America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ Honoring Weir Farm National Historic Site on Sale May 18
WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) will accept orders for the 2020 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ honoring Weir Farm National Historic Site in Connecticut beginning on May 18 at noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
Priced at $178.25, this coin’s reverse (tails) design portrays an artist, wearing a painter’s smock, painting outside Julian Alden Weir’s studio at Weir Farm. It is inspired by various images of the studio and Weir’s paintings created on the property, as well as descriptions of Weir and his fellow artist’s creative inspiration from the rural environment. The composition allows the viewer to feel as if he or she is standing where Weir once stood. The inscription “A NATIONAL PARK FOR ART” is included. Additional inscriptions are “WEIR FARM,” “CONNECTICUT,” “2020,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” The obverse (heads) features a 1932 restored portrait of George Washington. Each coin is encapsulated and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Production is limited to 20,000 units. There is no household order limit.
The Mint accepts orders at catalog.usmint.gov. Information on shipping options is available at catalog.usmint.gov/customer-service/shipping.html.
The America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins™ are also available for purchase through the Mint’s Product Enrollment Program. To learn more, visit us online at catalog.usmint.gov/shop/enrollments/.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, our sales centers are closed until further notice. Click here for details.
Note: To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, the United States Mint will not accept and will not honor orders placed prior to the official on-sale date of May 18, 2020, at noon EDT.
United States Mint Introduces New Storage Box for Collectible Coin Rolls on May 18
WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) will roll out the new Coin Roll Collector Box (product code K65) on May 18 at noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The new storage box replaces the Quarter Roll Collector’s Box (K61) and the Dollar Coin Rolls Collector’s Box (K62).
Priced at $16.25, the Coin Roll Collector Box conveniently stores rolls of $1 coins or quarters issued in the Native American $1 Coin Program, the American Innovation™ $1 Coin Program, and the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. The box will also accommodate coin rolls issued under past programs, including the Presidential $1 Coin Program, the 50 State Quarters Program, and the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program. Up to five $1 coin rolls (25 coins per roll) or five quarter rolls (40 quarters per roll) can be stored.
The Coin Roll Collector Box measures 6.5 in. x 4.5 in. x 1.5 in. and is constructed of chipboard wrapped in black leather-textured paper. The United States Mint seal is imprinted on the box in silver colored foil. A plain white, disposable sleeve protects the exterior surfaces during transport. The Mint accepts orders at catalog.usmint.gov/. Visit catalog.usmint.gov/customer-service/shipping.html for information about shipping options.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, our sales centers are closed until further notice. Click here for details.
Note: To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, the United States Mint will not accept and will not honor orders placed prior to the official on-sale date and time of May 18, 2020, at noon EDT.
Donna Frater Named New ANA Director of Development & Membership
The American Numismatic Association (ANA) announced this week that Donna Frater has been named the new director of development and membership. Frater most recently served as the Association’s manager of development.
Cary Hardy
“Cary began his ANA tenure in our online merchandising store and moved through various positions to become membership director,” says ANA Executive Director Kim Kiick. “He was responsible for a number of programs besides membership, including acting as the IT liaison for the Association and managing our relationships with affinity partners. He will be missed.”
In her new expanded role, Frater will oversee ANA fund development, membership and the club/district representative program (assisted by Logan Curtis).
Donna Frater
“Donna has a passion for customer service and I know our members will love working with her,” says Kiick. “She is an idea person and I look forward to the contributions she will make in these vital ANA programs.”
The American Numismatic Association is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to encouraging the study and collection of coins and related items. The ANA helps its 25,000 members and the public discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of instructional and outreach programs, as well as its museum, library, publications and conventions. For more information, call 719-632-2646 or visit money.org.
A Nostalgic Look Back at the Red Book
1892-S Morgan Dollar, Uncirculated, $15—No Haggling!
An advertisement for the 1947 (1st edition) Red Book.
