Apr 16, 2019 | News, U.S. Mint
WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) is now accepting orders for products featuring the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program coin honoring American Memorial Park in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The reverse (tails) design chosen for the Mint’s latest release depicts a young woman in traditional attire at the front of the Flag Circle and Court of Honor. She is resting her hand on the plaque that honors the sacrifice of those who died in the Marianas Campaign of World War II. Inscriptions on the reverse are “AMERICAN MEMORIAL PARK,” “N. MARIANA ISLANDS,” “2019,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” The obverse (heads) design features a restored 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan. Obverse inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “LIBERTY,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and “QUARTER DOLLAR.”
The American Memorial Park quarter is packaged in the following product options:
The Mint produces the coins in the rolls and bags at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco facilities. The three-roll set contains coins from all three facilities. Unlike the “P” and “D” mint mark quarters, those with the “S” mint mark will not be released into circulation.
The Mint accepts orders at www.catalog.usmint.gov and at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing- and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may order at 1-888-321-MINT. Shipping options are available at www.catalog.usmint.gov/customerservice/shipping.html.
Apr 14, 2019 | News
PCGS President Brett Charville personally called to notify the first two W mint mark quarter dollar submitters. (Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.)
But the PCGS Quarter Quest has not ended, and there are still opportunities for rewards and fun with W mint mark quarters in the weeks ahead.
“After PCGS announced the Quarter Quest competition on Friday, April 5, 2019, the entire office buzzed with anticipation,” said PCGS President Brett Charville. “Who would win? Would there be more than one? Given that the quarters are circulating, will high grades be scarce? How long will it take until the first one travels through the grading room?”
It didn’t take long for the questions to be answered.
The first two qualifying W mint mark quarters arrived at PCGS on Tuesday, April 9. One was submitted by a collector identified as “Steven R.” from Topeka, Kansas, the other was submitted by collector “Michael T.” of Fairfax, Virginia.
Fifty cents = $5,000: The two Quarter Quest-winning PCGS First Discovery 2019-W Lowell quarter dollars side-by-side. (Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.)
Steven told PCGS he obtained his winning coin, now graded PCGS MS65, when he “just stopped at a gas station to buy a couple of Pepsis.” His interest in coin collecting started from searching through his grandfather’s coin jars hoping to stumble upon something big. “I was always looking for that ‘44 steel penny,” he explained.
Michael, who began collecting as a youngster when his father gave him an Eisenhower dollar, revealed he found his winning coin when he purchased rolls of quarters. “On the end of one roll I saw a W mint mark, and I was super excited there might be something good in here,” he recalled. His W quarter is graded PCGS MS66.
The two collectors are receiving $2,500 each from PCGS and their encapsulated coin inserts indicate a pedigree of “PCGS First Discovery 1 of 2.”
The PCGS Quarter Quest competition will continue giving collectors an on-going chance to win a reward for finding some future W mint mark quarters.
“We are offering a bounty for each of the remaining and qualifying 2019 America the Beautiful West Point quarters,” explained PCGS Director of Marketing Heather Boyd.
PCGS Grader Ted Robinson verifying the grade of one of the two PCGS First Discovery 2019-W Lowell quarters. (Photo credit: Professional Coin Grading Service www.PCGS.com.)
The qualifying coins submitted after those 7 days and within 45 days of the PCGS First Discovery will automatically receive an Early Find pedigree.
PCGS has created an information page for the promotion at www.PCGS.com/2019quarterquest where coin hunters can check on updated bounties, see if a PCGS First Discovery has been graded and authenticated, and review the terms and conditions for the promotion.
For information about PCGS products and services, including how to submit your coins for authentication and grading, visit www.PCGS.com or call PCGS Customer Service at (800) 447-8848.
Apr 11, 2019 | News
The US Mint has announced that limited-mintage 2019-W Quarters are being released directly into circulation starting this month. These are the first quarters to feature the “W” mint mark of the West Point Mint, and they have a total mintage of just 2 million per design.
