Mar 1, 2020 | News
Incredible Collection anchors Day 1 of their historic 2-Day Auction
(Lincroft, NJ—2/27/2020)— Legend Rare Coin Auctions is proud to announce our upcoming Regency Auction 38 will feature the BigMo Collection of Civil War Coins. The current consignment is Part I of the collection, and features 93 exquisite coins. All minted from 1861 to 1865, this group will include every copper and silver coin minted during those years, as well as select gold coins as well. This impressive set, now retired by the collector, had long been the #1 Set on the PCGS Set Registry for this popular Specialty Series, and was the first Civil War Set ever completed there.
Part 1 of The BigMo Collection features over 25 coins that are Top Pop at PCGS, including 14 that are the single finest known for the date and denomination. Company founder Laura Sperber picked up the collection personally, and could not be more excited to offer this once in a lifetime collection to the collecting public. She had the following to say: “The BigMo Collection is truly one of the greatest individual collections I have ever seen assembled in my experience in this industry. The set is fully deserving of its Hall of Fame status, and is the type of set most collectors could only dream of completing. I cannot wait to start showcasing this collection around the country, and am ecstatic that Legend Rare Coin Auctions was offered the opportunity to bring this collection to market.”
Specific Highlights from the BigMo Collection include:
- $1 1861 PCGS PR66 CAC. Pop 1
- G$1 1861 PCGS MS67+ CAC. Pop 1
- 50C 1862-S PCGS MS66 CAC. Pop 1
- 1862 $1 PCGS PR66+ CAC. Pop 1
- 10C 1863-S PCGS MS65+ CAC. Pop 1
- $1 1863 PCGS PR67+ CAM CAC. Pop 1
- 10C 1864-S PCGS MS66 CAC. Pop 1
- $1 1864 PCGS MS65+ CAC. Pop 1
- 25C 1865 PCGS PR67+ DCAM CAC. Pop 1
- 50C 1865 PCGS PR67+ DCAM CAC. Pop 1
- G$1 1865 PCGS MS68+ CAC. Pop 1
Legend Rare Coin Auctions will auction this collection as the first lots sold on Day 1 of its 2-Day Regency Auction 38. Regency Auction 38 will take place in New Orleans, on May 13th and 14th of this year. More details concerning the BigMo collection are available on their website. For any inquiries about lot viewing for this collection, or to consign coins alongside it for Regency 38, they can be reached at 732-935-1168, or via email at info@legendauctions.com.
Mar 1, 2020 | News, Shows & Conventions
Cherrypickers’ Guide volume editor Larry Briggs, author Bill Fivaz, associate editor Brandon Hall, and publisher Dennis Tucker at the ANA National Money Show, August 27, 2020.
Forty-seven collectors attended the presentation, which was videotaped as part of the ANA’s “Money Talks” educational program.
“Cherrypicking” is the act of examining coins that appear normal at first glance to find ones that have unusual characteristics—overdates, doubled and tripled dies, misplaced mintmarks, and similar features—that reveal them to be scarce and valuable.
The Cherrypickers’ Guide uses close-up photographs and text descriptions to show collectors what to look for in die varieties. Professional numismatist Larry Briggs is serving as volume editor for the latest book, coordinating research and pricing along with Fivaz. Its publication is scheduled for August 2020, to debut at the ANA World’s Fair of Money, thirty years after the first edition’s release.
Entirely new sections in the upcoming volume include Type B Reverse Washington quarters; Bust half dollars; “Long Nock” Morgan silver dollars; 1879-S, Reverse of ’78, Morgan dollars; Peg Leg Eisenhower dollars; and U.S./Philippine coins of 1903 to 1945.