The following coins are for sale—prices firm, cash on the barrel head:
- 1880 Shield nickel, Unc — $8.00
- 1921-S Liberty Walking half dollar, Unc — $18.00
- 1926 Sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar, Unc — $2.50
- 1875-CC gold eagle, Unc — $55.00
Seems like a no-brainer! I might as well ask, “How would you like to rotate your tires and fill up your tank, and as a bonus you get a brand-new Lamborghini?”
Grab a copy of the 1947 Red Book, the first edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins. Then hop in your trusty time machine, and you can go back to find these prices in the rare-coin market of 74 years ago.
Happy Days Are Here Again
Imagine the year is 1947. World War II has been over for some time, and America’s economy is booming. The military mobilization that helped the Allies win the war has since repatriated millions of Americans: in Operation Magic Carpet, running from June 1945 to September 1946, the War Shipping Administration brought 8 million service members home from Europe and the Pacific and Asian theaters. Now, back in the States, demand is much greater than supply for many consumer goods—but manufacturers are happy to meet the challenge! Young couples are temporarily moving in with their parents while homebuilders hustle to ramp up the amount of available housing. (The average cost of a new home? $6,600, or about two-and-a-half times the average yearly wage.) With the war over, federal expenditure is markedly down—comparing 1944 and 1947, government spending at all levels has dropped 75 percent—but U.S. citizens are spending more than twice as much on durable goods, overall consumption is up nearly 25 percent, and private investment has more than doubled.
Veterans in the hangar deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), in Pearl Harbor, September 1945—on their way home as part of Operation Magic Carpet.
Americans are buying household appliances, new cars, new homes. They’re also spending money on their hobbies—including collecting U.S. coins.
A Revolutionary New Book for a Fast-Growing Hobby
In the midst of all this economic growth and personal spending, Whitman Publishing finally debuted a new hobby reference that had been delayed by wartime paper rationing. It was in November 1946 that R.S. Yeoman’s Guide Book of United States Coins—a retail-pricing version of the popular wholesale-market Handbook of United States Coins—made its first appearance. Now collectors had an annual guide to how much professional dealers were charging, on average, for every coin produced since the start of the U.S. Mint in 1792.
The first print run of the Red Book’s first edition totaled 9,000 copies. These sold so quickly that another 9,000 were printed in February 1947.
By 1959 collectors were buying more than 100,000 Red Books annually. The 1965 (18th) edition reached a peak in sales of 1,200,000 copies. The hobby market was going gangbusters, and that year the Red Book was ranked fifth on the list of best-selling nonfiction titles—ahead of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People (at no. 6) and John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage (no. 9).
A Tribute to the Red Book
Perhaps even R.S. Yeoman couldn’t have imagined that today, with the Red Book in its 74th edition, collectors would have purchased well over 24 million copies. The guide book is a superstar of America publishing, one of the most popular nonfiction titles of all time. It’s even attained collectible status itself, with many hobbyists adding the latest hardcover to their collections each year. As with rare coins, supply and demand come into play: today an original copy of the 1st edition can command $1,200 to $1,500.
The sixtieth anniversary of the first Red Book was a fun year for Whitman Publishing; we debuted some great titles in 2006. The one that captured collectors’ imaginations the most might have been the 1947 Tribute Edition Red Book. This was a page-by-page exact recreation of the very first Guide Book of United States Coins. It also included a full-color section comparing the current hobby market with that of the 1940s.
-
- The cover of the 1947 Tribute Edition of the Red Book. Whitman also published a limited-edition (500 copies) leather-bound version.
-
- Sample pages from the color market-analysis section of the Tribute Edition.
This is where our wishful thinking for a time machine comes in. Just take a look at those 74-year-old coin prices!
$11 for a Proof trade dollar. $50 for a Clark, Gruber & Co. “Pikes Peak” five-dollar gold piece, in Uncirculated condition.
Today, if you’re not picky, $5 will buy you a fast-food lunch. In 1947 it would get you an early-1800s Draped Bust quarter in Fine, or an Uncirculated Flying Eagle cent from the 1850s.
A collector who wanted to buy one of every coin and set valued in the first Red Book would have paid $167,970 for a circulated collection, or $219,609 in Mint State. In today’s market that would require more than $11 million and $45 million respectively.
