Hey NFL -- That's not a real coin you're tossing

The National Football League begins every game with what they call "the coin toss."

If the NFL wants to have a coin toss, the least they can do is use a real coin.  What they are actually tossing is a medal.  A coin should be issued by a country and have a denomination.  This is not what they are tossing.  It has a helmet on one side and the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the other.  Sorry, but no country has ever issued such a coin.  I suggest that the NFL start calling this a medal toss.

Another point -- why start a football game with a random event?  Until recently the NFL team winning the toss would elect to receive the football.  Now the winners mostly "defer" the decision to the second half.

Instead of showcasing skills in running, passing, and kicking, we watch predictions of heads vs. tails. This is boring.  It would be easier to scrap the theatrics and have the home team kick off first.

But if they want to continue with this silly event, they should at least get a real coin.

Does the lack of a real coin bother you?  Please feel free to comment.

The 2015 high relief gold coin: a critique

 The US mint is about to release a new high relief $100 gold coin.

The obverse depicts a new-fangled liberty who looks like an amateur anorexic model struggling to hold a pose.  While I may worry that the B and E in liberty will catch fire from her torch, the bigger problem is Liberty’s left arm.  Why is it so big?  Based on Liberty’s angle, her left arm should be farther away than the right.  But it appears larger.  Why?  It also doesn’t appear that the upper arm would match up with the shoulder – instead it hangs too low.  The headpiece looks like it is made of artichoke.

Moving on to the coin itself.  We have another one ounce gold coin that is competing with two others – the Saint Gaudens American Eagle and the American Buffalo.  Do we need another?  The denomination of the new coin will be $100 – double that of the other one ounce gold coins?  Why?  Dr. Planchet cannot answer this.

What is the purpose of this coin?  It doesn’t really commemorate anything.  Will it be part of a series?  If so, the nature of the series is unclear.  Will this fit into any type of collection – or is it just an orphan oddity to be placed into a dresser drawer?

Production is limited to 50,000 coins.  Perhaps that is more than our society needs.

Student pays parking ticket with "pennies." Is this legal?

A University of North Carolina Student has paid a $110 parking fine with 11,000 Lincoln Cents (The media refers to these as "pennies -- but that's another issue).

While coinage was designed to be convenient, on occasion, one can deliberately pay using inconvenient denominations as a form of protest.

Frequently college campuses are built with an inadequate amount of parking.  My grandfather, John Houck Planchet served on the student government at University of Pennsylvania in the 1930's.  He told me the biggest campus problem was where to park the cars.  Rather than providing adequate parking for everyone (which, granted, could be an expensive proposition), campuses and local governments resort to giving fines.

Recipients of fines are not so fond of them.

A University of North Carolina administrator took over three hours to count the coins.

The next question:  Is this a legal form of payment?  The small cent (then an Indian head cent) was introduced in 1864.  According to the law of 1864, the cent (along with the two cent piece) was legal for use for transactions up to ten times their face value.  But his transaction is for 11,000 times the face value of the cent.  This is a clear violation of the Law of 1864.

Cents and nickels are minor coins which have limits to their use.  Dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars, traditionally struck in silver, are major coins, valid for any amount.

A legal way to protest parking tickets is to pay them in dimes.

In God We Trust -- The battle continues

I have written several times about the motto "In God We Trust" which, as used on coins, celebrated its 150th anniversary last year.

The motto offended Christians in the 20th century and atheists in the 21st.  The words "In God We Trust" are the most controversial words on a coin. No one is suing the government over the words "E Pluribus Unum" "liberty" or "five cents."

The latest salvo against the motto's numismatic appearance is about to be fired by attorney Michael Newdow, who is seeking plaintiffs for his case.  Former cases argued that the motto violated the establishment clause of the constitution.  But in the 1970 case, Aranow vs. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the motto because it had "lost through rote repetition any significant religious content."  The new case will argue that the law violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which states that religious activity may not be substantially burdened without a compelling governmental interest and laws narrowly tailored to serve that interest.  Newdow intends to argue that the government has no compelling interest in placing "In God We Trust" on every coin when most other nations function without it.

For background information about the origin of this motto and why Christians were offended, please go to my: two cent piece article.

More recently, I wrote an article about a debate on the motto between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.  With another presidential election coming up, it will be interesting to see whether "In God We Trust" makes it to the debate.

The word "Numismatist" in a Guido Bruetti Mystery

Are you looking for a detective story with the word "numismatist" in it?

