Weekly World Numismatic News for August 29, 2021
The U.S. Mint attempts to fix their online ordering system, but to what effect?
A few weeks ago, I wrote that it was my impression “that the lawyers had more say over policy than the appointed director or the career executives.” It is not clear that the U.S. Mint has separated its policy decision from the advice of counsel.
Missing from the discussion is how the lawyers forced the U.S. Mint to violate the law. Even though they identified the Internet Robots (BOTs), the lawyers not allowing the U.S. Mint to resolve the problem puts the e-commerce system in violation of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). FISMA was passed in 2002 to require the government to protect computing resources.
Although it sounds like a technical issue, FISMA’s purpose is to allow bureaus like the U.S. Mint to protect public access to government resources. It also allows the government to do what is necessary to serve the public.
While the dealer community is part of the public, they are not the majority of the interested public. The U.S. Mint reported that only 18 authorized purchasers could access 10% of production at a 5% premium as part of its early access program.
The U.S. Mint deserves commendation for its ability to exceed production during the pandemic. Questions remain on the decisions on collector coin programs.
And now the news…
August 24, 2021
→ Read more at newswire.ca
August 27, 2021 → Read more at jpost.com
August 27, 2021 → Read more at tcpalm.com
August 27, 2021 → Read more at swfinstitute.org
August 27, 2021 → Read more at independent.ie
Weekly World Numismatic News for December 3, 2017
These introductions to the weekly news are supposed to be my thoughts and opinions on some of the things I have read while looking for numismatic-related news. For this week, I cannot think of a thing to say.
That is not exactly true. I have a lot to say but it is not numismatic-related!
Honestly, my mind is elsewhere. It is about 600 miles to the southwest from suburban Washington, D.C. in Athens, Georgia. Not only is Athens where I attended college as an undergraduate but it is the home of the 2017 Southeastern Conference Champion University of Georgia Bulldogs!
After beating Auburn last night to win the SEC Championship and learning today that Georgia will be playing Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl for the College Football Playoff Semi-Finals, I have been just euphoric!
So that I can include some numismatic-related content, I know that the Highland Mint strikes most of the medals that are used for the coin toss around college and professional football. In 2015, the Franklin Mint was commissioned to strike the medals for the CFP games. Regardless of who gets the contract, a copy of that medal will likely end up in my collection.
And now the news…
November 28, 2017The manager of the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon has thanked people for their support after raid, as police investigate several lines of enquiry. → Read more at northdevongazette.co.uk
November 28, 2017AIM-listed Hummingbird Resources announced that in line with the imminent commencement of production from its Yanfolila gold mine in Mali (Yanfolila), the compa → Read more at miningreview.com
November 28, 2017JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Rare coins that can be potentially worth thousands of dollars may end up being worthless if a buyer doesn't do the proper vetting. Billy Ward told First Coast News he learned that lesson the hard way. → Read more at firstcoastnews.com
November 29, 2017MANILA, Philippines — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Wednesday revealed the new design for P5 coin which would be released in December. The P5 New Generation Currency Coin Series features Gat Andres Bonifacio on the obverse. → Read more at philstar.com
November 29, 2017MANILA, Nov. 30 — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that of the New Generation Currency (NGC) Coin Series, it will release in advance of the other denominations, the 5-piso NGC legal tender coin for circulation, starting December 2017. → Read more at pia.gov.ph
November 29, 2017Once, in a busy market, at a time when government policies had made change scarce and thus very precious, a shopkeeper refused to give a customer change in lieu of a high denomination currency note. In those days tempers were high, inconveniences great. → Read more at dailyo.in
November 30, 2017Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are used by several countries like the United States to mint coins that would satisfy investor demand who want to buy these metals in a more recognizable weight and form. → Read more at born2invest.com
November 30, 2017Dubai: You have them in your pockets and take them wherever you go. But do you know what they’re worth apart from their face value? The dirhams in your wallet tell more than how much purchasing power you have now. → Read more at gulfnews.com
November 30, 2017The Re 1 note has officially completed a century in its existence. The last hundred years – the first note was introduced on November 30, 1917, with the photo of King George V – have been all but tumultuous. → Read more at moneycontrol.com
November 30, 2017NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle gold and silver coins fell sharply year-over-year in November, keeping their tally for the first 11 months of 2017 on track for the weakest year since 2007, the latest data showed on Thursday. → Read more at reuters.com
November 2017 Numismatic Legislation Review
Most of the work in Congress has been on the tax bill (H.R. 1) and non-controversial legislation. The Senate has worked on reducing the number of presidential nominees on the Executive Calendar. Currently, there are 100 nominations waiting to be acted on and David J. Ryder, nominated to be the Director of the U.S. Mint, is 70th on the calendar, up from 126th last month.
