Mike Fuljenz Honored At 2017 World’s Fair of Money

Aug 7, 2017 | News

Mike Fuljenz with his ICTA medal

The Industry Council for Tangible Assets (www.ICTAonline.org) presented him with the Al Kreuzer Memorial Award medal for “outstanding contributions in the efforts to combat counterfeit coins and currency.”

Fuljenz is a long-time member of the ICTA Board of Directors and a member of their recently-formed Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force. Since the 1980’s he has taught many counterfeit detection and rare coin authentication seminars for collectors, dealers and law enforcement officers.

“I am proud and honored to receive this award, and look forward to additional work with ICTA and other organizations to combat counterfeits and educate the public about the needs to buy and sell rare coins and precious metal bullion coins only with reputable, knowledgeable dealers, such as members of the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG),” said Fuljenz.

Fuljenz is a member of the PNG’s Accredited Precious Metals Dealer program that requires all members to adhere to a strict code of ethics in the buying and selling of gold, silver and other bullion products. He now has won major awards from the four top organizations in the rare coin hobby and profession: the American Numismatic Association (ANA), Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG), Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) and the Industry Council for Tangible Assets.

A strong consumer advocate, he received the prestigious PNG Sol Kaplan Award in 2016 in part for assisting an 84-year man recover the $84,000 he had paid to two unscrupulous dealers who sold him counterfeit American Eagle gold coins. Earlier, Fuljenz assisted a group of New Orleans physicians recover $750,000 after they unsuspectingly purchased counterfeit coins from a local attorney.

Summing up the rare coin marketplace during the ANA show in Denver, August 1 – 5, he commented:

“Really nice coins and important coins were in short supply, and highly desired by leading dealers and collectors at the show. These types of coins often brought impressive prices at auctions this week. The United States Mint had long lines of customers wanting to buy their new products. The U.S. Treasury Department exhibits by the United States Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing are always popular and educational.”

2017 NLG Ribbit Award winner David Hall with 2016 winner Mike Fuljenz

As sponsor of the ANA’s top honor, the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award, Fuljenz co-presented it with ANA President Jeff Garrett to Brian Fanton of Iowa. “Brian surprised me at the ceremony by telling me he recalled how much he enjoyed taking one of my ANA coin grading seminars back in the 1980’s,” said Fuljenz.

Known as America’s Gold Expert®, Universal Coin & Bullion President Michael Fuljenz has won more than 60 prestigious national and regional awards and honors for his consumer education and protection work in rare coins and precious metals. His weekly Metals Market Report is available free at www.UniversalCoin.com.

Kagin’s Researcher Pinpoints 1783 Plain Nova Constellatio Quint as First Official USA Coin Struck

Aug 1, 2017 | News

Historic Coin Will Be Exhibited at ANA Denver World’s Fair of Money, Aug. 1 – 5

Authorized by Congress, the unique 1783 plain obverse Nova Constellatio “Quint” silver coin had a value of 500 units in a proposed but later abandoned early American decimal monetary system that would have ranged from 5 to 1,000 units.
(Photo credit: Image courtesy of PCGS.com)

(Tiburon, California) August 1, 2017 – David McCarthy, senior numismatist at Kagin’s, Inc. of Tiburon, California (www.Kagins.com), has pinpointed the 1783 plain obverse Nova Constellatio Quint pattern (Breen-1102, W-1830) as the first coin officially struck by authority of the United States government, a finding hailed by another U.S. rare coin expert as “one of the most exciting developments in modern numismatics.”

Results of McCarthy’s research on the unique, early American experimental silver coin, that once was in the hands of one of the USA’s Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, are in the August 2017 edition of “The Numismatist,” the official journal of the American Numismatic Association (www.money.org).

Now insured for $5 million, the historic ancestor of the dollar as well as every coin in the western world using a decimal monetary system, will be publicly displayed at the Kagin’s booth, #700, during the ANA 2017 World’s Fair of Money (www.WorldsFairofMoney.com) in Denver, Colorado, August 1- 5.

“It’s a national treasure that was hiding in plain sight until all the pieces of the puzzle recently came together,” said Donald H. Kagin, Ph.D., President of Kagin’s.

