The ANA Woke Up on the Wrong Side, for a change

Sep 23, 2021 | , | 1 Comment

When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”

— John 8:7

During an open session of the ANA Board of Governor on January 19, 2021, a session not advertised in a prominent location, the Board voted to remove Farran Zerbe’s name from the top service award offered by the organization.

Let’s take a look at the reasons given for removing Zerbe’s name from the ANA award. According to the ANA’s press release:

A retrospective look at Zerbe’s professional dealings uncovered accusations that he made deceptively inflated claims about the future value of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollars he sold; complaints of hucksterism and fraud for his creation and sale of coin-like 1904 gold-plated exposition souvenirs;

Modern hucksterism that the ANA Board does not seem to mind versus one that allegedly occurred 112 years-ago.

The ANA Board of Governors, whose members include dealers, is assessing 112-year-old accusations of conducting business. In the meantime, the ANA sits idly by while ANA dealers on television have done the same thing.

I have documented inflated prices and deceptively inflated claims by Rare Collectibles TV, DCN Coin Talk, and other scams that walked into my shop that purchased coins from these members of the ANA. the RCTV pitch included Miles Standish, and the DCN Coin Talk pitch included David Ganz. Ganz, like Zerbe, is a past ANA President.

These are not the only cases of inflated claims on coins that have appeared on television. Frequent viewers of “The Coin Collector” on HSN regularly send emails asking if they are legitimate. I purposely avoided the show because I already have heartburn issues, and it would put a severe test on my regimen of Pepcid.

What do we do with gold dealers who also make deceptively inflated claims about bull markets? Remember, some of these dealers are past Zerbe Award winners. After all, I have rarely read an analysis from them saying it was time to sell off your gold holdings.

Zerbe also served as head numismatist for the expositions in 1905 (Portland) and 1915 (San Francisco). Were there any accusations for those expos? Or was there cherry-picking of reasons to justify their actions?

What is the difference between the claim that Zerbe made inflated claims on coins versus the television hucksters? Zerbe is dead and cannot defend himself. The hucksters are living and have given money to the ANA.

[A]llegations that he unscrupulously obtained personal ownership of The Numismatist in 1908 from relatives of the ANA’s late founder, Dr. George F. Heath (then ANA Vice President W.W.C. Wilson subsequently purchased the periodical and donated it to the Association in 1910);

The first word of this is “allegations.” His actions were alleged. Can the allegations be substantiated? What evidence do they have?

Whatever evidence they have is circumstantial and hearsay. I understand that someone can make a strong case using circumstantial evidence, but when the case is being built against someone who cannot testify, there should be almost no questions.

An example of solid circumstantial evidence would be that if you go to bed, the ground is clear. When you wake up, there is snow on the ground. You did not see the snowfall, but you see the snow on the ground. The snow on the ground is circumstantial evidence that there was a snowfall overnight.

Finally:

… and claims of bribery involving the 1909 ANA election in which Zerbe’s friend John M. Henderson was named president.

CLAIMS? The ANA Board of Governors has chosen to besmirch the name of a past president, the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Dollar, and whose collection formed the basis of the Chase Money Museum on CLAIMS?

What are the claims? Who made the claims? What documentation do we have of the claims?

No ANA dealer face an ethics examination after the fiasco of the 2014 Kennedy Half Dollar 50th Anniversary Gold Coin release. (Image is a screen grab courtesy of ABC 7 News, Denver)

In the mean time, no dealer was ever sanctioned who paid someone to buy 2014 50th Anniversary Kennedy Gold Half-Dollars that caused problems outside of the Denver Mint and at the World’s Fair of Money in Rosemont. The ANA only released a statement essentially saying “bad boys” to dealers that created the dangerous situations.

The problem I have with all of this is that there is NO documentation offered to the membership. The ONLY documentation provided is a 119-word paragraph, most of it reproduced here.

Another problem I have is that the ANA holds open Board sessions with little advertisement. Had I known about the session, I would have made myself available. Unfortunately, the Board is lax with their membership engagement making it seem they are a club amongst themselves.

The press release does not report the vote total for the motion. I am sure that the press release would report it was a unanimous vote if it was the case. But the tersely written press release suggests there was contention behind the decision. The ANA does not write terse press releases. Look it up!

