American Silver Eagle, Norweb-Bass 1911-D Quarter Eagle
Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by KJ in American Eagles, Auctions, Perth Mint, US Mint, World Coins
Welcome to Something About Coins! Here are six coin articles. To start, they are about the six million American Silver Eagles that have been sold this year, how first issues make an impressive set, and the 1911-D quarter eagle from the Norweb Collection will be auctioned soon.
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Penny Exchange, Counterfeit Euro, Coin Pedigree
Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by KJ in Auctions, Counterfeit Coins, Lincoln Cents, New Coin Issues, Perth Mint, US Mint, World Coins
Welcome to Something About Coins! Here are a few current coin articles circulating the web that you don't want to miss. (more...)
2010 Lincoln Cent, Chile Error Coins, Australian Koala Silver
Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by KJ in Error Varieties, Lincoln Cents, New Coin Issues, Perth Mint, World Coins
Welcome to Something About Coins! Everybody was talking about the newest Lincoln Cent. Here are a few. (more...)
2009 UHR $20, Perth Mint Famous Battles Coin, Engraved Morgan Dollars
Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by KJ in New Coin Issues, Perth Mint, Rare Coins, US Mint, World Coins
Welcome to Something About Coins! A few of the web's new interesting coin articles are summarized below! (more...)
2009 Presidency Cent, Big Ben Coin, Transformer Coins
Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by KJ in Ancient Coins, Error Varieties, Lincoln Cents, Perth Mint, US Mint, World Coins
Welcome back to Something About Coins! Here's the scoop on yesterday's Lincoln Penny launch, the new 150th Big Ben Anniversary commemorative coin, and more. (more...)
Aviation Silver Proofs, Lincoln Cents, Civil War Era Coins
Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by KJ in Error Varieties, Lincoln Cents, New Coin Issues, Perth Mint, US Mint, World Coins
Welcome back to Something About Coins! Below are some snapshots of interesting coin articles that have surfaced across the web. (more...)
Australian Orbital and Chinese Outlaw Commemoratives, Vatican Euro Coin
Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by KJ in New Coin Issues, Perth Mint, US Mint, World Coins
Welcome back to Something About Coins! Mints from around the world are capturing history and our imagination. Two new commemorative coins are announced, and two existing circulation coins are analyzed. (more...)
Long Beach Sales, Shopping for Deals, Soaring Gold Amerian Eagles
Posted on 15. Sep, 2009 by KJ in Auctions, Perth Mint, US Mint
Welcome back to Something About Coins! The results are coming in from the Long Beach Coin Expo that was held over the weekend. My dad was there, so I asked him today what the attendance was like, and all he said was that he's seen better. Well, that's my dad. As honest as good ole' Abe himself. On to a more conclusive report ...
Heritage Auctions realized $18.4 million at Long Beach. That's pretty good in my book. Greg Rohan, President of Heritage, says in today's press release, "...the state of the numismatic market is quite sound; perhaps on its way to a full recovery, and beyond." Their press release has beautiful images of an 1891 $20 PR67 Ultra Cameo NGC and a Brazilian Joao V gold 12800 Reis Dobra 1731-R "Italic Shield", KM148, AU 53 NGC in near mint state.
Doug Winter, of RareGoldCoins.com, wrote an article about an experience he had at the Long Beach Coin Expo regarding rare coin prices. He warns in his article that new collectors with "deal shopping" mentality won't receive great coins for the grade if they're too concerned about price. He says that the real deals come with knowledge of the coins, and he illustrates with two coins given the same grade can carry completely different values.
In other news, CoinNews.net reports the 2009 gold bullion American Eagles are selling great while the silver sales have dramatically slowed down this month. In August, the U.S. Mint sold over two million silver American Eagles, but so far in September they've sold only 600,000 silver eagles. The gold eagles, on the other hand, are trending upward. It looks like the mint will sell more gold eagles this month than last month, since they're already at 62,500, and last month sold a total of 82,000.
By the way, I noticed those beautiful 2010 Koala Bullion Silver Coins that I wrote about on September 1st are in the Perth Mint catalog emailed today.
Have a good night, and see you tomorrow!
Odd Denomination Coins, $10 Liberty Head Gold, Washington Quarters
Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by KJ in Ancient Coins, Metal Detecting, New Coin Issues, Perth Mint
Welcome back to Something About Coins! I hope you enjoyed your long weekend. I had fun reading the articles below. I hope you do too.