The volume will include more than 200 new die varieties, making it the largest Cherrypickers’ Guide volume ever. The tentative list of new additions includes:
- 3 new Liberty Seated half dimes
- 3 new Capped Bust dimes
- 2 new Liberty Seated dimes
- 10 new Barber dimes
- 8 new Mercury dimes
- 12 new Roosevelt dimes
- 2 new twenty-cent pieces
- 5 new Capped Bust quarters
- 7 new Liberty Seated quarters
- 2 new Barber quarters
- 3 new Standing Liberty quarters
- 26 new Washington quarters
- 10 Bust half dollars
- 8 Liberty Seated half dollars
- 4 Barber half dollars
- 7 Liberty Walking half dollars
- 15 Franklin half dollars
- 2 Kennedy half dollars
- 5 Liberty Seated dollars
- 1 trade dollar
- 15 new Morgan dollars
- 6 new Peace dollars
- 2 new modern dollars
- 6 new gold coins
- 1 new classic commemorative
- 20 new U.S./Philippines coins
Fivaz and Tucker showed examples of die varieties including a 1901-O Barber dime with a repunched mintmark, worth $150 more than a normal coin; a 2015 “Homestead National Monument of America” quarter, worth face value (25¢) as a normal pocket-change coin but $25 with an unusual reverse die variety; a 1919 Mercury dime with strong obverse doubling; an 1806 Draped Bust half dollar with a repunched date; a Proof 1968-S Kennedy half dollar with an Inverted S Over Knob Tail S mintmark; and more Roosevelt dimes, Liberty Walking half dollars, Franklin half dollars, and other new additions.
Fivaz noted that some die varieties, such as the 1919 Mercury dime doubled die, are on older coins but have been discovered only recently. “More varieties are out there, waiting to be found,” he said.
In the presentation and its question-and-answer session following, Fivaz and Tucker talked about Cherrypickers’ Guide coauthor J.T. Stanton, who passed away in 2018; how varieties get chosen for listing (and delisting); what makes a variety a good candidate for inclusion in the book; how to search for die varieties; and what coin series are gaining in popularity.
Bill Fivaz, a coin collector since 1950, has earned recognition as one of the country’s most respected authorities on numismatic errors and die varieties. He is a longtime contributor to the Guide Book of United States Coins (the “Red Book”). With the late J.T. Stanton he coauthored the first Cherrypickers’ Guide in 1990, launching the modern boom in interest in die varieties.
Larry Briggs is well known to the hobby community as a dealer, author, and educator. He served the American Numismatic Association as president of its Authentication Committee. A student of history and archaeology, Briggs served in the U.S. Air Force and worked for Ford Motor Company before launching his own business, Larry Briggs Rare Coins, in 1978. His specialties include error coins and die varieties, Liberty Seated coinage, and early American coppers.
Mar 1, 2020 | Auctions, News
(Atlanta, Georgia) – A small gold coin with a face value of $2.50 when it was struck in northern Georgia in 1830 sold for a record price of $480,000 to an anonymous Georgia collector in an auction in Atlanta Thursday night, February 27, 2020. It is one of the finest known of less than two dozen surviving examples privately struck by Milledgeville, Georgia cotton gin mill manufacturer Templeton Reid during the state’s historic 19th-century gold rush.
rare Georgia gold rush-era Templeton Reid $2.50 denomination gold coin made in 1830 was sold at auction in Atlanta for a record price of $480,000 by Kagin’s, Inc. of Tiburon, California on February 27, 2020. The buyer is a Georgia-based collector who wants to remain anonymous, according to the auction house. (Photo courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.)
“The Georgia and North Carolina gold rush period started in 1828, about two decades before the California Gold Rush, and this important gold piece was made in 1830 to help alleviate a coin shortage at the time in Georgia,” explained Donald Kagin, Ph.D., president of Kagin’s, Inc. (www.Kagins.com) of Tiburon, California, the auction house that sold the coin.
The previous record price for an example of this type of coin was $329,000 in 2013. The name of the winning bidder who paid $480,000 for this one was not disclosed.
“Reid was a multi-talented entrepreneur, a cotton gin manufacturer, gunsmith, metallurgist and assayer who struck coins in denominations of $2.50, $5 and $10. These historic items were the first privately issued gold coins in the United States,” explained Kagin, author of the reference book, Private Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States.
Only a little larger than a modern five-cent denomination coin, the Templeton Reid $2.50 gold piece was independently authenticated by experts at Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) and certified Mint State 61 (on a 1 to 70 grading scale).
“It had been part of private coin collections the Midwest and on the West Coast for more than 50 years, but now this piece is coming back home to Georgia,” said Kagin.
