1870-S Three dollar gold coin up for auction -- hold on a minute!

An 1870-S three dollar gold coin has been put up for auction by the Four Seasons Auction Company.  The 1870-S coin was thought to be unique and struck for the purpose of placing in the cornerstone of the San Francisco mint.  The mintmark was also unique in that it was handmade, rather than stamped.  The coin last sold in 1982 for $687,500.

The current coin is a different 1870-S three dollar gold coin.  This should cause us to pause -- so this coin is perhaps not unique.  The mintmark looks different from its sister.  Does this mean that a second die was made just to produce a single coin?  Or is this story quickly losing its credibility.

The coin was apparently discovered embedded in a souvenir book in San Francisco.  How and why did it get there?  This remains shrouded in mystery.

The auction company expected the coin to fetch about four million dollars.  And yet the coins has not been authenticated by any service.  Again, this should cause us to pause.  The auctioneer encouraged people to view the coin in person and to bring experts.  But who is the expert who can authenticate a coin with a unique mintmark that was struck from a once-used die?

The coin has apparently been suddenly removed from the auction.  Either way, I encourage my millionaire friends to exercise caution.

RIP Canadian Cent: 1858 -- 2012

The Canadian government is pulling the plug on the one cent coin.  This year will be the final year of mintage and distribution of the cents.  Because of inflation, the cent has been so devalued that most Canadians don't use them.  Since its debut in 1858, the Canadian cent has lost about 95% of its value.  The Canadian cent has been composed primarily of inexpensive steel, which still costs the Royal Canadian mint about 1.6 cents to produce.  United States cents are primarily zinc and are even more expensive to produce.  The cents are still legal tender (In Canada, cents are legal for up to 25 per transaction compared to only 10 per transaction in the US).  Eventually, Canada will round cash transactions to the nearest cent.

The discontinuation of a coin is always a somber occasion.  I send my condolences to my Canadian friends.  Perhaps in a few years, we will follow your path.

A silver quarter found in change

Today in my pocket, I found a 1942 quarter.  Although the Philadelphia minted quarter is quite common (actually the second most common quarter minted between 1932 and 1962), most have been pulled from circulation by the silver hoarders .  In fact, this is the first silver quarter I have received in change in over fifteen years (I have received a couple of silver wartime nickels in that time).

The coin has been in circulation for 80 years (although, I'm guessing it sat in a drawer for many of the years -- as it clearly does not have 80 years worth of wear.

This completes a great week for me in which I also found a pearl inside a fried oyster.