Coin News

American coin collectors have offered many creative suggestions to the U.S. Mint to generate new interest. I recall several readers have suggested over the years that the Mint deliberately strike a rarity and put it into circulation for someone to find down the road. It would be nice to get the general public to scan […]

Wisconsin gets its time in the spotlight April 11. That date is when there will be a ceremonial launch of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore quarter. It has been 14 years since we had our turn during the state quarter program. Clifford Mishler, Numismatic News columnist, is already planning his drive north from Iola to […]

Everybody has to pay bills. The cash to do so has to come from somewhere. For many in the coin business, selling bullion coins has helped keep the lights on. Some have gone so far as to abandon numismatics in favor of all bullion all the time. But was that wise? Bullion sales move in […]

Collectors of Lincoln cents might feel as if they are flying under the radar of Chinese counterfeiters. However, there is more than one way to fake a rarity. Long before China got into the fakery business, added mintmarks were the scourge of the numismatic hobby. They apparently still are, as Numismatic Guaranty Corporation’s list of […]

The Industry Council for Tangible Assets has notched another sales tax win. Congratulations. Alabama becomes the 37th state to exempt sales of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and money, ICTA’s David Crenshaw reports. Numismatic commerce can blossom thanks to Gov. Kay Ivey. She signed into law Senate Bill 156 on March 6 to create […]

When Clifford Mishler gave me a job interview 40 years ago today, slabs did not exist. How times change. Yesterday, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation announced that it is first to have graded its 40 millionth coin. What an amazing milestone. The Sarasota firm is rightfully proud of it. It has taken just over 30 years to […]

While Wall Street tries to figure out why the stock market tumbled from January records, coin collectors might be sitting on the answer. We are not superior economic experts, but we do monitor something that might prove to be useful. Collectors note when 2018-dated coins reach circulation. Going by my email and mail, the new […]

Will the stock market continue to plunge today after big selloffs Friday and Monday? Coin collectors who have 401(k) plans and IRAs probably want to know. Bitcoin, the darling of fad chasers, has plunged 62 percent from its recent peak. Coin collectors are interested in this as part of their ongoing concern over the trend […]

Are you a member of a coin club? You should be. At the very least, you should be a member of the national collector organization, the American Numismatic Association. I cannot tell you the number of times that coin collectors have written me over the past 40 years to say “someone should do something about […]

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The tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy 54 years ago still evokes sadness. It also evokes many questions about how and why it happened. One thing is certain, it inspired the creation of the Kennedy half dollar. It is a coin that was authorized by Congress in record time. The legislation was signed into […]

I am just back from China. I was in the country for five days to attend the Beijing International Coin Exposition. It was my first visit. I learned much. The differences between American coin conventions and the one in China are stark. Imagine how it would be if the United States Mint owned and organized […]

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If I said there are more coin collectors now than at any time in history, you would probably think I am crazy. There are few Young Numismatists, you would say. The primary cohort of collectors is aging and leaving the hobby, you would say. Prices are getting so high for certain United States Mint offers […]

Can a quarter holder that looks like a large snowflake attract youngsters? That is the hope of a Phoenix, Ariz., inventor named Elia Martinez. Each snowflake has room for five quarters. There is a hole in the center, allowing each one to be stacked on a peg and spun like wheels on an axel. Five designs were […]

What will be the first billion dollar U.S. coin rarity? Sounds ridiculous? Don’t bet against it. In the last 50 years, the major rarities like the 1804 dollar and the 1913 Liberty Head nickel have gone up in value by 100 times. Now some of that is inflation. The price level generally has gone up […]

Have you ever taken a 30-year vacation? In one way, I did. When I joined the staff of Numismatic News in 1978, one of my tasks was to write up the monthly coin production at the U.S. Mint. Collectors used to faithfully follow numbers to guess what might prove to be scare that year. The […]

Quality. Every collector knows the better the quality of a coin, the higher the price. Does the Mint? A reader emailed me his observations about the Enhanced Uncirculated Sets he ordered last week. He has gotten delivery already. Kudos to the Mint for the rapid turnaround. The logistics are working well. Now back to quality […]

By CoinWeek News Staff …. Police involved in the July 12 raids in relation to the March theft of the 100 kg “Big Maple Leaf” gold coin from the Bode Museum in Berlin are reporting that a 100 kg gold bar was recovered during those raids in the Neukölln district. One of the four minor […]

I saw a CNBC story today that said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is on his way to becoming the richest man in the world. His company is on its way to becoming worth $ 1 trillion. It doesn’t all belong to him, but a couple of hundred billion dollars can have a serious impact wherever […]

Coin collectors tend to argue about prices. Our difficulty as a group is that sometimes there is an assumption that there is one correct price. Anything above it means the coin offered is being offered by a crook. Anything less means the coin is a steal and the seller is not properly informed, or even […]

Leon Hendrickson died Sunday. He was 90 years old. But his attitude toward coin collecting was always one of youthful enthusiasm. In life some people are positive. Others are not. Leon was positive on steroids. I guess that is what you have to be to found a successful coin and bullion business like SilverTowne of […]

By Coinweek …. CoinWeek News Wire for July 14, 2017:  The War on Cash 2: This Time It’s Personal 1.) ‘CASH ESSENTIAL TO PERSONAL FREEDOM’ – EUROPEANS PUSH BACK The biggest cited concern for respondents was the threat the cash restrictions would pose to privacy and personal anonymity. A total of 87% of respondents viewed […]

Start with the basics. You can’t be the star player of the Chicago White Sox without a good grounding in baseball early in life. There are basics in coin collecting, too. One of the most important is knowing how to grade. The American Numismatic Association is here to help you. Our national collector organization says […]

I was out early this morning. I passed a pet shop on my way to work. On the front of the building was a sign that caught my eye. It proclaimed, “Hedgehogs $ 199.99.” Really? Hedgehogs are pets? I didn’t know. Is this a new trend? I have no idea. This is probably how many […]

Are you fickle? I’m not. I’ll bet you aren’t either. I have been a coin collector for nearly all of my life. I’ll bet you have been a collector for a long time as well. Year in and year out we are loyal to our collecting goals and spend money accordingly. That is not to […]

No sign of the “Big Maple Leaf”, worth over $ 4 million US By CoinWeek News Staff ….   Last week, German authorities released closed-circuit surveillance footage of three suspects allegedly responsible for the March 27 theft of the 220-pound “Big Maple Leaf” gold coin from the Bode Museum in Berlin. Ultimately, however, the suspects […]

Gold coins are expensive. Most collectors can afford to buy one from time to time, but not to build annual sets. That’s why last year’s 100th anniversary Mercury, Standing Liberty and Walking Liberty gold coins were so popular. It is also why the smallest and least expensive had the highest demand of all. There simply […]