I just finished reading Death in a Strange Country: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery  The action occurs on page 25:

 'The report isn't back yet, but he had American coins in his pocket, so he's got to be an American."

"Or a numismatist," Brunetti suggested amiably. 

 There followed a long pause which told Brunetti the Vice-Questore didn't know the meaning of the word." 

I always enjoy Italian detective stories that mention numismatists -- even if only in passing.

Special proof dimes for March of Dimes look like a bargain

On May 4 at noon, the US mint will release two dimes as part of a March of Dimes Set.  One dime will be a reverse proof from Philadelphia, while the other is a proof from West Point.  They will accompany the March of dimes commemorative dollar in a set selling for $61.95.  The commemorative dollar alone costs $51.95, so the two special dimes are a mere ten bucks.  “How much will these coins be worth?” I hear you ask. 

The mintage for the two dimes will be a paltry 75,000.  To look for comparable proof dimes, we have to go back to 1951, with a mintage of 57,500 or 1952 with a mintage of 81,980.  These are worth $47 and $33.  The modern dimes should be worth more than this.  Most collectors of the 1950’s dimes stick to the business strikes while collectors of more modern sets include the proofs.  In particular, the reverse proof will have a unique appearance and should demand a substantial premium.

To compare to modern coins with low mintage, we need to look at nickels.  The special matte uncirculated nickels of 1994 and 1997 had mintages of 167,703 and 25,000.  These are valued at $71 and $244 respectively.

I note that for comparable mintages, proof nickels are worth more than proof dimes, most likely due to their larger size.

Based on my analysis, the two proof dimes could reasonably be valued at $65 to $75 each.  I expect sets to start selling for over $150.  The $61.95 price for the three coin set should be a tremendous bargain.

The Saints are Marching In! 1933 Double Eagles to return to Pennsylvania

The Saints are marching in!

Congratulations to Joan Langbord.  The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous ruling and stated that Joan Langbord is the owner of the ten 1933 Saint Gaudens double eagles.

I am sure the back story is old hat to most of you, but the double eagles were somehow taken from the mint in 1933, shortly before gold coins were removed from circulation by Franklin Roosevelt. The government had made circumstantial arguments that the coins were probably stolen by Israel Switt, Joan Langbord's father.  Langbord "found" the coins and (foolhardily) sent them to the Secret Service to be authenticated.  The secret service authenticated and confiscated them.  In 2011 a federal jury ruled that the government had the right to keep the coins.

Read about the backstory on my website here. Or on my blog here. Or some other schmo's website here: http://saintgaudens.us/confiscated%20double%20eagles.html.

But the result of today's 2-1 vote was that it was the government that had broken the law.  The government was required to either return the coins or commence a civil forfeiture proceeding within 90 days.  The government did neither of these things.  Todays ruling shows that even the Department of Justice is not above the law.

The government has been fixated on these coins for over 80 years (while oddly ignoring other similar cases such as the 1913 liberty head nickel).  It is probably time for them to go on to something else.

Meanwhile, I admit it.  I am giddy about today's decision.  At some time in the future we will see some 1933 double eagles in the marketplace.

To the 1933 double eagles -- we look forward to seeing you back home in Philadelphia.

US Marshals 226th anniversary coins -- a critique

The US mint is producing a commemorative coin series to depict the 225^th anniversary of the United States Marshals Service.  This is my critique.  Spoiler alert – it’s not pretty (but neither are the coins).

Who celebrates a 225^th anniversary?  I recall the American bicentennial celebration of 1976.  Twenty five years later, the 225^th anniversary of the US went unnoticed.  Even worse is the fact that the 225^th anniversary of the US marshall service was in 2014, but the coins are produced in 2015.  So we are really celebrating the 226^th anniversary.  The coins have both the dates “1789 – 2014” and the date 2015.  Ridiculous.

The five dollar gold coin has two sides that look like reverses.  The theme of the coin (according to the advertising brochure) is “225 years of sacrifice.”  In order to show the theme, the designer merely wrote the words “225 years of sacrifice.”  Boring.

The silver dollar represents the best effort in the set.  The obverse (which the mint calls the reverse) features a wild west era US Marshall with a wanted poster in hand.  The reverse (which the mint calls the obverse) shows the US Marshall star and some cowboys that have been run over by steam rollers (the mint refers to these as silhouettes).

