Aug 31, 2006 | coins
After taking some time off for the end of the summer, I went over the US Mint’s website to see if anything interesting was released. On the front page, the Mint is advertising the American Eagle 20th Anniversary Sets. Starting at noon on August 30th, the Mint is selling three sets celebrating the 20th anniversary of the American Eagle Coin program.
The Mint is offering three sets of coins: silver, gold, and one with a single silver and gold Eagle using the same designs as previous coins. The combined set is a two coin set with a one-ounce uncirculated Silver American Eagle and a one-ounce uncirculated Gold American Eagle. Both coins are minted at the West Point facility and will include a “informative booklet outlining the history of gold and silver in coins throughout history.” The set is priced at $850.
Each of the three-coin silver set and gold set have one-ounce uncirculated and two proof coins. One of the proofs in these sets will feature a new reverse proof Eagle coin minted at the Philadelphia Mint. The uncirculated and regular proof coins are minted at West Point. The silver set is priced at $100 and the gold set is $2,610.
The reverse proof is intriguing. Although not a new concept as Australia, Canada, and Great Britain produce reverse proof bullion coins, I believe these Eagles will be the first reverse proof for the US Mint. These reverse proof coins will only be offered as part of the 20th anniversary set.
The Mint is limiting pre-sale orders to 10 sets each. I have already ordered mine!
Aug 21, 2006 | currency
This past weekend I visited my local branch of the US Postal Service holding one of those salmon-colored forms saying that I had a package that needed to be singed for. The form said that the item was from the US Department of the Treasury. Not thinking about it, I thought that the mail was work-related as in real-life I do some work for Treasury. But when the Postal worker brought out a box, I knew that it was my order for the Texas Coin and Currency Set.
After signing the form, I picked up the box and thought it was a little light. When I persevered in the dash to the Internet to place my order, I ordered five. The box did not feel like it held five sets. After placing the box in my trunk, I used my car key to cut through the packaging tape. In the box were TWO carefully wrapped Texas Coin and Currency Sets. I fumbled through the box looking for an explanation and found a letter from Kevin Brown, Division of Marketing Manager of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
The letter blames system failures “… due to the high volume of users trying to access the website.” It further blames “… the Bureau’s Automatic Call Distribution telephone system…” for a “… Treasury wide…” failure that “… also affected other agencies.” This caused BEP to oversell the sets. Although I work with computers for a living, I will not comment on the technology behind this statement except to say I am very disappointed as to how my tax dollars have been misued.
As for the order, in the BEP’s version of “fair,” the powers that be changed the quantities of the orders. With an original limit of 25 sets per order, the reductions were made as follows:
| Original Request |
Reduced Quantity |
| 1–2 sets |
1 set |
| 3–9 sets |
2 sets |
| 10–20 sets |
4 sets |
| 21–25 sets |
5 sets |
When you place an order from BEP via the Internet, they immediately charge your credit card. When you place an order on the telephone, they charge your credit card when the order is placed. Since I was able to place my order over the Internet, my credit card was charged for five sets, which three were credited at the end of July. For a month, Treasury held my money with no intention of filling my order.
It bothers me that BEP charged my credit card prior to shipping the product. If this was done by a commercial vendor I am sure that an oversight group like the Federal Trade Commission would be jumping in with both feet to investigate. I think it is time to write my members of congress to call BEP to task for this fiasco.
Aug 16, 2006 | coins, US Mint
Today I received a notice from the US Mint announcing that the they are taking orders for the San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coins. According to the email, “The San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Program features a silver dollar, with a limited mintage of 500,000 coins, and a $5 gold coin, limited to 100,000 coins. Each coin is available with a proof or an uncirculated finish.” The Granite Lady is noted for surviving the Great Earthquake of 1906.
The gold commemorative will be made from 90-percent gold and will be 21.6 mm in diameter and has a nominal value of $5. Its obverse design is based on the 1869 construction drawing by Alfred B. Mullett and the reverse design uses the reverse of the 1906 Liberty Half-Eagle eagle reverse, designed by Christian Gobrecht. The pre-issue price is set at $230 for the proof coin and $220 for the uncirculated version. Both prices will be increased by $25 October 17. Public Law 109-230 (GPO: text or pdf) requires that $35 per coin is donated to the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society to rehabilitate “the Historic Old Mint in San Francisco as a city museum and an American Coin and Gold Rush Museum.”
The silver commemorative will be minted in a 90-percent silver and 10-percent copper alloy and will be 1.5 inches (38mm) in diameter. The obverse design is based on the San Francisco Mint Medal by Sherl J. Winter. The reverse will use the reverse design of the 1904 Morgan Dollar design by George T. Morgan (remember, the Morgan Dollar was not minted during the period 1905-1920). The pre-issue price is set at $35 for the proof coin and $33 for the uncirculated. After October 17, the proof coin will cost $39 and the uncirculated will cost $35. By law, $10 from the sale of each coin will be donated to the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society.