NGC is celebrating them with a special attribution of First “W” Mint Mark Quarters, as well as NGC’s West Point Mint Gold Star Label, both of which are provided for no additional fee.
A special grading fee of $20 per 2019-W Quarter includes Early Releases or First Releases designations for qualifying coins. If neither Early Releases nor First Releases is desired or applicable, the grading fee is $17 per 2019-W Quarter.
Learn more →
Apr 10, 2019 | News
WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) will open sales for the America the Beautiful Quarters Three-Coin Set™ containing coins honoring American Memorial Park in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on April 17 at noon EDT. The set (product code 19AE) is priced at $9.95.
America the Beautiful Quarters Three-Coin Sets™ consist of an uncirculated quarter from the Philadelphia Mint, an uncirculated quarter from the Denver Mint, and a proof quarter from the San Francisco Mint. Coins in the set honoring American Memorial Park bear reverse designs depicting a young woman in traditional dress at the front of the Flag Circle and Court of Honor. She is resting her hand on the plaque with text that honors the sacrifice of those who died in the in the Marianas Campaign of World War II. Inscriptions are “AMERICAN MEMORIAL PARK,” “N. MARIANA ISLANDS,” “2019,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”
The obverse (heads) of the coins depicts the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, which has been restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “LIBERTY,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and “QUARTER DOLLAR.”
All three coins are mounted on a durable plastic card with an image of American Memorial Park. The Certificate of Authenticity is printed on the back of the card.
The Mint accepts orders at www.catalog.usmint.gov and 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may order at 1-888-321-MINT. Visit www.catalog.usmint.gov/customer-service/shipping.html for information about shipping options.
A limited supply of sets will be available for purchase over the counter at various United States Mint sales centers.
Apr 10, 2019 | News, PNG
Young Connecticut numismatist will attend a six-day session of the ANA Summer Seminar
(Temecula, CA) April 9, 2019 — The Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.org) 2019 Young Numismatist Scholarship has been awarded to Christian Hartch, 18, of Greenwich, Connecticut. The scholarship will pay for him to attend one of the six-day American Numismatic Association Summer Seminar sessions this June.
Hartch began his enjoyment of numismatics at the age of five when his father gave him a Whitman folder to begin collecting Lincoln cents. He has worked at a local coin store while in high school the past four years to learn more about the hobby, the marketplace and the business-side of numismatics.
His YouTube channel, Treasure Town, has more than 18,000 subscribers with over 1.5 million views of weekly coin collecting videos he produces.
“I was super excited, super happy when I was told about winning the scholarship,” explained Hartch who has been accepted as a freshman at Princeton University this coming fall.
His parents, Greg and Christa Hartch, are proud of their son’s accomplishments.
“We are so thankful that Christian will have the opportunity to attend the ANA conference in Colorado. Christian has worked hard to grow his coin YouTube channel, and we are thrilled that he is being recognized for his interest in numismatics,” stated Greg Hartch.
“This is the 15th consecutive year that PNG is providing airfare, tuition for one of the educational ANA Summer Seminar (www.money.org/summerseminar) sessions, meals and five nights of dormitory accommodations on the campus of Colorado College, site of the ANA headquarters,” said PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman.
Hartch wants to take a grading class at the ANA Summer Seminar and plans to study either economics or art and archaeology at Princeton.
He said PNG member-dealer Christopher Moran, owner of The Happy Coin store in Cos Cob, Connecticut, “has been a big influence to me.”
At the age of 13, Hartch was the store’s first customer when it opened in early 2014, purchasing an 1864 two-cent piece for his collection. He began working at the store a year later in the summer before he entered high school.
“Working at the shop allows me to be immersed with rare coins, and across the board coins, currency, U.S. and world coins. I can see the numismatic world from both a collector’s perspective and the business side, and I’ve learned a lot about the market,” he explained.
He launched his YouTube channel to promote the hobby and wants to create additional informative and entertaining videos for the channel from his upcoming experiences at the ANA Summer Seminar.