“Although the coin was discovered in 1870, it was misattributed. We now have compelling evidence that it is, ‘the first that has been struck as an American coin,’ as described in the April 2, 1783 diary entry of Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. government’s first Superintendent of Finance,” explained McCarthy.

“The Quint and a subsequent set of coins were created in Philadelphia in April of 1783 under authority of the Treasury some nine years before the next coins would be struck by the U.S. government. It would have been valued at 500-units in a proposed system that would range from 5 to 1,000 units,” McCarthy said.

“This was the first use of the vital and enduring decimal system to be established in the western world,” stated Kagin.

During the 1770s and 1780s several states and private individuals manufactured coins, but this is the first coin that was struck and paid for by the U.S. government, according to McCarthy’s research, which a dozen other early American coin experts agreed with before he submitted it for publication.

After examining McCarthy’s research, early American coins researcher and writer John Dannreuther of Memphis, Tennessee, the American Numismatic Association’s 2007 Numismatist of the Year, summed up the findings:

“There is a first United States coin, as we have written evidence (in the April 2, 1783 diary entry of Robert Morris, U.S. Superintendent of Finance) that one was delivered:

‘I sent for (metallurgist) Mr. (Benjamin) Dudley who delivered me a Piece of Silver Coin being the first that has been struck as an American Coin.’

“The only coin that logically could be this coin is the Plain Obverse Quint.

“There are numerous things that bring us to this conclusion, the first being that “Nova Constellatio” is not found on the Plain Legend Quint. One does not remove legends, they are added,” explained Dannreuther.

“Secondly, the number of dies noted in the literature can be made to match only by having one die ground down and reengraved. After overlaying the two Quint types, it became obvious that the Plain Obverse die’s eye matched the with Legend eye. Since this is the highest point of the coin, it is the lowest part of the die, as well as the center, it would be logical to leave a small amount of this area as a starting point for the new die. The rest of the die’s detail was removed by the grinding process, of course.”

“Thirdly, the two Quint dies obviously were engraved by two different hands. Since, we know that the with Legend coins match the other denominations in style, as well as having the “Nova Constellatio” legend, the Plain Obverse has to be the first one – thus, it is the first United States coin,” stated Dannreuther.

American Numismatic Association President Jeff Garrett of Lexington, Kentucky also examined McCarthy’s study prior to publication and stated: “David McCarthy’s research makes a compelling case for the 1783 Nova Constellatio Quint being the ‘First American Coin.’ As such, the historical importance of his research, and the coin, is one of the most exciting developments in modern numismatics!”

Only two examples of the 500-unit coin are known, and each is distinctively different on the front. One has the words, NOVA CONSTELLATIO, Latin for “a new constellation,” while the other example does not have any words. The research demonstrates the coin without the words on the obverse was struck first.

After surfacing in New York City nearly 150 years ago, the coin was carefully preserved in several major collections including Lorin G. Parmelee, S.H. and H. Chapman and Wayte Raymond before becoming part of the Garrett Collection and into the possession of Johns Hopkins University where it resided for much of the 20th century. Only now, though, has numismatic research brought together evidence that it was the first federal coin made by authority of the U.S. government.

Kagin’s acquired the coin at an auction in 2013 where it was graded PCGS AU53 Secure. McCarthy began researching it through the writings of Morris and Thomas Jefferson, Continental Congress documents, and forensic evidence found on the coins themselves, and he consulted with other noted experts in early American numismatics.

“While the 1783 Plain Obverse Nova Constellatio Quint is among the most historically significant of all United States coins, it is also one of the most important artifacts in the world,” stated Kagin. “Nothing defines a nation and its society more than its coinage. Just like great documents such as The Magna Carta or The Declaration of Independence established fundamental principles and tenets for western society, so does coinage reflect a nation’s most important ideals, becoming a primary source of communication for a nation’s beliefs.”

“By examining the first coin of the United States and the new decimal monetary system that it ushered in, we gain significant insights to the thinking of America’s Founding Fathers concerning what kind of nation they wished to establish,” he continued.

Kagin said the coin’s inscriptions and symbols contain the most important aspects of our fledging nation:

On the Obverse the central devices are:

• The Eye of Providence—symbolizing the creator’s approval of our nation.
• A circle of 13 stars–a theme which has endured for 240 years—as an obvious reference to the new constellation formed by the original 13 colonies.