“Despite his inventiveness, Templeton Reid’s gold coins eventually and unfortunately were shunned by the public when a critic falsely claimed they did not contain enough gold. He halted production just a few months after he began striking them,” explained Kagin. “But today, they are national numismatic treasures.”
The auction was conducted in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association 2020 National Money Show (www.NationalMoneyShow.com), February 27- 29, in Atlanta.
Feb 27, 2020 | News
(Long Beach, California) February 26, 2020 – A seminar for law enforcement officials conducted by the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation (ACEF) during the recent February 2020 Long Beach Coin, Currency, Stamp & Sports Collectibles Expo already has produced positive results in the fight against fakes in the numismatic marketplace.
The seminar’s objective was to bring together representatives of federal and local agencies that come into contact with counterfeits or investigate counterfeits, and educate them about the expert resources available from ACEF’s Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force to assist during their investigation and prosecution of cases.
“A total of 40 law enforcement officers and agents attended the Counterfeit and Precious Metals Investigation class held on February 20 in Long Beach, California. There were representatives of the Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Justice Department and Homeland Security as well as the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff’s Departments and other Southern California law enforcement agencies and the United States Mint,” explained Doug Davis, ACEF Director of Anti-Counterfeiting.
In addition to Davis, expert speakers during the four-hour seminar included former American Numismatic Association President Robert Campbell and former Numismatic Guaranty Corporation authenticator Brian Silliman as well as Chris Hersey of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General and Joe Boche with the Minnesota Fraud Bureau.
“The feedback from attendees was very positive,” stated Davis, a former Texas police chief. “The class immediately opened up new lines of communication between ACTF, the Secret Service and Homeland Security. Attendees have already reached out and joined ACTF’s online Law Enforcement Portal and I have been asked to speak and teach at different field offices of Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations.”
As part of ACTF’s aggressive approach in attacking the problems of counterfeit coinage, in just the first weeks of the year the organization has assisted Customs and Border Protection on two cases involving the seizure of over 3,000 counterfeit coins and ingots at two different U.S. ports of entry.
The ACEF is a 501(c)(3) corporation and its important anti-counterfeiting work is supported entirely through tax-deductible donations to the organization.
For additional information, contact the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation by phone at 817-723-7231, by email info@ACEFonline.org or visit the web site at www.ACEFonline.org.
Feb 27, 2020 | News, U.S. Mint
PHILADELPHIA – United States Mint (Mint) Director David J. Ryder hosted members and supporters of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today at a ceremonial striking of the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Dollar Coin.
During his remarks, Director Ryder stated that “every day, across the Nation, the United States Mint connects Americans through coins, and it is our great privilege to connect America to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.” Ryder went on to announce that “the most unique feature of these coins is that they will be the first-ever colorized coins produced by the United States Mint! Coins with proof and uncirculated finishes will go on sale April 4th, and the colorized versions of the silver and clad coins will go on sale at a later date.”
Other event participants included Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame President John Doleva; basketball legends Julius Erving and Sheryl Swoopes; and Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal, sponsor of the legislation authorizing the Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Program.
The silver dollar is one of three coins in the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Program. The Mint will also produce a five dollar gold coin and a half-dollar clad coin as authorized by Public Law 115-343 in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
All three coins will be dome-shaped and will feature common obverse (heads) and reverse (tails) designs. The common obverse design features three players reaching for the ball in unison, reflecting how the sport of basketball has brought together diverse people around the world through a simple, universal, and unifying athletic experience. Their arms are slightly elongated to emphasize the full exertion of physical and mental energy required to excel in this sport. The rim and net are subtle background design elements complementing the three players. Inscriptions are “LIBERTY,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and “2020.”
The common reverse design depicts a basketball about to pass through the net, with the inscriptions of “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” Additional inscriptions include “FIVE DOLLARS” on the gold coin, “ONE DOLLAR” on the silver dollar, and “HALF DOLLAR” on the clad coin.
Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) artist Justin Kunz created the obverse design, which was selected from a public competition as required by the authorizing legislation. The common reverse design is by AIP artist Donna Weaver.
The Mint will produce and issue up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half–dollar clad coins. Surcharges collected from coin sales—$35 for each gold coin, $10 for each silver coin, and $5 for each half–dollar coin—are authorized to be paid to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to fund an endowment that will enable increased operations and educational programming.
