Aug 30, 2020 | ancient, coins, news, shows
Hoard of 9th Century Gold Dinars found during an excavation in Israel (Credit: Robert Kool/Israel Antiquities Authority via CNN)
The jar of coins found consists of 425 24-karat gold coins weighing 845 grams (1.86 pounds). Most of the coins are cut to that were once used as change.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) says that the area was under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate. Their rule spread from modern-day Algeria in the east to Afghanistan in the west from 750–953 when Shia opponents overthrow the caliphate. There were many successors to the Abbasid Caliphate. They joined together in 1157 to create a cooperative empire that was eventually overthrown by 1258 by Mongol forces.
Finding a hoard of gold coins and the surrounding artifacts will help archeologists learn more about the region’s commerce. Once again, numismatics helps scientists better understand our history.
The following video from the IAA talks about the project and finding the coins.
The other news is the conclusion of what was a successful Newman Numismatic Portal Symposium 2020. The symposium, held online using Zoom, had several interesting speakers and presentations. Although NNP has yet to publish its final statistics, the sessions I attended were well done and seemed to be well attended.
My session, “How to Identify a Potential Scammer BEFORE Buying Coins Online,” was attended by more than 60 people and generated about a dozen questions. It was a great experience.
I will have more to say about the NNP Symposium in the next few days.
And now the news…
August 24, 2020
Two Israeli teenagers on summer break unearthed a trove of hundreds of gold coins that date from 1,100 years ago.
→ Read more at
edition.cnn.com
August 26, 2020
Are you looking for ways to tell if your silver is authentic?—the “real McCoy”? There are several ways you can determine whether your silver is real. In fact, some of the best silver test methods are quite easy and can be done right at home.
→ Read more at
gainesvillecoins.com
August 28, 2020
On October 15, 1794, Henry Voigt, the Chief Coiner of the United States, hurried nearly 2,000 silver coins to the desk of David Rittenhouse, the Director of the United States Mint. That day marked a milestone in the making of a country: Two years after Alexander Hamilton established the Mint under President George Washington, the first dollars had been minted.
→ Read more at
atlasobscura.com
August 28, 2020
Oleksandr Alfyorov / Facebook
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unian.info
August 28, 2020
Somebody stole a very pricey potty last year from the restroom of a palace in England. But the police still don’t know who did it and have been trying to find out ever since. “The toilet is still missing,” a Thames Valley Police spokesman confirmed to USA TODAY Aug.
→ Read more at
usatoday.com
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Aug 24, 2020 | news, shows
On August 28-30, 2020, the Newman Numismatic Portal is hosting the virtual NNP Symposium 2020. The symposium will be presentations by numismatists from around the world delivered online and for free.
Think of it as a weekend of Money Talks seminars delivered online so that you can participate anywhere. All you need is an Internet connection and Zoom. To attend a session, download the appropriate Zoom client for your computer or mobile device, register online, receive the access information (which is why you have to register), and attend.
Registration is for the entire conference, not an individual session. You can attend any session at any time without registering again.
Each session is one hour. The presenter will deliver their talk in 30-45 minutes, leaving time for questions.
If you miss a session or cannot attend, the people at NNP will record the sessions and make them available online. The only difference is that you will not be able to ask a question in real-time.
Finally, suppose you want to know what I look at to determine whether a website is potentially going to sell you counterfeit coins. You can attend “How to Identify a Potential Scammer BEFORE Buying Coins Online.” Check your registration listing for the time and access information.
And now the news…
August 18, 2020
Myrna Pokiak, an Inuvialuk artist in the N.W.T., designed the new N.W.T coin celebrating 150 years of joining confederation. (CBC)
→ Read more at
cbc.ca
August 18, 2020
© DC Thomson Gary Pirie with some Commonwealth Commemorative coins from his collection. Collecting coins has been a life mission for 52-year-old Gary Pirie who started with a half crown at the tender age of nine.
→ Read more at
eveningtelegraph.co.uk
August 21, 2020
(Kitco News) – With gold prices finding strong resistance around $2,000 an ounce the market has become a two-way street and the price action could be fairly volatile as short-term sentiment continues to drop, according to the latest results of the Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey.
→ Read more at
kitco.com
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Aug 18, 2020 | administrative
The Numismatic Literary Guild announced their 2020 annual award winners earlier today. In the announcement, the NLG recognized the Coin Collectors Blog as the Best Numismatic Blog for 2020!
