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 Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Seeing is believing?
Posted by Dave
The U.S. Mint releases its United States Mint Uncirculated Coin Set July 15.
As is often the case with other Mint product releases, I had an e-mail from a reader saying that a TV shopping show was offering the sets days ahead of time.
He demanded to know how the show gets coins early.
I telephoned the Mint July 12, as I have done from time to time with other offers, and received an official denial that the sets were released early.
I relayed this back to the original e-mailer and he does not believe it.
So, does anybody out there have actual possession of the official mint set or coins from the mint set that are slabbed as the first day of issue? These must be the actual coins, not images or promises.
Only actual possession before the release date of the set can prove or disprove the e-mailer’s suspicion.
Otherwise we chalk it up to marketing.
It has long been a practice in the coin hobby to begin advertising the availability of something slightly head of the release date to attract the maximum numbers of potential buyers. Fulfillment of the orders generated is then undertaken as soon as the release date arrives and the coins or sets are received by the advertisers.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 2:11:33 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Monday, July 12, 2010
Depends on how you express it
Posted by Dave
The increasing number of reports of finds of the new 2010 Union Shield cent in circulation is no accident.
The U.S. Mint has been ramping up production.
Because the U.S. Mint doesn’t set coin demand, but only fulfills orders, this means the economy has worked through the surplus of cent coins and is once again demanding new ones in large numbers.
For the month of June, 585.2 million cents were struck. That one-month production equals a quarter of all cents produced in 2009.
Who would have thought that when the special commemorative cent designs for 2009 were authorized in 2005 that the year’s greatest characteristic would be a contraction of coin demand on a scale not see since the Great Depression?
Well, that is just the way it turned out, but in the long run that will probably help keep prices of the cents honoring the Bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth higher than they otherwise would have been had they been issued in a more normal year.
To be sure, 2.354 billion 2009 cents is not a small number, but when you divide it up among four designs and two mints, that brings things down to much more manageable levels.
The 129.6 million of the Philadelphia Presidential design when expressed in 50-coin rolls seems positively scarce at 2.592 million rolls.
That will mean something over the long term.
Monday, July 12, 2010 2:13:48 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Friday, July 09, 2010
Silver dollar surprise
Posted by Dave
One of the first people I met on the grounds of the Iola Old Car Show yesterday where I worked the Old Cars Ultimate Garage Giveaway was Dean Oakes.
The veteran Iowa City, Iowa, coin and paper money dealer is also a car buff.
We traded notes about the state of business.
I said I thought the summer doldrums were in evidence and he said interest in gold and silver rather than collector coins was keeping his business activity up.
He had an interesting story to tell.
A woman called. She had some silver dollars from her uncle’s estate.
Oakes asked what dates they were.
She replied, 1921, 1922 and 1923.
Oakes immediately thought what coin dealers think in those circumstances.
The 1921 is the most common Morgan dollar and the 1922 and 1923 are the most common Peace dollars.
Pretty standard stuff.
He quoted $14 each. He elaborated a little and said the price might stretch to $16 if they were higher circulated grades, or $12 if they were worn slick.
Lo and behold, when he got to see the coins he discovered that there were 11 1921 dollars and they were all the rare Peace dollar, which has a mintage of just over 1 million pieces.
There was not a single Morgan dollar in the group.
All of the 1921 coins had wear, so Dean paid what they were worth.
The woman said her uncle particularly liked the 1921s and had searched diligently for them.
His interest in them had paid off for her and I get an interesting story to tell in the bargain.
Friday, July 09, 2010 2:10:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Thursday, July 08, 2010
Chet Krause resigns from ANA board
Posted by Dave
I have just had word that Chet Krause resigned from the American Numismatic Association board of governors.
His letter of resignation was received by ANA President Cliff Mishler yesterday.
The 86-year-old Krause has had some health problems lately and he is reluctant to travel under the circumstances. Krause was first elected to the board in the 2007 in the anti-incumbent sweep in that year's election.
Succeeding to Krause's seat is former board member and Numismatic News columnist Alan Herbert. Herbert garnered the largest number of votes in the 2009 election without winning a seat and is therefore the next line for a vacancy.
"I regret Chet's departure from the board," Mishler told me. "We value his wise counsel and will miss him going forward."
At the same time, Mishler cited Herbert's experience and the expectation that he would pick up the duties of the seat without missing a beat.
Thursday, July 08, 2010 5:32:50 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Interest in state quarters expressed
Posted by Dave
Rolls of uncirculated state quarters are still grabbing the interest of average collectors almost two years after the conclusion of the 10-year program.
How do I know this?
Well, in this case, I just had a one-telephone-call poll.
The caller noticed that the new list of state quarter rolls in the monthly Coin Market price guide somehow omitted the uncirculated Pennsylvania rolls.
Whether the omission is a computer glitch or some sort of input error, I do not know at this point, but it is always useful when sharp-eyed readers point things like this out.
The quicker the response comes to something like this, the higher the level of interest is in what is being covered.
I also had an e-mail from a hobbyist about Young Collector Sets that were created by the U.S. Mint for various commemorative programs.
In this case, the price guide simply does not cover them.
Maybe it should.
What do you think?
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Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:07:10 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Will experience of youth be ignored?
Posted by Dave
Generational experiences matter in coin collecting. It helps determine what is being collected today.
I was thinking of this and what the future holds as I was taking a hike from a remote parking area to my desk.
This happens once each year when it is car show time in Iola. The grounds are set up and ready to go surrounding the Krause Publications building. With tents all over it looks like a circus has come to town.
The people arrive this afternoon. The theme is “Sensational Sixties.”
It suits me. I remember the 1960s. The cars of the decade bring back fond memories. I look forward to seeing them on display.