PN1082: David J. Ryder — Department of the Treasury
POLL: What are your numismatic gift plans for this holiday season?
Welcome back from your Thanksgiving Break!
Today is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is a modern invention created back when most people only had access to the Internet through a dial-up modem and would use their company’s faster connection to do online shopping following Black Friday.
In the modern world, Black Friday does not have the same meaning. It used to be when retailers would become profitable with the beginning of the holiday season sales. The name was derived from written ledgers when negative numbers were written in red and positive numbers were written in black. After Black Friday, the numbers would be written in black! But that is not how modern economics works. Company profits are measured on a quarterly basis and should be in the black all year. But why destroy a tradition!
With the proliferation of broadband access from the home, Cyber Monday has also lost its meaning. In fact, there are reports that suggest that there will be more online shopping than shopping in brick-and-mortar outlets. But that is not going to stop Cyber Monday sales!
It is the holiday season and regardless of your beliefs there will be presents exchanged. Or you may purchase your own present. Do you have numismatic presents on your wish list? What about for others? Do tell!
What are your gift giving plans for 2017?
Total Voters: 9
Loading ...Weekly World Numismatic News for November 26, 2017
The reason why I search for news about topics related to numismatics from outside the industry allows me to get an understanding of how others see numismatics. I find even the most innocuous story about a country considering redesigning their currency, a find of a coin thousands of years old, and how pocket change finds can lead to high bids on online auctions to be interesting.
I share these with you to inspire your collection and help promote the hobby.
But as I shared a few weeks ago, searching the news also comes with its distractions. The latest happens this time every year when the stories about a gold coin being dropped in those ubiquitous red kettles become prominent.
I am not against giving to charity. On the contrary, I think more people should be charitable with whatever they could give. If time is money then give your time. In fact, I am one of those people who believe that when someone reaches 18 years old they should be required to do two-years of public service. It does not have to be in the military but something to serve the public good.
However, dropping a gold coin into a red kettle may look good as news headlines but can really be more problems than they are worth.
As we know, selling a coin is not the easiest thing to do and when you do, you do not receive its full value. A dealer may raise the bid price of a coin from a charity to provide some charitable assistance, but most dealers are not going to buy the coin at full value—unless they are charitable. And this does not take into consideration the fluctuating price of the metals. Maybe, by the time the charity sells the coin, the market price drops and the coin is not worth as much as the day it was dropped into the kettle.
Rare coins may be more problematic. For the best value, those have to go to auction and as anyone who has sold merchandise in an auction, you never know what the hammer price will be. Selling anything at an auction is risky. While a quality rare coin may bring in more than the coin is worth, it can also do far worse.
Since gold is currently $1288 per ounce and considering that modern bullion coins have about a 15-percent numismatic premium, rather than buy a bullion coin and drop it into a kettle, take the $1481 in cash and drop that instead. You can do what an acquaintance does and wrap a few $100 notes around a $1 note so it looks like you are giving a few dollars. When they open the kettle and see hundreds of dollars in cash, they will be happy and will be able to use it for their work immediately without having to worry about selling the coin.