I have been writing the Coin Collectors Blog for almost 15 years. My first post was on October 29, 2005. I think the only person who read that first post was my (now late) mother. It was the only comment she made on the blog. Unfortunately, comments from before I moved from Google’s Blogger platform cannot be displayed, but I have the comments. I think she would be happy.
And so am I!
I thank everyone for reading.
I thank everyone who has commented.
I thank everyone who has written to me in private.
THANK YOU TO THE NUMISMATIC LITERARY GUILD FOR THE RECOGNITION!
Stay tuned. There’s more to come!
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Aug 18, 2020 | celebration, commemorative, commentary, silver
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. After a battle in the Tennessee House, which was lead by an anti-suffragist leader, two members changed their votes at the last minute.
Although people in the United States tout the “right to vote,” suffrage has been a long and difficult fight since before the signing of the Constitution. It did not end with the 19th Amendment as its text did not eliminate the discrimination based on race.
The fight for the “right” continues today. Reduced access to polls, including the closing of precincts in minority districts and hindering the Postal Service’s ability to handle ballots, infringe on everyone’s suffrage rights.
The commemorative coin reflects the history of the movement by depicting women wearing different hat styles during the thick of the fight. The movement started to gain momentum in the 1870s when states and territories in the West allowed women to vote. The first attempt to pass an amendment for suffrage began in 1878, where the depiction of the commemorative coin begins.
On the reverse is a depiction of a ballot box. The box has an art deco design with the centennial anniversary year looming large as it is descending into the ballot box.
The coin was designed by Christina Hess, a member of the Artistic Infusion Program and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The dollar coin is .999 silver with a mintage limit of 400,000. The sale of each coin includes a $10 surcharge paid to the Smithsonian Institution’s American Women’s History Initiative.
It is an excellent design to depict the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Although I am not a collector of commemorative coins, this may be one that I will add to the coins I collect because the design is worthy of collecting.
Aug 16, 2020 | Baltimore, commentary, news, shows
Whitman canceled the November show in Baltimore because the city continues to use the convention center as a staging area for COVID-19 emergencies. Although the number of cases in the Baltimore area has decreased, city and state health officials warn of a spike that will require the use of the convention center.
Nearly every health expert, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located in Atlanta, has issued warnings of a second wave combined with the seasonal flu will cause a significant public health risk. Rather than cancel the show, Whitman Expo manager Lori Kraft said that they are “working on an alternate show venue.”
This past week, the Virginia Numismatic Association (VNA) canceled its annual show scheduled for September. They hold their show in Fredericksburg, Virginia, about 50 miles south of Washington, D.C.
The Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists (PAN) hopes that the Monroeville Convention Center (outside of Pittsburgh) will be able to hold their Fall Show at the end of October. Currently, the venue is restricting events to those with 25 attendees or fewer.
States in the northeast continue to have restrictions similar to those in Pennsylvania. Going east to Illinois has similar issues.
If Whitman keeps the show on the east coast, the only place left for them is in Georgia, where they are located. As much as it pains this University of Georgia alumnus to admit, the fellow alum that sits in the state governor’s office has made Georgians’ health and safety a source of political tension.
The year is more than half-over, and the infection is getting worse. Virus hot spots have moved out of the northeast into states where health and safety have been politicized, including Georgia. Leaders are not listening to the medical community, and people are paying with their health and lives.
It is time to admit that 2020 is a lost year. It is time for everyone to adapt to what we have today and plan for the future. It is time for Whitman to cancel the Expo for 2020.
Plan now for a better future when it is (hopefully) safer.
Everyone please stay safe and healthy!
And now the news…
August 10, 2020
Staff at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores turned off a 30-foot waterfall and collected all the coins visitors had thrown into the water to make wishes. After cleaning the money, they'll put it toward the aquarium's expenses.
→ Read more at
npr.org
August 10, 2020
Gold Last Tuesday somebody told Gold buyers that it’s normally hot in the month of August. Then the Gold price broke above the key $2,000 resistance level and it kept on going.
→ Read more at
kitco.com
August 11, 2020
The Museum of West Bohemia in Plzeň has announced the discovery of hundreds of silver and gold coins from the 14th century. The treasure, unearthed in a forest near the Kladruby Monastery in the region of Tachov, is believed to be one of the biggest troves of gold coins unearthed on the territory of the Czech Republic.
→ Read more at
english.radio.cz
August 12, 2020
Gold is hot. Record-breaking prices and demand for gold bullion have thrust the yellow metal back into the media spotlight.
