Innholdsfortegnelse for September 23, 2025 i Numismatic News

If you’ve been reading this column, you may remember that I talked recently about the big kahuna of the classic commemorative type set, the 1928 Hawaiian half dollar. Big kahuna refers to something at the top of the heap, and in this case, it refers to the coin at the top of the Lincoln cent series. Not counting such anomalies as the 1922 No D and the 1955 doubled die, the 1909-S VDB has the lowest mintage in the series, with only 484,000 produced in the first year of the new design that replaced the Indian Head cent. The new design was by Victor David Brenner, hence the letters VDB at the bottom of the coin’s reverse in the first year (1909). It’s interesting to note that in 1909, the…

It’s fair to say that the Indian Head nickel, also known as the Buffalo nickel, has become one of the most iconic images in classic United States coinage. The imagery of Mr. James Earle Fraser has gone far beyond this once-common piece of pocket change, and now includes different, updated versions of it in precious metal. But even that is only part of a bigger picture. Buffalo nickels are often used in Western-themed jewelry and in plenty of other applications as well. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, there are still some excellent examples of these five-cent pieces that a bargain collector might decide are definitely worth collecting. Let’s take a peek, going backwards through the series, from 1938 to its beginning in 1913. Mint-State 65 examples We have…

George Washington, the father of our country, continues to be portrayed on money. An interesting look at Washington’s various health problems was provided by Charles Atherton in the May 1966 issue of Coins magazine under the title, “The Washington Our Coins Don’t Show: Our Country’s father was a strong but ailing man.” “In 1785, the French artist-sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon visited Mount Vernon to sculpt a bust of George Washington,” Atherton wrote. ‘This work of art is known throughout the land. Not always recognized as the handiwork of Houdon, but familiar as the Washington of our present quarter dollar, and of the one cent green 1932 Washington Bicentennial commemorative postage stamp, and of the current five cent dark blue stamp. The excellence of this stern and resolute likeness can easily…

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Here are some answers sent from our e-newsletter readers. Read more responses at www.numismaticnews.com. Do you think modern coins are being graded too generously by today’s standards? Why or Why not? Why bother to grade them? They’re just clad coins, hardly worth more than face value. The only ones of any value are the ones with a mint error on them. Putting silver back into them would make it a game-changer. John Liberty, Texas There seems to be an ever-increasing number of new coins and commemoratives receiving grades of MS70 or PF70. Is it because the minting process has become so perfected? I am not sure, but it seems that they are handing out 70s like candy, which in my opinion diminishes the standard; can there really be that many…

■ What is the difference between a jeton and a coin? A jeton (French) or jetton (English) was originally a counter used to make calculations on a counting board similar to an abacus. Counting boards were in common use throughout Europe, roughly between the 13th and 18th centuries. A counting board is a lined board that works as a hand-operated calculating tool. In time, jetons evolved to become artistic and highly collectible. ■ Were jetons ever used as money? Much of Europe’s population was illiterate during the Middle Ages and early modern times. If something was round like a coin, made of metal like a coin, and had attractive iconography similar to that of a coin, as far as most people were concerned, it was a coin. Jetons have been…

On the cover of a recent issue of this magazine, I was surprised to see coin-shaped disks with cartoon characters nestled among “real” U.S. coins. The real coins included a Standing Liberty quarter, a Walking Liberty half dollar, and an American Women’s quarter featuring Celia Cruz. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised at the cartoon characters, however, as the Brits have issued quite a few such coins. Currently listed at the Royal Mint is a colorized coin showing a flying car from the Harry Potter books. A Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) coin, presumably base metal, will set you back only 25 pounds. However, based on my experience, shipping will cost about as much as the coin itself. The Royal Canadian Mint has gotten into the act as well, offering a PEZ…

The continuing rise in the spot price of gold hit the milestone of $3,500 an ounce just as this commentary was being written. This record benchmark immediately impacts bullion Gold American Eagle coin values. It is likely that it will also impact the prices of gold coins that are priced more often as collectibles than for their intrinsic value, but the price of these will likely take longer to adjust as dealers wait to see if this is a momentary adjustment or appears to be more for the long term. There have been some recent incidents in which the price of some of these collectible coins has modestly decreased due to a lack of demand. Commemorative gold coins currently being issued by the U.S. Mint are least likely to feel…