If you want to donate the proceeds from the sale of a coin to charity, that is wonderful. But sell the coin yourself. You are more qualified than these charities in obtaining value from the sale. Then donate the cash. It should not be about the ego boost from being written about in the newspapers. It should be about helping the charity. Which is more important?
And now the news…
November 19, 2017JAKARTA – Coin rubbing is a form of folk medication practised in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian and East Asian countries, such as Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Korea and southern China. → Read more at enca.com
November 19, 2017Russian artist Roman Booteen is a modern master in the art of the hobo nickel—a term used to describe the 18th century sculptural art form of hand-engraving coins. His latest extraordinary piece—titled Gold Bug—was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's short story, The Gold Bug. → Read more at mymodernmet.com
November 20, 2017(1) View gallery The Queen and Prince Phillip’s platinum wedding anniversary is being commemorated with a new coin, minted in Banstead. The coin is 130mm in diameter, weighs nearly 2kg and is encrusted with 70 diamonds, and the limited run of 70 coins will be hand-finished by the master craftsman at Pobjoy Mint. → Read more at epsomguardian.co.uk
November 22, 2017New coin to be put in circulation from Wednesday November 22 → Read more at gulfnews.com
November 23, 2017One of my favourite things is my Dad’s old horseshoe wallet where he kept his spare change and a rolled pipe cleaner or two. I used it for years after he died, packing it with British bronze 12-sided threepenny bits and shillings until I arrived in Australia and stuffed it with dollar coins and 50¢ dustbin lids. → Read more at sheppnews.com.au
November 23, 2017A treasure hunter has unearthed a haul of ancient gold coins, thought to have been buried with an Anglo-Saxon King nearly 1,500 years ago. Chris Kutler, 54, stumbled upon the coins after spending four days searching a 1,600 sq metre field in Chelmsford, Essex. → Read more at dailymail.co.uk
November 24, 2017After gold coin’s continued rally in the past month, which pushed…. → Read more at financialtribune.com
November 24, 2017The Apiary Fund Commemorative coin is a tribute to the traders who put in time, energy, and faith in their efforts to become funded traders. OREM, Utah November 24, 2017 In the spirit of those Amer… → Read more at nbherard.com
November 25, 2017One hundred years ago there was a shortage of pennies during WWI. → Read more at qconline.com
Creating a modern typeset
What would it take to put together a modern type set?
How would you define a modern type set?
This is the summary of the email conversation I have been having with someone looking for an interesting challenge to work on with his children.
For new readers and those new to numismatics, a type set is one coin of every type regardless of date or mintmark. Although some coins have one-year types, like the 50 State Quarters, there are others where one coin will represent an entire series, like the Roosevelt Dime.
While there are a lot of interesting coins types we focused on modern coins. Modern coins are those struck since 1965 when coins went from silver to copper-nickel except for the Kennedy half-dollar that was made of 40-percent silver through 1970. To budding young numismatists, modern coins are all they know.
In fact, all they know is that the quarter has a constantly changing reverse and they have seen differences in the Lincoln cent and the Jefferson nickel. They did not go through the fiasco of the Susan B. Anthony dollar or marvel at the first circulating commemoratives of the modern era: the dual-dated bicentennial coins. They were not around to search boxes of Cheerios for the new Sacagawea dollar coin or the millennial cent.
-
- Obverse of the Susan B. Anthony Dollar
-
- The 2000 Cheerios Dollar
Modern coins do not get the same love as some of the classics. Aside from not containing silver, there have been controversies over designs (see the “spaghetti hair” that George Washington was sporting on the 50 State Quarters) and how the relief on coins has been lowered by the U.S. Mint in an attempt to extend die life.
Some not-so-great designs
-
- Obverse of the 50 State Quarters with Washington’s spaghetti hair
-
- 2002 Ohio Quarter with the hanging astronaut
-
- 2004 Florida Quarter with a jumble of stuff
Although people love the classic designs two of my favorite designs of the modern era is the Drummer Boy reverse on the Bicentennial quarter and the Thomas Jefferson portrait on the obverse of the 2005 Westward Journey nickels. And even though I have not written much about them, there are some fantastic designs in the America the Beautiful Quarters series. A few that you may want to take a second look at include 2017 Ellis Island, 2017 George Rogers Clark National Historic Park, 2016 Shawnee National Forest, and the 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway quarters just to name a few.
