Welcome back to Something About Coins! The U.S. Mint anticipates high demand and a slow ordering system for Thursday's big launch of the collector version five ounce silver ATB Hot Springs Coin. The 2011 bullion ATB coins started hot on Monday, according to a mint sales report. Doug Winter defines coins that are called widgets and lists some examples, and the Iceni gold hoard of 840 Iron Age coins is back in the news. The Royal Canadian Mint recently launched a coin featuring a wild rose and Swarovski crystals. Wednesday was busy at the Central States Numismatic Society's Convention, per John Brush of David Lawrence Rare Coins. Enjoy!
Mint Expects Slow Ordering Process for ATB Hot Springs Collector Coin, numismaster.com
The United States Mint will accept orders for the 2010 America the Beautiful 5-Ounce silver uncirculated coin honoring Hot Springs National Park at 12 Noon (Eastern Time) on Thursday, April 28. The cost is $279.95. Because of the anticipated demand for the coins, the Mint expects that its online ordering management system will be much slower than usual. “As we have previously indicated to our customers, our online ordering management system is in need of upgrade,” the Mint stated in a press release April 27 ... Click for coin article
US Mint Sales: America the Beautiful Silver Coin Products Debut, coinnews.net
Demand for United States Mint numismatic products turned higher for major coins and sets, the bureau's latest sales figures underscore. This week's report includes the first batch of debuting sales for the five-ounce 2011 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins, the 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set, and the 2011 American Gold Eagle Proof Coins. The Mint's Authorized Purchasers (AP's) scooped up 153,400 of 253,000 Gettysburg and Glacier five-ounce America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins on their launch day ... Click for coin article
Is it a Widget?, raregoldcoins.com
One of the newer catch-all coin terms that's been making the rounds is “widget.” This is a derogatory term meaning a coin that is common, boring, and lacking in character. I would primarily characterize a widget as something that is generic in nature. No one goes out and says “I'm putting together a collection of widgets,” but then again, the definition of this term seems a bit vague to me. I thought it might be helpful to take a random array of United States gold coins, describe them and posit as to if they qualify as widgets or non-widgets ... Click for coin article
Ipswich museum in bid to save Iceni gold hoard, bbc.co.uk
A museum needs to raise £300,000 by the end of June to keep a hoard of Iron Age gold coins in Suffolk. The 840 embossed coins, called the Wickham Market Hoard, were buried 2,000 years ago by Iceni tribesmen later led by Boudicca against the Romans. The stash was found by a metal detector operator in a field near Wickham Market in 2008 and declared treasure. The Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service has made a fast-track bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. "The opportunity to purchase the Wickham Market coin hoard is ..." Click for coin article
Calgary artist's wild rose featured on souvenir coin, calgaryherald.com
A new $20 souvenir coin from Royal Canadian Mint features a wild rose drawn by a city artist. Margaret Best, a Calgary botanical artist, says she was one of three people chosen by the mint to submit a design for the Wild Rose coin, which also features three clear white Swarovski crystals. “Once the person was chosen, then they have a week to do a complete coin design,” said Best. “So where the type is, that little curve, that's all from me. So as the artist, you're given the licence to do the whole look. I got to pick where the crystals got to go, too.” ... Click for coin article
CSNS: Day 1, stellacoinnews.com
Wow…that's all I can say about our first 2 days in Rosemont, IL… Matthew Kavalek and I (John Brush) of David Lawrence Rare coins, arrived Tuesday afternoon for the Central States Numismatic Society's Convention held in the underwhelming town of Rosemont, IL (aka O'Hare Airport Convention Center) ... Wednesday started out with a bang and we were busy from start to finish. In fact we didn't even have a chance to eat our $14 side salad from the food vendor until 3pm. It really does seem that the coin market is improving rapidly and coins are ... Click for coin article
Thanks for reading!
