Welcome back to Something About Coins! Today's buzz is all about the new eleven year quarters program. States across America are talking about their own national park/site featured in the new U.S. Mint program. Coin news is also circulating about the ancient coins found in a cave outside of Jerusalem. As another item, Numismaster has an article about the history and significance of the Roosevelt Dimes. Finally, because there's always seven or eight steps to everything, I included an internet article with the 8 steps to finding an error coin in your pocket change. Here's a little bit more about today's most interesting coin stories:
Excitement about the 'America the Beautiful Quarters' grew today when the U.S. Mint released their list of 56 national parks and sites to be used for designs on the tails side of U.S. quarters starting in 2010. The U.S. Mint is officially calling the series, "United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program." It will introduce five new quarters per year until 2021. The first five to start the series will commemorate Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. A complete list can be found on CoinNews.net and over at http://www.usmint.gov.
Ancient Jewish rebel coins were found in a cave located outside Jerusalem, Science News reported today. The coins were discovered by Israeli archaeologists from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University. About 120 gold, silver and bronze Roman coins, mostly in excellent condition, are believed to be from the period of the Bar-Kakhba revolt of the Jews against the Romans. Most of the coins were rebel coins, which is described as coins that were overstruck with imprints of Jewish images and words. It is the largest collection of rare coins from the Bar-Kokhba revolt period excavated from one location by scientific researchers.
Roosevelt dimes can be found everywhere today, but they first hit the streets in 1946, shortly after President FDR's death, Tom LaMarre of Coins Magazine writes via Numismaster.com. The dime was chosen to commemorate the late President since he had shown support for the March of Dimes organization. The design with FDR's portrait is still in production today. For collectors, it's a sensible coin to collect if on a tight budget, concludes LaMarre, because most of the silver Roosevelt dimes are valued under $2 in Extremely Fine-40.
If you don't appreciate Roosevelt dimes, you might have fun finding errors in circulation coins. It's so easy and takes only a few seconds, if you follow the eight steps outlined on About.com: Coins. This article points out what to look for during each step. Getting in the habit of checking your pocket change daily could pay off if you find a valuable error coin or die variety. The sum of the steps goes: Sort by denomination, Examine the obverse inscriptions, Examine the date and mintmark, Examine the major devices, Turn over the coin and check the die rotation, Examine the reverse, Check the edge, and Set aside the oddities. Knowing what to look for is the key to finding a prize, so you'll have to check out this article.
That's it for today! Have a good evening, and I'll see you tomorrow!
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