A few of the great America the Beautiful Quaters designs
-
- 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
-
- 2016 Shawnee National Forest – Illinois
-
- 2017 Ellis Island – New Jersey
-
- 2017 George Rogers Clark National Park – Indiana
Sitting with a Red Book, I started to list the coin types that would make up a modern type set. If we limited the set to circulating coins (e.g., not including half-dollars and one-dollar coins) that can be found in pocket change, there would be 128 coins with a face value of $28.97.
| Type | No. in Series | Face Value | Series Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Memorial Cents | 2 | 0.01 | 0.02 |
| Lincoln Bicentennial Cents | 4 | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| Lincoln Shield Censt | 1 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| pre-2004 Jefferson Nickels | 1 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| Westward Journey Nickels | 4 | 0.05 | 0.20 |
| Return to Monticello Nickels | 1 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 1 | 0.10 | 0.10 |
| Washington Quarters | 1 | 0.25 | 0.25 |
| Bicentennial Quarters | 1 | 0.25 | 0.25 |
| 50 State Quarters | 50 | 0.25 | 12.50 |
| D.C. and U.S. Territories Quarters | 6 | 0.25 | 1.50 |
| America the Beautiful Quarters | 56 | 0.25 | 14.00 |
| Total | 128 | 1.53 | 28.97 |
The above table does take into consideration the entire 56 Amercia the Beautiful Quarters series including future issues. The kids have to understand the concept of future issues and maintain space for these coins in their album.
Starting the set with pocket change allows the kids to get used to the concept of looking at the coins to understand what they are looking for. To help with their search each child was given a Red Book and two apps on their iPads: PCGS CoinFacts and PCGS Photograde. They can use the Red Book as a handy off-line reference but use PCGS CoinFacts to learn more when they have access. Photograde is very useful to help them assess the condition of the coins.
While collectors have a basic understanding of coin grading, getting it right can be difficult. These kids were given a basic lesson on things to look for when trying to assess the condition of the coins they find. It will be interesting to see how they interpret this information.
Once we covered coins that can readily be found in circulation, we then discussed the other business strikes that are usually not found in ordinary pocket change.
After an interesting discussion, it was decided to make those a separate collection.
As a separate collection, this will give the kids an opportunity to go to dealers and coin shows to allow the kids to learn about buying coins in this environment. They will learn how to talk with a dealer, gain experience negotiating, and do some comparison shopping. It will let them get the experience and see different coins but maintain a collection discipline that will allow them to learn to collect on a budget.
What are the modern type coins that do not see a lot of circulation? Once again, I sat with the Red Book and came up with the following list:
| Type | No. in Series | Face Value | Series Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 1 | 0.50 | 0.50 |
| Bicentennial Kennedy Half Dollar | 1 | 0.50 | 0.50 |
| Eisenhower Dollars | 1 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Bicentennial Eisenhower Dollars | 2 | 1.00 | 2.00 |
| Susan B. Anthony Dollars | 1 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Sacagawea Dollars | 1 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Native American Dollars | 11 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| Presidential Dollars | 39 | 1.00 | 39.00 |
To complete the task, I came up with a checklist for all of the modern coins in two formats. One is a printed version that they could keep in their pocket as they go about their day. The other is a spreadsheet that can act as an official record. The paper version is a very basic PDF file that can be used to write notes. The spreadsheet offers more information. It also allows them to come up with their own catalogue.
Both files are attached for you to use (see the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License for text of the permissions granted with this release).
It will be interesting to see what these kids do!
Checklists
Support the Coin Collectors Blog
Buy me a coffee
Thank you for your support!
Let Me Know What You Think
Are you going to the World's Fair of Money
Total Voters: 17
Loading ...