Odd denomination US coins like the two-cent pieces from the 1860's make nice collectibles, and the linked article by Mark Benvenuto provides the facts and advice you need to know if you want them in your coin collection. Benvenuto examines five odd coins: the two-cent piece, the silver three-cent piece, the nickel three-cent piece, the silver 20-cent piece, and the gold $3 coin. Desirable prices, notable grades, and interesting history make this article valuable reading.
The biggest collection of Roman coins found in Britain this year was discovered last month by Nick Davies, on his first treasure hunt with a metal detector. The approximately 10,000 Roman coins that were in a large clay pot are estimated to be silver and bronze 'nummi' coins dating around 320AD. The pot was broken at the top, and several coins were spread out around the pot. Davies said, "This added at least another 300 coins to the total - it's fantastically exciting. I never expected to find such treasure on my first outing with the detector."
More coverage was given to the Perth Mint coins designed for their 2010 Silver Bullion Coin Program. The Perth Mint's 2010 program consists of the Australian Kookaburra Silver Coin Series, Australian Koala Silver Coin Series and the Australian Lunar Silver Coin Series. More images and coin specifications are found in this article on CoinNews.net. The kookaburra is a bird, the koala is a bear, and 2010's Lunar coin has an image of a tiger.
Not many people can collect $10 Liberty Head Gold Coins, especially in today's economy, but if you're going to go after a rare collection, Doug Winters has some advice. Besides choosing a great rare coins dealer, Winters recommends doing something every collector should do when starting a collection. He says, "I would draft a list that included every date in the series and make a decision what grade range I’d want for each date. The most common mistake that collectors make is that they overspend on the common issues and underspend on the keys."
Finding a coin you like and collecting a short set or the whole series, not because everyone else is doing it but because you just like that coin, is what the hobby is all about. Before the state quarters series started in 1999, one could easily cherry pick the best US Quarters with few serious problems, per this article on NumisMaster.com. It's an arousing account of one collector's Washington Quarter Collection, with insights to the enjoyment of collecting from circulation coins. Scarce dates and mintages are also described.
Speaking of circulation coins, Jamaica has two new coins in circulation today. The newly designed one and ten dollar coins are both round, as opposed to the old designs of the heptagonal shaped one dollar and the scalloped-shaped ten dollar. The Bank of Jamaica issued its press release last month, and the new coins hit the streets today.
Here are some Jamaican Coins on the secondary market:
Kangaroo & Koala Bullion Coins, Polk First Spouse Coin, New Legislation
Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by KJ in New Coin Issues, Perth Mint, US Mint
The Perth Mint of Australia launches the 2010 Kangaroo Gold Coin Series today, featuring two kangaroos boxing in the outback on the smaller coins, one ounce and below. The larger kilo gold coin features the classic hopping kangaroo design. Generally, these bullion coins are not available directly from The Perth Mint's website, since they are limited to coin wholesalers and dealers.
Also from The Perth Mint today is the new 2010 Koala Bullion Silver Coins. These coins come in four different sizes and have a new image of an Australian koala sitting on a tree branch eating leaves. I didn't see any order details on The Perth Mint's website this morning. They usually offer the one ounce version directly, and the other sizes are sold through their distributors. Right now their 2009 Koala coin is still for sale on their website.
Sarah Polk First Spouse Gold Coins will go on sale at the US Mint this Thursday. You will be able to buy Proof or Uncirculated 24-karat gold coins, and the order limit is 10 per household - for now. The Sarah Polk coin is the 12th in the First Spouse Gold Coin series that started in 2007.
Does low mintages of a coin mean that they are rare and more valuable? Not always, as Coin Values highlights in a recent online article about the 2008 Kennedy half dollars. Steve Roach covers some of the latest values for the Kennedys.
To find out what new coins and medals might be produced at the US Mint, you can peek at the coin bills Congress has yet to authorize. David Ganz of Numismatic News covers all the coin legislation Congress will see this fall. You might actually want to read some of the acts for more details. My favorite place to do this is on CoinNews.net via their Coin Legislation page.
Here are some U.S. Commemorative Coins on the secondary market:
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 VETERAN US MARINE CORP COMMEMORATIVE COIN  US $8.50
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 VETERAN US ARMY COMMEMORATIVE COIN US $8.50
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 VETERAN US NAVY COMMEMORATIVE COIN US $8.50
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 FIRST LUNAR LANDING COMMEMORATIVE COIN US APOLLO US $376.73
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 62 US Commemorative Silver Dollar Coins WWII Ike US $1,000.00
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