The Royal Mint celebrates 50 years of fun with a new commemorative coin collection featuring the Mr. Men Little Miss Characters

Feb 15, 2021 | Announcements

The Royal Mint, the Original Maker of UK coins, has today launched a commemorative coin collection to celebrate 50 years of fun with some of the Mr. Men Little Miss characters.

The Mr. Men Little Miss commemorative coin collection features Mr Happy, Little Miss Sunshine, and Little Miss Giggles with Mr Strong on a £5 crown. All three coin designs have been created exclusively by Adam Hargreaves, son of creator Roger Hargreaves, to celebrate the characters’ 50th anniversary. The Brilliant Uncirculated edition of the coin features the latest colour printing techniques showcasing the Mr. Men Little Miss characters in vivid colour – capturing their vibrant personalities. The Royal Mint will also be hiding 50 golden Mr Tickle tickets amongst all three of the colour brilliant uncirculated commemorative coins. Every customer that finds a gold Mr Tickle ticket will be entitled to a Mr Men and Little Miss prize bundle.

Clare Maclennan, Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint spoke with Adam Hargreaves in a zoom call, where they discussed the designs and characters, the excitement around Mr. Men Little Miss turning 50 and what steps The Royal Mint takes to produce a coin that celebrates an occasion such as this.

Clare comments, “Each year we celebrate British icons, anniversaries and moments from history on commemorative coins, and this is a fun new addition to the collection. With this year marking the 50th anniversary since the Mr. Men Little Miss characters were introduced to the world, it felt right to celebrate the loveable characters on their own commemorative coins.

“All three coin designs have been designed exclusively by Adam Hargreaves, son of Roger Hargreaves the original creator and illustrator of the Mr. Men Little Miss. I had the pleasure of chatting to Adam in a recent zoom call and it was brilliant to hear his positive feedback on the range.”

Adam Hargreaves with the Mr Men 50th anniversary coin from The Royal Mint, East Sussex. PA Photo. Picture date: Thursday February 4, 2021. Photo credit: Ciaran McCrickard/PA Wire)

Created by prolific illustrator Roger Hargreaves in 1971, the Mr. Men Little Miss books and their ever-growing world of ‘Happyland’ have become a global favourite amongst many. The inspiration came in the form of a simple question: what does a tickle look like? The answer was Mr. Tickle, who is now one of more than 90 characters in an ever-growing collection, read in multiple languages in more than 24 countries around the world. Today, the Mr. Men Little Miss characters are illustrated by Roger’s son, Adam, captivating a new generation of fans with each passing decade.

The first coin in the series features Mr. Happy and is available as gold and silver Proof editions, as well as a Brilliant Uncirculated edition and a special colour printed Brilliant Uncirculated edition, exclusively available from The Royal Mint. Visit www.royalmint.com/MrMen to view the full commemorative coin range. The coin will not be going into general circulation.

U.S. Coin Designer Emily Damstra Signs Exclusive PCGS Signature Labels

Feb 15, 2021 | Announcements

Damstra will be signing PCGS Signature Labels for 2021 American Silver Eagle, Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Silver Dollar & Other Coins

Emily Damstra

“Emily Damstra is one of the leading numismatic artists of our day, and we are proud to offer hand-signed signature labels that honor her work,” says PCGS President Brett Charville. “Damstra’s art captures the world around us, telling a captivating story that teaches and inspires.”

“Being able to share my passion for visual storytelling with a wider audience is a tremendous privilege,” Damstra reflects.

She notes that working on the reverse for the American Silver Eagle was a unique opportunity to leave a lasting impression on a beloved coin. “It was with great care and consideration that I undertook the assignment to design the reverse side of the American Eagle one ounce silver coin, aware that many coin collectors revere the classic Walking Liberty design by Adolph A. Weinman on the obverse. I knew that it would be a challenge to follow the lead of John Mercanti, the United States Mint sculptor and engraver (and later United States Mint chief engraver) who created the original reverse design — a superb rendering of a heraldic eagle.”

Damstra has designed many United States coins and medals, including:

• 2021 – American Silver Eagle, Reverse
• 2021 – Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Silver Dollar, Reverse
• 2020 – Tallgrass Prairie (Kansas) America The Beautiful Quarter, Reverse
• 2020 – Massachusetts American Innovation Dollar, Reverse
• 2020 – Steve Gleason Bronze Medal, Reverse
• 2019 – River of No Return (Idaho) America The Beautiful Quarter, Reverse
• 2019 – Georgia American Innovation Dollar, Reverse
• 2019 – Native American Dollar, Reverse
• 2018 – Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coins, Obverse & Reverse
• 2018 – Office of Strategic Services Bronze Medal, Obverse & Reverse
• 2018 – World War I Centennial Army Medal, Obverse
• 2017 – Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Silver Dollar, Obverse & Reverse

In addition to designing coins for the United States Mint, Damstra has artistic credits with the Royal Canadian Mint. Two of her coin designs have won Coin of the Year (COTY) awards: the 2017 United States Boys Town Commemorative Silver Dollar and 2014 Canadian $20 Silver Maple Canopy – Autumn Allure. Damstra’s artistic touch graces not only many corners of the numismatic world but also can be found in illustrations for various books and publications as well as in zoos, museums, and parks.

