Royal Mint to Celebrate Collect Week 2021
Three Graces UK Five-Ounce Silver Proof obverse (trial piece) – TR213GS5
One of the more fascinating events of Collect Week is the auction for Die Trial Pieces. Die Trial pieces are coins struck before the production run as a test. The Royal Mint has a good description of Die Trials on its website.
The list of die Trial Pieces includes gold and silver strikes from 2019 and 2020. Each coin has a hallmark attesting to the quality of the strike as defined by the Royal Mint. The Royal Mint published a list of 60 Die Trial Pieces that will be in the auction.
There are also webinars held during the week. You may have to adjust your sleep pattern to attend if you are interested, but it might be worth your time. The list of webinars advertised are:
- The Importance of Die Trial Pieces — September 20
- Making the Grade: Coin Grading and Slabbing Webinar — September 21
- Investing in Gold from The Royal Mint — September 22
- How to Start a Collection — September 23
If I get up in the middle of the night to attend a webinar, I will attend “The Importance of Die Trial Pieces.” The description makes it sound like they will discuss the minting process from the Royal Mint’s perspective.
“Making the Grade” may be worth an extra pot of coffee to see how the UK views grading.
Learning more about collecting is fun, and it is good to hear from different voices.
ANA: January is National Hobby Month
Did you know that January is National Hobby Month?
Letter from the ANA received in February.
Yes, but I did not know that January is National Hobby Month until I received a letter in the mail from the American Numismatic Association informing me of this fact.
The ANA, like other non-profit organizations, periodically send out what I like to call “beg letters” to members and those who have previously donated in order to solicit donations. There is nothing wrong with these letters. In fact, when I can I do respond to the organizations I regularly contribute to including the ANA.
What is unusual about this letter is that across the top, it tells me that January is National Hobby Month after being sent and received in February.
Since this came on a Friday and it was not opened until after hours, I have not attempted to contact the ANA to ask about this letter. However, if the ANA wants to tell me that January is National Hobby Month, maybe they should do it in January.
POLL: What do you think about Presidential Silver Medals
Silver Medal from the 2013 Theodore Roosevelt Coins and Chronicles Set
The U.S. Mint thinks that the silver medals would be a popular seller since silver coinage sells well. Using existing designs, the U.S. Mint hopes to be able to save time and money by removing the process of creating new images and not having to undergo the onerous review process of the CCAC and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
I think the U.S. Mint is missing a point. Collecting commemorative silver and American Silver Eagle coins have the cache of being legal tender coins.
Although there are some very dedicated collectors of medals and other exonumia, the vast majority numismatics collectors are collecting legal tender coins.
If you look at the offering of some of the most prolific world mints like the Royal Canadian Mint, New Zealand Mint, and the Perth Mint, they offer a wide variety of offerings as legal tender coins. Countries like Niue and Somalia contract with other world mints to produce non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) coins to sell to the public.
Many of these programs are a success because they are legal tender coins. It is a mindset that the coins are worth more because they are legal tender. Even coins advertised as being legal tender from Native American Nations (tribes) gain attention.
People are drawn to the concept of collecting and/or investing in real money.
Medals are not money.
Although it sounds like a harsh assessment of the concept, the only downside that can be foreseen is if the U.S. Mint faces a planchet shortage like it did in 2009. Otherwise, I am not sure it will sell like I think the U.S. Mint is portraying.
For the first poll of 2018:
Loading ...Weekly World Numismatic News for February 11, 2018
The news article that caught my eye this week is a commentary produced on the website for WDEL, a radio station in Wilmington, Delaware about an advertisement that appeared in Wilmington’s News Journal newspaper for the “First-Ever Official Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl LII Champions Legal Tender Coin.”
An online search found the item for sale at the Bradford Exchange.
According to the product page (I am not providing a link since I am not endorsing this product), it is a legal tender coin but does not indicate the country of issue. The “coin” is plated in 24-karat gold and comes in a holder that looks very similar to a popular third-party grading service.
The images provided on the product page are of one side of the coin. There are no images of the reverse of the coin or the holder. Even with the description that does not include the coin’s metal content including the amount of gold it contains and the country that granted legal tender status. They want buyers to shell out $49.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling.
This is worse than the Gold Buffalo Tribute Proof from the National Collector’s Mint. If you have the opportunity to watch the business cable channels during the day, they are consistent advertisers. At least with the Gold Buffalo Tribute Proof you will only be ripped-off for $19.95 plus $7 shipping.
Simply, the amount of gold in the plating is so thin that there may be less than $1.00 worth of gold. Even if the base coin is brass or bronze, the amount of copper would make the metal value less than $2.00. Since the Bradford Exchange has indicated it has licensing agreements with the NFL and NFL Players Association, their costs may be higher in order to pay off these concerns.
