Could the $100 Bill Go Away?
Would ending the circulation of the $100 Federal Reserve Note force the Russian people to pressure Putin over his Ukraine attack?
According to an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal by Markos Kounalakis (sorry, it’s behind a paywall), the sanctions on Russia are not reaching their people. Kounalakis believes that the United States should stop circulating the $100 bill to reach the people.
The United States dollar is the world’s reserve currency, and it is used as a safe store of wealth by people and companies. The Euro may represent an easily transactional currency, but the dollar is where the world turns for a store of wealth. In Russia, where the banks are not trusted, average citizens keep their savings in dollars.
According to the Federal Reserve, more than 661,500 pounds of $100 bills are in Russia as of 2019. Russians are stuffing them in a mattress and not using them for commerce.
Removing large-denomination currency from circulation is not new. In 1969, the Treasury withdrew the $500 and $1000 notes from circulation to make it more challenging for drug traffickers to move large amounts of cash.
In 2016, some economists made a case to stop circulating the $100 bill and the €500 banknote, even claiming the €500 note was nicknamed the “Bin Laden.” Eventually, the European Central Bank (ECB) stopped circulating the €500 banknote in 2018. But that has not stopped their use by criminals since the ECB has not demonetized the notes.
Even if the United States wanted to stop the circulation of $100 notes in Russia, it would not be an easy process. First, who would have the authority to make this determination? According to the Federal Reserve Act of 1918, it is the Federal Reserve’s job to manage circulating currency independently. The law that created the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allows this Treasury bureau to oversee the mechanisms that go into currency movement.
The government has more latitude over managing currency than coins. The law requires the U.S. Mint to strike cents, 5-cents, dimes, quarter dollars, half-dollars, and dollar coins (31 U.S. Code § 5111). On the other hand, the law (12 U.S. Code § 418) sets the denomination types, but it does not require the Federal Reserve to circulate all denominations.
If the President decides that it is in the best interest of U.S. foreign policy to stop the circulation of $100 notes, the Federal Reserve must decide if it is in the best interest of the Federal Reserve System to do so. However, the law complicates the matter by having the OCC oversee the institutions managing the currency. The blurry line between the authority of the Treasury Department and the independence of the Federal Reserve could create tension.
Should the policy regarding issuing $100 Federal Reserve Notes change, currency collectors may find opportunities to collect $100 notes.
SPECIAL AUCTION: My Father’s Coin Collection
I will take this moment to personal privilege to announce that my late father’s coin collection is now up for auction.
AUGUST 29, 2021 at 6:00 PM
After cleaning out his house and gathering the coins hidden in many places, the entire collection was cataloged, imaged, and is now online for anyone to bid. The collection includes both United States and Israeli collectibles.
My father liked modern commemorative coins and collected almost everything produced by the U.S. Mint, including Mint Sets, Proof Sets, Prestige Proof Sets, commemorative coins, and American Silver Eagles. The collection has many Olympic commemorative coins. It was his way of supporting the Olympics and getting a coin in the process.
When you look at the coins from Israel, you can see that he collected nearly everything. In the piles of coins were appreciation medals from the Israel Government Coins and Medals Corporation for being a top customer. The collection includes many different sets that I learned about by going through this collection.
There are 557 lots of coins in this auction that will close on Sunday, August 29, beginning at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. To prevent sniping, it is a “soft close” auction. Bids received in the last 30 seconds before the auction closes will extend the bidding for another 30 seconds. Bidding will continue until at least 30 seconds passes after the final bid.
Traveling and Change Hunting
If you are a change hunter, you know the thrill that you can find in your pocket as you travel. Spend a few dollars here and there, drop the change in your pocket, then spend time later looking hoping that you find something interesting.
Earlier today, it was time to leave Atlanta. After the stress of dropping off a rental car, getting through the TSA checkpoint complete with physical and verbal molestation, I needed a cold drink. Braving airport prices, I bought a bottle of water and waited for my plane.
A few moments ago, I emptied my pockets and found the coins I have been hunting for since the beginning of the year: two nice 2021 quarters, the Tuskeegee Airmen National Historic Site and the Washington Crossing the Delaware quarters.