When visiting the Mint’s online catalog, there is an entry for the 2006 United States Mint American Legacy Collection. The set will contain proof version of the 2006 circulating coins and proof version of both the Benjamin Franklin Founding Father Silver Dollar and the San Francisco Old Mint Silver Dollar. This set will be presented in “unique prestigious packaging.” Price is advertised at $135 and will be available for shipping in December.
According to the Mint’s Product Schedule page, the next special set will be the American Eagle 20th Anniversary Coin Set. There is no further description as to what will be in that set. Maybe, there will be an announcement this week at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money® in Denver. Stay tuned!
Coin line art images from the US Mint Image Library
Aug 10, 2006 | coins
Since I have been writing this blog, readers have been sending one persistent question: how much is my coin worth? Collectors may not want to sell their coin, but there is a gratifying feeling that comes from knowing that our collection is worth more than what we paid—like knowing my 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent, graded VF-30BN by Numismatic Guarantee Corporation (NGC), has been selling for $1,000 after it was bought (by my wife) for quite a bit less!
The value of a coin is determined by a combination of its state of preservation, population, and demand. The state of preservation is also called the coin’s grade. The current system is based on the 1948 writings of Dr. William Sheldon. The Sheldon Scale assigned grades from 1 through 70 on the theory that a coin graded 70 would be worth 70 times as much as a coin grading 1. Since grading is subjective, the American Numismatic Association started a certification service called ANACS in order to help protect the collecting community. Today, ANACS a private corporation and no longer associated with the ANA.
The population of a coins depends on its mintage and the number of coins known in that state of preservation. For those who want to look at this in economic terms, this is the supply of the coin that is in demand. Using the classic supply-and-demand curves, the population of Mint State (MS or uncirculated) 66 (MS-66) Morgan Dollars is smaller than for lower grade mint state Morgans. But since the demand is higher, the low supply but higher demand causes the prices to rise.
I consider myself a smart consumer. I will educate myself with the information I need, including price, before making a purchase. Buying collectible coins is no exception. If I am looking at a 1900 Morgan Dollar and have the choice between an really nice looking MS-63 coin and a coin graded MS-65, I want to know if the grade difference is worth it to me. In the past, many of us relied on the Guide Book of United States Coins, also called The Red Book. While a great source of information, The Red Book is static and cannot reflect the current price trends. What is a collector to do?
Dealers and investors subscribe to the Coin Dealer Newsletter (CDN), also known as The Greysheet. The Greysheet prices are the accepted standard that dealers use to determine the price of their inventory. Although anyone can subscribe to The Greysheet, subscription prices are a little expensive for the average collector. We average collectors need better sources.
My favorite on-line price guide is available from the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). The PCGS Price Guide is their assessment of the market based on dealer-to-dealer sales. I suspect the prices are based on the activity on the Certified Coin Exchange Facts Network (CCE). Aside from being a free service, I have found the listed prices to be a little above The Greysheet “bid” price (the wholesale price which a dealer would buy the coin) and below the “buy” price (the price a dealer would sell the coin). It is a great guide for up to date prices.
By the way, both PCGS and CCE are owned by Collectors Universe.
The PCGS Price Guide tells me that the 1900 Morgan Dollar is worth $47 in MS-63 and $240 in MS-65. With that information, I negotiated a $45 purchase for a raw (ungraded) MS-63 coin that looks real nice in my album!
These thoughts on on-line price guides were triggered when I received my weekly email newsletter from Numismatic News. The newsletter and their home page announces the future launch of Krause Publications’ NumisMaster coin pricing service. Krause publishes many price guides for United States and world coins. This looks like Krause is bringing their expertise to the web. From their website:
And at the service’s core, you’ll find the information you’ve depended on for years from Krause’s Standard Catalog series of guides on coin prices and paper money prices… now searchable, infinitely sortable, and updated daily by our team of experts.
Read the NumisMaster media release and take the opportunity to sign-up for a free Premier Membership.
Aug 8, 2006 | coins, pocket change
I admit that I am still a change hunter. During the day, I spend currency so that my change is returned in coinage. Sometimes I will look in the money draw and see if there are “different” coins stored in a side slot, like half-dollars. When I get home, I dump the change into a box for later search or I search anything that catches my eye. Searched change ends up in an old plastic pitcher that is cashed in at a local bank’s change counting machine every few months.
As part of this change hunt, I look for wheat-back cents, any silver coin, Bicentennial circulating commemoratives, and for coins that fill holes in the various Whitman folders that I use to collect this change. Those that are not added to a folder are saved in a special bank on my desk. On occasion, I will look closely at the coin for potential die varieties, like the wide versus narrow lettering varieties (1999D-1DR-003) in Lincoln cents. I also like to find foreign coins.
Lately, I have been finding quite a few Bicentennial Quarters. During a recent weekend in Florida, I was surprised when I discovered four of these coins with the Jack Ahr Drummer Boy design.
I hope others in the DC-area were able to find the coins I placed into circulation. Change hunting is fun. I only wish I would find more interesting items!!
Loading ...