By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. All United States coins have three sides. Collectors pay most of their attention to the obverse (the front or “portrait” side), and the reverse (the back or “denomination” side). Those are where the “meat” of a coin – its design, date, denomination, mintmark, and so forth – […]
The post Edge Collars – Coining’s Third Dimension appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. Recently, a hobby message board member asked an interesting question: Does anyone know why quarter and half dollar mintages from 1879 through 1890 are divisible by 200? Did they strike halves in ‘blocks’ of 200 coins a block. I noticed that this also seems to be true […]
The post Why Coin Mintages Are Often Even Numbers appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. The Mint Act of 1792 established the United States Assay Commission to test and verify weight and purity of the country’s coins. Reports went directly to the president and were an integral part of maintaining and promoting the reliability of the new nation’s gold and silver coins. […]
The post Assay Commission Medals – Insights Into the 1874 Issue appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. Over several years, coin marketing and sales types have promoted catchy phrases for traditional first strike or first-off-new-dies coins. One version boldly claims something like “first strike” as a proprietary term. Another version uses “early release” to imply something special. Soon, we might possibly see “death defyingly […]
The post What Is A First Strike Coin? appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
One long-time numismatist and one budding collector are being recognized for their devotion to the hobby by the American Numismatic Association (ANA). The Numismatist of the Year is being awarded during the Pittsburgh World’s Fair of Money 132nd Anniversary Awards Banquet, 7-10 p.m. in the Allegheny Ballroom at The Westin Pittsburgh. The Young Numismatist of […]
The post ANA Numismatist of the Year – Roger W. Burdette appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” is an expression that has been around for at least 500 years. It emphasizes the near impossibility of turning something inferior or repellant into a valuable or attractive item. In coin collecting, some attempt this by […]
The post Roger Burdette: “Silk Purse” Coins appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. Nineteenth-century America was a nation of technological advancement, increasing mechanization, and pervasive fraud on the general public by crooks. These criminals were no less ingenious and persuasive than our modern robocallers and purveyors of weight loss gummy ads. The public also had a very limited understanding of […]
The post How Coins Were Made – 1869 Edition appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. On September 2, 1861, officers and workmen/women of the various facilities of the United States Mint took an oath of allegiance to the United States. The oath was similar in form to this: I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will […]
The post The United States Mint Employee Allegiance Medal appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. We like to assume that all coins with the current year’s date were delivered to the Treasurer (or Cashier, beginning in 1873) of the United States Mint in the same year. This implies that any coins delivered on January 2 of the next year all carried that […]
The post United States Coinage Figures Not Always Correct appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. Today, the thickness of a coin is seldom a topic of discussion among coin collectors. It mostly comes up when someone finds a coin that seems too thin or too thick, and this leads to discussion about thin planchets cut from the end of a coinage strip […]
The post How Thick Was a Trade Dollar? appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. We’re all familiar with coin guides of one sort or another. The most frequently used are price guides, which attempt to report the current “value” of specific coins in various levels of preservation. Some of these track auction sales and report the results, others claim to consolidate […]
The post How Coin Mintages Sometimes Get Messed Up appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. Production of George T. Morgan’s standard silver dollar coin tested the abilities of U.S. mints to meet high quality standards for large quantities of dollar coins, while buying silver bullion in open markets. This was especially difficult for Carson City Mint, which, although located near large silver […]
The post A Possible Adjustment to Carson City Mint Coinage for 1882 appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. WARNING: This brief article contains language that is historically accurate but can be found offensive today. Pierce M. Butler, along with brother John, inherited a large Georgia rice plantation from their grandfather in 1822. This included 10,000 acres of rice and cotton land and almost 1,000 slaves. […]