One hobbyist who bought a copy of the 1947 Tribute Edition Red Book looked up a few favorite coins, and then, as he put it, “paged through to look and sigh over prices that are similar to or less than my son’s allowance.” Another wistful reader said, “It’s like time travel. $50 Pan-Pac Octagonal for $500… I’ll take a whole roll, please!”
No matter which U.S. coins you collect, there’s much to learn by comparing today’s hobby with the hobby of yesterday. Plus it can be a heck of a lot of fun. Just don’t let it frustrate you too much…. ($3.75 for an Uncirculated 1909-S V.D.B. cent?!)
PCGS Announces Potential New Shows
PCGS Considers Additional Members Only Shows to Offset COVID-19 Effects
The numismatic hobby, like seemingly every other part of our lives, finds itself at a crossroads. How and when will it be safe to go back to everyday normal life? Is what we consider “normal” going to be normal at all? The world is on edge, and it’s no different in the world of numismatics. How will the events of the last few months shape numismatics for years to come? We all know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, but at this moment we simply don’t know what the future holds, and our hobby is currently held hostage by the uncertainty of the ongoing crisis.
While many people think of numismatics as simply a hobby, it’s also a segment of the collectibles industry that employs tens of thousands of people in small and medium-sized businesses around the US. To those who are employed in the numismatic industry or use rare coins to store wealth or invest for the future, it’s much more than just a pastime. Unfortunately, many of these businesses and individuals are largely dependent on in-person interactions to conduct business. The loss of coin shows for the remainder of 2020 would leave a vacancy in the numismatic community resulting in a ripple of further uncertainty. Thankfully, numismatics has proven to be historically resilient, and we at PCGS will be doing our part to ensure our hobby continues to grow and thrive.
In response to this uncertainty, PCGS is announcing the potential addition of three “substitute” PCGS Members Only Shows to the 2020 numismatic show calendar in the event major numismatic trade shows are not able to occur as originally planned. If the August ANA World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, the September Long Beach Expo, and/or the November Whitman Winter Expo in Baltimore are cancelled, PCGS will plan to host smaller, substitute PCGS Members Only Shows during their originally scheduled dates. These shows would likely occur in either Las Vegas, Nevada, or Southern California, depending on local and federal safety restrictions and guidelines in place at that time. Our longstanding relationships with venues in these locations puts PCGS in the unique position of hosting fit-to-scale trade shows on short notice.
For those who have not had a chance to attend, PCGS Members Only Shows are opportunities for coin hobbyists to meet and trade in a smaller, laid-back, casual show environment. Attendance at these shows is included as a free benefit to PCGS Collectors Club members and Authorized Dealers. Since 2009, PCGS has hosted six Members Only Shows per year, with half typically occurring at a major casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the remainder occurring across various venues throughout the United States.
Should these much smaller “substitute” shows occur, PCGS is committed to strictly following state and CDC guidelines to ensure the health and safety of all attendees. Whatever guidelines we need to follow, temperature checks at the door from a licensed professional, social distancing, greater space between tables, limited numbers of people on the bourse floor at one time – we will make it happen. We’ll build an event that safely fits within guidelines laid out by the respective venue as well as state and federal government regulations.
We truly hope that our back-up Members Only Shows will not be necessary and that all existing shows occur as originally scheduled, but PCGS stands ready. Our hobby has always been one of face-to-face interactions and transactions. It is massively important to the numismatic community that in-person events resume safely, whether large or small, to keep the spirit of our hobby strong.
Fondly,
Brett Charville
President, Professional Coin Grading Service
Support the Coin Collectors Blog
Buy me a coffee
Thank you for your support!
Recent Blog Posts
- POLL: Are you ready for the World’s Fair of Money August 8, 2022
- Weekly World Numismatic News for August 7, 2022 August 7, 2022
- 2024 Commemorative Coin Programs are Set August 6, 2022
- Do you believe that Congress is actually doing something! August 1, 2022
- Weekly World Numismatic News for July 31, 2022 August 1, 2022