“The money to pay for the annual PNG YN Scholarship is administered from the PNG’s Gerald Bauman Memorial Fund. Bauman, who died in 2001, served for many years as a prominent coin dealer with Manfra, Tordella & Brookes in New York City,” explained PNG President Barry Stuppler.
“Usually, the deadline is late March for young collectors to submit essays for our annual scholarship competition; however, we are moving up the deadline for next year to late January 2020. The PNG will make an announcement in early November about the next YN scholarship competition,” explained Brueggeman.
The PNG is a nonprofit organization composed of many of the top rare coin and paper money dealers in the United States and four other countries. PNG member-dealers must adhere to a strict Code of Ethics in the buying and selling of numismatic merchandise.
For additional information about the PNG or the young numismatists scholarship program, visit online at www.PNGdealers.org or call (951) 587-8300.
Apr 7, 2019 | News
NGC has been named the Official Grading Service of Sixbid, a popular online auction platform for coins and paper money. The move elevates the collaboration between the two companies; NGC had previously been selected as an Approved Grading Service of Sixbid.
On Sixbid.com, auction houses from all over the world present their numismatic auctions to a broad audience. The services of Sixbid.com include not only the on-site marketing tools for auction houses but also easier search options for collectors and others interested in numismatic items.
Particularly in Europe, Sixbid is popular for researching possible future acquisitions for a personal collection and for offering them directly on the site. Sixbid, which was founded in 2001, was able to present over 1,100 auctions in 2018 to its numismatically interested audience.
NGC is a leading third-party authentication, grading and encapsulation service for collectible coins. Coins certified by NGC are backed by its comprehensive guarantee and are trusted by collectors and dealers around the world. This trust results in higher prices realized and greater liquidity.
NGC has certified more than 42 million coins since it was founded in 1987. It now has offices in London, Munich, Shanghai and Hong Kong, in addition to its global headquarters in Sarasota, Florida, USA.
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Apr 2, 2019 | News
Ken Bressett, Editor Emeritus of the Guide Book of United States Coins, shares his thoughts on “odd and curious” (primitive) money, and on Curious Currency: The Story of Money From the Stone Age to the Internet Age, Robert Leonard’s newly updated book on the subject.
The use of money today is so ubiquitous that we seldom give thought to why it functions the way it does, how it came to be, or what we would do without it. People are paid for the work they do, or for their creative efforts or skills, and they spend that recompense for things they desire that have been provided to them by others. The bridge between effort, compensation, and reward is what is known as “money.” It is the necessary medium that keeps commerce functioning in an orderly manner without constantly negotiating the value of services versus products or payments.
It often comes as a surprise when people leam that trade items, coins, and diverse forms of money have been used for thousands of years. An even greater revelation is that barter and trade must have played a crucial part in the early beginnings of civilized contact between prehistoric clans.
The desire to exchange surplus items for different things that were needed was the driving force in establishing customs and rules about how various items should be valued and how interchanges should be carried out. The ultimate solutions became what are now inclusively known as “money.” The long road to the variety of monies used today was not a straight path. Hundreds of different items have been used to accommodate the diverse needs of everyday commerce and trade by different societies throughout the years. Some of the items that were used defy credulity. Others have stood the test of time.
In its most succinct form, “money” can be anything that is acceptable to both parties in facilitating an exchange of goods or services between them. In actual use, anything and just about everything has been used as this bridge. Over the years most societies have agreed that precious metals—mainly gold, silver, and copper—are the most convenient and widely acceptable storehouses of value and thus the ideal medium of exchange for all goods and services. Even these, however, have their shortcomings. There simply is not a sufficient supply of these precious metals to serve the economic needs of the world.
Throughout the years specialized needs of various societies have been met by sanctioning unique forms of exchange. Some of these defy logic by today’s standards, but are probably no more implausible than our use of electronic transfers or plastic credit cards would seem to people even one hundred years ago. The scope and variety of strange monies of the past is further complicated by a general misunderstanding of the use of these objects as trade items, ornaments of personal wealth or status, barter goods, coins, tokens, and promissory payments.
