JOIN THE ANA ON ME!
This year, National Coin Week celebrates the anniversary of the last of the large dollar coins. One hundred years ago, the U.S. Mint brought back the Morgan dollar while coming up with a new design that eventually became the Peace Dollar. Also, 50 years ago, the U.S. Mint began production of the Eisenhower dollar. These three coins were 38.1 mm in diameter and were the last of the large circulating coins.
As part of the Nation Coin Week Celebration, the American Numismatic Association is offering a discount on the GOLD (digital) membership. For $5, you can join the ANA for one year.
In addition to being the world’s largest numismatic organization, the ANA offers collectors resources to learn more about your collection. Aside from the shows, my three favorite resources are:
- The Numismatist. There are a lot of great writers talking about numismatics. The Numismatist brings you the best of the writing that can inspire you to learn more or spend money on new collectibles. With the Gold Membership, The Numismatist is delivered electronically so you never have to worry about it being lost or damaged in transit. Since the ANA has digitized every issue dating back to 1888, it serves as a historical reference of numismatic knowledge. Members can access the digital archives from any computer and there is an app for tablets.
- The Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library. If it is not printed in The Numismatist, the Library has more than 128,000 items that members can check out. All you pay is shipping, and you can check out books, catalogs, and other resources. I have a box of books I am going through now!
- Directly submit coins to NGC. As an ANA member, you can apply for an account with NGC and send your coins directly for grading and encapsulation. Currency collectors can submit their collectibles to PMG. You will have to pay for the grading service but you can submit without becoming an NGC or PNG member.
Offer expires on April 24, 2021 or when 25 new members join only at info.money.org/ncw-2021-barman.
POLL: Are there too many coin shows?
Not long ago an acquaintance asked if I was attending the National Money Show in Dallas. I said that I had wanted to but there was a conflict that prevented me. He said that it did not matter because there were too many shows and it does not pay to go to all of them.
Panorama of the 2013 National Money Show bourse floor at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans
I was a bit shocked.
When you enjoy something, there is never too many or too much. I try to go to as many coin shows as possible whether they are as large as the World’s Fair of Money or a local show with 30 tables that meets in a local hall. If I cannot be at a coin show, I love to go to car shows including ones where I can bring my vintage Mopar.
It is difficult to find a car show in the winter. Owners of classic, vintage and antique cars would rather park our babies under cover than take them out in bad weather. This is a good time to find all of the coin shows.
I woke up my baby this past weekend!
I asked why he thought there were too many he complained about the costs. He felt that he had to buy something at every show in order to justify his attendance.
When I go to a show, I have a budget I keep to, collecting goals for that day, and the knowledge that if I come home with money in my pocket I can still have a good day if I see people and talk about coins and collecting.
Maybe the problem with my acquaintance is that he sees going to shows as a buying trip while I look for the experience. He might consider talking to some of the people, make friends, and see if he could learn something from these dealers. Even if I do not spend money, if I learn something I will have had a good time.
What do you think?
Loading ...Raging into March
What began as an English proverb as “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” may become a relic of history. Aside from the weather implications the markets are experiencing a lion-like robustness that even has the governors and branch presidents of the Federal Reserve issuing conflicting statements about the future of interest rates.
While the professionals are attempting to figure out what the economic numbers are saying, one thing is clear that the U.S. Mint is on pace to break its 2015 sales for American Silver Eagle bullion coins. March opens with the U.S. Mint announcing that it has another 1 million silver coins ready for sale. This is the fifth time in 2016 that the U.S. Mint has made this type of announcement.
Year to date, gold prices are up about 17-percent and silver prices are up 11-percent. This has not stopped the buying of bullion coins. One Canadian dealer recently informed me that they sold out of a specific silver issue from the Royal Canadian Mint because of high demand, especially from the United States.
This is reaching beyond collectors. While the numismatic world was focused on Dallas for the National Money Show, my business kept me in the D.C. area as a vendor at one of the largest antiques shows in the mid-Atlantic region. Although coins are a very minor part of the show, some dealers that were selling silver coins had high volumes of sales. One dealer reported that he sold out of the 30 American Silver Eagle bullion coins graded MS-70 by the middle of the show’s second day.
