It still makes me laugh. In fact, it was not the coin itself that was funny but rather the way the 1979-P and other Susan B. Anthony dollars from the first year were promoted and trumpeted as "the Dollar of the Future."
As it turned out, the 1979-P and other 1979 Anthony dollars probably had one of the worst receptions in history and that made the claims and promotion on the part of officials seem all the more ridiculous ...
Full Article: SBA Reception Not Exactly Warm - NumisMaster
The America the Beautiful Quarters Program is in full swing, and Krause Publications has the albums collectors need to collect them all: Warman’s coin folders.
Believed to be the first folders to features images of the reverse designs of the national sites featured on the quarters, these folders will provide collectors with more than a decade of use and fun as five quarters in the series are released each year ...
Full Article: KP unveils park folders - NumisMaster
"Are you enjoying the coin show? You've been doing a lot of walking around." Our numismatist's friend sighed. "I'm disappointed. I don't see a lot of the Morgan dollars I'm after. There are some really high-end expensive coins, and then there are a lot of the lower-graded coins that are perfectly OK. But there's nothing in between, which is what I want." ...
Full Article: What's a B Set? - NumisMaster
One thing I observed has not changed since the first class I taught in Colorado Springs, Colo., with Charles Hoskins back in 1973. I saw students using all kinds of methods to view coins.
A few would lay the coin flat on the table and bend over it with their magnifier blocking most of the light needed to see the coin. Others would hold the coin and magnifier practically at arms length while trying to see the image in the lens almost a foot away from their eye ...
Full Article: What's the Proper Way to Examine a Coin? - NumisMaster
A 2009-P James K. Polk Presidential dollar with dropped "T" letter on the edge has been found by John Morris of Florida.
The inverted "T" from either the word TRUST or PRESIDENT is only the second example of a dropped letter on the edge of a Presidential dollar that has been sent in by Numismatic News readers since the inception of the Presidential dollar series in 2007.
A dropped letter” is a relatively rare error type with its origins in the common filled die error. When debris, (often referred to by error collectors as “mint goop” or “grease”), clog a die, it may...
Full Article: Dropped Letter Error on Polk $1 - NumisMaster
Strike-through errors are among a number of interesting errors that turned up recently.
Numismatic News reader, Merle Hyldahl, sent an image of a 2005-P Kennedy half dollar that shows a relatively deep and obvious strike-through error on the obverse. Hyldahl said, "I was recently going through a bank-wrapped roll of 2005 Kennedy half dollars and ran onto one coin that had a large spike running from just north of the 'In' of 'In God We Trust' and running north through Kennedy’s nose and into his forehead." ...
Full Article: Half Shows Error - NumisMaster
The idea that the 1962 Franklin half dollar would be selling for anything more than a slight premium would be stunning to most people who had the chance to acquire one when it was new. Of course, the fact that those very same people did not save the 1962 at the time of issue is probably a large part of the reason why the 1962 today is a better date in top grades and one of the keys in MS-65 grade with full bell lines.
To understand why this is so, we should consider the situation in 1962 ...
Full Article: Melting Attractive Option for Franklin - NumisMaster
If you are looking for some true hidden values, the place to look might well be the Coronet Head $10 gold pieces from New Orleans. Gold eagles from anywhere tend to be overlooked, but somehow those from New Orleans seem to have a special place in obscurity. It’s probably a result of gold eagles not getting quite the same attention as some other gold denominations, such as double eagles, but it almost certainly has to do at least in part with New Orleans itself as the facility despite some awfully tough coins like the 1854-O and 1856-O double eagles just does not seem to get mentioned a great deal when gold coins are discussed ...
Full Article: New Orleans Gold $10 Began Slowly - NumisMaster
It’s the stuff movies are made of. Really. The same technology that brought “Shrek” to life gives design detail to U.S. coins. Forget paper and pencil, plaster and clay. Today’s artist/sculptor/engraver at the United States Mint in Philadelphia works with sophisticated (and expensive) computer software to create coins and medals.
Chief Engraver John Mercanti has seen and done it all. From the days of mixing plaster to create molds to sculpting with a computer, Mercanti has been a part of the design evolution, and a strong advocate of new technology...
Full Article: Mint Engravers Embrace 21st Century Technology - NumisMaster