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and celebrating the game of basketball at every level – men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors, both domestically and internationally. Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball, it is home to more than 400 inductees and more than 40,000 square feet of basketball history.
Feb 20, 2020 | News
21 Including A $3.96 Million Coin That Crossed Over To PCGS
(February 19, 2020) – Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) closed the books on 2019 by proudly announcing that 20 of the 25 most-expensive United States coins sold at public auction this past year were in PCGS slabs. That number climbs to 21 when counting a rarity that was certified by a competing grading service, realized nearly $4 million dollars, and then almost immediately after trading hands was crossed over into a PCGS holder. Sales data below was compiled from the top seven auction companies, including Heritage Auctions, Stack’s Bowers Galleries, Legend Rare Coin Auctions, GreatCollections, Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams.
The Top 25 list includes:
- Atwater / Eliasberg Specimen 1885 Trade Dollar, now PCGS PR65+CAM
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $3,960,000, 1/10/2019 (PCGS Cert #36982251)
- Ted Naftzger Specimen 1793 AMERI Chain Cent, From The Alan V. Weinberg Collection, PCGS MS64+Brown
Sold by Heritage Actions for $1,500,000, 1/10/2019 (PCGS Cert #35744104)
- Dr. Jerry Buss Specimen 1894-S Barber Dime PCGS PR63
Sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries for $1,320,000, 8/15/2019 (PCGS Cert #37859748)
- Granberg / Brand / Eliasberg Specimen 1884 Trade Dollar, From The Greensboro Collection, NGC PR66
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $1,140,000, 1/10/2019
- 1879 $4 Coiled Hair, NGC PR66CAM
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $1,050,000, 1/10/2019
- 1795 $10 Capped Bust Right Eagle 13 Leaves, PCGS MS64+
Sold by Legend Rare Coin Auctions for $822,500, 3/21/2019 (PCGS Cert #06309771)
- Warner / Winsor / Weinberg Specimen 1792 Silver Center Cent, From the Alan V. Weinberg Collection, PCGS SP58+Brown
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $750,000, 1/10/2019 (PCGS Cert #35744102)
- 1795 $10 Capped Bust Right Eagle 9 Leaves, PCGS MS63
Sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries for $630,000, 8/15/2019 (PCGS Cert #36674524)
- Parmelee / Eliasberg / Bass Specimen 1837 $2.50 Classic Head, PCGS PR66+
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $576,000, 8/14/2019 (PCGS Cert #25647468)
- Parmelee / Brand / Norweb / Weinberg Specimen 1792 Small Pattern Cent, From The Alan V. Weinberg Collection, PCGS SP53BN
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $552,000, 1/10/2019 (PCGS Cert #35744101)
- 1838-O Capped Bust Half Dollar, PCGS PR63
Sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries for $504,000, 11/15/2019 (PCGS Cert #38283581)
- 1843 $10 Liberty Head, PCGS PR64DCAM
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $480,000, 8/14/2019 (PCGS Cert #37286327)
- 1975 No-S Roosevelt Dime, PCGS PR68
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $456,000, 9/6/2019 (PCGS Cert #20519253)
- Battle Born Specimen 1876-CC Twenty Cent, PCGS MS64+
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $456,000, 9/8/2019 (PCGS Cert #20714029)
- 1876-CC Doubled Die Obverse Twenty Cent, PCGS MS65
Sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries for $456,000, 8/15/2019 (PCGS Cert #37861676)
- 1827/3 Capped Bust Quarter, PCGS PR65
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $444,000, 1/10/2019 (PCGS Cert #50242720)
- 1907 $10 Indian Wire Rim, From The Joan Zieg Steinbrenner Collection, NGC MS68
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $432,000, 8/14/2019
- Dallas Bank Collection 1856-O $20 Liberty Head, NGC AU50
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $408,000, 8/18/2019
- 1890 $20 Liberty Head, PCGS PR67DCAM
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $396,000, 8/18/2019 (PCGS Cert #37286330)
- 1798/7 $10 Capped Bust Right Stars 7×6, PCGS AU58
Sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries for $384,000, 8/15/2019 (PCGS Cert #36674535)
- 1930-S $20 Saint-Gaudens, PCGS MS66+
Sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries for $372,000, 8/15/2019 (PCGS Cert #30433201)
- 1938-S Mercury Dime, PCGS MS68+
Sold by Legend Rare Coin Auctions for $364,500, 6/27/2019 (PCGS Cert #37675464)
- 1792 Copper Pattern Disme, From The Alan V. Weinberg Collection, PCGS SP55BN
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $336,000, 1/10/2019 (PCGS Cert #35744099)
- Farouk / Norweb 1884 Trade Dollar, From The Poulos Family Collection, PCGS PR63
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $336,000, 8/18/2019 (PCGS Cert #14279405)
- 1792 Silver Center Cent, PCGS SP35BN
Sold by Heritage Auctions for $336,000, 4/25/2019 (PCGS Cert #25613850)
“That 20 of the 25 most valuable United States coins trading hands in 2019 were in PCGS holders affirms the trust and confidence the rare coin market has in PCGS,” says PCGS President Brett Charville. The downcrossing of the $3.96 million 1885 Trade Dollar into a PCGS holder was a landmark moment of 2019. “This clearly goes to show that the best coins are found in PCGS holders.”
