Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Coins

EVERYBODY HAS a lucky number, and seven seems to be one of the most common, perhaps because of all its gambling associations. When it comes to great coins, there surely have to be more than seven. But let’s look at seven favorites – seven pieces of big silver – and see just what possibilities are there, and where our collecting whims might take us. 1. A Mint State Morgan Dollar Among collectors, Morgan dollars have had a prominent place right in the center of the brightest of spotlights for decades. Collectors love them. Investors eye them. Even the person without a bucket of money to spend on high grade coins can still get their hands on them. Issued from 1878 to 1904, and then again in one heroic splurge in…

An old saying goes: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That could be said of the recent events grabbing headlines about rare coins. On one hand, you could say it was a negative that there was a lot of publicity surrounding the failure of a 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar from selling at what was hoped to be a price exceeding $10 million. On the other hand, we just saw an ancient Ides of March Roman gold aureus sell for $3.5 million. The bottom line – both are helping to publicize coin collecting. This past month has seen a division between bullion and bullion-impacted coins and the scarce to rare coin market. Since the spot price of gold and silver bullion have recently declined, the price of…

Have you made plans for what will happen to your collection when you’re no longer using it? Notice I didn’t say when you’re deceased, although that’s what I’m talking about. We live most of our lives as though we’re immortal, unless we receive an unpleasant diagnosis early in life. I write from experience. As the local “coin person,” I’ve often been asked for advice about an inherited collection of coins, and I’ve helped many of the people dispose of the coins. This has usually been an interesting and enjoyable activity, and I’ve been happy to be of service to people in the area where I live. What I’ve learned while doing this is that heirs almost never have been given any guidance about what to do with the coins. Also,…

Dear Mint Customers, I want to take this opportunity to speak to you about the Mint’s approach to our numismatic program. First off, the United States Mint is unique in that we are an agency of the Federal Government, and also a retail sales organization. The goal of our numismatic program is to serve the American people by producing coins and medals that tell America’s story, are desirable to our customers, and generate net earnings. Net earnings not required for Mint operations are transferred to the United States Treasury general fund and ultimately benefit you, the taxpayer. During my tenure as Mint Director, I have challenged my staff to come up with new and creative products to energize, excite, and expand the collector community. My team has met this objective…

THERE IS CURRENTLY a strong collector market for Seated Liberty silver dollars, but this was not always true. Until the last few decades there was little interest in this series except as type coins. This has now changed as prices keep pace with the increased interest. Prior to 1840, when coinage of the Seated Liberty dollars began, the last full-scale production of this denomination had been in 1804. At that time striking had been stopped by Mint Director Elias Boudinot because too many of these dollars were going to China, in payment for luxury goods, and never coming back. Dr. Robert M. Patterson, who became mint director in July 1835, felt that the silver dollar ought to be struck once more by the Philadelphia Mint. His reasoning was rather straightforward…