The United States Mint Presidential Silver Medal featuring 18th president Ulysses S. Grant (in office 1869-77) will be available at noon Eastern on October 2. The Treasury Department honors each U.S. president with an official bronze medal struck by the Mint. For a few years now, the U.S. Mint has been offering smaller replicas of […]
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Collecting Commemoratives By Ron Drzewucki If you collect modern U. S. coins, then you collect commemoratives. Today, practically every coin the United States Mint produces commemorates someone or something. There’s a president on the obverse of every denomination, including Presidential $1 coins. The reverse of the quarter has been especially busy over the last 15 […]
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By Victor Bozarth for PCGS …… While some recognize the 1848 CAL Quarter Eagle struck from California gold as the first United States commemorative coin, it wasn’t until 1892 that the United States Mint began producing coins broadly classified as commemorative coins. The first of these were produced and sold in 1892 in conjunction with […]
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By Victor Bozarth for PCGS …… While some recognize the 1848 CAL Quarter Eagle struck from California gold as the first United States commemorative coin, it wasn’t until 1892 that the United States Mint began producing coins broadly classified as commemorative coins. The first of these were produced and sold in 1892 in conjunction […]
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Generations of Americans living through the second half of the 20th century had known only the Seated Liberty coinage. The motif was ubiquitous, entering circulation in 1837 and adorning the half dime, dime, twenty-cent piece, quarter dollar, half dollar, and silver dollar denominations. The half dime and twenty-cent piece came and went, but Seated Liberty […]
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An important question for most collectors when tackling this series from the 1870s is: Which coins are beyond my reach? By Jeff Garrett for Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) …… Among the most short-lived series of United States coins are the Twenty Cent pieces struck from 1875 to 1878. Although the coins were made for […]
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By Everett Millman – Gainesville Coins …… It’s quite common to find Buffalo nickels that are dateless—missing the four digits that indicate the year the coin was made. We’ll examine why this happened and help you determine how much no-date Buffalo nickels are worth. Why Some Buffalo Nickels Have No Date As amusing as it is […]
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GreatCollections is currently offering interested numismatists a rare opportunity to acquire one of the finest certified examples of the Barber Quarter Dollar series. This 1913-S Barber Quarter, graded as MS 67+ by PCGS, is a beautifully toned and lustrous coin that earned not only the PCGS gold shield designation, but also the CAC holographic verification […]
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By Bullion Shark LLC …… Though he is most widely known for his masterpiece of numismatic art, the $20 gold double eagle issued from 1907 to 1933 and known by his name, Augustus Saint-Gaudens – the renowned American sculptor – is also responsible for creating the popular $10 Indian Head gold coin – the most […]
The post Indian Head $10 Gold Coins: The Other Saint-Gaudens Masterpiece appeared first on CoinWeek.
After 55 years, the Seated Liberty half dollar design had become somewhat of a dinosaur. A classic, yes. Exciting, no. The design was heavily influenced by English coinage, and American tastes had changed. Many felt the design was unartistic, even a bit clunky. It was time for a change. So in 1891, Mint Director Edward […]
The post Coin Stories: Where Charles Barber Found Inspiration for a New Series of Silver Coins appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. The purpose of the United States Mint is to make money. And no, I don’t just mean striking coins for the federal government. According to its Annual Report, during the 2020 fiscal year, the Mint earned approximately $40 million USD in profit. This revenue was due to the Mint’s […]
The post Foreign Coins Struck by the United States Mint in the 19th Century appeared first on CoinWeek.
By David Provost for CoinWeek ….. Author’s Note: My intention for this series of “stories” is to present lesser-known information about the US commemorative coins series derived from my original research in the records of Congress and/or the reports and correspondence of the individual coin sponsors. The information presented will not simply be a […]
The post Commemorative Stories: The 1893 Isabella Quarter appeared first on CoinWeek.
Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1912-D Liberty Head nickel was struck during the only year when any of the coins in the series were struck at branch mints. The Liberty Head nickel series officially spanned from 1883 through 1912, though five examples of a 1913 Liberty nickel exist that may have been […]
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By Dan Duncan – Pinnacle Rarities …… The 59 distinct designs of the silver and gold classic commemoratives are often collected by theme. The bald eagle depictions are some of the most interesting and popular of these sets. From Robert Scot’s early Mint small eagle to the majestic in-flight version that graces the newest Silver […]
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By Kathleen Duncan – Pinnacle Rarities …… Historical Background The entire run of American coinage received a major overhaul and aesthetic upgrade between 1907 and 1921. Each and every denomination was redesigned, and with the exception of the two-and-a-half and five-dollar gold coins, each had its own unique appearance. These designs were a clear departure from […]
The post US Coins – A Concise Overview of the Standing Liberty Quarter Series appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Dan Duncan – Pinnacle-Rarities …… The original Washington quarter was intended as just a one-year commemorative. Yet John Flanagan’s obverse design has endured for nearly 90 years with the reverse motifs in constant flux over the last two decades. The Statehood quarters and National Parks series have both made the commemorative quarter a mainstay […]
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By Q. David Bowers – Co-Founder, Stack’s Bowers ….. Charles Edward Barber became the sixth engraver at the Philadelphia Mint in 1880, following the death of his father, Chief Engraver William Barber; he remained in the post until his death on February 18, 1917. The Liberty Head silver denominations he designed and which are known […]
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By Bullion Shark LLC …… By the late 1880s, the public had grown tired of Christian Gobrecht’s Seated Liberty designs that had appeared on silver coinage for half a century since the 1830s. A competition was held by the United States Mint to redesign the nation’s silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars. Yet because only […]
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By Bullion Shark LLC …… In the late 1880s, the United States Mint began looking into replacing the Shield nickel, the five-cent piece that was struck from 1866 to 1883 and composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel, because of longstanding production problems with that coin. Liberty Head Nickel Chief Engraver Charles Barber was asked […]
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These numismatic supernovas shine bright in the greatest collections By Jeff Garrett for Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) …… Very few United States coins inspire the awe and fascination of the 1879 and 1880 $4 gold coins, otherwise known as “Stellas”. These enigmatic coins are far beyond the financial reach of most collectors. But that […]
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By CoinWeek …. In a few days, bidding ends on Sunday, December 8 on GreatCollections.com for this 1915-S Panama-Pacific Exposition Commemorative half dollar, graded MS-67+ by PCGS and approved by CAC. PCGS reports 25 examples of the Pan-Pac half dollar at MS-67+, with only four higher in MS-68. To date, the highest auction price for […]
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Heritage’s December 5-6 Hong Kong World and Ancient Coins Signature Auction features a fantastically rare set of Chinese patterns, minted at the Ferracute Machine Company in New Jersey. Only three such sets are known to exist. The set contains coins ranging in denomination from five cents to one dollar, with examples of each struck in […]
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By Louis Golino for CoinWeek ….. Girl on the Silver Dollar by Roger W. Burdette (Seneca Mill Press, 2019) * * * Ask most collectors of the Morgan silver dollar issued from 1878 to 1921 who the model was for the image of Liberty that appears on the coin’s obverse, and they will likely say […]
The post The Coin Analyst: Girl on the Silver Dollar and the Merging of Greco-Roman and American Visions of Liberty appeared first on CoinWeek.
A national hero to not one but two countries Born in 1757, Gilbert Lafayette came from an ancient noble family in France. By his teen years, Lafayette was orphaned and inherited an immense fortune. He joined the court of King Louis XVI, but yearned for something more meaningful and exciting. Lafayette wanted to become a […]
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Whitman Publishing will release an enlarged, updated second edition of the Guide Book of Barber Silver Coins, by Q. David Bowers, in February 2019. The 400-page book, volume 20 in the popular Bowers Series of numismatic references, will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide, and online (including at Whitman.com), for $29.95. The second […]
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1892-3 Columbus So-Called Dollar/Award Medal by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Charles Barber Bronze, 38.1 mm, R.5. One of our favorite so-called dollars, the Saint-Gaudens/Barber HK-223. This is the medal that began the entire Charles Barber-Augustus Saint-Gaudens rivalry and controversy. The well-known Columbian Exposition prize medal was Augustus Saint-Gaudens first attempt to work with Mint officials. “The […]
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By Ron Drzewucki – www.moderncoinwholesale.com ….. The Walking Liberty short set is getting hot right now, and I for one couldn’t be happier. Adolph Weinman’s Walking Liberty half dollar is one of the most beautiful coins ever produced in the United States, and Collectors have long respected it as one of the great American coins. […]
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Coin Rarities & Related Topics: News and Analysis regarding scarce coins, markets, and coin collecting #396 A Weekly Column by Greg Reynolds ….. With more than two dozen dates costing less than $20 each and a half-dozen costing less than $2 each, a set of Very Fine to Extremely Fine grade ‘Normal Date’ Buffalo nickels can […]
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Guest Commentary by Dr. Ellen R. Feingold, Curator of the National Numismatic Collection …… Tomorrow, November 8, is the first day that selections from the Smithsonian’s East Asian coin collection–featuring the recently-acquired Howard F. Bowker Collection–will be exhibited as part of the National Numismatic Collection’s ongoing “Value of Money” exhibit. The Collection’s curator, Dr. Ellen […]
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The third edition of MEGA RED (the Deluxe Edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins) includes a 10-page full-color appendix on So-Called Dollars, a class of nearly 800 different historical medals, many of them struck by the United States Mint. The section’s author, Jeff Shevlin, is a specialist in the field. He defines […]
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Coin Rarities & Related Topics: News and Analysis regarding scarce coins, markets, and coin collecting #381 An Ongoing Column by Greg Reynolds ….. The theme here is assembling a set of Barber quarters in Fine to Almost Uncirculated grades without spending as much as $500 on any one coin, with the vast majority of coins grading […]
The post Classic U.S. Coins for Less Than $500 Each, Part 29: Barber Quarters appeared first on CoinWeek.
By David Thomason Alexander for CoinWeek ….. In Part One, I discussed the beginnings of popular coin collecting in America in the late 1850s. I also discussed the birth of the coin dealing market and the origins of several coin clubs and organizations in the latter half of the 19th century. And of course, I […]
The post 10 Great Moments That Shaped American Coin Collecting, Part 2 appeared first on CoinWeek.