About Professional Coin Grading Service

Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is a third-party coin and banknote grading company that was launched in 1986. Over 35 years, PCGS has examined and certified more than 45 million U.S. and world coins, medals, and tokens with a combined value of over $41.7 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.

PCGS Offers Special Label Memorializing NASA Challenger Astronaut Christa McAuliffe

Feb 13, 2021 | Announcements

Professional Coin Grading Service pairs special Astronaut Memorial Foundation label with commemorative silver dollar honoring NASA Astronaut Christa McAuliffe

(Santa Ana, California) February 13, 2021 – Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) is offering a Special Label emblazoned with the Astronaut Memorial Foundation (www.amfcse.org) logo in honor of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astronaut Christa McAuliffe, who is featured on a special 2021 United States Mint Commemorative Silver Dollar. McAuliffe, a civilian high school teacher, was among a crew of seven who were killed when NASA Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 28, 1986.

McAuliffe is seen in three-quarter view on the obverse of the coin, while the reverse of the coin shows a group of high school students looking up at the stars, with McAuliffe depicted as a teacher and pointing upward to the star-filled heavens. The reverse also carries the special inscriptions “I TOUCH THE FUTURE. I TEACH.” These words, hearkening to McAuliffe’s background as a teacher, speak to her dreams of inspiring the young to pursue futures in science and technology.

“PCGS is honored to remember Christa McAuliffe and the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger through a special collaboration with the Astronaut Memorial Foundation,” says PCGS Director of Marketing Heather Boyd. “May coin collectors, teachers, and all who lay their eyes on this coin reflect upon McAuliffe’s legacy and the potential each one of us has to help lead the next generation to their dreams.”

The PCGS Special Labels bearing the logo representing the Astronaut Memorial Foundation (AMF), an organization partnered with NASA that was founded shortly after the Challenger tragedy. AMF’s mission is to honor the lives of astronauts who sacrificed all in missions to explore space while educating and inspiring others through the Center for Space Education. Approximately 50% of the fees for this PCGS Special Label will be donated to the AMF.

For more information about the limited-edition PCGS Labels for the 2021 Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Silver Dollar, please visit www.PCGS.com/labels.

About Professional Coin Grading Service

Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is a third-party coin and banknote grading company that was launched in 1986. Over 35 years, PCGS has examined and certified more than 45 million U.S. and world coins, medals, and tokens with a combined value of over $41.7 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.

THE OFFICIAL RED BOOK Celebrates Its 75th Anniversary

Feb 10, 2021 | Announcements

The First Edition Was Written During World War II, and Published in 1946.

Collectors Have Bought More Than 25 Million Copies Over the Years.
Best-Selling Annual Guide Prices Nearly 8,000 Items;
Reports Dramatic Market and Hobby Changes;
Covers Circulating, Commemorative, and Bullion Coins

(Pelham, AL) — Whitman Publishing announces that the Diamond Anniversary 75th edition of the coin-collecting hobby’s annual Guide Book of United States Coins (popularly known as the “Red Book”) will debut April 6, 2021. The new volume includes completely updated prices and auction data reflecting the current market for collectible U.S. coins, along with historical information and guidance on how to build valuable collections. The Red Book can be pre-ordered online (including at Whitman.com) in several formats, and after April 6 will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide.

Coin collectors have used the Red Book to value their collections since the 1st edition was published in 1946. Today, Senior Editor Jeff Garrett coordinates the book’s support network of more than 100 professional coin dealers and researchers. He credits the Red Book’s 75 years of success to teamwork: “Whitman relies on a nationwide group of active retailers, auctioneers, historians, and other specialists with decades of experience. Thanks to their expertise we have the most current and accurate market information and recent scholarship for every coin series.”

Research Editor Q. David Bowers has described the Red Book as a one-book library on American coins. “In a single convenient volume, you get photographs and details on every U.S. series from the 1790s to the current year’s commemoratives and circulating coins,” Bowers said. “The Red Book makes mintage data, coin designs, specifications, grading instructions, and market values easy to access and understand.”

Editor Emeritus Kenneth Bressett has worked on the Red Book since 1959, and was the right-hand man to the book’s author, R.S. Yeoman. “Every year the Red Book becomes more useful for coin collectors,” Bressett said. “Generations of hobbyists have found it indispensable. We are delighted to note that in its 75th year, the Red Book has crossed the 25-million-copies threshold.”