The Reverse central inscription includes:

• “U.S.” as it proclaims the name of our country for all the world to acknowledge.

This is followed by the denomination—in this case, 500 units or a Quint. Along with the date, two of the most fundamental and defining issues for Americans then and today are prominently inscribed in Latin so all nations could understand: LIBERTAS (Liberty) and JUSTITIA (Justice).

“This coin, struck in the precious metal silver, was also the very first artifact to present our nation’s new decimal system—in fact, the first use of such a vital and enduring system to be established in the western world,” concluded Kagin.

Kagin and McCarthy made international headlines in 2014 when they assisted an anonymous California couple who discovered the “Saddle Ridge Hoard,” nearly $10 million of 19th century U.S. gold coins buried in rusting tin cans.

New 3rd Edition of MEGA RED Features Engraved Love Token Coins

Jul 26, 2017 | News

(Pelham, Alabama) — The third edition of MEGA RED (the Deluxe Edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins) features different types of altered coins in several new appendices, including an eight-page illustrated study of love tokens. MEGA RED retails for $49.95 and is available online (including at Whitman.com) and from booksellers nationwide.

A love token is defined as a coin that has been smoothed flat on one or both sides and then hand-engraved, usually with a keepsake message for a sweetheart or family member. Typical messages included terms of endearment, anniversary dates, a lover’s initials, or a romantic symbol such as a heart, blue birds, or flowers.

The MEGA RED appendix is illustrated with photographs of more than 100 love tokens and related items, ranging from tiny half dimes and gold dollars to silver dollars and gold double eagles ($20 coins).

The popular tradition of engraving coins for sentimental or good-luck purposes goes back to Great Britain in the late 1600s. In the United States, the most commonly seen are Liberty Seated dimes (minted from the 1830s to the 1890s). Love tokens saw a resurgence in popularity during World War II, when women on the Home Front would wear “sweetheart jewelry” to honor their loved ones fighting overseas. Many examples were in the form of necklaces or bracelets of foreign coins engraved by soldiers and sailors, with silver coins of Australia being most common.

Because each love token is unique, retail values are difficult to standardize. To aid collectors, the MEGA RED appendix illustrates a catalog of pieces sold at auction in recent years, along with their auction prices. Examples include Liberty Seated and Morgan silver dollars, trade dollars, an Australian sweetheart bracelet, silver quarters and half dollars, foreign and U.S. gold coins, a Barber dime marking the death of President William McKinley, twenty-cent pieces, stick pins made from gold dollars, a so-called opium dollar, and more.

Other appendices in the third-edition MEGA RED discuss special modern gold coins (2009 to date), So-Called Dollars, hobo nickels, chopmarked coins, and modern U.S. Mint gold and silver medals.

About MEGA RED

Billed as the “biggest, most useful Red Book ever,” MEGA RED measures 7 x 10 inches and has 1,040 more pages than the regular edition. The larger size and increased page count combined make MEGA RED five times bigger than the regular-edition Red Book. It prices 8,200 items in up to 13 grades each, with 48,000 individual values and 15,400 auction records covering circulated, Mint State, and Proof coinage. The book is illustrated with 7,000 images, including 2,434 that are new to the third edition.

The third edition of MEGA RED officially debuted at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Baltimore Expo, March 30, 2017, and now is available nationwide. MEGA RED retails for $49.95 and is available online (including at Whitman.com) and from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide. Whitman Publishing is the Official Supplier of the ANA, and Association members receive a 10% discount off all purchases.

About Whitman Publishing

Whitman Publishing is the world’s leading producer of numismatic reference books, supplies, and products to display and store coins and paper money. The company’s high-quality books educate readers in the rich, colorful history of American and world coinage and currency, and teach how to build great a collection. Archival-quality Whitman folders, albums, cases, and other holders keep collectibles safe and allow them to be shown off to friends and family.

Whitman Publishing is the Official Supplier of the American Numismatic Association. As a benefit of membership in the ANA, members can borrow the Red Book (and other Whitman books) for free from the Association’s library, and also receive 10% off all Whitman purchases. Details are at www.money.org.