Miami Valley Coin Club

The Day I Lost My Home But Gained a Community

This is a story too good to pass by. It is a great reflection on all of us as part of the coin collecting community. Please follow this link and read Joe Best’s story.

The Day I Lost My Home

It’s A Token, Not A Bird

It’s Conder, not Condor!

In the later part of the 18^thCentury in the British Empire, including England, Ireland, Anglesey, Wales, and Scotland, there was a shortage of small denomination coinage. Because the government basically ignored the problem, and it became difficult to conduct normal business transactions, private business owners and merchants took matters into their own hands by issuing Conder Tokens. At the time they were referred to as Provincial Coins.

The tokens were re-named after James Conder, who was an early collector and cataloguer of them. Most of these tokens were minted from 1787 to 1804. They resemble our Hard Times Tokens in that many of them carried political captions, denouncing some area of the British government.

Collecting Conder Tokens is becoming more and more popular today. A great number of well-preserved examples can be found. On April 13^th, Smith Family Auctions, a Germantown company, will auction off a number of Conder Tokens. If you have never seen a token like this, or would like to start, or add to a token collection, here’s your chance to find some Conder Tokens close to home.

March 2019 Meeting

Our next club meeting is this Thursday, March 7, at 7pm

Special 2019-W Lincoln Cent

The West Point Mint will strike three special issue Lincoln cents in 2019 bearing the “W” mintmark.

A standard proof version will be included with the 2019 proof set along with the ten regular coins of the set. A reverse-proof “W” Lincoln will be included in the silver proof sets (the other ten coins will have a San Francisco mintmark) due to be released at the end of April. The 20-coin Uncirculated Mint sets will include a 21^stcoin, a 2019-W Lincoln cent with an uncirculated finish.

Black History & U.S. Coinage

America’s first African-American to appear on a commemorative coin, or any coin, was Booker T. Washington in 1946. The purpose was to raise money for maintenance of his memorial birthplace in Franklin County, Virginia. House Resolution 6528 Act passed Congress on August 7, 1946. Since then, other Black Americans have also made appearances on commemorative coins.

In 1997 Jackie Robinson was honored on a silver dollar coin and a five-dollar gold coin. Robinson was the first black player to play Major League Baseball.

The next year, 1998, Crispus Attucks, a stevedore or dockworker, the first person killed in the Boston Massacre, and thus the Revolutionary War, was honored on the Black American patriots coin.

In 2007 Little Rock Central High School and nine African-American students were honored on a one-dollar coin to highlight the desegregation of Arkansas schools. President Eisenhower sent the 101^st Airborne Division of the Army to protect the rights of the nine students.

Then in 2014, the Mint issued the Civil Rights Act of 1964 commemorative coin honoring the signage into law of the bill by President Lyndon Johnson. The three African-American figures pictured on the obverse are not individually identified.

In April 2006, Congress awarded a Congressional Gold Metal to surviving members of the “Tuskegee Airmen”, the 761^st Tank Battalion and the 452^nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, three all-black military units that served during and after World War II. Medal copies in bronze are available to the public.

2019 Coin Show

How To Invest In Coins

“If you want to make one million dollars investing in coins,

all you have to do is spend two million dollars!”

Next Meeting, Thursday February 7th, 2019!

See You There!

Does this look like one of our members?

Collecting Early Coppers

Early American copper coins were minted in larger quantities than any other denomination during their era, 1792-1857. Carrying around one hundred large cents, a dollars worth, would weigh almost three pounds. Half cents were struck in all but nine years; large cents were struck every year except 1815 and 1823. All half and large cents were minted in Philadelphia, there are no mint marks.

How is the best way to collect early American copper coins? It all depends on your preferences and patience. Here are some different ideas:

1. Collect a complete date set.

2. Build a collection by type.

3. Collect one type only, but one of each year.

4. Collect only one year, but every variety, or die marriage, of that year.

In order to maximize you enjoyment of collecting early copper coins, it is recommended that you follow these collecting tips:

1. Collect the best coins you can afford. Focus on condition more than grade.

2. The only time you should buy a “problem” coin is if it is so cheap that there is no way you could lose money on it or it is very rare and you can’t believe that you have the opportunity to own it.