It was a great year for PCGS capped by many other accomplishments, including the unveiling of the set registry achievement program, expansion of the Prooflike designation, the release of the new PCGS Rarities holder, and enhancement of the PCGS CoinFact App with the combined power of PCGS Price Guide and PCGS Photograde. The year 2019 also saw PCGS parent company Collectors Universe certify its 75 millionth collectible, speaking to the popularity of PCGS and the solid reputation the company has built since its founding nearly 35 years ago in 1986.
Additional milestones outside of vintage United States coin certification in 2019 include the launching of the Quarter Quest program for 2019 America The Beautiful Quarters struck at the West Point Mint bearing the W mintmark, as well as the launching of encapsulation of United States Mint serialized Certificates of Authenticity. Adds Charville, “It was a tremendous year for PCGS, and I hope in 2019 we made one thing abundantly clear: we’re listening to our customers, and our commitment to lead the numismatic industry when it comes to developing innovative products and programs that excite and better serve the numismatic community is unmatched by any other company in the entire numismatic hobby.”
About Professional Coin Grading Service
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is the premier third-party coin and banknote grading company that was launched in 1986. Over nearly 35 years, PCGS has examined and certified some 43 million U.S. and world coins, medals, and tokens with a combined value of more than $36.6 billion. For more information about PCGS products and services, including how to submit your coins for authentication and grading, please visit www.PCGS.com or call PCGS Customer Service at (800) 447-8848.
Feb 20, 2020 | News
(Pelham, Alabama) — In March 2020 Whitman Publishing will release 100 Greatest Modern World Coins, by numismatists Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker. The 168-page coffee-table hardcover will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide, and online (including at www.Whitman.com). Here, the book’s authors address two central questions of their manuscript: What makes a modern coin “great” . . . and why do great coins matter?
When it comes to coins, how does one define greatness? This is a daunting question and one posed to generations of collectors and numismatic researchers. As it pertains to Whitman Publishing’s library of “100 Greatest” books, we applied a number of criteria as we wrote our volume 100 Greatest Modern World Coins.
In the very first numismatic book in the line, 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, authors Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth outlined six factors: rarity, value, quality, popularity, beauty, and history. Given that Garrett and Guth were writing about a finite set of homogeneous U.S. coin issues, the over-emphasis of any one of these factors (save perhaps beauty) might lead to a rather uninteresting book.
Fortunately for all of us, in the first (and each subsequent) edition, this pair of top-tier numismatic researchers found a successful mix that works great for the U.S. coin series. Their books have sparked many lively discussions among the hobby faithful.
When it came to developing our own criteria for 100 Greatest Modern World Coins, we had to consider that the sweep of twentieth-century world-coin production was far more complex than an expert survey of the 100 greatest U.S. coin issues, nearly all of which have years of documented price performance and reasonably familiar back stories. Many rare world coins struck in the past 120 years are not well known outside of their issuing countries. Exploring historic auction data for the sale of these coins often requires specialist knowledge and years of market participation. Furthermore, as a collector steeped in American culture, one must be careful not to overemphasize Western aesthetics concerning art produced by other cultures. It’s a delicate dance, to be sure, but one we took a tremendous amount of care to execute as fairly as possible.
