Innehållsförteckning för December 2020 från Coins

Collectors tend to watch the price of rare coins, but in this “new normal” period of coronavirus fears, the action appears to be two-pronged. Several auction houses have recently conducted very successful auctions at which strong prices were bid. The action, however, not only surrounds the scarce to rare coin market, but the bullion coin market as well. While gold gets most of the headlines due to the lofty price of about $1,950 an ounce it has recently achieved, the price of silver has skyrocketed more than 51 percent during 2020. This is almost twice as much as has gold. Gold and silver ingots are the most popular way to own these metals, but coin format is close behind. Many dealers are spending more time buying and scrapping silver coins…

WHEN IT COMES TO SILVER, and it comes to the holiday season, satisfyingly large silver coins are always possibilities that work as far as gifts for friends and family, or for unexpected friends – as well as gifts you might want to give to yourself. Yes, that means there are probably thousands of choices, many of them beautiful; so let’s whittle the category down a bit. Here are five coins that will be great gifts for just about anyone. 1. United States silver Eagle The idea of bullion coins from nations large and small is now a very established one, with an entire generation of collectors having engaged our hobby never knowing of a time without them. The United States one-ounce silver Eagle is certainly a major player in the…

Are you looking for a great Christmas gift for that numismatist on your list? In this column, I’m going to review a book that any collector of U.S. coins would be happy to find as a gift. (Its 8 x 10-inch format is much too large for your numismatist’s stocking.) The book is the 5th edition of 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, by Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth. Jeff Garrett has been involved with coins since a family friend introduced him to collecting Lincoln cents. This led to membership in coin clubs followed by a succession of positions at major coin dealerships. One of these was the Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries, which Garrett founded in 1984. Another is Sarasota Rare Coin Gallery, of which he is co-owner. Garrett has received a…

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL United States coins of the 20th century, in the opinion of many modern collectors, is the Walking Liberty half dollar, issued from 1916 through 1947. It has been so popular, in fact, that when the Treasury decided upon the design for the silver bullion coin first issued in 1986, the Walking Liberty motif got the nod and is still being used. The history of this interesting artwork began in 1915, when Treasury officials realized that the old Barber designs for the minor silver coins were approaching that magical 25-year date when designs can be changed without Congressional oversight. Treasury Secretary William McAdoo, who just happened to be the son-in-law of President Woodrow Wilson, was legally responsible for choosing the new designs on American coinage. He…

Some coins have great stories, and the 1861-D gold half eagle is certainly such a coin. Unfortunately, it is also somewhat shrouded in mystery. Parts of its history have been lost to the fog of the Civil War, and there will never be a perfect way to piece together its full story. We know that the 1861-D was a product of the early days of 1861 and that a total of 1,597 pieces were produced. At that point in time, forces from the state of Georgia arrived to take over the facility. Later, when Georgia joined the Confederate States of America, the mint would be turned over to the Confederacy. What we do not know is the number of 1861-D half eagles that might have been made under the control…