The decision was made by a Board of Governors with a sitting member that was once asked to resign from a previous Board because “He realized he had made a mistake.” It was a mistake related to a lawsuit against the ANA by former ANA Executive Director Larry Shepherd.

What did Steve Ellsworth add to the discussion? As past president, Ellsworth is a non-voting member of the Board of Governors. However, given his previous actions that left the ANA flat-footed when the pandemic closed everything down, it would be interesting to hear his counsel on this matter.

Unless the ANA Board of Governors publishes the details of the allegations against Zerbe, including source material and where it was discovered, then the move adds the ANA to the “woke community” looking to cancel a historic member of the numismatic community.

Therefore, as a member of the ANA, I hereby move that the ANA Board of Governors reinstate the name of Farran Zerbe to the organization’s highest honor.

SCAM NOTICE: Philadelphia World’s Fair of Money Hotels

Mar 31, 2018 | , , , , | 0 Comments

Normally, I do not directly publish news items but this is important for the entire community.
Did you receive an email or call trying to sell you a Philadelphia World’s Fair of Money hotel room?
The ANA did not authorize this.

It has come to our attention that a third-party booking company inaccurately representing itself as our hotel vendor is contacting ANA members, dealers and exhibitors, offering to book you a hotel room at the ANA World’s Fair of Money; some even provide a promotion code or will misrepresent that they are calling from the hotel.

ANA is not utilizing any housing service vendors for the Philadelphia World’s Fair of Money. Nor has the ANA shared your email with anyone.

Room reservations for the Philadelphia World’s Fair of Money should be made directly with the Philadelphia Marriot Downtown (the show’s host hotel) either by phone – 1-888-236-2427 (mention ANA World’s Fair of Money to secure the group rate) – or via our website at www.money.org/worldsfairofmoney/lodging. Should you want to stay elsewhere, we strongly recommend calling the hotel directly or using a reputable online service such as Hotels.com or Expedia.com.

If you provide your credit card information to any of these unauthorized vendors, your card may be charged but you may not have a reservation when you arrive in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, this is a well-known scam perpetuated on unsuspecting conventioneers across the country.

If you have any questions about the World’s Fair of Money hotel block, or general questions about the show, please contact Jennifer Ackerman at ackerman@money.org, Christie Cooper at ccooper@money.org, or call the ANA Convention team at 1-888-448-3262. Complete information about the show is also available online at www.worldsfairofmoney.com.

Finally, after 87 days…

Mar 29, 2018 | , | 0 Comments

While looking through my change at the end of the day I finally found one… a coin dated in 2018!

During the day I had business in the Jessup, Maryland area where stops included one for gas and a beverage. I suspect that the bright red 2018 Lincoln Cent I found in my pocket was given in change during the purchase.

Now that I have found a 2018-dated coin, let’s see how long it takes to find a 2018 America the Beautiful quarter. Thus far, only the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (MI) Quarter has been released but I have not seen one in circulation, yet.

Stay tuned!

Insight into Online Research Sources

Mar 29, 2018 | , , , , | 0 Comments

I am often asked what resources I used for online research when writing articles for the Coin Collectors Blog. For more than 12 years of writing this blog, I have found hundreds of websites that I have used to various degrees. However, there are a few that have provided the best information.

No single website can provide all of the information available. This is why I keep many sources at hand. The problem is that I do not keep them in one neat location. Some of them I remember and then there are snippets of text, bookmarks, and even computer code that I refer to when I have to start looking up information. Not only will this provide you with research starting points but it also gives me a chance to organize my bookmarks!

Before I list my sources, there is one tool that must be included in any online reference: Google. Google is a great search tool because it is the only search engine that really tries to add context of the search. For example, if you are searching for something to do with coin dies you will get related items and not information about games with dice or something about death.

When searching for information using Google is to try to be as exact as possible with the search term including using characters with diacritic (accent) marks. Using the proper diacritic marks will help find foreign language sources that could provide additional information not found in English. Also, Google can search using terms that are entered using non-Latin characters including Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, and Asian languages.

If you find a non-English site or a site in a language you are not familiar with, Google Translate (translate.google.com) is a great tool for translating this information. You can either enter phrases into Google Translate or enter a URL for it to download and translate pages.

