March 2015

 

The Queen of about Ten Billion or so Faces

Since her coronation in 1953, Queen Elizabeth the Second has gone through a lot of makeovers on the coins used by her subjects. After a bit of searching, here are some of the designs that I could find:

And the newest design:

 

 

“Hey… Is That Me?” Living People on U.S. Coins

Law prohibits any living person from being portrayed on a U.S. coins. So, naturally, there are people that have broken this rule. Five, to be exact…

1. Governor T.E. Kilby, Alabama Centennial Half Dollar

He’s the guy on the right.

 

2. President Calvin Coolidge, U.S. Independence Sesquicentennial Half Dollar

Also the guy on the right.

 

3. Senator Carter Glass, Lynchburg VA Centennial Half Dollar

He appeared here, even though he really didn’t want to.

 

4. Senator Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas Centennial Half Dollar

This was actually the second design of this coin produced. The first featured two Native Americans.

 

5. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics Silver Dollar

The only (current) modern example of a living person on a coin.

February 2015

 

New Coins Coming:

There’s a whole slew of new coins that are coming out soon. Here are some of my favorites from around the world:

2015 March of the Dimes Silver Dollar

This coin will be sold individually and in a set with two specially made 90% silver dimes, one from Philadelphia and one from West Point. Celebrates the 75th anniversary of the March of the Dimes program.

 

2016 Ronald Reagan Dollar Coin (no images available)

The Presidential dollar coins have not been very popular in recent years, and many think that continuing the program at all is just a big waste of money. I think that we should definitely continue the program to honor the presidents that have not been on a coin yet, such as Ronald Reagan. But there are two items of controversy: The First Spouse side series would produce a coin featuring Nancy Reagan, who is still alive (see next month’s article for more on living people on coins). Some people don’t think that this is a good way to honor her. The second bit: The order of the 2016 Prez. dollars are as follows: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan. But wait, aren’t we forgetting someone?

President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter is nearing his 91st birthday, but he is still plenty alive. He came after the term of Ford, but before the terms of Reagan (1977-1981 to be exact). Here we go again: most people don’t want Jimmy Carter on a coin while he is still alive (and there are probably a fair few who don’t want him on a coin at all). So what happens when Jimmy Carter dies? Will the mint put him on a dollar coin then? What if he lives another ten years? Would they still make a coin for him years after the program was scheduled to end? Or will they just skip him and leave him as the missing link in the Prez. dollar chain? Only time will tell, but in my opinion, if they can put Nancy Reagan on a coin while she is still alive, the I see no reason to not make a coin for Jimmy Carter while he is still alive.

 

Canada 2015 Rock Rabbit 25-Cent Gold Coin

This little guy is so cute that I can hardly stand it. The Canadian Rock Rabbit, or Pika, is the feature of this small, low denomination gold coin that is selling for about $60 USD. And, being me, I had to find pictures of the real deal rabbit.

See? What did I tell you? ADORABLE!

Week Thirty

 

Special Article: Niobium

Niobium (symbol Nb, atomic no. 41) is a very rare precious metal, and is only used in coins occasionally. It is so valuable that its price exceeds that of gold as of this writing. It is found mainly in Brazil, Canada, and Australia. Its appearance is very similar to that of platinum, but when oxidized, it can become bluish. It can be treated with chemicals or alloyed with other metals to turn into other colors. Niobium can be found in steel alloys, jewelry, and even the wires of cell phones! Only a few countries actually make coins made of Niobium. Some of these countries are:

Austria

Canada

Luxembourg

Palau

Sierra Leone

 

British Virgin Islands

 

Niobium in its raw form looks like this:

Notice that in all of the coins shown above, Niobium is not the only metal. It is either the inner or outer ring, and in some cases it is just part of the design. I couldn’t find the exact price for niobium, or I would have posted it.

Week Twenty-Nine

 

Coin of the Week: 1921 Morgan Dollar

This coin was the last in the series of the popular Morgan dollar design. With about 86,730,000 minted, this is the year with the highest mintage of any Morgan dollar, making it one of the most commonly encountered silver dollars on the market. The coin had been on a mintage hiatus since 1904, and coincided with the Peace dollar of 1921 as well. Minted at P,D, and S mints.

 

 

Coin News: The “Change”ing Face of Europe

The European continent’s coins have had quite the shakeup. With the abdication of king Juan Carlos of Spain, a new effigy of the new king, Felipe VI, has been places on some Spanish coins.

The Netherlands have seen a recent “change” as well, with their new king, King Willem-Alexander.

And, the Royal Mint (UK) has announced that it will use a new portrait of Elizabeth II on their coins starting in 2015. No photographs are available at this time. For more information on this, go to http://news.coinupdate.com/royal-mint-announces-plans-for-new-queen-elizabeth-ii-effigy-4555/.

Week Twenty-Eight

 

Coin of the Week: 1814 Platinum Half Dollar

The early 1800’s were the years when American coinage was still in it’s testing stages. What metals, designs, and sizes would work the best?

One of the many metals used to make test coins was Platinum. This “Platina” Half Dollar is unique as the only U.S. pattern coin to be made of Platinum, and the only Platinum coin authorized by the U.S. government for 183 years.

The countermarks are all letter “P”s for Platinum, and the engraving on the back says “Platina”, which stands for… well, you can probably guess what.

 

Wonderful World: Turks and Caicos Islands 1976   20 crowns

I have always had this obsession with coins on coins, so this silver beauty is right up my alley. The reverse features the four busts of Queen Victoria used on coinage during her reign. They are:

Young Victoria

 

 

Gothic Victoria

 

 

Jubilee Victoria

 

 

Mature Victoria

 

Approximate actual size:

 

Add the fact that this coin is from a very obscure country, and we have a winning numismatic item!

 

Rooting Through the Lost Art: Freedom Dollar

Frank Gasparro’s pet project, this was the Dollar coin that never was. Several test designs were made before congress did an about-face and supported the Susan B. Anthony Dollar.

Of course, because this coin was never made, we don’t really have a base image to give. Here was the final design:

And here are the other patterns:

These photos are from the National Numismatic Collection, one of the finest coin collections in the world, and all the designs are made by Frank Gasparro.