With the proliferation of fakeChinesecoins a problem in numismatics industry, it is a good idea to understand how to tell these fakes from the real coin. The following video from silveragecoins.com shows some of the basics that anyone can use to examine coins to determine if they are real or not:
I like the computer-generated voiceover!
If you are uncomfortable trying to detect whether a coin is counterfeit or not, you might consider the following:
Buy from a reputable dealer who has return and/or buy back policies.
If you buy raw coins and have questions, ask that the coin be examined by a third-party grading service (e.g., NGC or PCGS). You may be asked to pay the grading fees. Some dealers may charge a service fee for submitting coins on your behalf.
If you own coins that you may have questions about, either bring it to a dealer for an opinion or submit the coin to the third-party grading service yourself. NGC and PCGS have membership services to allow you to directly submit coins for authentication and grading. Members of the American Numismatic Association can register to directly submit coins to NGC.
If you are buying through an online auction and you have any question about the coin, you are better off not trying to purchase it than trying to deal with returns. While there are quite a few reputable dealers who sell on these sites, it may take more than a month for the process from purchase to refund to occur. During that time, you will not have access to this money.
Remember, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware): without a warranty, the buyer takes all of the risk.
For sellers, caveat venditor (let the seller beware): unless you expressly disclaim any responsibility, you will be held liable if the item is not true to its specification.
Today begins a relatively new tradition called “Cyber Monday.” Cyber Monday was first used by the National Retail Federation in 2005 to describe the Monday after Thanksgiving when people return to work and use their employer’s faster Internet connections to shop for bargains. Since I am not selling anything I had to find something that could substitute and be a little fun. I found a video.
According to the video’s main page, Tai Star stacks 3,118 coins on a dime. It claims to be a records, but that is not confirmed. However, it makes for an interesting video:
Early this morning U.S. time, the Perth Mint unveiled the world’s largest gold coin. The 1 Tonne Gold Kangaroo Coin is made from 99.99-percent pure gold, weighs one tonne (1,000 kilograms or 2,204.62 pounds), is 80 centimeters (31.49 inches) in diameter, and 12 centimeters (4.72 inches) thick. The obverse features Queen Elizabeth II and the reverse features a Red Kangaroo. The coin has a face value of AU$1 million ($1.04 million U.S. Dollars) and contains $55.23 million in gold (at the spot price $1718 per troy ounce).
Perth Mint surpassed the effort by the Royal Canadian Mint whose 2007 CA$1 million face value coin, made with 99.999-percent pure gold, and weighed only 100 kilograms.
Why did the Perth Mint do this? As a publicity stunt, of course. In a video produced by the Perth Mint (see below), the director said that it will be part of their exhibit for the 100,000 people per year who come to visit their facility. Certainly, the chance to see the World’s Largest Coin will be an attraction that will increase the number of visitors.
You can see how the Perth Mint made the coin in their video below.
Those watching television in the evening had the opportunity to watch two shows were numismatics played a role in the story. On Monday night, CBS’s Hawaii Five-0 had a story that included Spanish gold escudos and the Hawaii over-print dollars.
After a child found a disembodied hand floating in the water, the fingerprints identified its former owner. When they went to search his home, the Five-0 team found Spanish gold coins soaking in a tank of water. McGarrett and Danny Williams went to a local museum to learn that a Spanish galleon carrying a cargo of gold coins sunk near the islands. Being good detectives, Five-0 traces the search for the galleon to a diving company that specializes in searching for lost treasure. As part of looking for the rest of the body, Five-0 and the Coast Guard finds an abandoned boat—or what they thought was abandoned. This leads them to go diving to see what was below the surface.
In an underwater wreckage, they find a body. When the body was examined, the wallet contained currency that was washed out. Using whatever forensic techniques they used to identify the note, they enhanced the image to find that it was a Series 1934A Federal Reserve Note issued in 1942. The forensic scientist explains how the Hawaii overprint notes were issued in case the notes were captured by the Japanese during an invasion. If that happened, the notes could be demonetized, making them useless.
The note was used to help identify the body and the gold escudos were used to trace who was responsible for the murder. To see the full episode of “Mea Makamae,” you can watch it on CBS’s website here.