The 75th-edition Red Book is 464 pages long and prices nearly 8,000 entries in up to 9 grades each, with more than 32,000 retail valuations in total.

The book covers legal-tender United States coins from 1792 to date, from copper half cents to $20 gold double eagles, commemoratives, and bullion, plus earlier coins and tokens that circulated in colonial times. With every new edition the latest coins from the United States Mint are updated—Lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes, America the Beautiful quarters, Kennedy half dollars, Native American dollars, American Innovation dollars, commemorative coins, bullion coins, and government-packaged coin sets. The book also includes popular specialized collectibles such as error coins, Civil War tokens, Confederate coins, Philippine coins struck under U.S. sovereignty, private and territorial gold pieces, pattern coins, Hawaiian and Puerto Rican coinage, Alaska tokens, So-Called Dollars, and special modern gold coins.

These are illustrated by 2,000 photographs, including enlarged close-ups of rare and valuable die varieties.

Inside the 75th-edition Diamond Anniversary Red Book:

New commemorative coins. The 75th edition features coins from the Mint’s two new commemorative programs for 2021. The National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum program includes half dollars, silver dollars, and five-dollar gold coins. The Christa McAuliffe commemorative coin is a silver dollar.

Other new U.S. Mint coins and sets. The 75th-edition Red Book includes 96 new Mint products added since the 74th edition. Mintages of circulating coins have been updated across the board using government-supplied data and the latest numismatic research.

Collectors will also find complete coverage of the full range of American Eagle and other popular bullion coins and sets (in silver, gold, platinum, and palladium), with mintages and values for each.
Significant new coins this year include the “Washington Crossing the Delaware” quarter dollar, the 1921–2021 centennial “Morgan” and “Peace” dollars, and new reverse designs for the American Silver Eagle and American Gold Eagle.

A study of foreign coins that circulated in America. The Diamond Anniversary Red Book continues a section that debuted with the 70th edition: an overview of foreign coins that circulated as legal tender in the British North American colonies and in the United States until the late 1850s. This includes photographs, history, and pricing for collectible Spanish-American, Dutch, French, and English coins minted from the 1550s to the early 1800s, when Spain’s American colonies won independence.

Recent research. Updates based on recent scholarship can be found in sections including pre-federal coins and tokens, and regular federal issues. Changes reflect research into the 1776-dated Continental Currency pieces; Flying Eagle cent mintages; 1974 aluminum Lincoln cents; and a newly listed doubled-die obverse two-cent piece.

Revamped commemorative coins and sets. The section on commemorative coins has been updated. It also has been extensively revised to group together all products (single coins and sets) for each coinage program. The specific contents of each government-issued commemorative set have been reviewed and confirmed or updated. And a new section, “Other Collectible Sets,” includes special non-program sets like Coin and Chronicles Sets and Coin and Currency Sets.

The latest Mint data and information. Details of the upcoming Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 have been spelled out. Every current coin program has been updated with available mintages. New coin listings include 42 standard Mint issues, Lincoln cents through American Innovation dollars; 12 commemorative issues; 33 bullion issues; the final America the Beautiful quarter (for the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site) and related five-ounce silver bullion issues; the latest Native American dollar; the American Innovation dollars for New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, and North Carolina; the Mint’s first-ever colorized coins; two new commemorative programs; and the 2021 annual Proof and Mint sets.

New photographs. The Diamond Anniversary edition is updated with 78 new photographs, including many silver and gold coins from the 1700s and early 1800s; new close-ups of privy marks and lettering varieties; pattern coins; private and territorial gold pieces; and other colonial and modern coins.

Auction records. As in past years, collectors benefit from the Red Book’s recent auction records provided for significant rare coins. Typeset throughout the charts are nearly 200 notable auction results. Combined with the listed retail prices, the auction data help advanced collectors understand the modern market for high-priced rarities.

In addition, the appendix of the “Top 250 U.S. Coin Prices Realized at Auction” has been fully updated. A record 118 auction sales were higher than $1 million each. The coin at #250, a 1795 Draped Bust silver dollar [BB-52], sold for $646,250—more than $28,000 higher than last year’s coin in that ranking.

A bibliography for further research. In a positive measure of the health of the hobby and ongoing numismatic research, the Red Book’s newly revised and updated bibliography includes more than two dozen standard references published over the past five years.

The cover of the spiral-bound Diamond Anniversary 75th-edition Red Book features three significant dollar coins: a Sacagawea golden dollar; an American Silver Eagle with the classic Heraldic Eagle reverse by John Mercanti; and a Morgan silver dollar. The hardcover Diamond Anniversary Red Book has silver-foil imprinting instead of the usual gold-foil, and its back cover features a silver-foil Diamond Anniversary emblem.

All versions and formats (hardcover; spiralbound hardcover; spiralbound softcover; and Large Print) of the 75th-edition Red Book will be available online, and at bookstores and hobby shops nationwide.