Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries Description: The Draped Bust half dime was last produced in 1805, the final year of a short five-year series of the type (no half dimes were produced in 1804). Production of half dimes resumed in 1829, the first samples struck early on July 4 as part of the events surrounding the laying of the cornerstone for the second Philadelphia Mint building. The reason for the restart of the denomination after a two-decade gap... Read Full Story

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries Description: The half eagle was the only U.S. gold coin produced in 1813. Quarter eagles were last made in 1808, not to be minted again until 1821, and eagles had not been struck since 1804, with no further production until 1838. Gold dollars and double eagles would not be seen until 1849-1850, nearly a generation away. There were two reasons for the lack of circulating gold coins. First, the gold that was brought to... Read Full Story

Hoskins Knew How to Spot a Counterfeit By F. Michael Fazzari, Numismatic News This month as a tribute to the memory of Charles Hoskins, my former boss and mentor, I’ll share with you what I remember about my first authentication lesson at ANACS in 1972. Hoskins was the first director of the American Numismatic Association Certification Service. In the beginning, ANACS was a two-person operation on an upper floor of an old office building overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C... Read Full Story

The United States Mint today released the four new portraits that will appear on the obverse (heads side) of Presidential $1 Coins in 2009. The coins honor former Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor. “We hope Americans not only appreciate the aesthetic qualities of the Presidential $1 Coins, but also remember each President’s legacy every time they use the coins in their daily transactions,” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. “Presidential... Read Full Story

By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink This is the second part of my reflections regarding fresh material, pedigrees, and the effects of collector-consignments, with references to my theory that these three factors strongly contribute, ON AVERAGE, to higher prices in coin auctions. In both parts, I mention examples from the September 2008 coin auctions in Southern California. In Part 1, I talk a little about the success of these auctions. Please click here to read Part 1. The star of the September... Read Full Story

Coin dealers are lousy economists so I don’t want to waste your time discussing the economic background of the last few days. What I would like to share with you is my take on how it’s impacted my business and what I see are the short term effects of the credit crunch, liquidity crisis, Dow meltdown, etc. on the coin business. My business was screamingly active in July and August. It slowed down considerably in September and it has been extremely slow in October. I have read on a few dealers... Read Full Story

(Santa Ana, California) – Rare coin dealer and veteran California business executive, Don Willis, has been named President of the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT), effective October 7, 2008. “In addition to owning his own rare coin dealership the past six years, Don has over 20 years of executive experience in growing corporate businesses,” said David Hall, PCGS Founder and President of Collectors Universe. “Don is a rare... Read Full Story

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries Description: Charles Barber’s Liberty Head five cent coin was first produced for circulation in 1883 after two years of development of various patterns for the proposed type, including an 1882 pattern virtually identical to the design actually released. The issued 1883 nickel did not have text indicating the denomination anywhere on the coin, but there was a dominant letter V on the reverse, part of a proposed plan... Read Full Story

Dropped Letter on State Quarter By Ken Potter, Numismatic News Tracy Miller of Florida found a 2005-P West Virginia state quarter with a “Dropped Letter” showing as a letter “T” dropped out in the field. This is the result of the “T” of WEST being clogged with debris that was packed in so tight that when it eventually fell out of the die cavity of the “T,” like Jello from a mold, it was struck into the field of the coin leaving behind this very interesting incuse “T.” Another of his neat... Read Full Story

By Doug Winter -  www.raregoldcoins.com I appear to have hit on a popular format as the last three articles I’ve written (a Ten Rarest Triumvirate on Liberty Quarter Eagles, Eagles and Dahlonega gold) have garnered considerable positive accolades. I personally like writing these kinds of articles and I like reading them as well. Lots of information in a tight, compact, format…what’s not to love? This month, we’re going to look at Liberty Head half eagles. This design was first adopted in 1839... Read Full Story