One of my favorite shows is History Detectives on PBS. For those who have not seen the show, History Detectives explores the history behind artifacts that people find or are handed down by family members to discover its history and the history behind the objects. Anyone who loves history may want to add History Detectives to your must see list.
This past week, Gwen Wright, who is also a professor of architecture at Columbia University, investigate a stock certificate issued by the Harlem Associated Heirs Title Company.
The person who initiated the investigation was a collector of stock and bond certificates, a part of numismatics called scripophily. Those who collect these certificates have interests in financial history, the signatures, or artwork on the certificates. Early certificates were hand autographed by the presidents and treasurers of the companies making them more desirable. Today, stock certificates are a thing of the past since stocks are transacted electronically.
In this investigation, Wright traces the certificate to the history of Harlem. Originally, the area we know as Harlem was a remote area of Manhattan island, far away from what we know today as downtown where most of the people lived. The area was dotted with exclusive vacation homes of the rich with a section of land that was granted to a group of people. By the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, New York City grew so much that Harlem was no longer a remote area and the city worked with developers to develop the land regardless of alleged ownership. The Harlem Associated Heirs Title Company was a group who tried to reclaim the property after the turn of the 20th century.
Of course I left out some details. Watch the segment from this week’s show:
William H. (W.H.) Brett was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1893. Brett was the son of William Howard Brett who introduced the “open shelf” concept to libraries allowing books to be more freely accessed. The senior Brett’s work in Cleveland became a model for other library systems throughout the country.
W.H. Brett served in the Army during World War I and attended Dartmouth College before returning to Cleveland as a businessman. He was appointed as the 29th Director of the U.S. Mint by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. Brett succeeded Nellie Tayloe Ross after her retirement from the U.S. Mint serving five full terms.
W.H. Brett was a guest on the television game show “What’s My Line” that aired on November 25. 1956. Making this episode interesting is the reference to Ivy Baker Priest who also previously appeared on the show.
Appearing on the show as a panelist is Burgess Meredith who was on Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s “Red List” accused of being a communist sympathizer because of Meridith’s support of labor unions.
Actor and director Charles Laughton was the mystery guest on this episode.
Ivy Baker Priest was born in Kimberly, Utah in 1905. A staunch Republican, Priest began her political career as a delegate to the 1932 Republican State Convention. In 1934, her bid for the Utah legislature came up short but was elected as co-chair of the Young Republicans for the western states. While serving for the Republican National Committee, she helped organize Republican women’s study clubs throughout Utah.
In 1950 Priest ran for congress against incumbent Reva Beck Bosone (D). The race attracted national attention for being the first time two women were running for the same seat. Bosone won that election with 53-percent of the vote.
Priest continued to be active and worked to gain support for eventual Republican nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower during the 1952 convention. She became co-chair of the Eisenhower’s national campaign committee and worked to get women out to vote. Eisenhower rewarded Priest by appointing her as the 30th Treasurer of the United States.
Ivy Baker Priest was the mystery guest on the television game show “What’s My Line” that aired on August 29, 1954. Watch as she stumps the panel:
Appearing on WML after Priest on the same show was Debbie Reynolds.
Ivy Baker Priest is the mother of Pat Priest, better know for playing Marilyn Munster on the 1960’s hit sitcom, “The Munsters.”
Ivy Baker Priest died from the complications of caner in 1975.
One of the reason I collect coins and write this blog is that I find coins interesting, regardless of whether they are modern or otherwise. I do not have to collect a particular coin type to be fascinated by them. Although I do not collect Euro coins, I am fascinated by the bi-metallic 1 and 2 Euro coins.
As with all Euro coins, the common reverse side shows its value and depicts a map of Europe representing the entire Eurozone. The obverse has what is called the “national side,” the side each member nation customizes to represent their unique place in the world. Some countries, like Belgium, uses the same design on all of their coins while others use different designs.
While all Euro coins are made of base metals, the 1 and 2 Euro coins are bi-metallic. For the 1 Euro coin, the inner part is made of copper-nickel with a silvery color while the outer part is made of a nickel brass and has a golden-like color. The composition is reversed for the 2 Euro coin.
