Coin Collecting News

An Auburn company that sells gold and silver bullion and coins to investors failed to deliver products on time and gave refunds that were unfair to customers, the state said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The attorney general’s complaint, filed in King County Superior Court, accuses Northwest Territorial Mint of violating the state Consumer Protection Act and seeks penalties of up to $2,000 per violation and refunds for customers.

Ross Hansen, company owner, said the company sometimes has been late in its deliveries to customers because the U.S. and Canadian mints have shipped items late to his company, but he said he has caused no financial harm to his customers. Read Full Story

The superpowers of China, Russia, and the United States may without knowing it be racing towards reopening their mints to the monetary metals. The governments of these countries are like the heroes of Greek tragedies: they are drawn to their fate by destiny. There is no way for them to avoid Kismet, regardless of what they do. This leads to the question of what is meant by opening the mint to the unlimited coinage of gold and silver free of seigniorage charges.

The mint is a monetary institution far more important than the central bank. It is an ancient and venerable institution. The central bank is a relatively new invention, hardly venerable. It was conceived to make ordinary people absorb the unpaid and unpayable debt of kings.

The importance of the mint is not to be found in its altogether negligible role of coining small change, the so-called subsidiary coinage which people use to make small purchases. The mint is all-important because it is designed to produce real money…….Read Full Article

Coin World is reporting that the U.S. Mint has accidentally struck between 70,000 and 140,000 Monroe Presidential Dollars on planchets (coin blanks) intended for Statehood Quarters! The error coins were detected and intercepted by the contractor (CoinWrap Inc.,) that wraps the Presidential Dollars for the U.S. Mint. During the coin-wrapping process, CoinWrap workers discovered some “irregular” dollars among Monroe coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint facility. Of course, the contractor immediately Did The Right Thing and gathered all of the misstruck coins and returned them to the U.S. Mint, which will (presumably) destroy them.

The Monroe Presidential Dollar isn’t due to hit circulation until February 14, but banks have been able to order the coins from the Fed since the beginning of February. It will be interesting to see how many of these amazing “wrong planchet errors” actually surface, and in what parts of the country they are found. Read Full Article

GEORGE FREDERICK KOLBE AUCTION SALE 105: MARCH 20, 2008

On March 20, 2008 George Frederick Kolbe/Fine Numismatic Books will sell at auction the Numismatic Library of Dr. Dan Koppersmith, part three of the Alan M. Meghrig Library, further selections from the library of Bob Vail, and other notable properties.

Leading off the sale is the superb Koppersmith library, which includes a complete set of the Numismatic Chronicle, a complete run of the Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, standard works on ancient Greek coins in outstanding condition, and important auction sale catalogues featuring archaic and classical Greek coins.

A nice consignment of works on British and American numismatics follows. It features a fine original set of Dalton and Hamer’s Provincial Token-Coinage of the 18th Century, heavily annotated by a knowledgeable collector. Complete sets of Barney Bluestone, New York Coin & Stamp Co., and J. C. Morgenthau sale catalogues are featured in the Bob Vail consignment, which also includes an extensive run of elusive United States Coin Company sales, among them a fine 1913 Malcolm Jackson sale with photographic plates. Continued