I have worked the car show for community service organizations since 1978. I remember when Model T and Model As were hot and collectors drove them here in car club groups. The club members had fond memories of the cars from their youth.
The popular cars of that hobby reflect the ages of the participants and what they remember when they were young. So now it is the 1960s.
Coin collectors do the same thing. They tend to focus on what they remember as well.
Once we get by my generation, which began collecting in the 1960s, what will be the focus of future generations of collectors?
We are the last, or youngest, depending on how you want to express it, individuals who still remember what silver coins look like in actual use.
We know the appearance of the shiny white surfaces when new and we have images imprinted in our brains as to how the coins wear, how the luster fades and what hints of wear progressing to massive wear look like.
This is all very helpful when trying to figure out grading and whether coin surfaces are natural or artificial.
What will the generation of collectors who grew up with clad coins focus on?
Will clad coins come into their own at that point, or will those collectors essentially chase silver or gold coins that they have no experience of from their youth?
It should be interesting to see.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010 2:12:05 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Must have been the drive-through
Posted by Dave
I guess I haven’t been paying close enough attention to my pocket change lately.
Over the Fourth of July weekend I cleaned out the coin tray in my car in preparation for cleaning it up a bit. I didn’t think much of the process until I noticed that two of the dimes happened to be 2009-D.
They won’t make me rich, but it is certainly nice to find coins in change that have been scarce and that are trading on eBay for three or four times face value in roll quantities.
The Philadelphia Mint struck fewer than 100 million of them. The Denver Mint recorded fewer than 50 million.
With numbers like that, it is no wonder that the coins have been hard to find.
I assume that I got them on one of my automobile journeys around the area. I certainly don’t think they came into my hands in Iola.
As with all circulation finds, this proves that with patience, new coins eventually do find their way into commercial channels.
The only other interesting coin in the handful was a VF-XF 1970-S cent. Considering the wear, it would appear it has done its duty to the economy and was not set aside 40 years ago by a collector as excited about “S” mintmarks as I was back then.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 2:14:55 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Friday, July 02, 2010
Examine all the coins you can
Posted by Dave
I just found another reason to go to the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in August in Boston.
It is not as if I need another reason, but it adds to the appeal of the event.
The U.S. Mint has set Aug. 12 as the day it will release the new one-ounce platinum proof American Eagle.
I would like to take a look at it. It is part of the Preamble series. This year the theme is to “Establish Justice.” Last year’s was to “Form a More Perfect Union.”
Am I planning to buy? No, not at all.
Platinum is $1,500 an ounce today. The idea of committing to a six-part series at that price level doesn’t appeal to me.
I don’t know anybody on staff who is planning to buy one either, so I won’t get a look at the coin in the office.
Boston it is.
That’s the beauty of going to a national convention. It is important to see things. The old saying “seeing is believing” should be changed for collectors to “seeing is learning.”
Actually examining real coins is what makes us better collectors. It is unrealistic of me to expect to own everything, but it is not unrealistic of me to think that I might be writing about every coin over time.
That’s why it is so important to examine the exhibits and look over what is being sold on the bourse floor.
The same applies to local shows. Sometimes they are even better than national shows. Where else can you ask a dealer what he thinks the difference is between an MS-61 and an MS-62 silver Washington quarter?
I’m not likely to ask that question at a national convention.
Every type of coin show has its opportunities. The key is to attend enough of them to take advantage of the many learning opportunities that occur at these shows over time.
You will be a better collector for it.
Friday, July 02, 2010 2:19:40 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Thursday, July 01, 2010
Don't offend the states
Posted by Dave
In the topsy-turvy world of current U.S. coin production we find that 2010-dated Presidential dollars are being struck in quantities larger than the America the Beautiful program for each individual design.
The quantity of 2010 Millard Fillmore dollars struck is 74,480,000. For the next one, the one for Franklin Pierce, the quantity was even a bit higher at 75,580,000.
In comparison , the Hot Springs quarter, the first design of five for 2010, the total was 59.6 million.
Interestingly, if you look at the numbers another way there seems to be a pattern here, though it could be a total accident, or random circumstance.
When you consider that there are four Presidential dollars during the year and five America the Beautiful quarters, they just happen to add up to about 300 million coins apiece.
The next round of figures could knock this neat relationship into a cocked hat. Those are the risks of trying to perhaps read more into the numbers than is there.
But I will be watching to see if the pattern continues. As regular readers know, one of my pet theories is that watching coin production levels is a good way to tell how the economy is doing.
While 300 million Presidential dollars is a pretty good number for an economy that really doesn’t like the denomination, the same number of quarters seems more an indication that some quantity needs to be produced at a minimum to honor the intent of the commemorative series.
It wouldn’t do to zero out a design or two just because the economy doesn't need the coins. The affected states would soon become the disaffected states.
Thursday, July 01, 2010 2:26:18 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Hot Springs quarter not a hot prospect
Posted by Dave
Have you found a Hot Springs, Ark., America the Beautiful quarter yet?
I have not.
Some Numismatic News readers have reported the new quarter in their change.
It usually takes a while for new designs to work their way to Iola, Wis., so I ordinarily would not be thinking about this yet, but my publisher, Scott Tappa, put the word out to all staff members this past week that he would like to see one and inquired if any one of us had one.
He had no luck.
As evidence of what is circulating around here in the past week I can report that I got two shiny new Guam quarters in one transaction at a large chain store in a nearby city. All the other coins were state quarters or the older eagle-reverse design.
Guam was the third design of six issues from last year’s District of Columbia and U.S. Territories offerings.
If the Guam quarters are any indication of the future, I am not likely to see a Hot Springs coin in anything other than a Mint-produced set before we celebrate the July 4th holiday in 2011.
Sorry, Scott.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 2:02:22 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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