Primary Sources

When it is time to find information about modern coins, currency, production totals, and images, the primary source are the government bureaus that manufacture the money.

United States Mint: www.usmint.gov
Bureau of Engraving and Printing: www.moneyfactory.gov

There is a lot that goes into the money manufacturing process in the U.S. An overview of the bureaus and other agencies can be found the U.S. Coin and Currency Production page.

Trusted Sources

Although there is quite a bit of numismatic information available online, one of the biggest benefit of being a member of the American Numismatic Association is to have access to The Numismatist in electronic form. The $28 per year basic membership gives you access to this resource electronically.

The Numismatist

For other historical publication and a lot of information, consider using the Newman Numismatic Portal at Washington University in St. Louis. Aside from being a rich source of information, many of the publications they index are located in the Internet Archive. Clicking through to the site will allow you to download many of the publications as a PDF or ePub for your tablet reader.

Another archive you may also want to search is Google Books. The advantage of Google Books is that they offer more formats for the books that have been imaged including a version that has been processed using an optical character recognition (OCR) program. While the OCR versions are far from perfect, it is wonderful if you are looking to copy-and-past quotes into your own writing. Google Books may not have the full text of every reference found because of copyright restrictions but once you find the book you can either buy the book or borrow it from a library making it a great for doing index searches.

ANA members can borrow books from the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library. There is no cost to borrow books but you will have to pay for shipping. The Library can also provide research and copy services for a fee. Although research services are fee-based and open to anyone, the fees are lower for ANA members.

Archived Publication Sources

Guides

Online guides are resources for individual coins. Each of the resources listed have their strengths and weaknesses making it important that you consult more than one when looking for information. The following list are the guides I consult in alphabetical order:

Price Guides

Whether you are a casual collector, more expert, or someone looking at coins, the one question that is always ask is “What is that coin worth?”

Coin values are subjective and based on a lot of factors. It can be so confusing that I wrote a two part series How Are Coins Priced (Part I and Part II). Even if you understand the principles, there is a need for price guides.

Price guides are not perfect. They have their own formula and their own biases for what makes up prices. For example, the price guides sponsored by the grading services are the prices for coins in their holders. This is why I consult a few price guides when doing research. The following are the price guides I have used:

One of the key aspect of pricing is the level of conservation or the grade of the coin. When it comes to be able to judge the grade of the coin there is only one website I use:

Bullion Values

Another aspect of pricing is the value of the coin’s metals. There are many sites that can provide spot prices, I have found the following very helpful:

Communities

There are quite a few online communities that discuss numismatics. Some of them are very good while others can be a bit harsh for the average collector. For general knowledge and access to a wide range of knowledge I recommend the following:

The E-Sylum has been called the best free numismatic resource on the Internet. After being a subscriber for the last five years, it is difficult to argue with that statement. Many of the contributors are a Who’s Who of the numismatic industry. While you can read the E-Sylum online, you should subscribe. Better yet, if you are an ANA member you will receive a copy in email. Do not delete it! Read it! It gets a PR-70DCAM rating from this reviewer!

Mobile Apps

If we are talking about online access to sources there has to be a mention of mobile apps. Since I am an Apple iPhone user, I use the iOS version of these apps. However, all of them have Android equivalents. Some also have versions the run on Windows Mobile. Here are the apps I have installed on my iOS devices (in alphabetical order):

▸ Universal Apps (iPhone and iPad)
  • Coinflation
  • NGC
  • PCGS Coin Cert Verification
  • PCGS CoinFacts
  • PCGS Photograde
  • PCGS Price Guide
  • XE Currency
▸ iPad Only
  • The Numismatist HD (2009 – present)†
  • The Numismatist Magazine (All editions)†
  • Kcast Gold Live! (Kitco)‡
▸ iPhone only
  • CDN Coin & Currency Pricing
  • EyeNote (BEP)
  • Gold Live!+ (Kitco)‡
  • NantMobile MoneyReader
NOTES:

† Both apps are available for the iPhone
‡ Note that there are different versions for the iPhone and iPad. The “+” is not a typo.
▸ Website Links

Website Links are bookmarks on the phone’s Home Screen. On the iPhone open Safari and go to the page you want to bookmark the press the sharing icon (the box with the arrow pointed up). In the popup select “Add to Home Screen” from the set of icons on the second line.

