Innehållsförteckning för August 19, 2025 från Numismatic News

Paul Hollis, a Louisiana state representative and long-time coin enthusiast, was nominated by President Trump to be the next Director of the United States Mint this week. A respected coin dealer and lifelong advocate for the hobby, Hollis makes a rare bridge between grassroots numismatics and federal coinage policy. The nomination comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. Mint, which continues to balance production demands with collector innovation amid increased public interest in coin programs. Hollis’s appointment signals a potentially more collector-conscious approach to upcoming designs, commemoratives, and marketing initiatives. Hollis’s nomination requires Senate confirmation, with a hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to take place in the coming months. ONLINE POLL THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: Should the U.S. Mint focus more on collector engagement, circulating…

For the second year in a row, the biggest American coin show will have official coins of its own. Minted Assets, in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association, is releasing official commemorative coins to mark the ANA’s annual World’s Fair of Money, in Oklahoma City. The show is scheduled from Aug. 19 to 23, 2025. The 2025 coins are issued for the Ascension Islands, and like similar coins issued for the 2024 event in Rosemont, Ill., feature designs by American artist Joel Iskowitz. Like last year’s issue, the distributor is handing out approximately 250 coins daily for five days of the 2025 event. The coins will be available at Minted Assets tables (1132 and 1134)—beginning at 1 p.m. on Aug. 19, and at noon every day thereafter, through Aug. 23.…

Considering the appeal of the subject matter—the game of chess—I thought the following by Herbert A. Friedman was worthy of reproduction here. In the April 1966 issue of Coins magazine, Friedman told of chess-themed not-geld (German emergency money) under the title: “The Chessbacks of Stroebeck: Take a chunk of wood, a carving tool, and an imprisoned count and you have the beginnings of a unique German currency.” “Chess has been known for centuries as the royal game,” Friedman wrote. “Its origin has been ascribed by various scholars to the Greeks, Romans, Babylonians, Scythians, Egyptians, Jews, Persians, Chinese, Hindus, Arabians, Irish, and Welsh. However, it is impossible to say with any authority just where and when this greatest of intellectual games first saw the light of day. Some authorities lean toward…

As many of you may already know, we have been working hard to update NumisMaster with past and present bank notes that have not been numbered in the last few years. As of the time of writing this article, we have completed 72 countries and added over 1,300 bank notes. You can view the paper money home page on NumisMaster’s website for a detailed list of countries completed in the last month. My biggest goal with adding the new and missing bank notes is not to change the Pick numbers already assigned; this will be avoided as much as possible. I am also attempting to maintain consistency in numbering, as they can and do vary from country to country. For example, if you look at Uruguay, some bank notes have…

In these days of ‘sandwich’ money with little intrinsic value, we tend to forget that United States coins of gold and silver once contained their full value of such metal. When a citizen carried a silver dollar in 1845, for example, it had an intrinsic value of one dollar, and five of them could be exchanged at par for a half eagle, or five-dollar gold piece. It was a world far removed from the present in many ways. Even though the above example of 1845 was certainly true for that time, the free exchange of gold for silver or the other way around was not always the case. Prior to 1834, the United States was officially on the bimetallic standard, meaning that gold and silver coins were of equal importance,…

Here are some answers sent from our e-newsletter readers. Read more responses at www.numismaticnews.com. What qualities do you think are most important for a mint director? Why? The Mint Director is an appointed position, and I’m sure there are “networking affiliations” that are part of the process. Experience, background, and merit used to be required attributes. Thinking back to Joseph Wright, an accomplished portrait painter and coin designer, he was Washington’s first choice as Chief Engraver. Sadly, Wright died before confirmed, and Robert Scot was selected. I have made the argument that Joseph Wright designed the Flowing Hair Dollar. Over the past few years, some coin/medal programs seemed interesting; one medal should have been a coin, another medal seemed to be suppressed, and a few releases were rather dubious. With…

Very few of us have the time or the opportunity to examine large numbers of various dated coins in a single coin series to look for subtle changes in their design. You’ll get an indication of all the changes waiting to be discovered if you go to the Variety Vista website and look at the Washington quarter reverses. I had occasion to look there while confirming an attribution for a quarter reverse I never knew existed beyond the A, B, and C Types. Variety Vista does not include Trade dollars, so here is my contribution to that series. Recently, the long-awaited reference on Trade dollars that I mentioned in a column long ago has been published as US Trade Dollar: Rarity, Collection Types, and Top 37 Varieties by Joe Kirchgessner.…

