Innehållsförteckning för October 2019 från Coins

I recently began a Quarter Type Set collection. I just purchased an 1834 Capped Bust on eBay that would grade around VG8 or 10. I could see in the photos that it was an O over F variety even though it was not described as such in the listing. While these are not uncommon, closer examination after receiving the coin proved it to be the rarer of the two known types. I verified this by using the Cherrypicker’s Guide published by Whitman (Fifth Edition, Volume II). While not clearly visible in the photo, it has less prominent features of the earlier ‘A’ in America. Other tell-tale signs are the filled upper portion of A and no period after 25C. Quoting from the book, “This is a rare variety, especially if…

Through the years I’ve put in a fair number of cameo appearances at the ANA’s annual Summer Seminar sessions in Colorado Springs, which in 2018 celebrated its 50 th renewal. This first year of its second half-century was no exception. For the first time since 2011, when I was closing out the second year of my two-year term as ANA president, I determined an opportune occasion was presenting itself. The ANA Summer Seminar presents our hobby community with a great educational, networking and mixing opportunity. Originated in 1969 by Ed Rochette, then editor of The Numismatist, and Adna Wilde, then executive director, both of whom are no longer with us, that first installment featured one class and two field trips. It hosted just 16 students but was decreed a “huge…

North America’s leading participant media company announced the acquisition of four storied groups of enthusiast brands from F+W Media. “The addition of Writer’s Digest, Popular Woodworking, Horticulture, and the Collectibles Group significantly extends our footprint in passionate markets that fit Active Interest Media’s vision for future growth,” said President CEO Andrew Clurman. “These groups bring a combined publishing history of more than 300 years and audiences that demonstrate incredible loyalty through their attendance at events, participation in online conversations, and high rates of membership and subscription renewal.” The brands will become part of AIM’s existing Home Group, a thriving operation based in Des Moines, Iowa, that includes leading woodworking and gardening brands such as The Woodsmith and Garden Gate. “We were attracted to this acquisition by the obvious synergies between…

Have you given any thought to what will happen to your coin collection when you’re no longer around? Are any of your children interested in coins? Your spouse? Other relatives? And how much is your collection worth? Should it be sold to a friendly dealer you have done business with? Sold at auction? Is there a guide that might help you answer these questions? If you have a valuable coin collection, then it would be worth your while to procure a copy of The Collector’s Handbook: Tax Planning, Strategy and Estate Advice for Collectors and Their Heirs. Penned by James L. Halperin, Gregory J. Rohan, and Mark J. Prendergast, The Collector’s Handbook was published by Ivy Press, Inc., in Dallas, Texas. You can find it for sale on Amazon and…

COLLECTING ONE or more series within United States coinage can be a great deal of fun, as we dive into all the details of a particular series. If there is a frustration to such an endeavor, it is probably any key dates or mint marks. A rare coin is always going to be precisely that – rare – and thus will be the stumbling block to completing a set. One way around that is to focus on collecting type sets, composed of one prime example of a coin from several similar series. Let’s take a look at assembling two truly handsome type sets, those of the bigger United States silver issues. First, The Half Dollars Our fifty-cent coin has hardly been a work horse coin, at least not for the…

Gold and silver as commodities have been performing well recently. Gold appears to remain at about $1,400 an ounce, while silver continues to flirt with $15 an ounce. This is reflected in the selling price of bullion and bullion-impacted coins, however, US Mint sales and other indicators suggest potential coin investors remain in the equity markets despite these gains. Collectors who have remained steadfast the past few years are able to reap their rewards if they choose to sell. Dealers are anxious to restock, since these coins sell fast. This includes Gold and Silver American Eagles, common date and common condition precious metal coins, etc. The scarce to rare coin market continues to perform well, but record prices are still spotty. The trend continues that many “fresh” coins entering the…

FOR MOST collectors, collecting by design type is preferable to assembling sets of all date and mintmark combinations. Consider Barber quarters; the series has three big keys or stoppers: 1896-S, 1901-S, and 1913-S. The least expensive is the 1896-S, which lists for $550 in G4 in this magazine’s pricing guide “Market Watch,” MW). If you’re collecting Barber quarters by type, however, you’ll see that a common date coin such as the 1916-D lists for only $325 in MS63. Of course, it’s much less than that in lower, but still decent, grades. Here, I’m going to discuss a different approach to the 20th century type set, one requiring both the first year of the type and also the last year. I will focus on design types that began and ended in…