North Shore Coins Suddenly closed for remodeling after allegedly buying stolen goods

I just checked the North Shore Coins website which states that "NSC is Closed for Remodeling."

There's no reason to check the website at http://www.northshorecoins.com/ (but many of you will anyway)
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The sudden remodeling took place after the dealer was arrested and charged with buying thousands of dollars worth of  stolen goods.   The sellers of the goods were undercover police officers.

There are two comments of note here:

1. It is always sad to see coin dealers whose lack of scruples allows them to purchase goods that they know were stolen.
2. Why are the police selling stolen goods?

Please feel free to comment.  I am especially interested in readers opinions on the second point.

One million dollars for a 1943 S Bronze Lincoln Cent!

A 1943S copper Lincoln Cent has sold for a whopping one million dollars as a single collector, Bob Simpson, has virtually cornered the tiny market on the 1943 coppers.

I'm sure this is old hat to most of you, but in 1943, the US mint produced Lincoln cents out of steel to conserve copper for the World War II effort.  By error, a small number of copper coins were produced at each mint.

The value of the coin is based on several factors.  First the off metal error is rare, with only a small handful of San Francisco minted coins known.  Second, the copper 1943 error cents have been well hyped since 1943.  A third reason is the condition.  The particular 1943 S copper cent was graded as MS62BN making it the finest known.  A fourth reason is Bob Simpson himself.  Simpson now has the best known copper coin from each mint in 1943.  His AU version of the 1943 S is now on the trading block.  He has the only known 1943 S copper cent.  Had Simpson not had the goal of assembling this collection, the coin would not be worth as much.

In 1944, the mint returned to producing Lincoln cents out of copper.  A small number of steel coins were struck in error.  Simpson has an example of each of these as well.

And So, Dr. Peter Planchet tips his hat to Bob Simpson on the tremendous accomplishment of assembling the finest collection of the 1943 coppers.  Congratulations!

Romney vows to save In God We Trust on coins

With the presidential campaign in full swing, it is hard to believe that there had been absolutely no discussion about US coin policy.  That changed yesterday when Mitt Romney at a campaign rally in Virginia Beach stated "I will not take God off our coins."  His reference, of course, is to our motto "In God We Trust," which appears on all US coins.

Not to be outdone, the Obama campaign quickly responded by stating that "Romney’s implication that Democrats ever suggested removing religious references from the currency was extreme and untrue."

I have written about the motto In God we Trust on my website and have spoken about In God We Trust on youtube.  Many Christians have objected to the motto including Teddy Roosevelt who stated,  "My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege."

As I have said before, I know of no church service where the minister says "Let us pray.  Please take out your Jefferson nickel."  Do Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama really need the motto to practice their religion?  Or are they merely trying to score political points.

We now know the Romney and Obama position on "In God We Trust."  Hopefully in the near future, we will learn their views on other coin features such as "e pluribus unum" or the reeded edge.

What do you think?  Please comment!