A Token Mystery
As I have been searching for hometown numismatics, I have been coming across merchant tokens that advertises deed to land for what seems to be a low price. All of the tokens have a Manhattan address, and all say that the business is open until 9 P.M.
None of the tokens have dates, but all have the same address. One side of the token describes what is being offered:
The reverse says that the token has to be returned within 96 hours to the Advertising Department, Room 1274, in the Longacre Building at the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway.
According to public data available online, the Longacre Building was a 12-floor building in Times Square that opened in 1912. Before 1904, Times Square was known as Longacre Square, and the area was renamed when the New York Times opened its headquarters on the property of the old Pabst Hotel.
Some websites documenting old New York City buildings identify the same address as the Longacre Hotel from 1917 through 1932. It is possible that the building was turned into an inexpensive hotel, and the advertiser rented a room at the hotel.
Documentation suggests that the city demolished the building during the Great Depression using New Deal funding.
As I was looking for answers, a friend that is a professor in one of the city’s many colleges speculates that a Florida government issued the token. Early in the 20th century, Florida governments came to New York to entice New Yorkers to move to areas north of Miami or purchase land for second homes.
The condition of the sale or deed transfers is not known.
Many of New York City’s historical records are held at the main New York Public Library, not far from the Longacre Building once stood. Some day, I will go to the library to research the old records to find the story behind these tokens. Maybe it is an excellent excuse to go home in time for NYINC.
Weekly World Numismatic Newsletter for March 31, 2019
Did you know there was a big coin show in Pittsburgh?
The National Money Show was held this past week in Pittsburgh with a rousing silence. There was no news. No announcements. Nothing.
It had to be one of the quietest shows in recent memory.
Although I could not attend, I was waiting for something to come across my email to let me know that the numismatic industry is alive, well, and enjoying Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is a really nice place. It has shaken off its past as a result of the steel mills closing and has really turned itself around. Its redevelopment was well underway when I attended Carnegie Mellon for graduate school. It has only become better.
Did someone go to Pittsburgh for the National Money Show? Or did they go out and ride the Duquesne Incline, visit the Strip District, tour the Heinz History Center, or relax in Schenley Park? There are great places to eat on the South Side including at Station Square, but there was a show going on. What happened?
Instead of worrying about whether a kids-oriented set sold by the U.S. Mint is good for the hobby, maybe the hobby has to think about letting the world know that it still exists!
And now the news…
March 24, 2019The Royal Mint unveiled its Peter Rabbit 2019 coin recently, with the new designs becoming available only last week. At the time of writing, three different designs of the mischievous Beatrix Potter character had been released. 
→ Read more at express.co.uk
March 25, 2019A commemorative 50p coin to celebrate Brexit has not been minted yet, in what must surely be the ultimate metaphor for Brexit. The coin was announced at last year's Budget, with the Treasury suggesting it would bear the date '29 March 2019' and be available from Brexit day. → Read more at mirror.co.uk
March 25, 2019The single biggest hoard of Celtic coins ever found is now thought to be two separate stashes that were buried together. The Le Câtillon II hoard includes 70,000 gold and silver coins and 11 gold torques, or necklaces, and dates to the First Century AD. → Read more at dailymail.co.uk
March 25, 2019This rare Irish coin could fetch thousands of Euro at an auctionWhyte's A rare Irish 20p coin could fetch up to $6,800 (€6,000) at an upcoming auction in the Dublin. Read More: A guide to valuing all your old Irish coins → Read more at irishcentral.com
March 27, 2019A COIN fan who stabbed a fellow enthusiast to death and stole his collection has been jailed for life. Danny Bostock, 33, broke into Gordon McGhee’s flat and knifed him at least 14 times. SWNS:South West News Service → Read more at thesun.co.uk
March 29, 2019From time to time, legislation gets introduced in Congress to eliminate dollar bills in favor of dollar coins. The lawmakers pushing the legislation always tout it as a way to save the government money. → Read more at fedsmith.com
March 30, 2019KOLKATA: Winds of change are blowing over this 232-year-old church, tucked in one corner of Dalhousie, diagonally opposite Raj Bhavan. St John’s Church, which was the first cathedral the British built in the country and was the only cathedral till St Paul’s was built, is being thrown open to public programmes. → Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Brace yourself, the U.S. Mint is about to release another product for the kids
Although the U.S. Mint has not formally announced it, on March 28, 2019, they will make the 2019 Explore and Discover Coin Set (Product Code 19XGB) available to the general public. It is the second of three sets to be issued this year designed to get kids interested in coins.