→ Read more at
energyandcapital.com
August 12, 2020
Anti-National Socialism political activist and student Sophie Scholl will be commemorated on a special coin, said the German Finance Ministry on Wednesday. The €20 ($23) sterling silver collectors coin will be issued in April 2021, timed to coincide with Scholl's birthday.
→ Read more at
dw.com
August 13, 2020
I heard about the coin shortage on the news. Maybe it's from people wishing 2020 will be over. OK, all jokes aside, it turns out to be just a disruption in coin circulation.
→ Read more at
marshfieldmail.com
Aug 15, 2020 | coins, Eagles, US Mint
The subject line of the email contained the entire note. My correspondent asked, “Did you try to buy the 2019 Reverse Proof?”
Reports said that the remainder of the products sold out in 10 seconds. That was probably the same 10 seconds the U.S. Mint’s website seemed to freeze.
I admit that I tried cheating. As a retired programmer, I tried to script the purchase. The script watched the clock, and right at noon, the script tried to place the coin in my bag then transfer the payment page to the browser. But for the seconds after high-noon, the site did not respond. Frozen!
The best solution offered for these situations is a lottery system. Reports suggested that the suggestion was made to Director David Ryder. Ryder, like the last appointed director, is tone-deaf to the collectors. Some day, the U.S. Mint will have a competent director.
Aug 10, 2020 | coins, commentary, Eagles, news, US Mint
The U.S. Mint does it again by shutting out collectors with an unannounced change in procedures.
According to reports, 95 of the 2019-S American Silver Eagle Enhanced Reverse Proof did not sell the first time because of an alleged glitch. Rather than letting the general public know that the coins were available, they snuck it onto their website and sent messages to people who signed up for reminders only.
The U.S. Mint did not send the message to everyone on their reminder list. Only to those people who signed up for when the coin would be available again.
So let me get this straight. If you’ve signed up for the U.S. Mint reminder services but not for restocking notice, you did not get notified. But if you signed up for a restocking notice after the U.S. Mint announced that all 30,000 coins sold, you were sent a notice.
From the poorly designed website with a bad ordering experience to the sneaking the surplus coins by the general public, the U.S. Mint is not endearing itself to the collecting public.
How can the hobby expect to attract more collectors if the source of coins makes it difficult to purchase their products?
And now the news…
July 29, 2020
Toilet paper, sanitizer and yeast were but a few of the top-of-mind goods hoarded by Canadians at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In more recent weeks, however, another shortage – this of $50 banknotes – has come to light.
→ Read more at
canadiancoinnews.com
August 3, 2020
Minelab Metal Detectors Luke Mahoney said the "feeling of scraping the dirt away and seeing the coins is indescribable" A metal detectorist who has spent 10 years searching for hidden treasure found "the biggest hoard of his life" in a field behind his village pub.
→ Read more at
bbc.com
August 4, 2020
UK considers minting coin to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi | Photo Credit: BCCL Mahatma is poised to become the first-ever nonwhite person to feature on the British currency.
→ Read more at
timesnownews.com
August 4, 2020
On July 27, 2020, gold prices hit an all-time high. Although the earliest traces of gold as a valuable material date back to the Paleolithic era in 40,000 B.C., about two-thirds of all the gold ever mined has been wrested from the ground since 1950. Throughout human history, it’s estimated that human beings have mined 197,576 tons of gold. One reason that gold has been so attractive to people across every corner of the Earth for all of recorded history is that it’s nearly indestructible, which means virtually all of that 197,576 tons is still around in one form or another. Even so, if you combined every ounce of gold ever mined into one large cube, that cube would only measure about 70 feet on each side.
→ Read more at
thestacker.com
Aug 2, 2020 | coins, commentary, news
Colorized Basketball Hall of Fame Half Dollar Clad Coin (Image courtesy of the U.S. Mint)
People invested in a tradition are afraid to change. It has always been that way and was successful, then why change?
At some point, change is necessary, or the tradition will stifle growth. Two areas where tradition is holding back activities are baseball and numismatics.
Hardcore baseball fans are the most traditional fans. They are the people who can tell you who was on deck when Bobby Thompson hit “the shot heard around the world,”† the nuance of the double switch, or why on-base percentage is a better statistic than batting average.
While trying to have a season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, baseball had to look tradition in the face and calmly walk in another direction. Aside from adding the designated hitter (DH) in the National League was placing a runner on second base when the games go into extra innings. The purpose is to shorten games, especially those that go to extra innings.
We are used to the DH. When games are played in an American League Park, all teams use the DH. But putting the runner on second base who did not get a hit to be there is very different.
