Innehållsförteckning för October 28, 2025 från Numismatic News

CONECA, the international error coin and variety club, will be offering free examination of error and variety coins to collectors at educational tables at coin shows across the United States throughout this year and into 2026. The club, whose name stands for “Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America,” is the largest coin specialty club in the United States and has actively been educating collectors about mint error and variety coins for the last five decades. They would love to help you with your error coins! At their coin show tables, different members of the CONECA Board of Directors and other error/variety enthusiasts (each with different areas of specialty as available) will offer free examination to collectors who bring coins from their collection to the show with questions. This…

Plenty of us have gotten into collecting United States one-ounce silver Eagles in the past few decades. Perhaps as many of us have expanded into some of the other well-known silver, one-ounce bullion coins, like the Canadian Maple Leafs, the Austrian Philhamonikers, or the Chinese Pandas. All of these and several other bullion coins have definitely become mainstream collecting thrusts for both collectors and investors. But there is a large, silver coin that pre-dates them all, and that actually still finds use in some parts of the world as a store of wealth in silver. This one may qualify as beyond the mainstream. We’re talking about the Maria Theresa thaler. The basics Maria Theresa was one of those powerful women in history who ended up in a position most people…

Although the gold dollar has always fascinated collectors because of its small size and high-quality design, Mint officials were less than enthused about the coin. In fact, they did not want the coin at all and for nearly fifteen years resisted all efforts to this end. Beginning in July 1831, Christopher Bechtler of Charlotte, N.C., had operated his own private gold mint for the convenience of miners in that area. At first, only half and quarter eagles were struck, but in an effort to attract more business, Bechtler began the coinage of gold dollars about 1833. The Bechtler coins proved very popular with the public, and the gold dollars especially so. Samples of the Bechtler coinage eventually found their way to the north, and by early 1836, Congress was interested…

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…

Here are some answers sent from our e-newsletter readers. Read more responses at www.numismaticnews.com. Do you have a preferred method for authenticating rare coins? What is it? My preferred method of authenticating rare key coins, such as a 1916-D dime or a 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent, is to send them off to a professional grading service such as NGC or PCGS because most key date coins are often counterfeited. Also, always buy uncertified coins from only reputable dealers who will stand behind your purchase. Dave Burdis Charleroi, Pa. With all the good-looking fakes coming out of China, I generally try to buy a slabbed coin from a reputable dealer whom I either know or have done business with before, or a national company like Stack/ Bowers, Heritage, or Great Collections,…

■ Are these errors on my 1919-S cent? The ‘E’ is noticeably dropped below the ‘W’ in ‘WE’, and the first ‘T’ in ‘TRUST’ is missing. You likely have a coin that is missing letters due to grease in the coinage die. Someone needs to see the coin in person to be certain of this. Other error 1919-S cents include the 1919-S/S, missing L in Liberty, and improper woody appearance alloy or lamination. I’ve seen the image of a 1919-S cent where the mintmark appears to be tripled, but the coin had not been examined by any third-party service. ■ Just how many varieties of the 1964 Kennedy half dollar are there? The Accented Hair coin gets all the publicity, but it isn’t the only 1964 JFK half-dollar variety to…

When I saw that famed numismatist Q. David Bowers was retiring from Stack’s Bowers Galleries, I was curious about what ordinary coin collectors would remember about this living legend. Would it be meeting Bowers at a convention and having a one-on-one conversation with him? Would it be one of his many books that the collector had read? Would it be a purchase the collector had made from one of the firms Bowers was associated with? I got a variety of answers when I asked about memories of David Bowers on CoinTalk (CT). I’ll tell you about some of them after I recount my most salient experiences with Bowers and his firms. First, many years ago, I had the opportunity to interview for the job of director of the auction department…

The first U.S. coin to carry the motto, “In God We Trust,” was the topic of Ray Young’s article, “The 19th Century Two-Cent Piece: It seemed like a good idea, but…” in the June 1966 Coins magazine. This denomination was minted for circulation for only a short time, but there have been calls for its revival. “For nine years, the Philadelphia mint struck a coin that looked better in theory than it did in actual practice,” Young wrote. “Coming as it did in an age of experimentation, the two-cent bronze typified the years when the treasury was inadvertently proving that the cent, nickel, dime, quarter, and half were the only small coins necessary. “The two-cent piece, authorized by an act of April 22, 1964, came into existence at the same…

The Limited Edition Silver Proof Set, featuring all five 2025 American Women Quarters, a one-ounce silver American Eagle, a Kennedy half dollar, and a Roosevelt dime, will be available from the U.S. Mint on Nov. 6, 2025. Each coin is 99.9 percent silver, making the whole set equal almost 2.5 troy ounces. The release of this set is just in time for the holidays and could make a great gift for collectors or non-collectors alike. A proof set is a great way to commemorate any 2025 milestones.…

It’s that time of year again to send us your 2026 show dates! The staff at Numismatic News has been gearing up to ready the next Show & Auction Guide, set to appear in the November 25 issue of Numismatic News and the January issues of World Coin News and Bank Note Reporter. Don’t miss this chance to get your show included—for free! The Show & Auction Guide is a semiannual supplement to Numismatic News, World Coin News, and Bank Note Reporter magazines. Featuring the hobby’s most complete listing of coin shows next year, as well as a comprehensive list of numismatic auction firms, you’ll want to be sure to have your club’s or organization’s show among them. Show listings can be submitted via an online form (aim.dragonforms.com/loading.do?omedasite=NMM_listing), or details…

COMPLETE U.S. COIN PRICE GUIDE OCTOBER 2025 The spot price of gold and silver has once again been climbing; in the case of gold, the price has recently set new records. Silver still has a ways to go to pass the previous record highs set when the Hunt Brothers were speculating in that metal in 1980. Since I track the pricing for some denominations quarterly rather than weekly or monthly, I can see some of the more dramatic price changes taking place from three months earlier as I adjust current prices. Business strike gold coins through 1933 have particularly caught my attention recently. Prices for well-circulated examples of all but the better dates, and in some cases, right through to Mint State 63, have only minor value differentials due to…

My favorite coin this month is a 1857 large cent. PCGS certified it in the grade of AU50, and when I submitted it to CAC, it received a Green Bean. This indicates that the coin is in the top tier of the grading scale for an about circulated (AU50) large cent. As the last of its kind (Braided Hair type), the 1857 large cent is memorable both for its position in the pantheon of U.S. large cents and also for its low mintage (333,456). Earlier large cent types include the Flowing Hair types (chain reverse and wreath reverse), the Liberty Cap type, the Draped Bust type, the Classic Head type, and the Matron Head type. Being the last date in the long-running series of large cents and sporting a relatively…

Commemorative coins can be struck for circulation as well as for collectors. Those that are non-circulating legal tender commemoratives tend to attract a different group of collectors than do those that were meant to circulate. These two entities have different functions; the first being to strictly mark an event or a person, the latter has propaganda value as well, if there is a message it is meant to generate. The one thing that U.S. commemorative coins have in common is that they recognize people and events from the past. None of them addresses the present. This mindset may be changing. At the moment this commentary is being written, there are two proposals for commemoratives that address current events. The first is the recent assassination of political activist and media personality…