Obverse of the 2021 Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site quarter on the left and the 2021 Washington Crossing the Delaware Quarter on the right.
The first noticeable thing is that the obverse of the Washington Crossing the Delaware quarter looks closest to the last regular issue quarter in 1998. Washington’s bust is more prominent, and there are smaller fields. The compromise in the design is to fit “LIBERTY” in the field left of the bust.
If the U.S. Mint designers can use a smaller font for “LIBERTY,” they can produce an obverse similar to this 2021 revival. Remember, congress has passed legislation for circulating commemorative quarters for the next ten years.
Reverse designs of the 2021 quarters
The images produced by the U.S. Mint show promise for the reverse designs. However, when you look at the coin in hand, the design has a smooth feel. The design lacks the depth needed to bring out the design. It can be a good design, but the U.S. Mint’s tradeoff to lower relief coins to extend the die’s life ruins the intended effect.
Although the Tuskeegee Airmen National Historic Site quarter was struck in a similar relief, it appears that the dies were engraved to give the design a better image of depth and texture. The design and engraving of this coin gives the America the Beautiful Quarter program a well-designed closed.
Weekly World Numismatic News for August 8, 2021
Greetings from Athens, Georgia!
New Change Find: a 2021 Roosevelt Dime
As of today, it looks like my next show will be the Whitman Expo in Baltimore next November.
Please don’t think that the trip is all work. When I come to Athens, I am reminded of my youthful days as a student at Georgia. It is always interesting to see how the area has changed, but it is fascinating as to what remains the same. Tonight’s dinner came from The Taco Stand on Milledge Avenue. The sign inside said it has been open since 1977, and I was a freshman in 1978. My Baja Burrito was a taste down memory lane.
When I received my change, one of the dimes is dated 2021. It marks the first time that I found a 2021 coin in my pocket change. It has only taken 219 days and a trip to Athens to find my first 2021 coin. I was hoping to find the new Washington Crossing the Delaware quarter first, but a dime is a good find with the year more than half-over.
Last week, The National Sports Card and Collectors Convention (The National) held its annual show in Rosemont. According to the reports from many collector publications, the show was a rousing success. Although there were a few complaints about Cook County’s mask mandate, the reports said it did not take away from the show and called it a success. Sports cards have made a big comeback that even some of the over-produced cards of the 1980s and 1990s are selling. It has helped players find ways to be accessible to fans and willing to sell their wares to anyone who will pay.
Finding new avenues to attract new collectors and existing collectors to spend more is always a challenge. Sports memorabilia collectors are beginning to see what can happen with the new market in college sports’ Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules. The NIL rules allow college players to sell their name, image, and likeness and remain eligible for college sports.
There was always a potential for better college players to earn money for NIL, but the NCAA rules prevented this. The NCAA suspended Georgia’s Todd Gurley for four games for selling his jersey to a collector in 2014. He used the money to take his girlfriend to dinner. And I won’t talk about Reggie Bush who’s situation is a travesty given the new rules.
Numismatics has to consider what it will take to expand the base. The base is not going to be expanded by recycling the Morgan and Peace dollars. You expand the base by embracing everything new and welcoming everyone that does not care about the old. There is so much fun to have with modern coinage that I think I will explore more over the next few months.
In the meantime, if you can make it to Rosemont for the ANA World’s Fair of Money, have fun. If you are like me and have Real World commitments that prevent you from going, stay tuned. There is a lot more to come!
And new the news…
August 8, 2021
→ Read more at sci-news.com
August 8, 2021 → Read more at carsonnow.org
August 8, 2021 → Read more at thehindu.com
August 8, 2021 → Read more at bbc.com
Weekly World Numismatic News for August 1, 2021
2021-W American Silver Eagle Type 1 Proof
The answer was not a response to the weather but the market. According to his partner, they had a difficult time stocking inventory. The number of buyers is outpacing the sellers a lot. The limited inventory is also impacting dealer-to-dealer transactions. The low supply and high demand are causing prices to rise.
Aside from the typical demand for collector coins, modern silver is in high demand. Anything made of silver is in high demand, that many dealers cannot find enough inventory.