This set features new characters they call the Mighty Minters.™ According to the U.S. Mint, the Might Minters are “fun, diverse, and relatable ambassadors to children, parents, and gift-givers. Each character projects its own style while introducing a variety of new Mint products to kids.” Although the concept may seem cheesy to us alleged adults, those who deal with the diverse population daily understands that in order to get the younger people interested they have to be engaged on their level.
I know. I know. It was different when we grew up. Back then you could still find silver coins in pocket change. Wheatback cents were about as common as Memorial cents are today. People even tried to use Susan B. Anthony dollars in their daily lives before confusing it with a quarter.
But that was the past.
Today’s children have a much different view on things. For one, if they are 18 years old or younger, they were born after 9/11 or were an infant and do not remember what happened. They grew up with the Internet, smartphones, and computers everywhere doing nearly everything. You can get access to everything at almost any time while their parents always bought things online.
Not only is money still important but the United States government owns the world’s largest money manufacturing business. No other mint manufactures, sells, or is more profitable than the United State Mint. It is an agency that does not get enough credit for producing billions of dollars of goods that our economy thrives on.
The U.S. Mint’s products are useful and collectible. And while there have been a few design issues, it is able to produce millions of versions of the art that people carry around daily and with an error rate that should make any company envious.
Errors are a fun aspect of the hobby because the rate of the errors is low. This is likely why the U.S. Mint is including a blank one cent planchet in the set. Not only does it show what a coin looks like before it is struck, but it also introduces kids to error collecting.
The Explore and Discover Coin Set introduce kids to the full range of circulating products produced by the U.S. Mint including the longest running design in the Mint’s history: Victor D. Brenner’s Lincon cent design.
In addition to a 2019 Jefferson Nickel and Roosevelt Dime, they are introduced to the Kennedy Half-Dollar. One of the quickest coin designs ever produced, the Kennedy half-dollar is not circulated as half-dollars once were. Although there are a lot of theories as to why half-dollars stopped circulating, one was that the 1964 half-dollar, which was made using an alloy that was 90-percent silver, was saved by many in honor of the slain president coupled with the coin shortage that followed effectively ended the coin’s circulation.
Also in the set is the first 2019-issued Lowell National Historical Park Quarter and 2019 Native American $1 Coin featuring American Indians in the Space Program honoring the achievement of Native Americans dating back to Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee Nation), the first Native American engineer at NASA.
These are two coins that should help kids not only learn about the coins but also about the subjects they depict. This should not discount the dollar coin’s obverse of Sacagawea carrying her baby, Jean Paul Baptiste.
It is another opportunity for the hobby purists to weigh in on how the U.S. Mint is getting it wrong before it sells out!
Weekly World Numismatic Newsletter for March 24, 2019
2019 Celebrating The Life of Stephen Hawking 50P Coin Reverse
(Image Courtesy of the Royal Mint)
A Commonwealth Realm is a sovereign country in which the Monarch of Great Britain, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the reigning constitutional monarch and head of state. The role of the queen is largely symbolic as the government of each country manage its domestic affairs.
As part of this management, each country produces its own coinage. Within the Commonwealth Realm, the largest state-run mints are the Royal Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Australian Mint, and Perth Mint. There are other private mints that produce legal tender coins, but these are the only government-owned mints in the commonwealth.