3. Buy the key coins first because they are only going to get more expensive and maybe out of your reach.

4. Decide what grade you would be happy with and don’t buy coins that are worse or better than your target grade.

Remember, the fun is in running the race

and the thrill of the chase,

not just reaching the finish line.

A “Two Cent” Story

It lasted only ten years, a short time for most coins, from 1864 to 1873. The story goes that because of the shortage of coins caused by the civil war, the U.S. Mint was authorized to mint two cent pieces. That fact is possibly true, but the idea of a two cent coin was first proposed in 1806.

The first proposal called for a coin struck in a bullion alloy of mostly copper with a small amount of silver. Because coins struck in this composition were easily counterfeited, Congress decided not to authorize mintage of the coin.

Then in 1836 another proposal was made. Christian Gobrecht, the 3rd chief engraver at the Mint, and Franklin Peale, who at the time was titled “Melter and Refiner”, did composition testing. The counterfeiting issue was again the reason that the coin did not come to be.

In late 1863, Mint Director James Pollock recommended a two cent coin to be struck in “French Bronze”, 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. Two different designs were submitted for consideration. One design featured the head of George Washington on the obverse, the other a large shield.

The original inscription on the ribbon read “God Our Trust” but Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase preferred “In God We Trust”. Thus, the 1864 two cent piece became the first coin to carry the motto “In God We Trust”. The motto was added to silver coinage two years later.

The prototype dies used small letters in the motto, subsequent strikes with regular dies used larger letters. So the 1864 coins are found with both small and large letters. PCGS reports that in Fine the 1864 small letter type is worth $425, the 1864 large letter type is worth $26.

The Young Coin Collector

“People just aren’t as interested in coin collecting as they used to be.”

Not true! Check auctions and coins for sale on eBay and you will find that some 90,000 coins are sold on average every day. It’s only the younger generation that isn’t as interested in coin collecting as they used to be. Kids and young adults say that coin collecting is just for “old people”.

One of the biggest problems is that today’s circulation coins are tired and boring when it comes to design. The Mint has been striking Lincoln cents, virtually unchanged, for 110 years; Jefferson nickels since 1938; Roosevelt dimes for 73 years. Okay, Washington quarters have interested some younger collectors with the 50 States program, but even that theme is getting old.

Another issue is the vast numbers of each year’s mintage. Used to be, some coins were only struck in the thousands and hundreds of thousands. Today’s coins, for the most part, are struck in the billions. It will be a rare occurrence when one to today’s coins will be worth any real value in the future. And these will probably be related to some type of error.

So how do we interest today’s younger generations? Sell them low mintage commemoratives? I doubt it. Most of these commemoratives come with above average price tags. Today’s youngsters are probably not going to drop $59.95 on a commemorative that they shouldn’t really touch with their own hands. At least not consistently.

PCGS and NGC have sort of the right idea. Their registry sets, seen and tabulated on the internet, are a step in the right direction. The only problem with their idea is that all the “sets” that are tracked involve “world’s best” or “low-ball” sets which can be costly to assemble. Some type of digital collecting, trading, and tracking system may interest our newest “online” generation.

First Club Meeting Of 2019

Tonight is our 1st club meeting of this year. Hope everyone had a great holiday season and we’ll see you tonight. Don’t forget to bring any coins you want to auction off. Buyers will be present with all their leftover holiday cash…

New Dollar Coins Will NOT Be At The Bank

Guess what? The Mint’s new dollar coin series is only available from the Mint… or the secondary market. That’s now and until the series is scheduled to end in 2032! That also means no face-value coins for collectors.

You can only order these new dollars from the Mint. A 25-coin roll sells for $32.95 plus S&H, and $111.95 for a 100-coin bag. There is one coin design available now, from the Mint only, for $6.95 plus S&H, with 4 new designs each year through 2032.

I, for one, am not a fan of this method. I have yet to order anything directly from the Mint, and maybe with the exception of the upcoming Apollo 13 coins, don’t anticipate doing so in the future. Actually, I’m not really interested in collecting golden dollar coins of any type. But that’s just my opinion.

