Innehållsförteckning för July 2020 från Coins

In 1970 when I was 16, I watched an older gentleman try to put money into a vending machine. The machine wasn’t accepting his coins so I offered to help. When I removed the coins from the coin slot, they were five shining Mercury dimes. I reached into my pocket and pulled out two quarters and put them in the machine. He received his cup of soup and thanked me. I asked if he had any more dimes and he pulled more out of his pocket. I gave him two more quarters. He was concerned about me losing 10 more cents in the deal. I smiled and said it was ok. Eight years later I married his granddaughter! I still have the coins and the loving wife 50 years later.…

The period from May 8 to Sept. 2, 2020, marks the 75th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II. In recognition of this significant anniversary, the U.S. Mint will manufacture “W” mintmark quarters that feature a special privy mark signifying the allied victory in World War II. While circulating coins are typically made only in Philadelphia or Denver, these special circulating coins that bear the “W” mintmark are manufactured at the Mint facility at West Point. The Mint released the first two 2020 “W” America the Beautiful (ATB) quarters, honoring the National Park of American Samoa (American Samoa) and the Weir Farm National Historic Site (Connecticut), on April 6. The coins will likely begin to appear in circulation within four to six weeks after the release date, according to…

WHEN IT COMES to silver dollars that collectors simply love and go crazy for, it’s fair to say that the Morgan and Peace dollars are both right at the top of that list. There are also folks who are big fans of some of the silver dollars within the growing, modern commemorative series. The Seated Liberty design certainly has its faithful following as well but our oldest silver dollars can be tough and expensive to collect; and another series that is often overlooked is our trade dollars. Issued for circulation only from 1873 to 1878, the trade dollars are a short series with a fascinating backstory. Let’s look into our past a bit, and see what it might be. As mentioned, the United States trade dollar came out of the…

Perhaps Chicken Little said the sky was falling, but Chicken Little obviously wasn’t a coin collector. The economy and investment markets may be in the dumper due to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. You might suspect the business of coins would follow. Coin shows, public auctions, and club meetings have been cancelled. But, something else has happened, something possibly unanticipated. Dealers will attest to the challenge to keep bullion-impacted gold or silver coins in stock, even when the coins are being sold for an unprecedented premium.Auctions are likewise doing well, especially the high-profile, truly rare coins. Greed fuels equity markets while fear fuels traditional havens from an economic storm. Right now, speculators and investors are charging the numismatic gates. If you are a serious collector, you might want to consider either…

Do you still look at your pocket change? Perhaps a better question would be: Do you still have any pocket change? I confess that I don’t, because I rarely spend cash anymore. I still carry cash but virtually all of my spending occurs with plastic money. I used to carry $2 bills to pay for my laundry each week, as the cleaner charged exactly $2 for ironing a shirt. Also, since my cleaning bills are so low, I tend to use my bank’s debit card. Our online checking account requires my wife and I to make at least 10 debit purchases each month in order to receive the maximum interest on the account (about 1 percent). Although I no longer have any change to examine from purchases, I do have…

Authentic California Gold Rush gold ore nuggets originally discovered by Old West prospectors then lost at sea for 157 years after the 1857 sinking of the fabled “Ship of Gold,” the S.S. Central America, are finally available to collectors. Each nugget contains between .031 to 0.40 grams of California Gold Rush gold. To ensure their historic sunken treasure pedigree, the nuggets have been certified for authenticity and encapsulated by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC). They are now being offered exclusively by Asset Marketing Services (www.govmint.com/goldnuggets) of Burnsville, Minn. “The nuggets were discovered aboard the fabulous S.S. Central America treasure carefully retrieved in 2014,” explained Dwight Manley, managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group. “They were contained in miners’ gold field pokes (small satchels or pouches usually made of buckskin, canvas…

ELIZABETH JONES MAY NOT be a name known in every household in the country, but her name is a very well-known and highly respected one among collectors and those who appreciate medallic art. Jones was the 11th Chief Engraver for the United States Mint, from 1981 to 1990, and in that time produced some gorgeous works that collectors still value today. She did not have the chance to produce a circulating coin for the United States, simply because Congress and the Department of the Treasury did not dictate any changes during her tenure, but her legacy of commemorative coins and medals is one that even the most accomplished artists would be proud of – and that just about any collector might like to own. Jones was a well-established artist when…

The 1860-O Seated Liberty dollar is a fascinating coin. It is also the least expensive Mint State Seated Liberty dollar with a price of $1,700 in MS-60. It goes to $2,800 in MS-63 and $48,000 in MS-65, but for Seated Liberty dollars those are very low prices with only a couple other dates even coming close. Right away, there must be questions as the 1860-O is from the New Orleans facility and New Orleans was famous, or maybe infamous, as a facility where we have poor supplies for Mint State coins, especially for the period of 1860 and before. The 1860-O is the glaring exception. The 1860-O dime is admittedly a low mintage date, but it is almost unknown in Mint State. Yet the 1860-O dollar, based on the prices,…