Every time one of these mints issues a new coin for circulation, the information is all over their country’s media. For example, in the run-up to the issue of the Peter Rabbit circulating 50p commemorative as part of the Royal Mint’s Beatrix Potter series, nearly every news outlet in the U.K. has been covering the anticipation.
This phenomenon is not restricted to the Commonwealth Realm. Former Commonwealth members also heavily promote their coins. We know that India is issuing a 12-sided 20 rupee coin along with other new designs. South Africa Reserve Bank is issuing circulating coins to celebrate the country’s 25 years as a Constitutional Democracy.
Yet the United States press has been largely silent. Sure, there are blurbs when a congressperson drops a bill into the virtual hopper but the press has been silent after that.
While there were other things going on in December, there was very little reported about the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Act for 2020.
There was hardly a peep out of the press for the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative coins. Even with the political turmoil, this country should be commemorating one of its greatest feats of the 20th century that did not involve bombs or bullets.
There has been more coverage in the science and tech-related press about the release of the Black Hole coin honoring Stephen Hawking by the Royal Mint.
To its credit, the American Legion has been promoting the 100th Anniversary commemorative coins to their members. However, was there any general media outlets covering the program’s release?
The hobby is perceived to be dying because it is not attracting new members. How can the hobby attract new members when it does not promote itself outside of its insular bubble?
I am sure that I will hear from the bullion sellers because they have been crowing about the steady rise of gold prices. Aside from being an investment and not a hobby issue, the rise of gold prices is alarming. Investing in gold and other precious metals is seen as a safe-harbor move when investors predict that markets will be less lucrative. If investors are pulling money out of other investments to invest in gold that means they do not trust the markets and we may be in for problems.
If we stop worrying about what is good or bad for the hobby and figure out how it could survive, maybe we can attract new collectors. First, we have to do is to let everyone know the hobby still exists.
And now the news…
March 12, 2019This new series comprising denominations of ₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, and ₹20, designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, will aid the visually-impaired through its thoughtful design. As per the notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, apart from the ₹20 coin, which will be a 12-sided polygon (a dodecagon), the rest of the coins will be circular in shape. → Read more at architecturaldigest.in
March 18, 2019A 14th-century French gold coin was discovered inside one of three hidden drawers in a bureau inherited by a woman who lives in Derbyshire, England. The mother of three, Amy Clapp, 37, told reporters she had no idea the 650-year-old coin — or the secret drawers — existed after being left a 20th-century bureau by her distant cousin. → Read more at thevintagenews.com
March 19, 2019The brand new commemorative Peter Rabbit coin that was announced last week has been released to the public. The new coin features an original illustration of Peter Rabbit taken from the book, The Tales of Benjamin Bunny. → Read more at inews.co.uk
March 19, 2019TYLER, TX (KLTV) – An East Texas woman found a unique coin on the side of the road by the Caldwell Zoo more than six months ago, and she wants to find its rightful owner. Jan Hommel, the director of the American Freedom Museum, knew exactly where the coin came from. → Read more at kltv.com
March 19, 2019A $1 million penny, a $3 million nickel and more than $100 million more in rare coins are coming to Pittsburgh from March 28 through 30 when the National Coin & Money Show stops at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. → Read more at triblive.com
March 20, 2019A "rare" 650-year-old coin found in a secret drawer in a desk has been sold for £850 at auction. The 14th Century coin was discovered inside one of three hidden drawers in a 1970s bureau, left to a woman by a long-lost relative. → Read more at bbc.com
March 21, 2019A number of new coins have been approved by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and celebrate the country’s 25 years as a Constitutional Democracy. A few of the coins will be collector’s items, and the R500 and R50 coins are specifically made for commemorative purposes only. → Read more at capetownetc.com
March 23, 2019LITTLETON, N.H. — After playing a key role in the success of Littleton Coin Company for nearly 30 years, the firm’s Chief Operating Officer Mike Morelli has announced his retirement at the end of 2019. → Read more at caledonianrecord.com
Numismatic Purists Heads are Exploding
Last week, the U.S. Mint reported that the sales of the Rocket Ship Set is close to being a sellout. With an announced limit of 50,000 sets, they said that 46,762 were sold.