To us, compiling a list of 100 coins was more a matter of informed compromise.
When we set out to make our selections, we started by looking at the coinage output of every country around the globe spanning the past 120 years. We started with the year 1901, not because a valid case couldn’t be made that “modern coinage” started decades, or even a century or more, before, but because we felt the twentieth century was such a consequential period for numismatics that the coins of this century deserved to be considered among their peers. From a numismatic perspective, we consider this period to be an essential area of study to understand the present and future role of coins in society. Over the course of 100 coins, we embarked on an effort to tell that story.
To choose the coins on our list, we opted to take into consideration the following criteria.
Rarity. Generally speaking, coins are struck to be instruments of commerce that trade freely in exchange for goods and services, and, in order to achieve this goal, should not be rare. But there are instances where coins are struck in very limited numbers.
Among our selections, you will find coins struck for kings and queens; coins struck in limited numbers as presentation pieces for important members of government; pattern coins accidentally released into circulation; Proof issues struck in lower numbers than their circulation-strike counterparts; and coins that, for whatever reason, have had most of their mintages lost to time.
Rarity is an important factor that affects a coin’s numismatic value, but it is not the sole indicator of it.
Innovation. Over the course of the twentieth century, mints around the world introduced a number of important innovations that changed the global landscape of coins. Some of these creations were technical and involved processes and alloys used to strike coins. Some were artistic and introduced bold new aesthetics for coin design that paved the way for a global reimagining of the art form. Other innovations were driven by necessity or the needs of the market, such as long-overdue coinage reforms or the introduction of bullion coins as investment instruments.
The twentieth century introduced enormous challenges to the continued utility of coins as a circulating medium. Every step of the way, the world’s coin producers, both big and small, rose to the challenge and secured a viable place for coinage.
Coin Sets. Some of the greatest coins of the century need to be viewed in a broader context. Not every entry in our 100 Greatest Modern World Coins is an individual coin. In certain instances we study sets of coins. These sets may include one or more coins that, if considered individually, are sufficiently important to be included on our list. Other entries are known to collectors primarily as sets and it would be inconceivable to talk about one coin without discussing the others. Our goal was to valorize as many of the highlights of twentieth-century world coinage as possible, and in doing this we’ve included a fair number of sets.
Oddities and Emergency Issues. Human beings are amazing and resilient, and some of the most fascinating numismatic stories to unfold in the twentieth century center around coins that are a little off the beaten path. Some are limited-run vanity issues projecting the power and prestige of failed kings and despots, issued on the cusp of their overthrow, while others are crudely made pieces of emergency money issued by revolutionaries or by desperate people whose “revolutionary” idea was to survive no matter the cost. If holding a coin is like holding history in your hands, then coins struck in these ironic, unusual, and desperate circumstances tell us something about human nature and have an intrinsic greatness that is hard to ignore.
Auction Data and Market Values. This book presented an interesting challenge: How does one weigh an entire range of factors relating to modern world-coin issues and organize the coins so that the broadest survey is possible and auction data, certified-coin populations, and collector popularity aren’t overemphasized? We made every effort to review a variety of auction sources, historical records, and market-maker insights about the coins presented in 100 Greatest Modern World Coins. But we know that not every auction for every world coin included (or excluded) has been taken into consideration.
We provide certain auction data and market values for general interest, but we do not want readers to get the mistaken impression that every modern world coin that has ever sold for a significant sum of money was automatically included in our selection. Conversely, some of the coins on our list are readily available to collectors and hardly considered rare at all. If you use 100 Greatest Modern Coins to make purchasing decisions about rare and valuable coins, know that our ranking system is an opinion and should not outweigh your due diligence and appreciation of a piece. Lists are conversation starters and not the final word. The beauty of this is that the numismatic hobby is forever evolving and there is no shortage of stories to tell.
Why Do Great Coins Matter?
Many of the entries in 100 Greatest Modern World Coins fall outside the financial means of most collectors, and some pieces are so rare that the only known examples are held in museums or institutional collections. Others are so seldom encountered that it may take generations for an example to come to market. That’s okay. More important than owning one of the world’s greatest coins is the enrichment that comes from knowing its story and relating this information to the pursuit of other coins of its type, of the period, or of its issuing country.
