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Coin News for March 27, 2010
PCGS Secure Plus Makes Me Feel, Well, Insecure
Coin Update News
Writing this, I’m coming off a week of dealing with PCGS customer service in the USPS mishandling of some of my best regraded coins. I say this for a reason. My trust factor with PCGS rose substantially because of superior service in tracking and finding my coins and getting them to me with regular updates. The coins arrived, and I wrote thank-you notes. Moreover, I have found grading at PCGS to be fair and consistent, for the most part. So this column is written by a satisfied PCGS customer who feels secure sending in submissions. But this new PCGS Secure Plus program makes me feel insecure because of a few oversights in its promotional strategy.
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The Scandinavian Mint March 26 Roundup
Scandinavian Mint
Mint of Finland (Rahapaja Oy) recently changed its logo and mint mark from a stylized cornucopia with coins to a heraldic lion within a circular field. The change will be reflected on all euro coins produced by the Mint that previously used a mint mark. This includes the Estonian national circulating euro coins, which are scheduled to begin production in June, 2010 and expected to be introduced in January 2011 when Estonia adopts the euro.
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Skip Keys and Collect Philadelphia Barber Quarters
Numismaster
The fact that we didn’t yearn to collect Barber coinage and then act on the impulse might have kept the series out of the limelight and the mainstream. As a result, Barber quarters were not as heavily collected and studied as the Standing Liberty design was. The Barber quarters produced at Philadelphia were probably even less heavily collected and studied than those from New Orleans, San Francisco and Denver. But within the Philadelphia run of dates there are possibilities in terms of overlooked good values and it makes the Philadelphia Barber quarters today something on the order of a treasure hunt simply to determine if they are as available for purchase as many always thought they were.
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Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin and First Spouse Medal Set
U.S. Mint
This unique product includes an uncirculated Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin and an Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Bronze Medal bearing a likeness of the image on the popular First Spouse Gold Coin. The coin and medal are held in a durable plastic card enhanced with beautiful representations of the President and first spouse’s portraits, with issuance information on the back.
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Seldom Seen Selections: The 1920-S Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
Heritage Auction Galleries
The 1920-S double eagle is a prized rarity in the Saint-Gaudens series, and it holds a unique historical position in that assemblage. Before the United States entered the First World War, gold twenties actually circulated in the western part of the country. Coins from that early period are more available today than later dates such as the 1920-S. The war brought inflation, with consequent rising prices in gold and other metals. Double eagle production in San Francisco was halted in 1916 and did not resume until 1920. A large mintage of 558,000 pieces was produced at the San Francisco Mint that year, but the commercial role of the double eagle had changed. The big gold coins no longer circulated freely, and ordinary citizens seldom saw them. Instead, the government and the banking system kept the coins in reserve. By this time, double eagles served two purposes: The government used some, stored in mint bags, to redeem Gold Certificates. Other coins were used as specie payments to foreign governments and banks.
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Favorite Coin Years Can Be Cheap or Dear
Numismatic News
What is your favorite date to find on a coin? A Lincoln cent collector might choose 1909; a Morgan dollar collector, 1895; and a Mercury dime collector, 1916. Many years produced many interesting and collectible coins. A numismatist looking for something new to collect might pick a favorite year and collect every coin that was produced that year. One of the best years for United States coins was 1796. A famous rarity, the 1796 half cent, was made this year, to the tune of 1,390 pieces. This coin comes in two distinct varieties, with and without the pole to the Liberty Cap.
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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.
