Numismatics

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries Description: In 1836 Christian Gobrecht completed work for new Capped Bust half dollar obverse and reverse dies in preparation for the transition from man- or animal-powered coinage presses to new steam-powered presses. The new coins were slightly reduced in weight and diameter, but the most significant change was the use of a restraining collar around the coin blank that imparted a reeded edge to the coin during the...Read Full Story

Seems like they're lawsuits popping up like daisies for eBay. Unfortunately, many of the actions filed against eBay are tucked away deep on the net.  Unless you have all access to public records and/or you're very specific in your Google search, it's unlikely you'll come across eBay lawsuits unless you stumble upon them. While the following lawsuit is not brand new, it's one which needs the attention of those selling and buying coins on eBay. A lawsuit was filed Jan. 10, 2008 against eBay...Read Full Story

After reading a recent post by Nathan Elkins on the American Numismatic Society discussion list, I had serious concerns that I might be suffering from a severe case of delusion or dementia. Mr. Elkins proposes to orchestrate a panel of archaeologists to discuss “ Contextual Numismatics ” at the 2009 AIA meeting. Granted, I have only been a professional numismatist for 41 years, but I rather thought that I might have heard most of the terminology used in the field. So, I hopped over to that...Read Full Story

Congratulations to all my Facebook friends Muhammad Saiful Nizam, Muhammad Syazni and blogger, simpankemas.blogspot for their effort to compile all Malaysian Numismatic blogs in one list. When I start blogging in 2008, they're only around 10 Malaysian bloggers who talk about coins and banknotes. Most of the 2008 bloggers had been stop blogging but new numismatic bloggers emerge every month. Most of the new bloggers only share their collection online. This team had compile "Malaysia numismatic...Read Full Story

Five companies sued eBay, the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Professional Numismatists Guild Inc. in January for defamation and unfair and deceptive trade practices. The complaint states that in September 2007, eBay put into place a policy in which only coins that have been graded by four grading services (NGC, PCGS, ICG and ANACS) may be listed for sale on eBay as "certified" coins, referring to all other coins as "counterfeit." Read Full StoryRead Full Story

What is the oldest coin in your collection? I and some friends in Facebook are having a discussion about this, early this morning. Sometimes we just collect our coins without even look back at them. I asked my friends the same question "duit tahun berapakah yang paling lama dlm simpanan anda?" (Malay language), to just create small coin talk in their new Facebook group. I am the one who asked the question but exactly, I don't check what is the oldest coins of mine. I just answer VOC coin 1735...Read Full Story

Coins to mark 20th anniversary of Japan Emperor’s enthronement Japan Times Japan will issue 100,000 ¥10,000 gold coins and 10 million ¥500 nickel-brass coins later this year to mark the 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s enthronement, the Finance Ministry said Friday. The pure-gold coin will depict a phoenix and the Imperial Palace’s Nijubashi double-arched bridge on the front and the chrysanthemum seal on the reverse. It will weigh 20 grams and measure 28 mm in diameter. [ Read Full...Read Full Story

Dwight N. Manley today donated $250,000 to the American Numismatic Association Florence Schook School of Numismatics to fund scholarships for young numismatists to attend the ANA’s annual Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs. Manley, a noted rare coin collector and sports agent, announced the donation August 5 during the opening ceremony for the ANA’s 2009 World’s Fair of Money® in Los Angeles. In 2002, the ANA Library was named in Manley’s honor after he donated $250,000 to the ANA...Read Full Story

A reader asked me via Facebook, what is World’s first paper money ? Nowadays, almost all banknote collectors knew that it is the Jiaozhi banknote and I had share about it before in my 2008 post; World's First banknote . The banknote is from China Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD). The notes are widely used in Chengdu and were stamped with manifold Banknote seals in order to combat counterfeits. The first Bank saving management in the world also started in Chengdu which were called Jiaozhiwu...Read Full Story

Desirée Croes, the dedicated curator of the Numismatic Museum, will surely change the way you look at money and museums.   Based on the private collections of her late grandfather, Mario Odor, the museum is packed with over 50,000 coins from over 400 nations.   There are more than 100 separate collections, including primate, strange, ancient, proof, counter stamp, over-struck, mini, chop-coins, errors, leprosarium, gold, ration, commemoratives, center-holed, scalloped, square, wooden, tokens...Read Full Story