Coin Collecting - The Hobby of Kings

Bitcoin Digital Currency Has Competition, Eh?

Bitcoin and its ilk may be coming in the not-too-distant future, either working with or even in place of, the coins and currency we collect. The Royal Canadian Mint isn't taking this lying down. They've developed MintChip, a digital currency that some are calling a competitor to Bitcoin. Touted as "better than cash" (at least for Canadians), they've issued a challenge with prize money for software developers who write apps that use the currency.

Who knows where this particular project will lead, but the larger takeaway is a trend away from physical objects to represent our money and a move to the ethereal as our society embraces the digital realm.

(via Wired)

Farewell to the Canadian Penny

The Canadian government must be reading this site. The last post was about getting rid of the penny, and now they've gone and done it.

According to Wikipedia, "there have been repeated talks about getting rid of the penny as it is estimated that it costs the Royal Canadian Mint 1.8¢ to produce a 1¢ coin, even though the Royal Canadian Mint claims it costs only 0.8¢ to produce a penny."

The 2012 Canadian federal budget was released today and it's doing away with the coin for an estimated annual savings of $11 million. For all the folks living in northern states, you may stop getting the little buggers in your change now.

The question is, will Canadians see this as a chance to hoarding the coin, or do they even care?

(via Consumerist)

Getting Rid of the Penny

This video gives a brief overview of the "penny" (more correctly known as the one cent piece) in the United States, and makes a compelling argument for its demise.

Collectors Universe Acquires Coinflation.com

(Newport Beach, California) -- Coinflation.com, an increasingly popular informational website that provides the values of precious metals and the intrinsic values of gold, silver and base metal coins, has been acquired by Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT), the parent company of Professional Coin Grading Service.

"Adding Coinflation.com to our family of offerings really makes sense. There is tremendous synergy between Coinflation.com, PCGS.com and PCGSCoinfacts.com. Together, we'll become the ultimate destination for anyone seeking information about coins and precious metals," said Don Willis, PCGS President.

Coinflation.com was founded in 2004 by Alec Nevalainen who now has joined Collectors Universe as part of the transaction. The number of unique monthly visitors to the website has more than quadrupled in the past year to over 640,000.

"Coinflation's goal is to help people discover the metal value of their coins, which in many cases is the absolute minimum value. Due to the recent media attention on gold and silver prices, many unscrupulous buyers have appeared offering 'buy' prices significantly below melt value, particularly for pre-1965 silver coins. Coinflation helps people make informed decisions when buying or selling gold and silver coins," Nevalainen explained.

"There's also an emerging group of collectors who accumulate base metal coins, such as the pre-1982 copper cent which has a metal value of 2.6 cents and the current nickel with a value of almost 6 cents."

Collectors Universe President and PCGS co-founder, David Hall, stated: "Alec Nevalainen, in a very short period of time, has built what I consider to be the ultimate metallic value web site. Gold and silver coin information is becoming very important as U.S. citizens wake up to where the value of the U.S. dollar is heading. We have a long way to go to match the rest of the world's attitude about gold and silver, but we're starting to 'get it.' Coinflation.com is right in the sweet spot of the 'What are my gold and silver coins worth?' info space. I literally use coinflation.com every day. And the name, coinflation, says it all!"

Collectors Universe authenticates and grades collectible coins, trading cards, event tickets, autographs, memorabilia and stamps, and compiles and publishes authoritative information about United States and world coins, collectible trading cards, sports memorabilia and collectible stamps. The company also operates CCE, a dealer-to-dealer Internet bid-ask market for certified coins, and the Long Beach and Santa Clara Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expos.

Free CoinFacts App for Your Smart Phone

(Rosemont, Illinois) -- PCGS Mobile CoinFacts, a new application that lets smart phone users instantly access all the historical numismatic information and crystal-clear coin images from the extensive PCGS CoinFacts™ database, will be available free to everyone for a ten-day trial period, August 12 - 20, 2011. After that, this indispensable app will then be available free only for those with a PCGS CoinFacts subscription.

"This is the coolest piece of software we've ever done," declared Don Willis, President of Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com), a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT). "It's a revolutionary breakthrough for collectors and dealers, and I'm really excited about this!"