The clad half dollar is a hodge podge of miscellany. The obverse is shared by an old west marshal and a modern marshal whose hair is pulled by an unseen gravitational field.  The reverse has a plethora of symbols such as a spaghetti-haired blind justice, scales, the marshal’s star, railroad tracks, schoolbooks, handcuffs, the constitution, and a whiskey jug.  Do you know what everything represents?  Yes, all this on a single side of a coin.

The mint’s brochure states that surcharges of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, and $3 per clad coin are authorized “to be paid to several organizations.”  Sounds vague to me.  Something tells me that these coins will not make the organizations rich.

The mint is producing both uncirculated and proof varieties of each of the three denominations.  Do we really need all these commemorative coins?  

For information and my opinion about other American commemorative coins, please go here.

2016 will be the 121^st anniversary of the first corrugated cardboard box.   Perhaps a commemorative coin set will result.

Will the Jackie Kennedy first spouse coin be popular?

Is Jackie Kennedy three times as popular as Eleanor Roosevelt?  The US mint is counting on it.  For the now anemic first spouse gold coin series, mintages are limited to 10,000 per coin (split between the proof and uncirculated).  For most of the first spouses, the demand has been nowhere near 10,000.  In 2015, the series will be headlined by Jackie Kennedy.  For this coin, the limit will be tripled to 30,000.

Will collectors who have been on the sideline rush towards Jackie?  What do you think?

Over $20,000 in coins collected from vending machines and car wash vacuums

Dr. Planchet would like to congratulate Rick Snyder for his efforts in coin collecting.  Although Mr. Snyder may not have found any coins of significant numismatic value, he was able to collect $21,495 in coins -- an amazing plentitude of cents, nickels, dimes, and quarters-- all abandoned in vending machines and the vacuums in car washes.  It took Mr. Snyder over ten years to accomplish his feat.

The coins were donated to the Gulf Shore Animal League.

The full story can be found .here.

Pawn Stars Melting a coin collection? -- Pardon my Skepticism

Today I read an interesting article about a coin collection that was allegedly stolen and then sold to the Las Vegas Gold & Silver Pawn Shop that is featured on the History Channel's show, Pawn Stars (which admittedly I have watched once or twice).  The coins were apparently graded and slabbed.

A Pawn Shop spokesperson (I didn't realize Pawn Shops had spokespersons) stated "If the grader is not someone we trust, the cases are cracked open and the coins are sent out to be melted down."

The melting of any historic coin brings a tear to my eye.  But here, I smell a rat.

The coins included a Saint Gaudens double eagle, morgan dollars, and an American Buffalo gold coin.  The fact that the coins may have been overgraded by a disreputable third party grader would not produce grounds for melting the coins.  All of the coins, even at relatively low grades, would have at least some premium to the bullion value.  Even if they had no premium, melting them would still make no sense.  Any nitwit knows an American Buffalo coin contains one ounce of pure gold.  If it is melted into a clump of gold, its purity will be unknown to anyone except those wishing to conduct extensive tests.  Silver investors frequently buy silver coins (rather than no-name silver bars) because they know the composition.

And so, why were the coins so quickly melted?  One reason is that it could provide cover in case the coins turned out to be stolen.

As a postscript, the article claims the collection included a rare 1903 Saint Gaudens double eagle -- which would indeed be rare since the series did not start until several years later.  I assume the year was a typo.

The original article can be found here.

Brasher Doubloon vs. 1913 Liberty Head Nickel: A Battle for most valuable coin

Today in Florida, there is a battle for the most valuable coin in the FUN show auction as a 1787 Brasher Doubloon takes on a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel.  The internet bidding has now closed.  The Brasher Doubloon has a high bid of 3.6 million dollars (4.23 million with the buyer's premium) while the Liberty Head nickel has a high bid of 2.8 million dollars (3.29 million including the buyers premium).  

Both coins have appeared on fictional TV or movies.  The Olsen specimen of the Liberty head nickel appeared on the Hawaii five O episode, million dollar nickel, while the Doubloon starred in the detective movie entitled The Brasher Doubloon .

The coins are both important, but sharply contrasting parts of numismatic history.  The Brasher Doubloon as an early example of colonial coinage (the only gold coin intended to circulate) while the liberty head nickel is likely the result of minting shenanigans.  The liberty head nickel is the scarcer of the two coins with only five struck.  There are seven Brasher Doubloons that are accounted for.

We will wait and see how high prices go.  Good luck to both coins.