The edge of the 1 Euro coin consist of alternating segments, three smooth, three finely ribbed.
The edge of the 2 Euro coin is finely milled with lettering that varies by nation, the same as the obverse.
What I find fascinating is that both metals are made separately but when they are struck, the design overlaps both metals and the striking process fuses the metals together. It was fascinating since I never thought about how the one and two Euro coins were until I came across a video show how the 2 Euro coins are made.
This video is from the National Geographic Channel. I am not sure what show it is from, but it shows how the 2 Euro coin is made:
Have you ever wondered about the production process for the American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins? American Eagle silver bullion coins are struck at the U.S. Mint facility at West Point located near the U.S. Military Academy. Originally built as a bullion depository, the facility strikes silver, gold, and platinum bullion and proof coins. It is not open to the public.
You can take a video tour of the facility (embedded below) through the U.S. Mint’s Mint TV YouTube channel. Jennifer Butkis, Production Manager at the West Point Facility guides the viewer through the minting process. At the end Tom Dinardi, Deputy Plant Manager, praises the work of the people at the facility.
As I do research for an article on great coin collections from around the world, I was looking into the coin collection at the Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin). The collectioncollection at the Staatliche Museen is well known as being very comprehensive and diverse covering the beginnings of coinage through the coins of today. With over 500,000, it is one of the largest collections in Europe. Staatliche Museen boasts large collections of Greek, Roman, and European coins from the Middle Ages to today. They also have an extensive collection of art medals dating from 1400.
In addition to the coins and medals, the collection also contains an extensive collection of paper currency primarily from Europe and items used as money from all over the world. The non-coin collection includes tools and dies that were used to strike coins in Berlin since the 17th century. The Staatliche Museen online English version of their online catalog can be found here.
Curators and museum staff made an introductory video about the collection. The narration is in German with English subtitles. Maybe it will entice someone to visit the collection and tell me about it!
The Bank of Canada formally unveiled their new polymer banknotes on Tuesday at its main offices in Ottawa. Canada’s central bank representatives explained the new currency designs and the security features that will be included in the notes. Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty said that the note’s “designs celebrate Canada’s achievements at home, around the world and in space. Bank notes are cultural touchstones that reflect and celebrate our Canadian experience.”
New polymer $100 notes, on schedule to be issued in November 2011, will feature images that focus on Canadian innovations in the field of medicine. The obverse of the note will include an updated portrait of Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada between 1911 and 1920.
Security features of the note are two transparent areas that will be difficult to counterfeit yet be easy to check. Most prominent are two transparent areas: the larger area extends from the top to the bottom of the note and contains complex holographic features. The other is in the shape of a maple leaf. “The Bank’s objective with every new series is to produce a bank note that Canadians can use with the highest confidence,” said Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney.
RCMP Commissioner William J.S. Elliott added, “These new and technically innovative notes will go a long way to deter the threat of counterfeiting in coming years.”
The Bank of Canada issued a video showing off their new $100 note and the security features:
Une version de cette vidéo en français peuvent être trouvés ici.
In the mean time, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has been silent on the production and potential release of the United State’s new $100 Federal Reserve Note. Release of the new note has been delayed since its scheduled February release date because of production problems.
“The single biggest obstacle to successful production was the tendency of the $100 currency paper with the three dimensional security ribbon to crease as the sheets of paper fed through the intaglio printing press,” BEP Director Larry Felix reported in the bureau’s 2010 Annual Report.
I tried to contact a BEP Media Relations representative about the status of the new notes. I was told there was no additional information available.
I ask again: With the new $100 note having printing problems, why has the BEP not looked into using the polymer substrate for U.S. currency? Why does the Federal Reserve, BEP, and Secret Service cling to 19th and 20th century printing technologies in the 21st century? Or is this a matter of “not invented here” to avoid alleged controversy by using a something invented by a foreign central bank?
It is time for the money producing cabal of the Federal Reserve, BEP, and Secret Service to face reality. They need to cut their losses with paper and look to the future for something better.
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