The rarest of the rare coins that we consider the greatest are truly landmarks on the numismatic skyline.
Other great coins might be expensive but approachable, or not very expensive at all. A few of the coins on our list may be available for a small premium over current market value—or even a small premium over face value. Regardless of cost or even the public’s general perception of them, these greatest world coins have an important story to tell . . . but then, so do great coins, so do good coins, and so do average coins. No matter the scope or scale of your collection, the coins you select have stories. Every coin ever struck plays some role in making coin collecting a dynamic hobby. It is our hope that in reading our book, 100 Greatest Modern World Coins, you find yourself inspired to discover these stories and propel forward our hobby community’s appreciation for coins both great and ordinary.
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The United Kingdom and its empire (and, later, Commonwealth countries) account for many of the 100 Greatest Modern World Coins. Australia boasts four entries, including no. 7, the exceedingly rare Proof 1930 Melbourne penny.
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The coinage of China is well represented among the 100 Greatest, occupying 14 percent of the book’s rankings, including one-third of the top 20 coins.
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100 Greatest Modern World Coins
By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker; foreword by Donald Scarinci
ISBN 0794846335
Hardcover, coffee-table (10 x 12 inches); 168 pages; full color; retail $29.95 U.S.
Feb 18, 2020 | News, U.S. Mint
UTULEI, American Samoa – The United States Mint (Mint) today officially launched the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program coin honoring the National Park of American Samoa. This is the first release of 2020, and the 51st coin overall in the program.
The reverse (tails) of the quarter depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup, evoking the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. The design is intended to promote awareness of the species’ threatened status due to habitat loss and commercial hunting. The National Park of American Samoa is the only park that is home to the Samoan fruit bat. Inscriptions on the coin are “NATIONAL PARK,” “AMERICAN SAMOA,” “2020,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”
During his remarks, Mint Director David J. Ryder spoke about the significance of the new quarter design: “The National Park of American Samoa quarter serves as a symbol of conservation and care. Just as the mother fruit bat nurtures and protects her pup right here in the park, the people and villages of American Samoa work together to safeguard these protected resources.”
Additional participants included Attorney General Talauega Eleasalo Ale ; Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen; Fiu Saelua, chief of staff of the governor’s office, who also served as master of ceremonies; Stanley Austin, Regional Director of the National Park Service’s Pacific West Region; and Scott Burch, Superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa.
The Mint released collectible rolls and bags of National Park of American Samoa quarters on February 3. These products can be purchased online at catalog.usmint.gov/coin-programs/america-the-beautiful-quarters-program/ or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).
The America the Beautiful Quarters® Program is a 12-year initiative that honors 56 national parks and other national sites authorized by Public Law 110-456. Each year of the program, the public has seen five new national sites depicted on the reverses (tails sides) of the America the Beautiful Quarters coins, with a final coin scheduled for release in 2021. The Mint is issuing these quarters in the order in which the national sites were officially established.
Feb 13, 2020 | ICTA/NCBA, News
Industry Council for Tangible Assets dealer-member Dean Schmidt (Dean Schmidt Rare Coins, Atchison, Kansas) was honored during the ICTA dinner and update at Tony Roma’s in Orlando, Florida, on January 8 as the recipient of the 2019 Diane Piret Memorial Outstanding Service Award for his efforts to see Kansas House Bill 2140 passed. The bill provides a sales-tax exemption on sales of gold and silver coins and on all gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion.
“We thank Dean Schmidt for his continued perseverance over the years and the tremendous support of everyone who helped make this exemption a reality,” said chief operating officer David Crenshaw.