One observation was that after silver, collectors are looking for something different. International coins are seeing increased interest. New collectors are discovering their past and are looking for coins that their grandparents may have used. One dealer said there is an increase in people looking for 20th-century coins from Eastern Europe.
Another area that is becoming popular is hometown collecting. A currency dealer said that collectors are asking about obsolete and national banknotes based on their location. After suggesting to speak with an exonumia dealer, I learned that new collectors are discovering transportation and other tokens from their hometowns or the hometown of their parents. The dealer told me that two young collectors almost cleaned out their inventory of Iowa tokens.
The lesson is that the market is hot, prices are rising, and new collectors are entering the market looking to have fun. It makes for a healthy
And now the news…
July 26, 2021 → Read more at news.artnet.com
July 27, 2021 → Read more at bbc.com
July 28, 2021 → Read more at newyorker.com
July 29, 2021 → Read more at ksl.com
July 30, 2021 → Read more at usatoday.com
July 31, 2021 → Read more at eadt.co.uk
The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is encapsulated. Why?
Last April, PCGS announced that they had certified the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Gold Coin that Stuart Weitzman recently sold at auction. The coin sold for $18.9 million to an undisclosed buyer on June 8, 2021, by Sotheby’s
On July 27, 2021, PCGS announced that they entombed the most expensive coin in the world in their plastic.
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- 1933 $20 Obv – The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is a gold coin with a $20 face value that sold for nearly $19 million in June 2021 and was graded MS65 by Professional Coin Grading Service. The obverse, seen here, depicts a striding Miss Liberty before a sunrise over the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service.
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- 1933 $20 Rev – A flying eagle graces the reverse of the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, a gold coin with the face value of $20 that was originally designed by namesake sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1907. Courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service.
While I acknowledge there is a place for third-party grading services in the collecting market, certifying and encasing the most valuable coin in the world does not qualify.
Although forgeries and fakes are infesting the market, a coin like this one-of-a-kind wonder with a story that reads like a best-selling whodunit the coin is so unique that encasing it away from the world has no equivalent in other collectibles.
Art collectors spend more money for the rarest of paintings only to display them without encapsulation. For example, Salvator Mundi attributed Leonardo da Vinci sold in 2017 for a world record of $450.3 million to Prince Badr bin Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The prince intends to display it at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Although the display will have security, the painting will be on display for all to see, not entombed in plastic.
Slabs give coins a homogenous feeling. All slabs look the same. There is little to distinguish the coins other than the information on the label. But the label is not the coin. It hides the differences away from the admirer. A row of slabbed coins does little to enhance the fact that each is different.
Coin collectors have given up eye appeal and the emotion of seeing a beautiful coin to the third-party grading services. Collectors have become mesmerized by labels, numbers, and even stickers without truly understanding what they mean.
Recently, a friend purchased a Carson City minted Morgan Dollar that we thought should grade DMPL (deep-mirrored proof-like). The coin was beautiful but had some slight inclusions. There were bag and handling marks on the coin, but we were confident that the coin would earn the DMPL designation.
When he sent the coin to a third-party grading service for encapsulation (not my coin, so it was not my decision), we played “guess the grade.” My guess was lower than my friend’s. He was more optimistic and overlooked some of the issues I saw. Even though the coin was graded MS-62 DMPL, it did not take anything away from the coin’s beauty.
Except my friend was upset, and the coin is in plastic.
He was conditioned by the phenomenon of grading every coin that the higher the grade, the better the coin. Forget that the coin was beautiful to look at, and he paid less for the coin than if it was graded. He really wanted the coin to grade MS-64. After all, MS-64 is better than MS-62, right?
Now that the coin is encased in plastic, it has lost its luster. I am sure the coin is fine, and the third-party grading service did not damage the coin, but the plastic mutes the impressive DMPL fields. I do not have the same emotional response to the coin in the plastic.
As a result, he wants to crack out the coin and send it to the other third-party grading service to see if he can get a higher grade. I shook my head and wished him good luck.
I am worried that by encasing the only 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Gold Coin that is legal to own in a plastic case, the coin will lose its impressive look and make it like any other coin.
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