In Curious Currency, with a fresh approach to understanding the nature of money in all its various forms, author and researcher Robert Leonard presents an entertaining overview of what can only be called a most unusual and bizarre assemblage of items that were once used to facilitate trade. While it is difficult to comprehend how stones could ever be used as money, they most certainly were and Mr. Leonard tells their story at length. Stone money is only one of the many unusual items he describes and shows.
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Author Robert D. Leonard Jr. autographing books at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Denver, August 3, 2017. The first edition of Curious Currency earned the Numismatic Literary Guild’s prestigious “Best Specialized Book on World Coins” award.
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Kenneth Bressett, Editor Emeritus of the Guide Book of United States Coins, and author of award-winning books including Money of the Bible and Milestone Coins: A Pageant of the World’s Most Significant and Popular Money.
The story of money, in a very real sense, is the story of world history. Not in the stuffy schoolbook sense, but when stories about money are tied to world events they speak of actual actions. Money, in the form of coins, contracts, odd objects made of shells, beads, cloth, or stone, was part of the wars, famines, growth, and glory days of many nations. A study of what has served as money, past and present, can help everyone better understand its nature and use through prosperous and troubled times, and how it functions today.
When some Neolithic man fashioned the first useful stone or flint tools they must have quickly become coveted trade items that could be exchanged for the surplus food gathered by other clansmen. Little could these early people realize that this convention was to be the beginning of commercial transactions that would impact the entire world and nearly every facet of life thereafter. Such primitive exchanges were scarcely much different than the bartering that went on in America when the Forty Niners left their homes and traveled to California in search of a golden dust that they could trade for whatever luxuries they wanted.
Only a few hundred years ago, in the days when much of America was still a British colony, tobacco, lumber, furs, musket balls, and beads took the place of scarce silver and gold coins. At that time barter with farm products, known as “country pay,” served our ancestors well for many years. It is, in fact, still used to some extent today in rural communities.
Knowledge of how the various forms of money served economic needs in the past may hold clues as to how money should be regarded today, and how people can cope with the universal concerns about inflation, credit problems, management of wealth, and governance. Mr. Leonard’s provocative study of how hundreds of societies have adapted to using nonstandard items to meet their needs can only lead to the conclusion that most forms of money and wealth are based on faith, and in the end may all be ephemeral.
What many students term as “odd and curious,” “primitive,” “strange,” or “traditional” money, is really not so bizarre after all. It was only through a combination of chance and necessity, that at some time and place some societies preferred to use feathers or stones rather than to rely on electronic blips or pieces of paper.
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Mar 29, 2019 | ACEF/ACTF, News, PNG
(Temecula, California) March 28, 2019 – Recently adopted anti-counterfeiting language in the Bylaws of the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.org) has been revised to clarify the organization’s commitment to fighting against modern fakes entering the marketplace.
PNG leaders also have now amended anti-counterfeiting language in their Code of Ethics.
“A few people mistakenly thought our recent Code of Ethics change meant that we were endorsing the right of dealers to sell any counterfeit U.S. coins if they simply disclosed to buyers that they were fakes. That’s certainly not the position of the PNG, so our Board of Directors again revised the Bylaws language to address those misconceptions,” explained PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman.
“Our Code of Ethics has contained anti-counterfeiting language for decades, and now we have updated that section,” added Brueggeman. “We realize that contemporary counterfeits, dating back to ancient coins as well as unauthorized coins that appeared, for example, during the U.S. Colonial era, are part of numismatic collectibles history. Our fight is against the onslaught of dangerous fresh fakes coming in from China and elsewhere.”
The PNG Board originally adopted these changes, indicated in italics, in the Code of Ethics: “To refrain from knowingly participating in, abetting or dealing in counterfeit, altered, repaired or ‘doctored’ numismatic items without fully disclosing their status to my customers.”
Two sections of the Code of Ethics now have been updated (with new text indicated here in italics) to read:
6) To refrain from knowingly dealing in stolen numismatic items, or buying and selling known modern counterfeit coins, currency or other numismatic materials that are, by law, not legal to possess. 7) To refrain from knowingly participating in, abetting or dealing in altered, repaired or “doctored” numismatic items, contemporary counterfeits, electrotypes, or published forgeries, without fully disclosing their status to my customer and/or making any attempt to deceive.”
