil [France], May 19, 1785, to Parisian bankers Messieurs Van den Yvers, a request for them to arrange payment for medals and swords by drawing on the Dutch banking consortium that was managing the Netherlands’ loan to the United States. The Continental Congress delegated John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to assist Colonel David Humphreys in the task of procuring the first Congressional Gold Medals and presentation swords, to be expertly crafted in France. Adams writes this letter from the Paris suburb of Auteuil just weeks before sailing to London to begin service as the first U.S. Minister to Great Britain.
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Detroit Cheers Scrip
Model D
With the goal of supporting a local small economy, a trio of Detroit business owners — John Linardos from Motor City Brewing Works, Tim Tharp from Foran’s Grand Trunk Pub and Jerry Belanger from Park Bar — have put up their own cash to back a new local currency, or scrip, called Detroit Cheers. The scrip concept was fairly common during the Great Depression (the city itself issued scrip in the 1930s) and is making a resurgence across the country these days. The basic premise is that participating businesses (listed below) accept Cheers and will make change from it – in regular old fashioned dollars, scrip, or some combo of the two.
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1839 Half Made History But No One Noticed
Numismaster
The 1839 Seated Liberty half dollar was the historic first year of the new design, yet it appears that very few took any notice. That presents something of a problem today when collectors want top quality examples of what was a most historic coin. The problem is compounded by the fact that in terms of half dollars 1839 was a very busy year. The 1,392,976 half dollar mintage of 1839 was split three ways starting with the old Bust half dollar. Then there was a new 1839 Seated Liberty half dollar with no drapery at Liberty’s left elbow, and finally there was a new Seated Liberty 1839 half dollar with drapery at the elbow.
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2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Prices
Mint News Blog
The average price for the Ultra High Relief Double Eagle in original US Mint packaging for the first five days was $1,520.50. The average price for a similar coin during the last five days examined was $1,549.06. As the price of gold was falling, the prices paid for the UHR Double Eagle held up and even showed gains. I think this is a good indication of the long term staying power and continued premiums for the coin.
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2010 Union Shield Lincoln Cent Launch Ceremony Report
Coin Update News
The doors opened at 9:00 AM and everyone filed into a well organized line to get out of the cold. The cold kept a lot of people away, but nearly 400 people came through the door by the time the presentation began. Around 9:30, the festivities began. Jan Grimes, Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, began by welcoming us all there and bringing the master of ceremonies, Elizabeth Wooley to the podium. She introduced James Cornelius, the curator of the library, who made remarks on Lincoln’s life and what he meant to our nation.
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Royal Canadian Mint Displays Vancouver 2010 Athlete Medals
Royal Canadian Mint
After an incredible response to the first showing of the Vancouver 2010 athlete medals at its Winnipeg and Ottawa boutiques, the Royal Canadian Mint is bringing out the medals for another up-close display in concert with the launch of the 2010 Lucky Loonie and the start of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. These Vancouver 2010 athlete medals will be permanently displayed at the Mint, but for two days only, the general public is invited to enjoy an up-close view of the medals and take photographs.
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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.