Welcome back to Something About Coins! The U.S. Mint lowered their price for gold collector coins, and the Vatican started to circulate their collectible coins, a 50-cent piece. Other news about 50-cent coins include Canada's new dinosaur coin, a Kennedy error, and current values of Franklin half dollars. Later articles reveal some buried treasure and more shipwreck coins, and the last one uncovers a spy coin. Enjoy!
First Spouse Gold Coins and Proof Buffalo Prices Cut, CoinNews.net
Prices were cut late Wednesday afternoon for First Spouse Gold Coins and American Buffalo Proof Coins to better match the recent gold decline. According to the U.S. Mint’s gold pricing criteria, if the London Fix weekly gold average between Thursday AM and Wednesday AM moves out of the current range and the Wednesday PM price is in the same direction as the new average, then the Mint will adjust their numismatic gold prices accordingly. This week the average became $1,193.42 and Wednesday’s PM price was $1,191.50 ... Click for coin article
Vatican Circulates 50-Cent Coin, Catholic.net
Responding to a European Union directive to circulate more than half of its euro money at face value, the Vatican began to issue 50-cent coins this month. Last December, the Vatican and the European Union signed a monetary convention that updated the 2000 accord that introduced the euro as the official currency of Vatican City State. Among the agreements, it was stipulated that at least 51% of Vatican coins should be in circulation. Previously, a large part of them were sold at a higher rate as collectibles. The French news agency ... Click for coin article
New 50-cent dino coin flashes fearsome fangs, CalgaryHerald.com
Proving it's no relic, the Royal Canadian Mint has used the latest in coin design technology to come up with a frightening looking new 50-cent piece in honour of the Royal Tyrrell Museum's 25th year as the country's premier destination for dinosaur enthusiasts. As the coin is rotated sideways, the holder sees a moving image of a fearsome Albertosaurus lashing out with its toothy mouth agape. The piece uses something called a lenticular lens to produce the effect, and while the concept has been applied for decades to children's toys, it's relatively ... Click for coin article
Half Shows Error, NumismaticNews.net
Strike-through errors are among a number of interesting errors that turned up recently. Numismatic News reader, Merle Hyldahl, sent an image of a 2005-P Kennedy half dollar that shows a relatively deep and obvious strike-through error on the obverse. Hyldahl said, "I was recently going through a bank-wrapped roll of 2005 Kennedy half dollars and ran onto one coin that had a large spike running from just north of the 'In' of 'In God We Trust' and running north through Kennedy's nose ..." Click for coin article
Melting Attractive Option for Franklin, NumisMaster.com
The idea that the 1962 Franklin half dollar would be selling for anything more than a slight premium would be stunning to most people who had the chance to acquire one when it was new. Of course, the fact that those very same people did not save the 1962 at the time of issue is probably a large part of the reason why the 1962 today is a better date in top grades and one of the keys in MS-65 grade with full bell lines. To understand why this is so, we should consider the situation in 1962. The nation was alive with interest in coin collecting for ... Click for coin article
Buried treasures to be found on Ocean City beach, OceanCityToday.net
Keep your eyes open while out on the beach in Ocean City, because you just might find a buried treasure. An Ocean Pines resident wanted to do something to give back to the community after his retirement, and for the past few weeks he has been discretely dropping hundreds of coins from around the world into the sand along the beach for beach goers to find. "I thought this might be an interesting way to get rid of my coin collection and hopefully bring a smile to kids' faces and stimulate their interest in coins," said the 68-year old, who ... Click for coin article
Second follow-up to sunken 1715 Treasure Fleet: Treasure within treasure: Cannon found off Sebastian contained hidden gold, silver coins, TCPalm.com
Dozens of gold and silver coins hidden nearly 300 years ago were found Friday when a cannon recovered July 11 from a wrecked Spanish ship was being cleaned for preservation, salvagers reported this week. Divers from the salvage boat "Gold Hound" brought up the ship's bronze swivel cannon, a rare find in itself, in less than 20 feet of water between Wabasso and Vero Beach, said Anne Kazel-Wilcox, a spokeswoman for 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels, a private salvage company based in Sebastian and Jupiter. The heavily-encrusted ... Click for coin article
Spies Like Us: Spy Gear for Your Inner Secret Agent, PCWorld.com
Spy Coins: These hollow spy coins from Dereu & Sons have been in use since the Cold War by spies to transport secret messages or suicide poisons. Now you can use them to carry a MicroSD card. Available coins include U.S. nickels ... Click for coin article
Thanks for reading!