Bookmarks

Do you want to add these links to your browser’s bookmarks? Right-click (or Mac users can CTRL-Click) on the following button and select whatever option your browser requires to save the file to hard drive. Import the file as an “HTML Bookmark” file to add these links to your book marks.

Whitman Baltimore Expo is dying!

Mar 26, 2018 | , , | 1 Comment

In the more than 12 years of writing this blog, I never thought I would be writing about the pending death of one the great east coast shows. However, given the what I saw this past weekend and having discussions with what few dealers I could have, it is now time for Whitman to either fix the Baltimore Expo or get out of the coin show business.

First and foremost, if you are going to have a three-day show and open to the public on Sunday, then you should have more than 22 dealers across three convention center halls. After being stunned by the number of empty tables when I arrived at 12:30pm on Sunday, I counted the number of dealers that were still selling. There were 22 tables with dealers still selling while another six were packing, including one across from the entrance.

The view standing between Halls B and C at 12:30pm in the Baltimore Convention Center for the March 25, 2018 Whitman Expo


These numbers do not count the Whitman and U.S. Mint booths.

A dealer near the entrance is someone I know and have bought from in the past. When I complained about the lack of dealers he said, unapologetically, that I should have been there earlier. While this dealer is not known for having a warm-and-fuzzy personality, he does carry an interesting inventory and can be an interesting person to talk with on occasion. However, how dare he question my ability to attend? According to Whitman, the show is open 10am until 3pm on Sunday. At 12:30pm I expected more than 22 dealers!

But wait, you might exclaim. Whitman has “**Limited Dealers**” on their website.

There is a difference between “limited” and 22 dealers!

The view standing in the middle of Hall A at about 1:15pm in the Baltimore Convention Center for the March 25, 2018 Whitman Expo.

That is only part of the story. According to one dealer and one attendee who was there on Saturday, the number of empty tables exceeded the number of dealers before most of the dealers started to pack on Saturday afternoon. When I asked the attendee why he showed up on Sunday knowing it would be empty, he said he was looking for bargains but was disappointed with the number of dealers left.

Usually, I look forward to attending the show in Baltimore. I can always find something interesting and talk with a lot of interesting people. It makes the hour-long shlep worth the trouble. But when there was nothing available that I wanted and I spent more on parking and gas than I did at the show, then it was a waste of my time.

When Whitman bought the show it looked like they would work to build it up and keep it a first-class show. Unfortunately, it seems as if Whitman has abandoned their mission and may be on the verge of dying because of its neglect. It is clear that the competence they had before is not there now.

Unless Whitman can fix the problems and make it something that even a late attendee can get something out of, they may have lost this proponent and customer.

I did buy something

I cannot leave a show without buying something. There was one dealer with tokens who was really eager to sell. Since I cannot pass up a chance to search for tokens related to New York, here are the more interesting items I purchase:

I did find one item that I bought because it was intriguing and I want to learn more about the backstory. The next image is a button with the portrait of the late Theodore Roosevelt and the legend that says “Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association.” As a fan of our 26th President (and fellow New Yorker), I did not know this group existed or what they do. When I find out more I will post what I learn. In the meantime, it is an interesting button!

Weekly World Numismatic Newsletter for March 25, 2018

Mar 25, 2018 | , , | 0 Comments

2015 1 Dirham coin from the UAE celebrating the Accession Day of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai (Image courtesy of Numista)

Earlier this month, The National, a site that carries news for the United Arab Emirates, published a story about a 17-year-old numismatist collecting UAE 1 Dirham (Dh1) coins.

In the original article, Nihad Hassan, an Indian living in the Abu Dhabi, liked the design of the Dh1 coins and started collecting them. One coin that was difficult to find was the 2015 Dh1 coin issued to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed as Crown Prince of Dubai. As part of the article, he asked if someone could help him find a coin.

This past week, The National reported that an Indian working in a local grocery store found the coin and gave it to Hassan.

The original report was seen around the country and helped gain attention. Hassan reported that he received many emails offering to sell the coin to others who wanted to just give the young numismatist the coin in order to encourage him and his hobby.

