A Zero-Rupee Note
Times Online
In the secret language of corruption in India, an official expecting a bribe will ask for Mahatma Gandhi to “smile” at him. The revered leader of the independence movement is on all denominations of rupee notes. With rampant dishonesty ingrained in the bureaucratic culture, an anti-corruption group has decided to interpret the euphemism literally by issuing a zero-rupee note.
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15 Things You Never Noticed on a Dollar
Shine
Pull a buck from your wallet now and prepare to be amazed. We’re serious. Did you know a dollar bill has hidden pictures, flecks of color, and mysterious symbols? And that’s just the beginning. What do all those seemingly random letters and Latin phrases mean, anyway?
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Gold Triumphed in the 1850s Silver Shortage
Numismaster
It was not long before the relative scarcity of silver meant that the price of silver began to rise slowly in terms of gold. The problem with silver gained momentum throughout 1849 and 1850. Bullion dealers were able to buy an increasing amount of American silver coins for shipment to Europe, where there had been problems for some years in obtaining enough silver for coinage. As the U.S. silver was systematically removed from daily use, this increasingly left only the badly worn Spanish and Mexican silver coins for the marketplace.
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Royal Canadian Mint Names Olympic Coin Distributor
Numismatic News
Following its representation of the Royal Canadian Mint’s Vancouver Olympic Games coin program, GovMint.com has now been selected by Britain’s Royal Mint to head up distribution of the London 201 Olympic Games Commemorative Coin Program in the United States, the firm announced Jan. 15.
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An Interview with Smithsonian Coin and Currency Curator Richard Doty
The Collectors Weekly
For 24 years, Richard Doty has been entrusted with the keys to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History’s legendary coin vault, which houses some of the most important coins in the world. Doty’s “America’s Money, America’s Story” is one of the most respected books on the subject of U.S. coins and currency, and his next book with Whitman Publishing, “Pictures From a Distant Country,” will focus on obsolete U.S. currency. You can see samples from the Smithsonian’s U.S. coins collection at their “Legendary Coins and Currency” microsite, which is a member of our Hall of Fame.
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Coin Composition Changes in 2011 Budget
Mint News Blog
The Budget enables the Department of the Treasury to explore, analyze, and approve new, less expensive materials for all circulating coins based on factors that will result in the highest quality of coin production at the most cost-effective price. Such factors may include physical, chemical, metallurgical and technical characteristics; material, fabrication, minting, and distribution costs; materials availability and sources of raw materials; durability; effects on sorting, handling, packaging and vending machines; and resistance to counterfeiting.
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2010 Presidential $1 Dollar Coin Proof Set
U.S. Mint
The United States Mint announced today that it will begin accepting orders for its 2010 Presidential $1 Coin Proof Set on February 11, 2010, at noon Eastern Time.  The set contains four proof versions of the circulating Presidential $1 Coins scheduled to be released this year, bearing the portraits of Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln.  Each coin has a common reverse design featuring a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty.
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Related posts:

1. Coin News for February 6, 2010
2. Coin News for February 15, 2010
3. Coin News for February 25, 2010
4. Coin News for February 16, 2010
5. Coin News for February 18, 2010
6. Coin News for February 19, 2010
7. Coin News for February 17, 2010
8. Coin News for February 5, 2010
9. Coin News for February 22, 2010
10. Coin News for February 10, 2010