Stolen Coins Discovered, Gold Coin Demand, Taylor Presidential Rolls

Posted on 19. Nov, 2009 by KJ in Auctions, New Coin Issues, US Mint

Welcome back to Something About Coins! We start with the good news that a coin dealer's stolen inventory has been found.

CoinLink.com broke the good news that much of coin dealer Julian Leidman's stolen coins were recovered. The theft of about a million dollars worth of valuable collectible coins and notes were stolen from Leidman as he was returning home from a coin show Oct. 11. CoinLink.com published a message from Leidman saying that on Oct. 29, he received a call from a dealer who described some coins that Leidman believed were his. Authorities found 1,700 coins and 300 notes belonging to Leidman and are still looking for more. No arrests have been made yet, and it's still an ongoing investigation.

Bloomberg.com reported global demand for gold coins is up and gold coin production has risen from mints around the world. The Royal Mint quadrupled production of gold coins in the third quarter, and Harrods Ltd (a large department store in the U.K.) started selling gold bars and coins in October. The report also said the U.S. Mint's American Eagle gold coin sales more than doubled in the first nine months of 2009, and the Austrian Mint has sold 23% more gold coins than last year.

The Wall Street Journal recounted the value of coin collecting after a penny sold for $1.3 million at auction. It said much of the coin market right now is being driven up by investors, and ordinary collectible coins are losing value. Gold coin sales are reportedly up by 75% at Heritage Auctions, and demand for graded coins is surging.

Today the U.S. Mint launched another new product, the Taylor Presidential Rolls. CoinNews.net described the twelfth American President and why he was known as "Old Rough and Ready." The $1 coins feature Zachary Taylor's portrait on the obverse and the Statue of Liberty on the reverse.

Last week, the Draped Bust Large Cents received attention from Paul Green on NumisMaster.com. He wrote a historical account of the colonial pennies, their key dates, and the state of affairs at the Philadelphia Mint when those cents were in production. This week, Green focused on the modern Statue of Liberty Half Dollar. This 1986 commemorative coin was the first copper-nickel clad half dollar of its kind and became a best-seller. Proof and uncirculated versions were made, and the Mint sold about 7.8 million of them.

Ginger Rapsus wrote from personal experience about collecting type sets. Several type sets are described in the article, some sets are harder than others, and there is a lot that can be learned from type collecting.

Thanks for reading!