PCGS CoinFacts is the Internet's most comprehensive source for information for over 30,000 United States coins, including current prices, auction records, population and images. All the information and photos hosted on the PCGS CoinFacts website are now immediately available to subscribers on any smart phone, and accessible anywhere the phone works.

"Imagine being at a coin show or an auction and being able to instantly look up coin pricing information, population data and recent auction prices realized about the coin you're thinking about buying. Of course, this app will be helpful when selling coins as well. We've tried to make this as easy to use as possible," said Willis.

PCGS Mobile CoinFacts will be introduced by PCGS at the American Numismatic Association Chicago World's Fair of Money, August 16 - 20, 2011. A Beta version of the app will be available free at m.pcgscoinfacts.com for anyone with a smart phone to personally sample between August 12 and 20. Additional information will be available at the PCGS booth, #400, during the convention.

"When you're buying or selling coins, the person with the most current information is usually the one who's most successful. Now you can get essential, up-to-date information from PCGS CoinFacts with just a few clicks on any smart phone," said Willis.

What's Really on the U.S. Dollar Bill?

Here's a close look at the symbols that can be found on the humble dollar. If you find this interesting, Dan Brown's The Lost symbol delves into even more symbols that can be found on our currency.

First Complete Set of Certified Proof $3 Gold in Sacramento

The first-ever complete set of certified proof U.S. $3 gold coins will be publicly displayed for the first time anywhere at the Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) booth, #1101, during the American Numismatic Association's National Money Show™ in Sacramento, California, March 17 - 19, 2011.

"This unprecedented 36-coin set was assembled over the past six years by collector Tom Bender of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Palm Coast, Florida. Just a few weeks ago he obtained the final coins he needed, and this will be the first time an entire set of certified proof $3 gold has ever been publicly exhibited," said Don Willis, President of PCGS, a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT).

"This is an extraordinary collection and an amazing achievement," said Laura Sperber, President of Legend Numismatics in Lincroft, New Jersey who encouraged Bender to begin the collection in January 2005 and helped him obtain most of the coins. "This is the first $3 proof gold set certified by PCGS in 25 years of operations. Even compared to famous, early collections, this set would still rank as the finest known."

Bender's personal favorite is the 1856, graded PCGS PR65+ Deep Cameo, formerly in the famous Garrett Collection. It is a Population 1 with none graded higher. Other notable coins in the set and their PCGS grades include: 1873 Open 3 PR65 Deep Cameo; 1875 PR65 Deep Cameo; and 1876 PR66 Deep Cameo.

Bender began collecting coins as a youngster in Kentucky, and recalls riding his bicycle to a coin shop where he would purchase Indian Head cents for 20 cents each.

He considers himself a coin collector, not investor.

"The proof $3 gold is an undervalued series. This is in part due to the extreme rarity of the coins. Many collectors are not attracted to a series where the coins are so difficult to find. For example, many of the dates only have populations of nine or ten. The 1855 and 1856 have a mintage of five each," said Bender.
In addition to the proof $3 gold, his Indian Cents Basic Proof Set is ranked number one in the PCGS Set RegistryTM and his Lincoln Cents Basic Circulation Strike Set is ranked number three. He currently is putting together a complete type set and a complete collection of Liberty Seated dimes.

"I've found a number of my silver coins by meeting other members of the PCGS Set Registry who have sold me some of their duplicates," Bender explained.

The PCGS Set Registry has more than 54,000 registered sets of U.S. and world coins. For additional information, visit online at www.PCGS.com/setregistry or call PCGS Customer Service at (800) 447-8848.

Coin Trivia for 28 December 2010

1. During what years were Standing Liberty quarters struck only at the Philadelphia Mint?

2. When did the first Philadelphia Mint's major fire occur?

3. Who designed the $50 pattern of 1877?

4. What is the date of the first U.S. silver dollar?

5. Who appears on the $10 refunding certificate?

The Last Tuesday Trivia

Back in August 2006 I wrote the first Tuesday Trivia post. I've been posting them ever since for over three years. I've decided tomorrow's Tuesday trivia will be the last. I hope you've enjoyed them each week and that you learned a few tidbits from the great world of numismatics.

If you want to test your mettle against them for a second time (or a first time if you subscribed after August 2006), they're all listed on the Trivia category archive.