An informal poll of attendees to the National Money Show suggests similar sales performances.
Even though there may be areas of the economy that has not caught up to the current economic trends, it is difficult to find an analyst or pundit that does not believe that the current trends will end in the short term.
It is likely that March will go out like a raging bull, even if I could not find a one-armed economist to disagree!
Charging Bull by Arturo DiModica is a bronze sculpture that stands in Bowling Green Park just south of the Financial District in lower Manhattan.
February 2016 Numismatic Legislation (Nothing but net!)
During an election year, especially one that has become very contentious, having any legislation passed would be seen as something of a miracle. This past month, there was only one bill introduced in each chamber.
H.R. 4592: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act
Read the details of this bill at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr4592
S. 2598: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act
Read the details of this bill at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s2598
Introducing bill like this one to honor the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame simultaneously in both chambers is common. Members that want to push this type of legislation for the people back home can hope that it is taken up at one end or the other on Capital Hill. It only slightly increases the odds of passage.
For this bill, it is proposing a gold $5, silver dollar, and clad half-dollar coins “with such design being emblematic of the game of basketball.” The bill calls for a design competition with the selected designer receiving a $5,000 award.
The bill calls for the usual surcharges ($35 for the gold coin, $10 per silver, and $5 per half dollar) that will be paid “to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to fund an endowment that will enable the further operations of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.”
For some reason, when I saw this bill all I could think about was that old commercial starring Michael Jordan and Larry Bird competing for a fast food lunch. If you do not remember, here is the ad:
Taking a Leap
I am convinced that if there is something to celebrate there is a coin, medal, or token to collect in its honor.
Today, my challenge is to determine if there is something numismatically available to collect for Leap Day, that once every four years celebration of the 29th of February.
For today’s collecting adventure we venture into the world of geocaching. For those not familiar with geocaching, it is an adventure activity in which the participants use the global positioning system (GPS) to navigate to find small containers with treasures. The small containers are called a “geocache” or “cache.” These geocaches contains a logbook that is signed with by the finder with a code name and placed back where it was found.
Almost anything can be included in the geocache for a prize. One such prize is a geocoin. Similar to a challenge coin, a geocoin is a specially designed medal that is the prize for finding the geocache. There is a worldwide community of geocache enthusiasts that you can find at geocaching.com.
For one of the meeting at my coin club, two of our young numismatists taught some of us old folks about geocaching and showed off some of the geocoins they have found or collected from various sources. Some of the designs were phenomenal. There was one geocoin made for a gathering of Maryland enthusiasts that was so well done that I have been looking to buy one since.
Without the constraint of rules, laws, and congress, some have created quite a number of interesting geocoins to celebrate the leap year. To celebrate Leap Day and the geocaching community for the inspiration, here are some of the interesting geocoins I have found on my online search.
NoCo (Northern Colorado) 366 Geocoin (courtesy of User Memfis Mafia on geocaching.com)
Leap Year Sundial Travel Tag (courtesy of Geocoins For All)
Leap Day Geocoin Race (Courtesy of Wooden Nickel Geocoins)
Leap Day 2016 Geocoins (courtesy of Geo Coin Shoppe)
It escaped from Canada!
1966 Canadian one-cent found in pocket change
We need to build a wall!
We know that the Royal Canadian Mint struck their last 1-cent coin in 2012. During the six-month transition, Canadian banks were helping recall 1-cent coins while cash sales began to be rounded up or down to the nearest 5-cents.
But when I made a purchase at a local convenience store, my change included a 1966 Canadian 1-cent coin. Even though the coin is still legal tender it is not usable. I can visit an agent for the Bank of Canada or the Royal Canadian Mint to turn it in for updated coins. I was told that the minimum they will take for exchange is 100 coins. If I can scrape together 99 more coins I can trade it for a Loonie.
At the current exchange rate, the coin is worth only 0.0074 U.S. cents. Someone owes me 0.0026 cents!
Maybe I should go back to that store and see if they would give me a Canadian 5-cents coin and I would give them four U.S. cents. That would make it even.
It’s Friday. Why not have a little fun after finding a Canadian cent in my change!
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