Coin Collecting News

By Dennis Hengeveld – from E-Gobrecht Volume 4, Issue 3

Link to PART ONE: Dollars and Half Dollars

The seated quarter dollars had their production starting a year earlier in 1838. The series was just like the other seated series, except for the half dime and dollar, struck until 1891, when it was finally replaced a year later by a new design, made by Charles Barber. The design is not much different than the half dollar; the most notable difference is the denomination and size, as can be expected.

In my opinion, this series is the most difficult of the seated series to complete by date only. The long run of dates (continuously from 1838 to the end of the series in 1891) is not the main criteria for this; it’s the fact that many Philadelphia dates, especially the 1880’s dates, are very scarce in any grade. In Mint state, most coins including branch Mint issues, are available although earlier dates can be very scarce or (virtually unknown) in full Mint state; this especially the case for the branch Mint issues.

These branch Mint coins were struck at the same Mints as the Half Dollars, the San Francisco, New Orleans and Carson City Mints. As is the case with the other seated coinage series, branch Mint coins normally command a premium over a Philadelphia Mint issues, although again this is not the case.

As I said before, the series started in 1838, replacing the capped bust design in production since 1815. The first two dates were only struck at the Philadelphia Mint. These issues are common in grades up to EF-40, but command a nice premium and get scarcer in higher grades.

In gem grades, a coin is very rare and a trophy coin to most collectors. the design of these first two years is of the no drapery, type 1 design. this was changed in 1840 when drapery was added to the elbow of liberty.

Philadelphia Mint coins only exist as type 2 (with drapery). The New Orleans Mint first struck quarter dollars in 1840. Because the correct, with drapery dies were not received at the beginning of the year, production started using the old type 1 obverse design. During the year, the obverse die was replaced with the new obverse, thus creating two separate varieties for the 1840-O issue. The type 1 had a Mintage of 382,200 coins and the type 2 output for the year was 43,000 coins. Both command a premium over a common type coin of more than 100% and thus are not really interesting to date only collectors. Continued

History of the New York Numismatic Club
The E-Sylum
Over the last couple weeks I’ve read major portions of An Island of Civility – The Centennial History of the New York Numismatic Club 1908/09 – 2008/09 by John Kleeberg and David T. Alexander. The 437-page book is limited to 150 copies (not 125, as previously reported here). The book is arranged in four main chapters. The first is a chronological history beginning with the club’s founding in 1908. The next chapter is a topical overview, focusing on key individual aspects of the club throughout its’ long history. The third chapter is a catalogue of medals issued by the club and related organizations and individuals. The final chapter is comprised of biographical sketches of all the club’s members from 1908 through 2009.
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The Legend of Lt. Dixon’s Gold Coin
Friends of the Hunley
To keep her sweetheart safe from harm, Queenie gave George Dixon a gold coin, as a good luck charm. Again, according to the legend, George kept the coin with him always, in his pocket, rubbing it with his thumb while he dreamed of the day when he and Queenie would be reunited. During the Battle of Shiloh, George was shot point blank. A bullet ripped into the pocket of his trousers and struck the center of the gold coin. The impact was said to have left the gold piece bent, with the bullet embedded in it. Queenie’s good luck gift had saved his life.
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Good Time to Mentor a Young Collector
Numismaster
I’ve been thinking about the low number of young people involved with this hobby. It’s not really that surprising an observation, but there are very few collectors in the 12 to 30 age group. I’m sure most of you have noticed this. By contrast, most of us older collectors began collecting while we were in that age group. It was usually the result of a job such as peddling papers or clerking in a mom and pop store when we discovered this neat hobby where we could collect things for free. We could put an item away for its face value, and many times the item would be worth a dollar or two.
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Rare 1911-D Indian Quarter Eagle With Double Provenance
Heritage Blog
This coin is being sold as part of The Atherton Family Collection, Part Two, but before that, it was part of two of the most esteemed collections of the 20th century. The Norweb Collection was built to its full splendor over nearly half a century by Emery May (Holden) Norweb and her husband, Ambassador R. Henry Norweb. When this 1911-D quarter eagle was sold in the late 1980s, it landed in the hands of Harry W. Bass, Jr. His researcher-collector approach to early American gold made him famous, but his eye for quality extended across the entirety of U.S. gold coinage. The Norweb provenance was front-and-center when this coin was sold at auction at the end of the 1990s, along with other Bass Collection coins outside his core holdings.
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Commemorative Coins to Mark the 70th Birthday of Denmark’s Queen
The Royal Mint Denmark
There is a longstanding tradition in Denmark to issue commemorative coins to mark special events in the Royal Family. The Queen’s 70th birthday on 16 April 2010 will therefore be marked with the issue of a commemorative coin in three different versions. A 1,000 krone gold coin is minted in 900 o/oo gold (Au) with a diameter of 22 mm and a weight of 8.65 g. A 500-krone silver coin in 999 0/00 fine silver (Ag) with a diameter of 38 mm and a weight of 31.1 g. The 20-krone ordinary circulation coin in aluminium bronze will be issued in an edition of 1.2 million. Furthermore a 20-krone coin will be minted in a very fine proof quality.
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Swedish Republicans Want to Abolish Royal Images on Coins and Currency
M&C
Sweden’s small but vocal Republican Association said Tuesday it wants to see the profiles of kings disappear from on new Swedish coins and banknotes. ‘The portraits of kings are not in step with the times,’ the association said on the eve of a meeting of the central bank’s General Council to review the designs of future banknotes and coins. The Republican Association suggested that current banknotes such as the 500-kronor (71 dollars) one featuring King Charles XI (1655- 1697) should be replaced, citing that he hailed from an era of autocratic monarchy.
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Change may be in the air at one or more coin grading services, but dealers, collectors and investors will find business as usual at Certified Acceptance Corp. (CAC).

That’s the company’s message to the hobby in the wake of reports that at least one of the two largest grading services is considering the establishment of “premium-quality” grade designations.

CAC examines and evaluates coins that have been certified by either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). It then affixes a distinctive green sticker to the holder of each coin which, in its judgment, fully merits the grade that was assigned. Each sticker incorporates a tamper-evident hologram.

According to Albanese, CAC will continue to evaluate submissions, and determine whether to award stickers to those coins, strictly in the context of the basic numerical grades assigned by either PCGS or NGC. He said it will disregard any additional descriptive words or symbols.

“We don’t want buyers and sellers to get the impression that by stickering a coin, CAC is confirming someone else’s ‘PQ’ designation,” Albanese said.

CAC makes a market in coins that it has stickered, and its disregard of PQ-type designations will be reflected in its buying and selling prices.

“For example, CAC’s bid price for an 1892-O Barber quarter graded MS65 is $1,150,” Albanese said. “If the coin was graded PQ and had a CAC sticker, our buy price would remain the same – $1,150. If it had a star plus our sticker, we’d still pay $1,150. And if it came with an asterisk or a rainbow or a halo, we’d still pay $1,150 – as long as it had a sticker.”

Since opening for business in late 2007, CAC has received more than 144,000 submissions from member dealers and collectors, and has awarded green stickers to just over 68,000 of these. The declared insurance value of these coins totals about $800 million.

To date, the company has bought and sold CAC-stickered coins with a wholesale trading volume of nearly $150 million.
Continued