Coin Collecting News

I don’t consider myself to be a real pro when it comes to rare coin promotion but even I know a no-brainer when I see it. 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, you can bet that rare coin promotion gurus who are far more clever than I have been preparing for this event for some time.

So if you are Joe Coin Promoter and you are gearing up for the Civil War Sesquicentennial in 2011, what kind of gold coins can you get enough of to do a promotion? Let’s go denomination by denomination and figure this out.

I. Gold Dollars

Only two mints made gold dollars in 1861: Philadelphia and Dahlonega. The 1861-P is common and cheap; the 1861-D is rare and expensive. The 1861-D is unpromotable; it is too rare to accumulate in quantity and is already too expensive. A clever dealer could probably stealthily buy 40-50 1861-P gold dollars in lower Mint State grades over the course of a year and have enough coins to promote. He could probably find as many 1862-P gold dollars and maybe have as many as 100 coins in total. I would have to wonder, though, if the intended audience for this promotion would get excited about gold dollars as they are small, common and not really “sexy.” As a collector I’d probably avoid stockpiling any Civil War gold dollars to ride the coattails of a promotion.

II. Quarter Eagles

Two mints made quarter eagles in 1861: Philadelphia and San Francisco. The 1861-S is unheralded but scarce and I doubt if you could put together a group of more than three or four over the course of a year. The 1861-P is common in grades up to MS63 and it might be possible to accumulate enough to promote. I like the promotional possibilities of this issue and it might not be a bad idea for a collector to buy a few MS62 to MS63 pieces and see if prices increase in the next few years. None of the other Civil War Philadelphia issues can be found in enough quanity to promote. The San Francisco issues are all rare but it might be possible to put together a rag-tag group of circulated examples.

III. Three Dollar Gold Pieces

You couldn’t promote threes in Uncircirculated as all of the Civil War issues are rare enough and expensive enough to preclude this. But you might actually be able to acculate a few dozen nice circulated pieces. This promotion actually makes sense to me as the three dollar denomination is odd and interesting and it would appeal to non-collectors. It is also out of favor right now so the possibility of buying a fair quantity exists. The 1861-64 dates are all moderately scarce but available in the EF-AU range for less than $4,000 per coin. As a promotion bandwagon jumper, these three dollar gold pieces kind of make sense to me. Continued

America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins Halted
Coin Update News
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City says it will open a Bowing to consumer concerns about the excessive premiums being charged for the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins, the United States Mint will delay the launch of the program. No orders placed by the primary distributors have been confirmed, while the Mint attempts to determine the appropriate course of action to best serve customers. The new silver bullion program was expected to launch today. The coins would feature the designs of the America the Beautiful Quarters, stuck in 5 ounces of .999 fine silver.
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Hobby Gifts Are Always a Good Fit
Numismaster
As I write this column, the store displays in Wausau, Wis., are interesting, advertising for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas—all at the same time. I guess that is an indicator of how bad the retail economy is. The paper money hobby, however, seems to be in decent shape. For my part, I think prices are just about right, room for a profit for the dealer and affordable for the collector. We will continue to see big prices on finest know or super scarce notes, but the majority of large-size type notes remain affordable for the serious collector.
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The Tsarina returns: A coin collection from Russian royalty comes back to auction
Paul Fraser Collectibles
Bonhams’ sale will be led by an Alexander II gold coin which could easily bring $100,000. Tomorrow, December 8, Bonhams is presenting their auction of the Tsarina Collection of Russian Gold Coins and Medals as part of their 530 piece Coins and Banknotes sale. Comprised of just under 100 items, this private collection has been off the market for many years with several of the coins and medals never having been offered at public auction at all.
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Low mintages to create new modern rarities
The Rare Coin Market Report
The U.S. Mint’s Dec. 1 announcement that it is placing tighter than expected mintage limits on the new 2010 America the Beautiful 5-ounce .999 fine silver bullion quarter dollars may result in the creation of some new modern rarities. The large (3 inches in diameter) and undoubtedly impressive coins will surely be in hot demand, especially with such limited supplies.
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Ancient Coins Stolen From Germany
The E-Sylum
At the Museum Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen (Germany, Baden-Württemberg), 44 antique coins were stolen from a showcase in the public exhibition room. The theft was reported to the local criminal investigation department on Wednesday November 24. The delinquent(s) are still unknown. The stolen pieces include Hellenistic and Roman imperial coins. Obviously, the thieves were especially interested in gold coins, for they took 37 staters, aurei and solidi, furthermore 5 coins of silver and 2 of bronze.
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Peace pipe chosen
Numismatic News
A ceremonial peace pipe will grace the reverse of the 2011 Native American $1 coin. Both the Commission of Fine Arts and Citizens Coinage Advisory Com-mittee had endorsed the design earlier this year. Its selection was announced Nov. 26 by the United States Mint. The theme for the design is “Supreme Sachem Ousamequin, Massasoit of the Great Wampanoag Nation Creates Alliance with Settlers at Plymouth Bay (1621).”
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The upcoming 2011 January Tampa FUN Signature & Platinum Night US Coin Auction features what is probably the finest New Orleans twenty of any date. Easily the finest known 1852-O double eagle, this Gem has been off the market since the early 1970s, when our consignor purchased it through a private treaty transaction with Stack’s.

This coin has long been unavailable for study by most modern researchers, although Doug Winter was aware of it when he wrote the first edition of New Orleans Mint Gold Coins: 1839-1909 in 1992. At that time, Winter considered the specimen in the Dallas Bank Collection the finest known 1852-O, with this coin listed in the number two spot. Like the present coin, the Dallas Bank specimen had only been examined by a few specialists during the 1990s.

After the collection was sold in 2001, Winter had the opportunity to view the coin, and he determined that the present specimen is actually superior to the Dallas Bank example. Jim Halperin, Co-Chairman of Heritage Auction Galleries, had the opportunity to study this coin many years ago, and he always believed it was special. Halperin states that this coin is “By far the best condition New Orleans twenty I have ever seen.” Discounting the SP63 PCGS 1856-O double eagle, a coin that many consider a full proof, no other New Orl eans Mint twenty has been certified in any grade above MS63 by NGC or PCGS.

In 1852 the New Orleans Mint produced a generous mintage of 190,000 Liberty Head double eagles, largely due to the influx of gold from the California gold fields. Because of its substantial mintage, the 1852-O is one of the more available Type One double eagles from the New Orleans Mint. Winter estimates a surviving population of 900-1100 pieces in all grades. Most examples seen are in lower circulated grades, and the issue becomes scarce in AU55 and quite rare in Mint State. Due to the availability of the 1852-O in AU, the date is always in demand from mintmark type collectors, seeking a high grade example for their collections.

Of course, the Miller collection coin is in a class of its own as a condition rarity. No 1852-O double eagle of comparable quality has been offered at auction since the Dallas Bank specimen came on the market, nearly a decade ago. In 2006, a PCGS graded MS62 specimen realized $48,875 as lot 5580 of the Denver Signature Auction in 2006, but even that coin clearly lacked the quality of this magnificent Gem, which grades a full three points higher.

As the finest known specimen of the date, with claims to the title of finest New Orleans business strike double eagle, it might be fair to compare this coin to the finest known specimens of other issues offered at auction recently. Considered as a date, the 1852-O is not in the same rarity category as the 1856-O, the classic rarity of the series, but the rarity of the 1852-O in MS65 is just as great as the rarity of the 1856-O in SP63. Continued