Innholdsfortegnelse for February 3, 2026 i Numismatic News

As I eagerly await to see what coins mints will produce for 2026, I have looked back at roughly 2,500 issues from 2025. A couple stood out and made me appreciate the process that went into making them. From the beginning stages to the final product, they were just beautiful. My favorite from the year is the “Predator or Prey in Shadow Box” coin (KM# 3567). The superimposed layers give the coin a different view as you move and examine it more closely. As we have bundled up during these cold days in early 2026 and have attempted to keep our New Year’s resolutions, we at NumisMaster have also been busy updating the latest releases and revisiting 2025 to ensure they are added. In addition to the coins issued, we…

The U.S. Mint will be releasing the first of a three-year platinum American Eagle series, the Charters of Freedom, on February 6. This first coin celebrates the Declaration of Independence. The Mint states the obverse design is “A quill symbolizing the Declaration sweeps over the landscape, marking the nation’s founding and the power of revolutionary ideas to catalyze change.” The next two designs will honor the U.S. Constitution in 2027 and the Bill of Rights in 2028.…

The manuscript for the following feature from the August 1966 issue of Coins magazine was probably the most unique method of delivery from the author to the editor in the magazine’s lengthy history. It arrived by dogsled. Telling the tale of wampum’s use in “Indian Trade of the Far, Far North,” Rev. Bernard Brown O.M.I. wrote: “Before Europeans had penetrated far up the St. Lawrence River, the Iroquois natives had evolved a regular currency of beads called wampum. It was manufactured mostly by New England coastal tribes from clam and other shells. This wampum was carried in strings or woven into belts. A normal belt in the early eighteenth century contained eleven strands, each of about one hundred and eighty beads. “The beads were of two colors, white and purple,…

■ Odd and curious money, also known as primitive money, is usually associated with early and backward societies. Is there primitive money to be collected that is connected to the United States? There are a number of odd and curious money items that have been used as barter in the colonies that became the United States or in the U.S. itself. Among them are cowry shells, wampum, clay pipes, cigarette packs, beaver pelts, arrowheads, Aztec hoe money, nails, and slaves. Since almost anything might at some time be used as barter, this opens the floodgates to U.S. odd and curious money being almost anything. ■ Does the term sixpenny nail mean anything monetarily? The length of a nail is expressed in penny sizes. A sixpenny nail is about two inches…

Could there be chinks appearing in the armor? Production of the U.S. 1-cent coin was phased out during 2025, or was it? There was a lot of publicity surrounding the lowly cent and its impending demise last year. A funeral in the form of a small number of special Omega cents being auctioned for some significant money took place, all being conducted during 2025. Now comes the 2026 semiquincentennial coinage series. The commemorative coinage sets will include a 1776-2026 cent! Officially, these coins are only meant to be minted for coinage sets. Why did we have the Omega cents of 2025 if this wasn’t meant to be the end of the denomination? Why is it necessary to have a 1-cent coin included in the new coin set? Furthermore, there is…

Here are some answers sent from our e-newsletter readers. Read more responses at www.numismaticnews.com. What are your predictions for bullion prices in 2026? I would expect bullion levels to drop from today’s lofty levels. I don’t think today’s prices can be sustained. I would not buy bullion at these prices. Louis Iudiciani Cumberland, R.I This is an interesting topic that has terrible implications for coin collectors who are buying, especially those of us who are retired and live within a budget. For those who are selling their collection, they are all smiles. I expect that gold will continue to climb by the end of 2026 to $4,700 ~ $5,000 per ounce. Unfortunately for many collectors, that price per ounce pushed us out of buying gold coins a long time ago,…

“[The Illinois Centennial half dollar] is undoubtedly the finest work Morgan ever did in his forty-eight years with the Mint.”--Numismatic scholar Don Taxay “Better than Brenner’s cent rendering was the bust of Lincoln on the … 1918 Illinois Centennial half dollar.”--David Lange What makes this coin unique? It was the first commemorative coin to celebrate an individual state. It was the first—and only—circulating silver coin to feature the image of Abraham Lincoln. It was the first coin (obverse only) that George T. Morgan designed and engraved after being named Chief Mint Engraver in 1917, following the passing of Charles E. Barber. The reverse of this coin was the first circulating coin that was designed and engraved by John R. Sinnock, who was hired as assistant to Morgan in 1917, and…

The United States Mint was authorized by Congress in April 1792, but the first year was spent in erecting the buildings and obtaining the necessary machinery for coinage. A few half dismes were minted in mid-July 1792, but otherwise little else was accomplished except for a small number of pattern pieces. It had been planned to start coinage in all three metals — gold, silver, and copper — during 1793, but this proved impossible due to a provision in the 1792 law. Chief Coiner Henry Voight and Assayer Albion Cox were each required to post a $10,000 bond for the coinage of precious metals, an impossible sum for either man at that time. This problem was not solved until early 1794, when Congress lowered the bonds to more reasonable amounts.…

FOR COMPLETE SHOW LISTINGS VISIT numismasticnews.net The weekly Show Directory lists all coin and paper money events scheduled within one month of the issue cover date. Show dates and times sometimes change at the last minute. Please contact the show promoter BEFORE traveling long distances. SHOW PROMOTERS: Run your show announcement FREE! Just email the information indicated in the form below to numismatics@aimmedia.com. All timely listings are also included in both Bank Note Reporter and World Coin News at NO CHARGE. *Dependent upon date of submission relevant to deadline and space availability. Want to make your show really STAND OUT? Whether you need dealers on the floor or collectors at the gate, Numismatic News offers the best, most qualified coin and paper money collector and dealer audience around – AND…

In the past few months, the price of silver and gold has skyrocketed, making us wonder just what is going on. Many collectors would have laughed just a year or so ago if someone told us that the price for silver as a precious metal would exceed $80 per ounce, and that gold would top $4K. Because of this, though, it seems like the time to jump into any new collection of United States silver or gold is definitely yesterday, or even earlier. Right now, it looks like any purchases of precious metal coins, either modern or classic, are going to come with a hefty bite into our wallet. So, where might we find any real bargains when it comes to United States coinage? Well, how about the Sacagawea golden…

Today I’m going to write about chop marks again. These small Chinese characters were punched into the surface of coins that circulated in the Orient by merchants to signify that the coin was genuine. Could chops also have been a form of advertisement? At one time, chopmarked coins were considered to be damaged by most numismatists. One look at a coin that is heavily chopped multiple times should convince anyone of why this was the case. Since chop marks add a historical flavor to a coin, today they often add to its value. The fact that contemporary counterfeit coins exist indicates that there must also be contemporary fake chops. Additionally, with the rising popularity of chopmarked coins, it’s reasonable to believe that some genuine coins have been altered by adding…

It’s hard to say that the final numbers for 2025 are in, since 2025-dated coins will still be available for purchase at the Mint. We had some 2022 and 2023-dated coins update in the report, but there aren’t many spots still open for them in the report. There was a nice jump in sales for the 2025 Platinum Proof American Eagle in the past month, as well as the 2025-W Silver Proof American Eagle, with an additional 40,000 sales. With the rising costs of bullion over the past year, many have been trying to sell their gold and silver, rather than buying. The first coins of 2026 have been added, and many more will come in the next month. The first 2026 American Innovation Dollar, celebrating Iowa and Dr. Norman…