Welcome to Coin Update!
We’re back for another round up of coin collecting news and articles from around the internet! First, some interesting revelations from the United States Mint’s 2011 annual report. Also, the possible return of Platinum Eagle bullion coins, the latest numismatic America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin, theft from the ANA Money Museum, Coin of the Year, the Archer M. Huntington collection, more reports from FUN, Silver Eagle bullion sales, grading Wheat Cents, loonie and toonie composition, and notable auctions. On to the links…
Mint News Blog has some take-aways and revelations from the US Mint’s 2011 annual report. This includes the US Mint’s plans to offer a 2012-S Uncirculated Silver Eagle and possibly resume offering bullion versions of the Platinum Eagle.
Some background and additional information on the bullion Platinum Eagles, which have not been minted or issued since 2008. In the interim, other world mints have filled the void.
The US Mint began sales of the Vicksburg Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin on Thursday. At $204.95, this release has the lowest starting price for the numismatic series.
Receiving some mainstream news coverage, a former curator of the ANA Money Museum has pleaded guilty to the theft of approximately 300 coins worth nearly $1 million.
Here is the press release from the ANA and some more detailed reporting from Dave Harper.
Israel has won the Coin of the Year competition by Krause Publications. The winning coin featuring “Jonah in the Whale” was chosen from the ten individual category winners.
A class action suit against eBay has been tossed by a federal judge. The suit took issue with eBay’s certification policy, which only allows coins graded by five services to be listed as certified. Interesting point from the article: only 0.3 percent of coins listed on eBay are certified.
CoinsWeekly discusses the Archer M. Huntington Collection of coins from the Hispanic world, which will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in March. The article includes images and descriptions of some of the highlights of the collection.
Numismatic News shares some dealer impressions from the FUN convention, with comments that collector coins did very well while demand for bullion cooled.
Another report from FUN, focusing on NGC graded coins.
A Swiss court has ordered the confiscation of an eight drachma coin struck by a Thracian ruler Mosses around 480 BC that was allegedly illegally excavated from Greece. The coin had been sold in 2009 for 100,000 Swiss francs (US $106,000).
This article on BusinessWeek tries to extrapolate the initial sales data for 2012 Silver Eagle bullion coins to 14.2 million ounces for January. That’s probably not going to happen, although sales will likely be strong.
About.com:Coins has a new guide to grading Wheat Cents, with descriptions and pictures for the most common grades.
This spring, Canada will release new versions of the loonie and toonie made from steel. The composition change will reduce the cost to manufacture from 30 cents to between 4 and 6 cents.
And now for some notable auctions. First, a collection of United States Wartime Coins in a Capitol Plastics Holder. The collection includes the steel and shellcase cents and silver nickels.
Next, an auction for a lot of ten uncirculated 2011 Army Half Dollars. These coins have seen a jump in price following the conclusion of US Mint sales.
Last, a complete set of the eight proof 1995-1996 Olympic Silver Dollars in the original US Mint packaging.
That’s it for another update. Have a great weekend!