The dealer and collector communities, in conjunction with ICTA, put a tremendous amount of hard work into the grassroots campaign. Schmidt has championed the cause for the last four years, raising capital for lobbyist costs and reimbursing ICTA’s expenses, spreading the word to dealers and collectors, speaking at shows all over the state, emailing, attending meetings at the state legislature, and testifying in both the House and Senate. Many other dealers also attended and testified at House and Senate committee hearings, as well as financially contributing to the efforts: Jeremy Brakenhoff and Josh McCleary (Mass Metals/Ownx), Robin Tummons (The House of Stuart), Robert Dunlap (Equity Standard Numismatics of Kansas), and Rick Raines (representing the Johnson County Numismatic Society—a major financial contributor to the campaign). Several ICTA members and JCNS club members also attended committee hearings, and the campaign received tremendous help from Pat Heller (Liberty Coin Service), ICTA’s traveling sales-tax exemption guru, and former ICTA executive director Kathy McFadden, from her testimony in 2018 committee hearings. Big thanks also go to Travis Lowe and Scott Heidner with Gaches, Braden & Associates, the lobbyists that worked tirelessly on this legislation.
“The ICTA partnership, along with lobbyists from Gaches, Braden & Associates and many others, were invaluable to the success of our efforts,” said Schmidt.
The award commemorates the 25-year career of ICTA’s former industry affairs director, who died in 2015.
Feb 9, 2020 | Announcements, News
Will be exhibited at Witter Coin’s large, new San Francisco location
(San Francisco, California) – The finest of only 14 known Kellogg & Co. 1855 proof $50 gold coins has been privately sold for a record $1 million by dealer Seth Chandler, owner of Witter Coin Co. (www.WitterCoin.com) in San Francisco, to a local collector who enjoys historical items related to the California Gold Rush. It will now be publicly displayed for several weeks in its “hometown” during Witter Coin’s grand opening beginning February 10, 2020.
The 1855 proof Kellogg $50 is graded PCGS PR64 Cameo CAC. It sold for $763,750 in its last appearance in a public auction in 2014.
The finest known 1855 proof Kellogg $50 gold coin, graded PCGS PR64 Cameo CAC, has been sold for a record $1 million by Witter Coin in San Francisco and will be exhibited by its new owner at the store’s grand opening starting February 10, 2020. Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.
“This is the King of Pioneer gold and it has come home to San Francisco where it was originally created 165 years ago by prominent Gold Rush-era assayers and private coiners John Glover Kellogg and Augustus Humbert. The pedigree includes Humbert himself and the famous Garrett Collection at Johns Hopkins University,” said Chandler.
He describes the new owner as “a private San Francisco collector who appreciates proof gold and the California Gold Rush era. He was ecstatic when I told him this amazing and significant gold piece was available. It’s now an important trophy coin in his advanced collection.”
Assayers Kellogg & Co., and its successor, Kellogg & Humbert, struck coins for a brief period during the Gold Rush and helped fill the need for circulating coinage in the early days of the San Francisco Mint. Because all 14 known 1855 Kellogg & Co. $50 gold coins are proofs, some researchers believe they were made as presentation pieces and not intended for circulation.
Legendary mid-20th century Texas dealer B. Max Mehl described the Kellogg & Co. 1855 $50 as “the most beautiful of all pioneer gold coins.”
The anonymous new owner of the finest known example is loaning the historic coin for public display during the grand opening of the new location for Witter Coin.
Previously located since 1982 in a 600 square foot office on Market St. in San Francisco’s financial district, the new location is a 7,500 square feet store located in the busy Marina district at 2299 Lombard St. in a building that used to house an IHOP restaurant.
“We even have 12 free parking spaces for customers; somewhat of a rarity itself in San Francisco,” explained Chandler.
Witter Coin was established in 1960 by Dean Witter. Chandler joined the company in 2016 when Witter retired.
“I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and started collecting coins at the age of four, placing Wheat cents in blue Whitman coin folders given to me by my parents. As a teenager, I worked at a coin shop in Jacksonville. This new store fulfills my lifelong passion to own a coin shop that is also a museum where the public can see educational displays of numismatic rarities, historic items from the San Francisco mints and Gold Rush artifacts displayed in custom-made cases,” he said.
“I wanted to create the greatest coin shop in America,” Chandler stated.
“The new showroom has an extensive offering of collectible coins, gold and silver bullion, jewelry and classic wristwatches. The team at Witter Coin is a dedicated staff of professional numismatists who can offer free ‘I just want to know what it’s worth’ appraisals for any type of coins,” he explained.
Witter Coin, 2299 Lombard St., San Francisco, is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm. For additional information, call 415-781-5690 or email sales@WitterCoin.com.
