The News at a Glance – July 30, 2010
The Willow Tree Coins
NumiStories
John Hull’s second series of silver coins produced at his Boston, Massachusetts mint were the first dated coins in what would become the United States. This “Willow Tree” design is believed to have been produced from 1653 to 1660. It was determined that Hull’s simple “NE” coins were easy to counterfeit and prone to clipping because of the absence of a border to the design. Clipping was the process of cutting slivers of silver off the edges of coins and passing the now underweight coins at full value. On October 19, 1652 legislation was passed paving the way for the new design. The “Willow Tree” name was first noted in W.E. Woodward’s sale of the Joseph Mickley collection in 1867. These coins were very crudely struck, perhaps on a rocker press rather than by hand, the “tree” appearing as a mass of lines and squiggles that really doesn’t resemble any specific tree. The coins were struck in denominations of threepence, sixpence, and shilling with the obverse consisting of the tree in the center surrounded by inner and outer rings of dots.
[ Read Full Article]
“Blue Pack” Ike Dollars Present Storage Challenge
NCS
The 1971 debut of the Eisenhower Dollar was highly anticipated by collectors. The circulating edition wasn’t released until November of that year, but on July 1 collectors could begin sending in their orders for the silver-clad editions made at San Francisco. These included the proofs, packaged in a rigid plastic holder within a brown cardboard box, and sold for a whopping . Also offered were uncirculated examples at apiece. As delivered, these were packaged in the same transparent, flexible “pliofilm” (polyester) material used for the Mint’s annual uncirculated sets. The pliofilm sleeve was inserted into a fitted blue envelope properly imprinted for the coin.
[ Read Full Article]
What’s a Fair Price for the Silver 5-Ounce ATB ‘Quarters’?
Dave Harper
With silver at roughly a troy ounce presently, what do you think a fair price would be for the Mint to charge for the upcoming silver versions of the America the Beautiful quarters? Each coin will contain five troy ounces, or worth of bullion. It will be an unusual issue. The U.S. government has never issued five-ounce coins before. The coin will have twice the diameter of a Morgan dollar and will be unusually thin, so thin in fact that a special new press had to be purchased in Germany to strike it. That is new equipment, the cost of which, will have to be amortized during the coining program.
[ Read Full Article]
PCGS CoinFacts Turns One
PCGS Blog
PCGS CoinFacts turned one year old on July 27! PCGS CoinFacts was already a big baby when it was born, having gestated for over ten years. However, in the last year, thanks to lots of attention from our IT department and our Board of Experts, PCGS CoinFacts has put on a lot of meat and muscle. Enhancements include: Thousands of new images, ranging from high-grade modern coins to classic, ultra-rarities and everything in between. Condition Census – a listing of the top five examples all U.S. coins (top ten for rarities, if there are that many!) Hundreds of new narratives from experts in every area – anecdotes, facts, and figures from people in-the-know. Million Dollar Coin Club – a roster of coins that have sold for over a million dollars (and those that will soon).
[ Read Full Article]
CCAC Pans Coin Designs
Numismaster
Not just any old coin design will do. That’s the message the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee sent loud and clear July 27 as it recommended designs for only one of eight coins presented by the U.S. Mint. “We’re putting more value on our recommendations,” said CCAC Chairman Gary Marks. So after adopting a new voting procedure that calls for a majority rather than plurality of votes before a coin design can be considered “recommended,” the CCAC only gave thumbs up to an obverse and reverse design for the 2011 First Spouse coin honoring Lucretia Garfield. But the CCAC isn’t blaming the Mint artists for the disappointing designs. “The artists are pretty much told what to render,” Marks said. “There isn’t a lot of creativity going on in what the artists are allowed to do.” And that’s where design excellence comes in, Marks said.
[ Read Full Article]
Money of the German Colonies
CoinsWeekly
Already in 1890, a first emission of copper coins was issued in Berlin by order of the German East Africa Company. They were called Pesa and show on the obverse a laurel wreath and the Arabic legend “Company of Germany“. On its reverse the imperial eagle was depicted. An Indian Rupee, the most important coastal currency, equated 64 Pesa. Pesa were issued in high numbers (in 1892 alone, the emission’s last year, 27.541.389 were manufactured). The silver coins, emitted since 1891, were issued in considerably lower numbers. They show on the obverse the German Emperor and on the reverse the coat of arms of the German East Africa Company, a striding lion in front of a palm tree. The fractions were one quarter, one half, one, and a double Rupee thereby matching the local currency situation.
[ Read Full Article]
Related posts:
- The News at a Glance – July 26, 2010
- The News at a Glance – July 28, 2010
- The News at a Glance – July 29, 2010
RSS Site Feed