Even though they are creating only 2,017 of these coins, the resale market is very limited. When you or your heirs try to sell these coins, they will find that if the coin can be resold it will probably bring pennies on the dollar versus the original price.
If you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan and want a numismatic-related souvenir of their win in Super Bowl LII, then it looks like a nice, albeit expensive item. If you are only interested as a speculator, you can find something better to invest in.
And now the news…
February 5, 2018Bank to act amid concerns over private firms selling medals marking historic events 
→ Read more at irishtimes.com
February 5, 2018More than $50 million worth of gold bars, coins, and dust that has sat at the bottom of the ocean since the ship it was on sunk in 1857 is about to go on public display in California. → Read more at fox10tv.com
February 5, 2018Today marks 100 years since the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which was the first piece of law that gave women the right to vote in elections. And to celebrate, the Royal Mail has released a set of eight special stamps, commemorating the piece of legislation which extended the right to vote to women over 30 and to millions of men over the age of 21 who had previously been denied the opportunity. → Read more at digitalspy.com
February 5, 2018WE'RE getting used to plastic fivers and tenners and are now awaiting the official announcement from the Bank of England on when the polymer £20 notes will be introduced. The polymer tenner came into circulation in September 2017, with hundreds of millions in circulation. → Read more at thesun.co.uk
February 6, 2018Page 6A of today's News Journal carries a half-page ad for the "First-Ever Official Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl LII Champions Legal Tender Coin". Doubtless this very same ad appears in newspapers all over our region. → Read more at wdel.com
February 6, 2018ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WIVB) – A Rochester man has been sentenced to three years of probation for selling counterfeit coins. Timothy Meacham, 32, was also ordered to pay over $5,000 in restitution. → Read more at wivb.com
February 6, 2018Most of the coins in the Knights of St John collection were contained in Professor Salvatore Luigi Pisani’s donation. Photos: Chris Sant Fournier Coins from every era of history have for the first time gone on permanent display at the National Museum of Archaeology, offering a glimpse of the commercial and political forces driving Malta through the ages. → Read more at timesofmalta.com
February 7, 2018IT MAY seem baffling why anybody would want to burn money, and there are many rumours about what would actually happen if you were caught destroying currency. We’ve debunked the fact from the fiction, so you can keep on the right side of the law. → Read more at thesun.co.uk
February 7, 2018MARQUETTE — A standing-room-only crowd of nearly 1,000 people filled the Mather Auditorium in Munising Wednesday to be part of the launch of the first America The Beautiful quarter issued in 2018, which honors Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. → Read more at miningjournal.net
February 8, 2018During the reign of William III, in the second half of the 17th century, it was the fashion for a young man to give a crooked coin to the object of his affections. The suitor would bend the coin, both to make it an amulet and to prevent it being reused. → Read more at theguardian.com
Help Wanted: Numismatic & Bullion Industry Public Policy Writer
Do you have an interest in public policy and its impact on the numismatic community? How are your research skills? Can you search multiple sources to find those issues from the local, state, federal, and international politics that could be reported to numismatic and bullion dealers? It would be a real plus if you were able to contact and network with people on Capitol Hill to find information whether it is on background or that can be published.
Can you keep up with the policy changes during the month and write about it in a monthly newsletter?
If you have an interest in writing about the public policy of the numismatic and bullion industry as it affects dealers, then please contact me.
Aside from being interested in the topic, you must be able to write for a general audience. This includes having a good understanding of the policy (sausage) making processes and be able to write about it coherently. To get a better understanding of the type of writing this work requires, you can read the posts here under the legislative category.
This is a once per month newsletter with a stipend.
I am not the person doing the hiring but I am helping the hiring manager fill this position.
If you are interested or have further questions, please contact me.
U.S. Mint revises precious metals pricing
2018 American Eagle Platinum Proof obverse, Preamble to the Declaration of Independence Series — Life (U.S. Mint image)
Price for the American Gold Eagle proof coin was raised by $17.50 while the one-tenth ounce coin was raised by $2.50 across all price points (averages per troy ounce). The price for the 4-coin proof set was raised by $37.50.
The one-ounce American Gold Eagle uncirculated, American Gold Buffalo 24-karat Proof, and American Eagle Platinum proof coins were raised by $20.00 also across all price points.
The price will not change for the American Liberty Gold Proof, which will use the same design as the 2017 American Liberty 225th Anniversary Gold Proof. There will be a one-tenth ounce option that will go on sale February 8 now included in the table. If the price of gold remains steady, the opening price is expected to be $215.00.
The price for the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative “Pink” Gold $5 proof coin will be $6.35 more than the 2017 commemorative gold coin while the uncirculated version will be 25-cents less expensive.
You can find the U.S. Mint pricing table here (PDF).
Remember, precious metals pricing is not a matter of a table lookup. They use average prices based on the prices set by the London Bullion Market Association (also known as the London Fix Price). You can find the Pricing Criteria here (PDF).
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