Welcome back to Something About Coins! Buffalo coins headlined today, medals considered, coin auctions reviewed, and more discussed below.
The 2009 Gold Buffalo Proof coins won't have any ordering limits when they launch next week on Oct. 29. This exciting news was relayed via the U.S. Mint web site, on Buzz with Dave Harper (blog), and on CoinNews.net. The latter two reports expressed concern the Mint might not be able to meet the demand. After all, sales were suspended more than once last year due to high demand, and the Mint must rely on suppliers for their 24-karat gold blanks.
Since several coin collectors also collect medals, here's a story about the top 10 characteristics of creative medals collectors tend to keep. An image of ten medals from around the world is provided, and a description is given of each. The author suspects medals will gain more popularity next year when the America the Beautiful series begins and the three inch, five ounce silver "coin-medals" launch.
A hoard of silver coins found by a metal detector enthusiast in 2005 will be auctioned, CoinLink reports, by Morton & Eden on Dec. 2nd at Sotheby’s. The coins were found in a Northamptonshire field, and they are described as silver groats or fourpenny pieces, in circulated condition without corrosion, and dated mostly from the reigns of Henry V (1413-22) and Henry VI (1422-60).
An extremely rare 1609 Spanish gold coin from the Caballero de las Yndias collection recently sold at auction for 800,000 Euro, or about $1.2 million U.S., according to the latest news. It was surprising, since the coin was expected to sell for almost $3 million U.S. The coin was the largest gold coin ever minted in Spain at the time, weighing about 11 ounces, and was the first of its kind in all of Europe. At auction, it was described as almost extremely fine.
At auctions, you'll find many coins graded by one of the big third-party grading companies, like Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC). The Dominion Grading Service (DGS), on the other hand, is the in-house grading service for David Lawrence Rare Coins (DLRC). DGS is also an inexpensive grading alternative for circulated or cleaned coins that aren't the typical kind of coins big grading companies want to grade. John Feigenbaum further explains DGS in this article.
If you missed the Smithsonian coins exhibit, you can now see it on video. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) announced earlier this week that the 7 minute video is on their home page. The exhibit features some of America's greatest numismatic gold rarities, including a 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle and a 1849 Liberty Double Eagle.
There's been several stories about the Braille Commemorative Dollar, so the interesting part about this one is the extra insight on Louis Braille's life and a description of what makes the braille system for the blind so ingenious.
Here are a few Braille Dollars being auctioned:
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