After over seven decades in the hobby, Stack’s Bowers Galleries announced the well-deserved retirement of founder Q. David Bowers. Since the 1950s, numismatics has benefitted immensely from Dave’s unsurpassed expertise, deep passion, and enthusiastic involvement in the coin hobby. There is not a single collector, dealer, or numismatic organization that does not know the name Q. David Bowers, understand the significance of his career, and appreciate his enormous contributions to numismatics. Brian Kendrella, Stack’s Bowers Galleries president, stated: “Dave has greatly impacted numismatics over the past seven decades and will continue to do so for many years to come. He has been a wonderful mentor to many of us, and his leadership and guidance have been invaluable. We wish Dave the best in his well-deserved retirement.” Greg Roberts, Stack’s Bowers…

Cryptocurrency is a way through which you can pay online using anything as currency that is accepted digitally or virtually to be using cryptography. Why would anyone use such a system? Cryptocurrency can but doesn’t have to be pegged to the U.S. dollar. The value of cryptocurrency can be based on anything, and the most dangerous part of that is that what it might be pegged to may not be something tangible. Until we entered the world of fiat money, our currency was pegged to precious metals. Germany stopped its post-World War I runaway inflation by tying its currency to government-owned real estate. We’ve experienced wooden nickels and merchant scrip redeemable for physical goods of the same value. What is different is that cryptocurrency is not tied to any banking…

The collecting community keeps a sharp eye on the coins of the early United States, and virtually everything minted before the year 1800 has a hefty price tag attached to it, no matter the grade. Even a worn piece dated something like 1799 can be expensive, simply because it was produced in the earliest years of a very young United States Mint. But our Revolutionary War was over and won by Sept. 3, 1783, according to the Treaty of Paris, and we had no Mint and coins at all before 1792. What then kept the newly independent nation running when it came to everyday commerce? What sort of coins did we use? Spanish silver The short answer to those questions is: Spanish silver. The current Mint in Mexico City has…

■ Are there any books on superstition and coins? To my knowledge, my long out-of-print Superstition, Urban Legends and Our Money and Michael Shutty Jr’s book Bent, Holed, and Folded are the only two books focused completely on the subject. There are numerous books on magic or superstition where some aspect of superstition and coins may be addressed. ■ Can you explain the origin of the phrase “penny for your thoughts?” Judge, lawyer, social philosopher, statesman, theologian, and Lord High Chancellor of England (to Henry VIII), Thomas More is generally credited as being the first to record this phrase in 1522. Despite being a low-denomination coin, a penny had serious purchasing power at that time. The phrase wasn’t meant to be taken literally; however, it suggested even idle musings have…

“The obverse Liberty with winged cap—misidentified as Mercury by much of the public…[has] been seen as containing specific reference to France, the object of much American concern in 1916.” — Art historian Barbara A. Baxter “[T]he reverse [of Weinman’s dime] reminds us … of the coins of France and of the Napoleonic era …” — Editorial in The Numismatist, December 1916 “The head is not unlike those by Roty … shown on so many modern French … medals.” — Coin dealer Thomas L. Elder, December 1916 There is not much written on the inspiration behind Adolph A. Weinman’s dime of 1916. It took much digging to find the above quotes that discuss his French Connection. Many articles on the Winged Liberty dime discuss condition, grade, rarity, and price. At times,…

We have recently begun a 52-week comprehensive pricing review for numerous countries, starting with Central and South America. The first country on our list is Argentina, and we have consulted with experts and reviewed auction and sales results to realign many prices to their correct values. Focusing on the issues from the 20th century, we found that pricing for 1- and 2-centavos were greatly undervalued, especially for rare years. Pricing was raised in a widespread manner for these denominations. One such example of drastic changes can be seen with the 1945 1-centavo, the key date for the KM# 37a type. Previously, prices ranged from 20¢ in Fine to $4.50 in Mint State 63 (MS-63). Now, prices have been adjusted to $10 in Fine and $65 in MS-63. Pricing for the…

The weekly Show Directory lists all coin and paper money events scheduled within one month of the issue cover date. Show dates and times sometimes change at the last minute. Please contact the show promoter BEFORE traveling long distances. SHOW PROMOTERS: Run your show announcement FREE! Just email the information indicated in the form below to numismatics@aimmedia.com. All timely listings are also included in both Bank Note Reporter and World Coin News at NO CHARGE. *Dependent upon date of submission relevant to deadline and space availability. Want to make your show really STAND OUT? Whether you need dealers on the floor or collectors at the gate, Numismatic News offers the best, most qualified coin and paper money collector and dealer audience around – AND we have the means to reach…