Here’s a thought. At each club meeting a number of silver eagles are raffled off. How about the club buy a 25-coin roll of each new design as they become available and adding that coin to our raffles? Just an idea. What do you think?

The First American Innovation $1 Proof Coin

The United States Mint’s American Innovation $1 Coin Program is set to release its first coin on December 14, 2018. It will be minted at the San Francisco Mint.

The first coin features a lettered edge, a Proof finish with sharp relief and a mirror-like background with frosted foregrounds. The coin’s price is listed as $6.95 on the Mint’s website.

Christmas Party 2018

Thursday, December 6th, at 6:00pm is the Miami Valley Christmas get-together. Please plan to attend. It will be held at Archer’s, 2030 East Dorothy Lane, Kettering 45420, across the street from Applebee’s and Kroger.

The Trusty Metal Detector

In September, a retired treasure hunter in Australia hit the mother load. He had been searching for years with no great results but this day his ship came in. He unearthed a gold nugget weighing more than 7 pounds, containing 68 troy ounces (4.5 pounds) of gold.

It took him about 2 hours to dig it out. The value of his find: $80,000! That equates out to $40,000 per hour, not a bad day’s work.

Our Last Regular 2018 Meeting

It’s arrived again. Our last regular meeting of 2018 is this Thursday, November 1st at 7:00pm. Lot’s of information and fun for members and visitors. Don’t forget our club auction, interesting coins and medals at great starting bids.

Our club auction could be a fabulous opportunity to pick up that collector friend on your list a meaningful & appreciated Christmas gift!

There are only about 8 weeks left until Christmas!

Want Proof?

Although the Mint struck proof coins prior to 1858, it was in that year that the first complete proof sets were sold by the Mint to the public at large. As far back as 1817, proof coins were available for purchase, individually, by collectors and ordinary citizens, if they contacted the Philadelphia Mint and requested them.

A complete set of proof coins from the year 1858 totaled 13 different coins. How many can you name? Hint: there were 7 coins with copper or silver content; there were 6 gold coins.

2017 Proof Set

You Never Know

What’s that? It’s a coin of some type.

You never know when the next interesting coin will show up. One did for me last week. I was returning a rental truck and something caught my attention on the ground in the parking lot.

It was a coin or a token of some sort, but it was a lot thicker than a coin should be. It wasn’t in the greatest condition. How long had it been laying in the parking lot?

Upon closer inspection the coin appeared to say “One Pound” on it. After a little time on the internet, I found out that it was a 1996 one pound British coin depicting the Celtic cross of Northern Ireland. How a British Northern Ireland coin ended up on a rental truck parking lot in Dayton, Ohio I’ll never know.

Reverse of 1996 £1 Coin

I found out that it was decided that from 1984, British £1 coins would feature different reverse designs for each of the four parts of the United Kingdom. All £1 coins dated 1996 feature on the reverse a Celtic cross symbolizing Northern Ireland. The coin was demonetized last year and is worth only about $1.30 U.S.

But the story of how and where I found it… priceless!

(This is what my coin could have looked like… before it was run over and left in a parking lot! Keep you eyes peeled! You never know what coin may be out there just waiting to be found.)

Next Meeting This Week

Our next club meeting is this Thursday at 7:00pm. See you there, bring a guest. Let’s grow our club!

Reeded Edges

Did you ever wonder why the U.S. Mint began reeding the edges of gold and silver coins?

One reason was to keep would-be criminals from “shaving” the edges of precious metal coins, gathering the filings, and then selling the gold or silver. As a side benefit, the reeded edges also made our coins more intricate and harder to counterfeit.

Reeding has also gained some provenance to coin collectors. The 1921 Morgan Dollar has a “wide edge” reeding and a “normal’ edge reeding. Wide edge reeded Morgans feature 157 reeds (VAM 44), while the normal variety has 189.

189 Normal -Top
157 Wide – Bottom

Beginning in 1836, the Mint reeded all silver and gold coins with two exceptions. Can you name these two exceptions?