Coin Collecting News

Stack’s Sets New World Coin Price Record

Weighing in at nearly a troy pound of gold, a stupendous 1621 Polish 100 Ducats has set a new price record for a world coin, realizing $1,380,000 at Stack’s January 14th Kroisos Collection Sale (all prices quoted include the 15% buyer’s fee).

The sale of this historically important Sigismund III 100 Ducat piece, one of only two or three known in private hands, was much anticipated. Within the international numismatic community the buzz augured a record-breaker especially since Polish and Russian coins continue upwards as the hottest world coin markets. And the 100 Ducats, lot 3091 and the cover coin of the sale, certainly lived up to expectations. After heated bidding, the filled to-capacity Tansa room of New York’s Le Parker-Meridien Hotel erupted in applause, as the electrified crowd cheered the winning bid of $1,380,000.

Monumental in size and weight (69.46 x 69.1mm, 4.9mm thick; 349.49 grams), this 100 Ducats coin may be the largest gold coin ever struck in Europe and certainly one of the rarest and most desirable. A special issue to celebrate the Polish victory over the Turks at the Battle of Chocim, the coin was struck from dies prepared by Samuel Ammon of Danzig and Jacob Jacobson of Emden. The obverse depicts a half-length, armored bust of Poland’s Swedish-born king Sigismund III wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece. On the reverse is the quartered Arms of Poland and Lithuania with the Swedish and House of Vasa Arms on a central escutcheon. Of the handful of 100 Ducats produced, it is known that one was presented to the Pope by Sigismund III. The photo of this remarkable piece is available on www.stacks.com Lot 3091 in the Kroisos sale. Continued

By KEVIN G. HALL for McClatchy Newspapers

DANDONG, China | The currency changer, brazenly plying his illegal trade in the Bank of China lobby, pulled out a thick wad of cash from around the world and carefully removed a bill. The 2003 series U.S. $100 bill was a fake, but not just any fake. It was a “supernote,” a counterfeit so perfect it’s an international whodunit.

It had come from a North Korean businessman, the changer said, getting angry looks from his confederates. He stank of alcohol, but his story was plausible. The impoverished hermit nation sat just across the Yalu River from Dandong.

The Bush administration and members of Congress two years ago loudly accused North Korean leaders of being behind the counterfeiting of U.S. currency, but a 10-month McClatchy Newspapers investigation raises questions about those charges.

As the currency changer told a reporter, “The ones from Europe are much better.” Read Full Story

by Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

On Thursday, Jan. 10, in Orlando, an extremely rare pattern cent was auctioned. It is historically important as a central component in the series of the events that brought about the first widely circulating, official coinage of the United States. The auction of this 1792 cent pattern for $603,750 set auction records in several categories, as will be discussed below.

Photos and descriptions used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

Matthew Kleinsteuber, an analyst and buyer for NFC Coins, examines most American coins in almost all major auctions. Kleinsteuber declares that this 1792 pattern “is a priceless historical artifact that is worth whatever a serious collector of Americana can afford to pay.” It “relates to the beginnings of America’s coinage and the struggles of the early years of America as a new nation.”

This 1792 cent pattern is of the so-called ‘fusible alloy’ issue, though it might not be made of a ‘fusible alloy’ at all. The considered idea was to seamlessly combine (fuse) silver and copper into an alloy.

Before ‘fusible alloy’ patterns, there were minted silver-center cent patterns. A small drop of silver was placed in the center of an otherwise copper cent. The bullion value of the silver was three-fourths of one cent while the surrounding copper was worth one-fourth of a cent. Hence, each cent with a silver-center would be worth one cent, not by decree, but by metallic or bullion content. Continued

In June and July of 2008 the ANS is moving into a wonderful new space at One Hudson Square in Manhattan. This means, unfortunately, that the Eric P. Newman Summer Graduate Seminar in Numismatics, usually held during those months, is cancelled for 2008.

In June and July of 2009 we shall resume with an expanded seminar that, in addition to teaching students the mechanics and methodologies of numismatics, serves to introduce them to the wider social, historical, and economic context of monetary instruments and systems. Continued