John McCain, paper money, and strippers

As the battle over a possible discontinuing of our American paper dollar in favor of the unpopular dollar coins rages on, Arizona Senator and paper dollar foe, John McCain, was asked a question about strippers. 

(Read here about the history of unpopular dollar coins),

According to the story, strippers prefer getting tipped with paper dollars and have complained about a possible demise of the paper dollar.  When a reporter questioned McCain, he quipped “I hope they could obtain larger denominations … fives, tens, one hundreds."

John McCain recently suggested that strippers be tipped in higher denomination bills

Since I generally spend my evenings on my studies rather than attending stripper clubs, I ask my readers to please forgive my naivete.  The first question I have is what were strippers given as tips in the 1970’s?  Were they receiving dollar bills or quarters?  Today’s dollar bill is the equivalent in spending power to the quarter in the 1970’s.  If strippers used to receive one dollar bills, today they should receive fives merely to keep up with inflation.  In this respect, McCain is absolutely correct.

Another question: What happens at stripper clubs in Canada, where the smallest paper denomination is the five?  Hopefully my Canadian friends can answer this so I don’t have to travel to Canada for a research trip on the topic

An interesting pricing issue with the Girl Scouts Commemorative Dollar

Tonight I stumbled upon something of interest while browsing the US mint website (usmint.gov).  The current price for an uncirculated Girl Scout Commemorative silver dollar is $55.95.  The mint, however, also sells the girl scout dollar as part of a Girl Scouts of the USA Young Collectors Set.  The set includes the uncirculated silver dollar along with the typical fluff of graphics and historical images.  The price of the set is $54.95 -- cheaper than purchasing the coin alone. 

1913 Liberty Head Nickel Sells for Bargain Basement Price

Did the light scratch on Liberty's neck cost nearly 2 million dollars in value?

The news is probably fish and chip paper by now, but a 1913 Liberty Head nickel was just auctioned for $3,172,500.  In a previous pre-auction blog post, I mentioned that even at five million dollars, the nickel would be a tremendous bargain.  Even a Huffington Post article called it a bargain -- so it's not just me.

Of the five 1913 Liberty head nickels produced, two are in museums, leaving only three for the rest of us.  The finest specimen sold for five million dollars in 2007, while the other (famous for appearing on Hawaii Five O in the 1970's) sold for $3,737,500 in 2010.  As can be seen in the picture, the current specimen has a scratch on the neck of Miss Liberty.  If the scratch was absent, would this also be a five million dollar coin?

The specimen has an intriguing history (and I don't want to sound like a broken record -- but stories add value to coins).  It was to be displayed at a coin show in 1962, but the owner was killed in a car crash en route.  Missing for over forty years, it will now go back into hiding with a private collector.

Read more about liberty head nickels here.

The internet sales tax: A threat to coin investors

As I write this, The United States Senate is working on a bill to allow states to collect sales tax on purchases made on the internet.  This will put the damper on those making numismatic investments by purchases rare coins on sites such as ebay .  When you invest in stock there is no sales tax -- but rare coins are considered a taxable purchase.  Let's consider what happens to a Philadelphia resident (subject  to a whopping 8% sales tax) purchasing $1000 worth of coins over the internet.  After tax, the price will be $1080.  Suppose the seller then wishes to resell the coins at a break even price.  The new buyer must pay 8% tax making the cost $1166.  The table below shows the effect of cumulative sales for a $1000 coin.

1. $1080
2. $1166
3. $1260
4. $1360
5. $1469
6. $1587
7. $1714
8. $1851
9. $1999

After nine sales, the coin must be sold for nearly double the initial cost to merely let each buyer recover the original purchase price.  Under the same scenario, a buyer in one of the five states without sales tax will still find the coin for $1000.

Investments are tough when one must immediately recover 8% merely to break even.

The 1913 Liberty Head nickel should be worth more!

The excitement is waxing in the numismatic circles with the news that a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel will be on the auction block by Heritage Auctions at the Central Numismatic Society's coin show in Chicago in April, 2013.  After hearing early estimates that the coin will fetch between two and three million dollars, I am now hearing estimates as high as five million.  In my view, this would still be a tremendous bargain.

The price should be comparable to the 1933 Saint Gaudens double Eagle, which last sold for $7,590,020.  I note that gold coins generally sell for more than nickel coins and large coins are worth more than small coins.  This fact alone might explain the discrepancy in the price.  If we examine the mintages, a mere five 1913 liberty head nickels were struck compared to 445,500 1933 double eagles.