The post Roger Burdette: A Cynical Use of U.S. Coins appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. The Carson City Mint has long been credited with delivering 591,000 standard Morgan silver dollars during the calendar year 1880. This quantity appears in official publications and numismatic literature. Further, it is well known that 96,000 Carson City dollars dated 1880 were condemned due to substandard fineness […]
The post A Discrepancy in Carson City Mint Silver Dollar Production – 1880 appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. The earliest United States Mint dies were anonymous lumps of steel. Except for the design faces and size, there was little to distinguish one from another. That began to change when branch mints were opened in New Orleans, Charlotte, and Dahlonega. Sometimes the Coining Department in Philadelphia, […]
The post How Coin Dies Got Their Numbers appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. Mr. Llewellen Meder rose from the table at 489 Speer Street after a fine dinner and conversation with his parents John and Augusta Meder, his aunt Lillian Nightingill, his grandfather Benjamin, and a guest. Young Meder, “though only twenty-five, had thoroughly acquired a gentleman’s habit of enjoying […]
The post Did the Carson City Mint Superintendent Try to Kill His Landlord? appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. Part 1 | Part 2 * * * Readability “Readability” in the context of our discussion refers to the ability of people to (physically) read the words on a document. It is of little help in finding new information to have a nice digital image on your […]
The post Why Is Early Mint Information so Hard to Find? Part 2 appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. American coin collectors have a wide range of books and articles to choose from when they want to learn more about our national coinage. Most of these are specific to one coin type, such as (shameless plug) A Guide Book to Peace Dollars, or a single coin […]
The post Why Is Early Mint Information so Hard to Find? Part 1 appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. It was business as usual on a sultry Monday morning at the Philadelphia Mint. Heavy rain was expected in the afternoon and many workers hoped to catch their homeward streetcar before they got soaked. Boiler fires were lit at 5 am and full steam power was available […]
The post Explosion in the Chief Coiner’s Vault at the U.S. Mint – Part 1 appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
Seneca Mill Press LLC proudly announces release of the latest numismatic book by Roger W. Burdette, Saudi Gold and Other Tales from the Mint. America’s national numismatic journey began with tentative issues of Fugio cents in 1787 and half dismes in 1792. Over time, external events generated unexpected changes to accustomed financial and coinage systems. […]
The post Lesser Known History of the US Mint in Saudi Gold and Other Tales appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. The first standard silver dollars designed by George T. Morgan were struck at the San Francisco Mint on April 17, 1878. A box containing 10 pairs of dollar dies was shipped on April 8 and arrived at the Mint on the evening of April 16. The dies […]
The post Roger Burdette: First 1878-S Morgan Silver Dollars Struck appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek ….. The first standard silver dollars designed by George T. Morgan were struck at the San Francisco Mint on April 17, 1878. A box containing 10 pairs of dollar dies was shipped on April 8 and arrived at the Mint on the evening of April 16. The […]
The post Roger Burdette: First 1878-S Morgan Silver Dollars Struck appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
By Steven Cochran for Gainesville Coins …… Virtually all Standing Liberty quarters are worth more than their melt value (roughly $5). Many of them are worth hundreds of dollars, in fact. The Standing Liberty quarter does not get the publicity that the Mercury dime or the Walking Liberty half dollar does, but it still […]
The post Standing Liberty Quarters Worth Money appeared first on CoinWeek.
In 1944, the United States Mint was working overtime to accommodate not only the wartime needs of the United States but also the needs of its allies. The need was so great that “nearly three billion domestic coins” and “nearly 800,000,000 coins” for 17 other countries were produced “at cost”, which combined to make the […]
The post United States 1944 Walking Liberty Half Dollar appeared first on CoinWeek.
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.
By Mike Byers for Mint Error News …… 1942-S Wartime Lincoln Cent Struck on a Bronze Planchet NGC MS 62 Brown Unique Discovery Coin This is a fascinating 1942-S Lincoln cent that was struck on a 2.5-gram bronze planchet with a composition of 95% copper, 4% zinc, and 1% tin. After examining this unique […]
The post Mike Byers Mint Error News – 1942-S Lincoln on Curaçao Cent Planchet appeared first on CoinWeek.
Background of the Washington Quarter Series Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design […]
The post United States 1937 Proof Washington Quarter appeared first on CoinWeek.