But the move seems to be working. In the first week of the new season, four games went to extra innings, and all of the games ended in the 10th inning. It is an unorthodox move for a sport bound in tradition.
Numismatics is the same in many respects. The U.S. Mint strikes real coins, not trinkets. To be a real collector, you have to collect all of the best stuff, including the highest grade versions of the most popular coins. Finally, coins have to be a good value.
A “real coin” is money that an issuing authority legally monetizes for a market. The market may be for collecting purposes, but the issuer has assigned a face value. Even though the U.S. Mint has issued commemorative coins that are not intended to circulate, the traditionalists have determined the new colorized coin is something less than a real coin.
Traditionalists may not want to hear that a general collector community has reacted favorably to the colorized Naismith Hall of Fame Commemorative Coins. On message boards where collectors discuss their collections, they are now beginning to realize that the U.S. Mint has issued other sports-related commemorative coins. In a recent discussion, some started to ask about the National Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins.
These collectors are not interested in Morgan Dollars, Standing Liberty Quarters, or Buffalo Nickels. They want the coins to add to their sports collections. A fan of Dr. J, Julius Erving, said that he plans to buy the colored and non-colored coins for his collection.
When it comes to numismatics, what defines a good value? How does one tell a person who may have inherited coins why a dealer would buy a coin for $20 but sell it for $45 or $50?
This past week, Michael Taylor, a financial writer for mysanantoinio.com, wrote the article, “Coin collecting a fine hobby, but not a good investment.” His fundamental question was, why is the spread between the bid and ask prices of coins so vast.
Briefly, Taylor acquired coins from his elderly father and tried to figure out their value. His mother had taken the small hoard to a coin shop and was offered about half of their retail value. As part of Taylor’s investigation, he used the Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins) and the Blue Book (Handbook of United States Coins) to understand pricing.
Taylor concluded that coins were not a good investment based on his analysis of the pricing differences found in both books.
Taylor is a published financial professional with many years of understanding markets. Most markets are very understandable that professionals who predict markets can do so with reasonable certainty. They can mitigate risks for wrong predictions and still make a good living.
Based on analyzing the Red and Blue books, how does one do that in the coin market? The problem is that there is so much more to the market that these books do not cover. A lot is based on tradition, unwritten lore, and irresponsible perceptions.
The general public has a better understanding of the automobile market than they do of the numismatic markets.
If you want to fix the hobby, it is time to look at these traditions, lore, and perceptions and act responsibly. Otherwise, the collectors may only be one-time coin buyers, and the hobby will continue to stagnate.
And now the news…
July 26, 2020
CINCINNATI, Ohio — It's been more than a month since the Federal Reserve declared a coin shortage in the U.S. Businesses like banks, grocery stores and laundromats have had to change their practices to keep change on hand, but one private mint based in Cincinnati is in a unique position to cash in.
→ Read more at
spectrumnews1.com
July 28, 2020
The U.S. Mint has reduced the volume of gold and silver coins it’s distributing to authorized purchasers as the coronavirus pandemic slows production, a document seen by Bloomberg shows.
→ Read more at
bloomberg.com
July 29, 2020
Coins don’t work well as investments, but they are OK as collectibles, according to columnist Michael Taylor.
→ Read more at
mysanantonio.com
July 30, 2020
South Carolina, introduced in 2000, was the eighth state quarter brought into circulation. Growing up in San Diego in the early 2000s, Kelsey Fehlberg proudly displayed her state quarters in a map with inserts for each coin.
→ Read more at
nytimes.com
August 1, 2020
The US Mint is slowing the production of gold and silver coins and limiting supply to authorized distributors – a sign that the pandemic is hampering the supply of physical money in the US.
→ Read more at
markets.businessinsider.com
August 1, 2020
The price of gold hit record highs earlier in the week, Friday morning the price was at about $1.957 per ounce. From gold rings, necklaces and bracelets, people have been bringing in their jewelry to Emerald Coast Coins in Pensacola wit hopes of getting some cash and they're walking out with a lot more than expected.
→ Read more at
weartv.com
August 1, 2020
The round £1 coin was demonetised at midnight on 15 October 2017 About 122m round £1 coins have not been returned to the Royal Mint, nearly three years after they stopped being legal tender.
→ Read more at
bbc.com
† For the non-baseball die-hards, the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was a game-winning home run by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds in New York City on October 3, 1951, to win the National League pennant. You might have heard
the famous call by Giants Broadcaster Russ Hodges. Since there was one out when Thompson was at-bat, the next batter would have been a Giants rookie named Willie Mays.
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