Could this be a lesson to encourage more people to look at their coins, especially here in the United States? What if more media outlets wrote about young collectors and allowed members of the public to donate the coins to help these budding collectors complete their collection? Could hobby shops of all types that buy from the public use their space to create collections of state or national park quarters that will be given to younger children to learn about collecting? What if the store created a credit system whereby you bring the coins and you get a store credit?

It would be a form of community collecting. Maybe the collections could be auctioned for charity. Something for those in business to think about.

And now the news….

Community rallies together to help young collector find elusive coin
 March 16, 2018

A young numismatist in search of a rare coin has had the elusive bit donated to his collection after members of the community heard his story and rallied around to help. Nihad Hassan had been searching for the Dh1 coin that was issued in 2015 on the seventh anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed as Crown Prince of Dubai. → Read more at thenational.ae

Prince Charles is getting a special £5 coin to celebrate his 70th birthday
 March 17, 2018

Prince Charles is getting a special £5 coin made to celebrate his 70th birthday. The Queen has also ordered a £25 platinum coin to commemorate the special occasion. The prince has already had special currency made for his first wedding and 50th and 60th birthdays so it doesn’t come as a huge surprise he’s getting more. → Read more at metro.co.uk

With the future of 1p and 2p coins under scrutiny, is your small change worth a fortune?
 March 17, 2018

The government has ruled out scrapping 1p and 2p coins, despite launching a consultation into the use of cash. And if you’re among the 60% of people who immediately save, lose or even throw out pennies you receive, think again – these small coins can be worth more than you think. → Read more at which.co.uk

Privacy and Counterfeit Coins
 March 19, 2018

In 2007 Alexander Shapovalov suggested an unusual coin-weighing problem for the sixth international Kolmogorov math tournament [5]. A judge is presented with 80 coins that all look the same, knowing that there are either two or three fake coins among them. → Read more at scientificamerican.com

Mickey Mouse appears on French coins
 March 19, 2018

Mickey Mouse money became, from Tuesday, legal tender in France, after the national mint, Monnaie de Paris, released a series of commemorative coins bearing the image of Disney's iconic cartoon creation. → Read more at connexionfrance.com

$1,000 reward for whoever can craft commemorative coin of Sgt. Henry Johnson
 March 20, 2018

A contest is now underway honoring one of the Capital Region’s greatest war heroes. Ferris Coin Company in Albany announced they’re handing out two $1,000 prizes for whoever can design the best commemorative coin for the late Sergeant Henry Johnson, who served in World War I. → Read more at cbs6albany.com

Dennis Cassinelli: Nevada State Museum offers look at Carson City coin collection
 March 20, 2018

Much of the information in this article is from "The Mint on Carson Street," by Rusty Goe. Whenever I take people on tours through the Nevada State Museum, one of my favorite exhibits is the original coin press and the nearly complete collection of gold and silver Carson City coins minted there. → Read more at nevadaappeal.com

US Mint Releases Limited Edition Coins to Raise Awareness, Funds for Breast Cancer
 March 22, 2018

The United States Mint recently released a new limited edition coin under its Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Program to increase awareness of breast cancer and raise funds for research, according to a press release. → Read more at breastcancer-news.com

Norwich couple unearth valuable Roman coin hoard on Norfolk farm
 March 22, 2018

Video It could be a story line straight out of the hit television series Detectorists. But instead of Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones in the leading roles, the stars of this show are Norwich residents Damon Pye and his wife Denise. → Read more at edp24.co.uk

American Brasher Doubloon gold coin struck in 1787 sold for more than $5 million 
 March 25, 2018

A 1787 New York Brasher Doubloon, one of the first gold coins to be struck in the United States, has been sold for more than $5 million (£3. → Read more at telegraph.co.uk

Coin Collectors News
news.coinsblog.ws
♦ United States Mint Opens Sales for 10-Coin Set of Uncirculated Quarters on March 29 (Mar 22, 2018)
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♦ Office of Strategic Services Receives Congressional Gold Medal (Mar 21, 2018)
♦ Summer Seminar Early Registration Discount Ends Soon (Mar 21, 2018)
♦ U.S. Mint Video: Apostle Islands AtB B-Roll (Mar 20, 2018)
♦ Finest Known 1932 “Saint” In eBay Auction Of Outstanding Double Eagles Set (Mar 20, 2018)

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