New research shines a light on a Peace Dollar experiment that produced coins likely still waiting to be found When David Lange, Research Director at Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), identified the first 1922 Modified High Relief Peace Dollar in 2001, very little was known about these coins. Even though they look dramatically different from […]
The post Fifth 1922 Modified High Relief Peace Dollar Pattern Discovered and Certified by NGC appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Mike Garofalo for PCGS …… One of my favorite 20th-century coin designs has always been the Standing Liberty quarter. It replaced the staid and certainly not provocative Barber quarter, which had been struck since 1892. But was the Standing Liberty quarter a controversial coin? Let’s review a quick history of this quarter dollar. In […]
The post Standing Tall Against Controversy and Scandal – The Standing Liberty Quarter appeared first on CoinWeek.
By James McCartney – Senior Numismatist, Stack’s Bowers …… The Peace silver dollar struck from 1921 through 1935 has always been one of the most popular United States coins series. Struck to commemorate the end of World War I, it is a relatively short series but a few of the issues present significant challenges […]
The post Top-Pop Gem 1927 Peace Dollar in Stack’s Bowers November Auction appeared first on CoinWeek.
By James McCartney – Senior Numismatist, Stack’s Bowers …… The Peace silver dollar struck from 1921 through 1935 has always been one of the most popular United States coins series. Struck to commemorate the end of World War I, it is a relatively short series but a few of the issues present significant challenges […]
The post Top-Pop Gem 1927 Peace Dollar in Stack’s Bowers November Auction appeared first on CoinWeek.
More than five years have passed since we last offered a 1910-S double eagle in the seldom-granted Premium Gem grade, but we are privileged to be able to do so as a part of our March 13-16 Dallas Signature Auction. PCGS and NGC have certified a combined 19 examples at MS66, plus only three numerically […]
The post Heritage Auctions – Seldom Seen Selections: MS66 1910-S $20 Double Eagle Gold Coin appeared first on CoinWeek.
American Numismatic Association 2018 Adult Numismatist Literary Award Winners The American Numismatic Association’s 2018 literary awards – recognizing articles published in the 2017 volume of its official magazine, The Numismatist – will be presented on August 16at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia. The Numismatist was launched by ANA founder and first editor Dr. George F. Heath in 1888, […]
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Volume written by Roger Burdette and edited by Heritage Auctions experts breaks down history of popular collectible coin DALLAS, Texas (July 13, 2018) – The definitive resource on the history of one of the world’s most popular collector coins, Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles as Illustrated by the Phillip H. Morse and Steven Duckor Collections, written by Roger […]
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Complete List of Winners By Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) …… BOOK OF THE YEAR The work having the greatest potential impact on numismatics – 1792: Birth of a Nation’s Coinage, by Pete Smith, Joel Orosz and Leonard Augsburger BEST SPECIALIZED BOOK United States Coins (tie) – The $2½ and $5 Gold Indians of Bela […]
The post Numismatic Literary Guild Announces Award Winners at 2017 ANA Show appeared first on CoinWeek.
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of Jack […]
The post United States 1937 Washington Quarter (Proof) appeared first on CoinWeek.
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of Jack […]
The post United States 1937 Washington Quarter (Proof) appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Leroy Van Allen, Special for CoinWeek ….. In November, Charles Morgan, Editor of CoinWeek, sent me an e-mail with three overall photographs of the two Morgan dollar hubs dated 1964 recently found by numismatists at the Philadelphia Mint. He wanted to know if I had any information on these hubs. This was the […]
The post Classic US Coins – A Design Analysis of the 1964 Morgan Hubs appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Central States Numismatic Society ….. Len Augsburger, Project Coordinator for the Newman Numismatic Portal, will be joined by Wayne Homren, a Past President of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society and Editor of the E-Sylum electronic newsletter, in giving a program at the 77th Anniversary Convention of the Central States Numismatic Society (CSNS) entitled: The […]
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By Wayne Homren for The E-Sylum eNewsletter…. Each week, CoinWeek, in collaboration with the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, brings you a highlighted feature from the current volume of the E-Sylum eNewsletter. Wayne’s Numismatic Diary: February 15, 2015 It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I’ve spent a lot of time working on the Newman Numismatic […]
The post Excerpts from the E-Sylum: – Wayne’s Numismatic Diary – February 15, 2015 appeared first on CoinWeek.