Innehållsförteckning för December 30, 2025 från Numismatic News

To circulate. However, my colleague Sophia Mattimiro and I experienced the opposite sides of that coin, pun intended, while visiting Hong Kong before going by car to Shenzhen, and then taking a flight to the Beijing International Coin Exposition. During our stay in Hong Kong’s central downtown district, we were able to coerce our driver to take us to one of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s coin carts. The program operates two coin carts to collect surplus coins from the public across the 18 districts of Hong Kong on a rotational basis, free of charge. This environmental nod also serves another green purpose, saving the agency money, as recirculated coins minimize the need for striking more coinage. It was a simple process to dump the coins into the basket and…

Here are some answers sent from our e-newsletter readers. Read more responses at www.numismaticnews.com. What was your favorite numismatic highlight from this past year? I’ve been collecting for years. I have finished an upgrade of Indian cents to about uncirculated, and I have just got 1877 in EXT 40, which completed my collection! Now time to go back to my Morgans. Need some of the rare dates. I’ve been upgrading for years, and now I can afford to finish. But somehow I don’t think that will ever be finished collecting coins! BillWisconsin Having been mostly a ‘vest-pocket dealer’ for most of my numismatic involvement, my personal highlight is completing a classic commemorative silver and gold collection in MS65 or better in 2025. For those wondering, the final coin was the…

Specie once again appears ready to trump fiat money. Ohio House Bill 206 titled “Establish a transactional currency based on gold and silver” is planned to allow these two precious metals to be deposited in accounts that will officially be held by the state treasurer. Individuals could use a debit card or a phone app to spend their gold and silver from accounts in which the metals would be stored. The value would be automatically converted to dollars at the moment a transaction is to take place, allowing the value to change alongside real time exchange value changes. According to Section 113.82 (c): “In establishing the transactional currency, the treasurer of state shall establish a means to ensure that a person or state that holds the transactional currency may use…

As an older numismatist, I can now understand the frustration I probably caused many others who were around before I was born when I made up new terms at the Authentication Service and changed the meaning of a few others that were commonly used back then. It was a time of change for both authentication and grading. First, let me explain some changes I was not involved with using two commonly used terms. When I started collecting, the words “cud” and “double die” were used to identify specific types of minting errors. Over time, numismatists began to use the more proper term, “doubled die.” In the case of a cud, which results when a break in the die involves its rim, the term “Rim Break” became more appropriate. Sometimes, out…

The second weekend of October found me hiking over to the Twin Cities to take in the fall show of the Northwest Coin Club. This year, that was my only out-of-the-area road trip between attendance at the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association’s July convention in Calgary, and the Michigan State Numismatic Society’s fall gathering in November, this year in Waterford Township in the Pontiac area. The Northwest Coin Club dates its establishment to a meeting held on Feb. 10, 1934, at which time the Reverend Elias Rasmussen was tabbed as its first president. The club in 1936 hosted the 45th anniversary convention of the American Numismatic Association on August 22-27 at the Nicollet Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. The club subsequently hosted Central States Numismatic Society conventions in 1951, 1961, 1985, 1992,…

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…

For the first time in a very long time, the United States Mint has halted the production of a denomination of circulating coin. Production of the humble one-cent piece has been cancelled, and right now it looks as if that will be permanent. While none of us can see the future, it certainly seems that the price of zinc and of copper will not drop low enough any time soon that the production of our little one-cent coins will again be profitable. But the United States Mint has been in this boat before, although not in living memory. In the 1850s, the cost of copper had risen enough that the half-cent coin, a copper piece that had been with our young country pretty much from the beginning, had risen enough…

The story of the U.S. half cent was told by Yancey Rayburn under the headline, “It’s a paradox, this low-value, high price original: The Old Copper Half Cent,” in the July 1966 issue of Coins magazine. “The old U.S. copper half cent, which hasn’t been made for almost 110 years, has a varied and sometimes puzzling history,” Rayburn wrote. “After many years in the shadows, the series has staged a comeback to attract a growing number of collectors to one of the country’s most unusual coins. A highly impractical piece by today’s standards, it was the first American denomination to bow to the demands of modern economic and business life in the marketplace. Since then, it has come to include some of the classic rarities of the U.S. series. “The…

At the end of October, Numismatic News Senior Editor and Coin of the Year Coordinator Sophia Mattimiro, along with NumisMaster Market Analyst Jeff Starck, left the United States for a trip to China. The journey was the result of months of planning and coordinating with the Coin of the Year (COTY) sponsor, Journal of East Asian Numismatics (JEAN), and China Gold Coin Group Co., LTD. The goal of the trip was to learn more about China Gold Coin’s 2025 Chinese Dragon silver bullion coin, which was released earlier in the year, as well as visit the Beijing International Coin Expo. Starting the trip in Hong Kong, Mattimiro and Starck made a stop at a permanent coin market. The small three-story building housed numerous small shops specializing in coins, bank notes,…