All five liberty head nickels are currently accounted for.  Two are in museums, leaving only three available for private collectors.  Most of the 1933 double eagles were melted, but some escaped.  The US government's position is that there is only one 1933 double eagle that is legal to own  - a specimen legally exported by King Farouk.  The secret service has been actively seizing 1933 double eagles, stating that they were released illegally.  The same argument could apply to the 1913 liberty head nickels, which were made surreptitiously at the Philadelphia mint.

In 2004, the government seized ten 1933 double eagles from s Philadelphia jeweler who submitted them to the government for authentication.  (read that story here) This means that there are at least 11 1933 double eagles that are accounted for.  There are undoubtedly more that are secretly owned.  The 1913 liberty head nickel, is therefore the much scarcer of the two coins.  In the future, the government could release some of its 1933 double eagles, which would cause their values to plummet.  There is no such risk with the 1913 liberty head nickel.

A good story is an essential ingredient to the value of a coin.  Both the 1933 double eagle and the 1913 Liberty Head nickel have stories -- but I find the nickel story more intriguing.  It began with someone clandestinely striking the nickels at the Philadelphia mint.  Then,as a rouse, a mint employee placed ads offering to buy any such nickels (which were not thought to exist).  Years later, five nickels magically appeared.  One of the nickels was purchased by George Walton, who was killed in a car accident on the way to a coin show.  His heirs recovered the nickel, but it was thought to be a fake -- only to be discovered as real years later.

A great story, and a great nickel -- clearly worthy of a seven million dollar price tag.
Read more about it in the book Million Dollar Nickels: Mysteries of the 1913 Liberty Head Nickels Revealed... or visit my webpage at peterplanchet.com.

"Numismatics" is word of the day

The field of coin collecting was honored during the nudiustertian morning when the word "numismatics" was selected as the word of the day on wordsmith.org.  The weeks theme is words that start with the "new" sound.  Other words in the category include pneumonic and nouveau pauvre

For those unfamiliar with the word "nudiustertian" it means of or relating to the day before yesterday.  I have never used the word before now, and I imagine I will seldom use it again.
The word numismatics, of course, I use everyday at least thrice.

Spielberg's Lincoln: A numismatic mistake

Last night, I saw Stephen Spielberg's film, Lincoln.  I was throughly enjoying the cinematic experience until one of Lincoln's adversaries told Lincoln that people from back home hate him so much, they won't even use half dollars with his portrait on them.   Hmmm.  Lincoln's portrait on the half dollar while he was still alive?  The mere thought is absurd.  Lincoln was the president -- not the king.  Certainly he would not be so arrogant as to put his own portrait on a coin.

The words were supposedly uttered in 1864.  The illustration above shows an actual 1864 half dollar. Is Lincoln dressed as a woman on the obverse or is he in an eagle costume for the reverse?  Probably not. In 1864, the nation was suffering through the seated liberty coin design for all denominations.  No Lincoln to be found.  The only time Lincoln was depicted on a half dollar was in 1918 for the Illinois Commemorative half dollar.  He appeared on the Lincoln cent starting in 1909.

Film writer Tony Kushner has a number of historical inaccuracies in the film.  This is to be expected in a dramatic work.  As pointed out by historian, Eric Foner, author of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, the film offers a tremendous exaggeration in Lincoln's role in passing the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery -- an amendment that he did not initiate, and only started to support in mid 1864.  And as I point out, the important contains an important  error in a numismatic reference.

The dollar coin --- will Congress try yet again?

The dollar coin was never popular in the United States.  The main complaint in 1794 was that the dollar was too heavy to carry around.  Today, you would need thirteen dollars clunking around your trouser pockets to provide the same buying power as the original dollar.  Americans are uncomfortable with that and prefer greenbacks folded neatly in a wallet or crumpled in a drawer.

I myself enjoy the dollar coins.  Apparently I have little company.  From Morgans to Ikes to Suzies, the coins had never found a comfortable home in American pockets.

Today, Congress is yet again trying to eliminate the dollar bill and replace it with the unpopular coin.  At a Congressional hearing, the Government Accountability Office regurgitated their comment that the exclusive use of dollar coins would save 4.4 billion dollars over the next thirty years.  It sounds impressive until we do the math and find that it saves each American a mere forty eight cents per year -- not nearly enough to pay for the new pair of pants with the worn out pockets.