“Combatting fakes in the marketplace is a major priority for the Professional Numismatists Guild,” emphasized PNG President Barry Stuppler.
PNG provides administrative assistance to the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation (www.ACEFonline.org), an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. ACEF oversees the important work of the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force.
For additional information about the Professional Numismatists Guild or the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation, contact the organizations at 28441 Rancho California Road, Suite 106, Temecula, CA 92590. The phone number is 951-587-8300. Or contact ACEF Director of Anti-Counterfeiting Beth Deisher at 567-202-1795.
Mar 28, 2019 | News, U.S. Mint
WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) opened sales for the 2019 America the Beautiful Quarters Uncirculated Coin Set™ (product code 19AA). The set is priced at $13.95.
This ten-coin set consists of five uncirculated quarters from the Philadelphia Mint and five uncirculated quarters from the Denver Mint. The coins have reverse designs representing the 2019 America the Beautiful Quarters Program honorees:
- Lowell National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
- American Memorial Park (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)
- War in the Pacific National Historical Park (Guam)
- San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (Texas), and
- Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (Idaho).
The obverse (heads) design of all coins features the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, which has been restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model.
The Mint accepts orders at www.catalog.usmint.gov and 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may order at 1-888-321-MINT. Visit www.catalog.usmint.gov/customer-service/shipping.html for information about shipping options.
The America the Beautiful Quarters Uncirculated Coin Set is also available for purchase through the Mint’s Product Enrollment Program. Visit catalog.usmint.gov/shop/product-enrollments/ to learn more about this convenient ordering option.
Mar 26, 2019 | News
by Dennis Tucker
Robert W. Shippee’s book Pleasure and Profit: 100 Lessons for Building and Selling a Collection of Rare Coins was unique in numismatic publishing when it debuted in November 2014. Now in its second edition, it remains unique today—an insightful guide to building a coin collection, intelligently.
What makes Pleasure and Profit so unusual? Shippee tells his story “warts and all,” publicly sharing not only his very profitable purchases, but also the expensive mistakes, with valuable lessons learned from each. His tale is crowned by a successful $1.5 million auction.
Collectors new and old loved the first edition. Pleasure and Profit quickly became one of the most discussed books on collecting and investing in Whitman Publishing’s numismatic lineup. Shippee was invited to build an educational course around it. He and Kenneth Bressett (longtime editor of the Guide Book of United States Coins) taught the class at the American Numismatic Association’s 2015 Summer Seminar. Another indicator of a book’s popularity is how frequently it gets mentioned in related conversations. I’ve been happy to read so many positive comments and unsolicited recommendations in the hobby press, in book reviews, and in online bulletin boards.
Over the course of my publishing career I’ve read hundreds of numismatic guidebooks, references, encyclopedias, and catalogs. Not just browsed them, not just looked at their pictures, but actually read them, word for word, from the title page to the last index entry. It was wonderful to watch Pleasure and Profit grow from a solid early-draft manuscript into a 328-page volume packed with valuable information. This is the kind of book that longtime coin collectors read and say, “I wish I’d had a guide like this when I started collecting.”
In the new second edition, which debuted at the February 2019 Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo, Bob Shippee updates his market reports on most of the coins in his case-study collection. He expands his discussion of rare-coin indexes, and his comparison of coins vs. the stock market. And he makes a new analysis of his collection by denomination, tracking where his coins would be, value-wise, a decade-plus after their 2007 sale.
Shippee talks about acquisition strategies, storage choices, disposition options. This is real-world advice. He shares personal insight on grading services, auction houses, famous dealers, numismatic personalities, market forces, and—with candor that’s rare these days—his laid-bare financial results. His insight is humorous, wise, and unflinching. With the rare-coin market in a state of constant change, Pleasure and Profit remains uniquely valuable for today’s collector and investor.
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WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) is now accepting orders for products featuring the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program coin honoring American Memorial Park in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