By David Thomason Alexander for CoinWeek ….. Selecting with absolute precision 10 of the greatest moments in the history of coin collecting in the United States is a daunting task. Numismatics has enjoyed more than 160 years of growth in the U.S. since its murky beginnings in the early 19th century. Its rollicking career has […]
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Exhibits will feature Continental Dollars from 1776 and Szechuan Ferracute Patterns from 1897 Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®) will display two phenomenal sets of vintage rarities at the American Numismatic Association (ANA) World’s Fair of Money, August 1-5, 2017, in Denver, Colorado. This is the first time that both sets—the Resolute Americana Collection of 1776 Continental […]
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The coins were the first to be evaluated by the newly established NGC Advanced Chinese Authentication Bureau (ACAB), led by noted expert Chen Gi Mao Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®) announced on March 9 that it certified one of just three known complete sets of 1897 Szechuan pattern coins struck by the Ferracute Machine Company of […]
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Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1912-D Liberty Head nickel was struck during the only year when any of the coins in the series were struck at branch mints. The Liberty Head nickel series officially spanned from 1883 through 1912, though five examples of a 1913 Liberty nickel exist that may have been […]
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Coin Rarities & Related Topics: News and Analysis regarding scarce coins, markets, and coin collecting #355 A Weekly CoinWeek Column by Greg Reynolds ….. Publicly distributed, Liberty Head nickels were minted from 1883 to 1912. A set of business strike Liberty Head nickels may be completed without spending as much as $500 on any one coin. […]
The post Classic U.S. Coin for Less Than $500 Each, Part 25: Liberty Head Nickels appeared first on CoinWeek.
Analysis regarding scarce coins, markets, and coin collecting #353 A Weekly CoinWeek Column by Greg Reynolds ….. The theme here is completing a set of Barber dimes in Very Fine to Almost Uncirculated grades, without spending as much as $500 on any one coin. Naturally toned and pleasant representatives of one or two of the scarcest […]
The post Classic U.S. Coins for Less than $500 Each, Part 24: Barber Dimes appeared first on CoinWeek.
Analysis regarding scarce coins, markets, and coin collecting #351 A Weekly CoinWeek Column by Greg Reynolds ….. This is the third in a series on collecting U.S. patterns without spending as much as $5,000 USD on any one piece. Although patterns are not coins, some did circulate as coins and patterns are often collected along with […]
The post U.S. Coin Patterns for Less than $5,000 Each, Pt. 3: Three Cent Pieces appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Jeff Garrett for Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) …… This is a great time to collect one of the most interesting and attractive United States coins series My last article focused on classic commemorative silver coins struck from 1892 to 1954. As enumerated, there are many compelling reasons to collect this long-ignored series. Nearly all […]
The post Collecting Classic Gold Commemorative Coinage (1903-1926) appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Thomas Bush – Thomas Bush Numismatics …… Dull. Boring. Uninspired. Blatant plagiarism of the work of Eugène-André Oudiné. Or even “the throat is that of a gladiator”![1] The Charles Barber coinage of 1892 has been ridiculed and derided over the years with the above-mentioned ideas and statements. Perhaps with no small bit of irony, […]
The post Circulated Barber Half Dollars – A Look Back at Two Decades of Specialization appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Ron Drzewucki – www.moderncoinwholesale.com ….. The Walking Liberty short set is getting hot right now, and I for one couldn’t be happier. Adolph Weinman’s Walking Liberty half dollar is one of the most beautiful coins ever produced in the United States, and Collectors have long respected it as one of the great American coins. […]
The post Classic US Coins – The Walking Liberty Short Set, 1941-1947 appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Kathleen Duncan – Pinnacle Rarities …… Historical Background The entire run of American coinage received a major overhaul and aesthetic upgrade between 1907 and 1921. Each and every denomination was redesigned, and with the exception of the two-and-a-half and five-dollar gold coins, each had its own unique appearance. These designs were a clear departure from […]
The post US Coins – An Overview of the Standing Liberty Quarter Series – Part 1 appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Shaquille Brissett of Gainesville Coins…. During the late 19th century, a culmination of market forces led to a volatility of the silver industry that provoked populist anxieties. Proposals by Representative Richard Bland and Iowa Senator William Allison would appease both Greenbackers (a post-civil war political party that favored the use of paper money and […]
The post Forged by Fire: The Birth of the Morgan Dollar and the Feud Between George T. Morgan and Charles E. Barber appeared first on CoinWeek.
1892-3 Columbus So-Called Dollar/Award Medal by Augustus Saint Gaudens and Charles Barber Bronze, 38.1 mm, R.5. One of our favorite so-called dollars, the Saint-Gaudens/Barber HK-223. This is the medal that began the entire Charles Barber-Augustus Saint-Gaudens rivalry and controversy. The well-known Columbian Exposition prize medal was Augustus Saint-Gaudens first attempt to work with Mint officials. […]
The post 1892-3 Columbus So-Called Dollar/Award Medal and Obverse Die appeared first on CoinWeek.