The Rocket Ship Set is a coin product produced for kids to tie in with the space theme generated by the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Commemorative Coin program. The set contains two coins: an uncirculated 2019 Kennedy Half Dollar an a proof Native American $1 Coin honoring American Indians in the Space Program. The coins are mounted on a card shaped like a rocket ship that glows in the dark and can be set up to stand up on a desk, shelf, or anywhere else.
The text an the card explains the significance of the coins in honoring the space program written for children.
When the set was announced, there was a lot of commentary how the U.S. Mint was wrong for doing this. I read and received emails saying that this is the wrong way to reach children that many thought this set would barely reach 15,000 units sold.
While the numismatic snobs were throwing around adjectives like “dumb” and “stupid” claiming it is “bad for the hobby” and wondering out too loud what the U.S. Mint was thinking, customers bought up 93½-percent of the available inventory in two-weeks!
Although we do not know how many of the sales are to dealers or other institutional buyers, the fact that there is that level of interest suggests the U.S. Mint might have a better idea as to what’s good for the hobby than the snobs.
Parent of Krause Publications Files for Bankruptcy — Will Sell Off Assets
While searching for something else, I came across a story that F+W Media, the parent company of Krause Publications, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 10. As part of its bankruptcy filing, the company plans to liquidate its assets to pay its creditors.
According to the bankruptcy filing, F+W owes $105.2 million in outstanding debt to between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors (filing is not specific and I did not want to count the over 500-page filing). The most money is owed to LSC Communications, a company that provides printing and distribution services with over $2.7 million owed.
F+W is also asking the court to approve $8 million in financing to be used as working capital. They claim to have over $10 million in assets.
F+W has been a hobby publisher for many years. The company was founded in 1913 and was named for its two initial publications Farm Quarterly and Writer’s Digest. Farm Quarterly ceased publication in 1955.
Since 2000, F+W has been on a buying spree trying to diversify its portfolio. In 2000, F+W bought UK-based book publisher David & Charles and later renamed it F+W International. In 2002, they bought Krause Publications. In 2012, F+W Media acquired Interweave, an arts and crafts media company, and in 2014 purchased New Track Media.
F+W has had a failed Internet strategy that was not coherent across imprints. While those of us who regularly read Antique Trader find it difficult to understand why Numismatic News does not have a website to match. After scanning the bankruptcy filing, it is apparent that the lack of a cohesive e-commerce strategy led to the failure of the Numismaster website.
The bankruptcy of F+W will be felt across a lot of hobbies. They report that the company averages 600 new titles every year and has over 4,000 titles in print. The company produces 42 magazines, not all are weekly publications like Numismatic News. It lacks a cohesive e-commerce strategy and their idea of selling e-books is producing PDF files of their publications.
From a reader’s perspective, F+W magazines have no integration. Several times I have written to the writers and editors of Antique Trader and Old Cars Weekly magazines when there is a numismatic-related mistake in their publications. The response is almost as if they do not realize the other publications exist.
Krause Publications publishes more than numismatic-related magazines and books. Many of their books are collector and buyers guides for other hobbies. Books like Antique Trader Antiques & Collectibles, Warman’s Antiques & Collectibles, Goldmine Price Guide (vinyl records), and Military Trader magazine define these industries.
For the sake of numismatics, I hope that the Krause publications survive. This includes the Standard Catalog books, which are a hobby staple. In fact, because of the Standard Catalogs, Krause should have a significant database of numismatic information that should beat almost anyone. With a lot of imagination, that data could be put to great use for the benefit of numismatics and a way to produce premium content in order to generate the revenue to support its existence.
Just their database could create a treasure trove of possibilities that could be used beyond the numismatic community. All it would take is someone with money (which I don’t have) and imagination (which I have plenty).
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