Welcome back to Something About Coins! Record-breaking gold bullion coin sales by the U.S. Mint is making headlines and so is a large car crash in Italy that spilled over one million in coins. Also in the news, the Perth Mint added another popular Koala coin to their summer line up, and Heritage Auction Galleries is drumming up interest for their Boston auction during the World's Fair of Money. Those are just a few of the coin related articles linked below!
US Mint Sells 151,500 Gold Eagles in June 2010, Second Highest Since 1999, CoinNews.net
The United States Mint sold 151,500 ounces of 2010 America Gold Eagles in June, marking the second highest monthly level since 1999 and despite June’s reputation as historically one of the slowest months of the year for bullion coin sales. June sales trailed behind May’s milestone of 190,000, but the month easily ranked as the second highest of 2010 and, more meaningful, the second best since the sizzling months in 1999 when eagles were purchased at record levels prior to Y2K. The June 10, 2010 release of fractional Gold Eagles ... Click for coin article
Cash van crash spills £1.6 million, TheSun.co.uk
FISTFULS of gold were scattered over a highway when a bullion van overturned — spilling its load of TWO MILLION euros (£1.6m). The one- and two-euro coins covered the busy motorway after the van's tyre burst and it crashed into a barrier. Motorists jumped out of their vehicles and scooped up thousands in cash on the A14 near Foggia, southern Italy. The motorway connects the north of the country with popular holiday hot spots in the south. A police spokesman said the truck had left the city of Cesena and was en route to a bank in ... Click for coin article
Perth Releases 2010 Gold Proof Koala Coin, WorldMintCoins.com
Cute and cuddly make a return to a gold proof coin thanks to the Perth Mint's 2010 Australian Koala Gold Proof Coin. This strike is actually the third in an annual series started by the Perth back in 2008. Each coin in the series is struck from 99.99% pure gold and come in four different sizes - 2 ounce, 1 ounce, 1/10 ounce and 1/25 ounce with face values of $200, $100, $15 and $5 respectively. As indicated by the face values, these coins are actually considered legal tender of Australia under the Australian Currency Act of 1965. Of course ... Click for coin article
Coin Monday on a Tuesday: Finding the Willow Tree, HeritageAuctions.blogspot.com
...Today's coin feature is of a much older vintage than Bruce Lee's jumpsuit…more than three centuries older. The piece was scheduled to go in the July Summer FUN Auction (friendly reminder: bidding ends this week!), but it was moved back to the Boston ANA Auction. Believe me, it's worth the wait. I had the coin on my desk. Massachusetts silver. The holder said "Oak Tree Shilling, Good Details." It wasn't much to look at, or rather, there wasn’t much to look at on it, as worn as it was. Even so, I figured I would be able to match it to a die ... Click for coin article
Additional reward offered in coin, currency theft, ClevelandBanner.com
The business owner who suffered a significant loss during a recent burglary has added an additional reward of $5,000 to anyone who can help with the return of the missing items. Last week, the Cleveland Police Department began investigating a business burglary at Trinity Healthcare, located on Peerless Road, where a "large collection" of rare coins and currency dating back to the mid-1800s to 2008 was reportedly taken from an office safe. A partial list of the items taken include more than 200 complete sets of U.S. proof sets and uncirculated ... Click for coin article
Smart Collecting 101: Is It Ever Right to Buy the Wrong Coin?, RareGoldCoins.com
In the first installment of Smart Collecting 101 I discussed the "coin churn" and how to avoid it. One reader made a great suggestion for the second topic and I'm going to discuss it at length here. The topic involves buying the "wrong" coin and if there is ever a right time to buy a coin that you clearly know is not optimal for your collection. The brief answer is yes. It depends on what sort of coins that you collect and what your ultimate goals as a coin collector are. Let’s look at a few scenarios. If you are a die variety collector there will probably be ... Click for coin article
Eagles on Coins Dull to Delightful, NumisMaster.com
The eagle is one of the most magnificent birds found in nature. Large and bold, with a hooked beak and fierce-looking eyes, the eagle has long been a symbol of power, majesty and beauty. Bald eagles, found in different parts of the United States, became the national symbol in 1782. Many renderings of this bird can be found on coins, eagles in varying stands, flying, perched or in fanciful pose. An eagle can be seen on the Massachusetts cent of 1787, holding arrows. The Excelsior pieces of the same year show an eagle perched on a globe ... Click for coin article
An ounce of advantage, Blog.NumismaticNews.net/buzz
Back in the 1970s, the Krugerrand grabbed the attention of gold buyers by claiming it was the best way to own gold. Buyers leaped at the chance to buy a coin that was a convenient one troy ounce in gold weight. Whatever the headline price of gold is, that's the metallic value of the coin, because market prices are quoted in troy ounces. This convenience was and still is critical to the success of bullion coins. That's why the size of it was copied by other major world mints, such as the Royal Canadian Mint, U.S. Mint and Austrian Mint. They ... Click for coin article
Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!
