One can’t help but raise an eyebrow when a British archaeologist comes out publicly in support of U.S. State Department (DOS) secrecy in its dealings with American citizens. Most academics in the United States, archaeologists included, have favored transparent government. But, hot on the heels of Obama administration guidance that transparency is the new order of the day, archaeologist Paul Barford has defended DOS refusal to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and in effect condoned the department’s long standing penchant for secrecy. The State Department is currently the defendant in a FOIA lawsuit launched by ancient coin collectors and dealers, a group which the controversial Barford paints as looters and criminals. Representing the views of a venerable 600-year-old hobby and its modern adherents, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild is challenging what it sees as bias leading to arbitrary and capricious actions on the part of the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This challenge, needless to say, upsets certain anti-collector factions within the archaeological community that have worked long and hard to create the oppressive nationalistic environment that now prevails. Even more upsetting to them than the challenge itself must be the fact that polemics and opinionated blogs will have no effect whatever on the outcome.

In a recent blog post, Barford attacks a statement that I made in my immediately preceding post here:

“CPAC did NOT restrict the import of ancient coins minted in Cyprus. CPAC voted against adding coins to the extension of the existing MOU. The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs added coins on its own volition, disregarding the advice of its own advisory committee.”

I certainly did make this statement and he’s right, there is nothing ambiguous about it. This information, in Barford’s view was obtained illegally and unethically. Those are serious charges, even considering the source. Making such claims without a credible basis would certainly be enough to submarine the integrity of any genuine academic. Mr. Barford obviously did not read the filings in the current law suit that ACCG provided in a gesture of full disclosure and transparency (unlike DOS). Nor does Mr. Barford seem to understand that the statement above is derived from sworn testimony provided in advance to DOS attorneys and which the State Department opted not to restrict under Touhy regulations. Furthermore, the State Department took the rare and unusual step of publicly proclaiming, apologetically in a way, that it has a right to override CPAC recommendations. Still, in keeping with their ritual of silence, DOS has refused to acknowledge whether or not they have done so in the Cyprus MOU. That in itself is no surprise since it is standard operating procedure. Overriding a CPAC recommendation automatically triggers a special report to Congress under the provisions of CPIA (the applicable law). Multiple requests from legislators (Senators and Congressmen) for a clarification of this point, or a copy of this report, have been stonewalled by DOS. If there was any illegal or unethical activity associated with the release of this information it was most assuredly not on the part of ACCG or any CPAC member. But, since we are on the subject, the DOS secrecy on this point seems intended to mask yet another example of the arbitrary and capricious actions that ECA is notorious for. That secrecy has been criticized in the national media for the past decade — for example, here, here and here. It should be no great surprise that a challenge has finally materialized. If anything, it is surprising that it took this long.

As usual, Mr. Barford is way out of his league and is just shooting wildly from the hip with no concern for, or concept whatever of, truth. He is apparently not even familiar enough with U.S. law to realize that a civil complaint is not a “trial”. His tactic of scanning the internet for a punchy quote may impress some, but his lack of understanding of the basic processes at work place him in the audience as a heckler rather than in a constructive dialogue. The ACCG will press on with its challenge of DOS improprieties and the Justice System will ultimately decide whether there is cause for redress. As for Mr. Barford, the archaeological community will apparently have to live with him since he has no standing in that community to forfeit and therefore cannot be influenced by more rational minds within the discipline. It should go without saying, however, that those who support his wild-eyed delusions will ultimately be judged by the same measure.

It’s hardly in our comfort zone to hear of a museum curator who helps himself to the museum assets, selling them off for his personal gain. It is a fear of virtually everyone who has ever made a contribution to a museum. This is not only due to the fact that it may create a great tax write off, but because in our minds, once something has been contributed to a museum, it should remain there forever.

Not so in Aden, according to an article appearing in the April 30 issue of the Yemen Observer newspaper.

According to the newspaper article, “Aden police have detained director of the Aden-based National Museum after he sold 895 gold currency coins. The coins that were in the museum safe were of those issued in the Imamate era in the North and during the British colonization in the South, and even used in the beginning years after the separation of the Yemen republics,” the police said.

The article continues, “The director, 53, is accused of selling the rare coins to a trader in the province for YER 4.5 million. The police said they had found the transaction documents showing that the official had already abused his position. The director and the trader are now in custody and expected to be turned over to the competent authorities soon so legal action can be taken against them.”

Details regarding what coins they are were not provided. Anyone trying to piece this together who is not familiar with Yemen’s coinage will face quite a challenge. Yemen became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1918 following a successful revolution. By that time the mint at the city of Sana’a was striking coins for al-Mansur Muhammad bin Yahya (Iman Mansur), who ruled locally from 1890 to 1904. The mint produced both its individual dies and coinage blanks by hand, resulting in many much sought after types and varieties. This Sana’a mint continued production throughout the reign of the Iman Yahya (1904 to 1948), whose more formal name is al-Mutawakkii Yahya bin Muhammad. All gold coins struck for the Iman Yahya are struck on the weight standard for the Turkish lira.

Coinage of Yemen is confusing for many reasons, one of these being that the rule of the individual imans often overlapped depending on who ruled what city. Once an iman lost and then regained power he might strike coins using a different name for himself on his future coinage, further confusing the subject. In addition, some of the governors who ruled Sana’a also had coins struck in their names during the 19th century.

Circulating gold coins of the British occupation in the south were struck on the gold coin standard used by the British. These coins are countermarked with a 1, 2, or 4 in Arabic numerals, the numerals likely indicating 1, 2, or 4 British gold sovereigns weight.

What became the Yemen Eastern Aden Protectorate was, much like today, a pirate haven until the British East India Company overran Aden in 1839. The British extended their control by capturing Hadhramaut as well, followed by a series of protectorate treaties with local rulers in the region. Silver coins dominated what was struck by the British for this area. The British also issued coins for the Kathiri State of Seiyun and Tarim, the Quaiti State of Shihr and Mukalla, and for Lahej.

Yemen Arab Republic is in the northwestern sector of Yemen and was not established as a separate nation until 1970 following an eight-year revolution. In 1990 the two Yemens became a single nation.

If Lincoln City, Ind. is an indication, the mid-August unveiling of a redesigned penny in Springfield could get a little crazy.

The U.S Mint has scheduled the unveiling of the third in a series of four 2009 Abraham Lincoln bicentennial pennies, this one depicting Lincoln’s professional life in Illinois, for Aug. 13 at the Old State Capitol.

Lincoln City officials estimate a crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 descended on that community, population 50, for the May 15 ceremonial rollout of a penny featuring Abraham Lincoln’s years in Indiana. About 3,000 people stood in line to buy the newly minted coins at cost, 50 per roll, minimum of two rolls and a maximum of six.

“I’m thinking about going to Springfield, just for the madness,” said Melissa Miller, executive director of the Spencer County (Ind.) Tourism Bureau. “It was like a Woodstock for coin collectors.”

Spencer County, about 75 miles north of Louisville, Ky., is home to Lincoln State Park and the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.

Given the response to the Indiana penny unveiling and the previous one at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in Kentucky, local organizers are preparing for a big crowd Aug. 13 – even more so because the penny release coincides with the traditional Twilight Parade and preview night for the Illinois State Fair, said David Blanchette of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

“We have been in phone conversations with the U.S. Mint, and they’ll do a site visit in July and nail down the particulars,” said Blanchette.

Historic Preservation has had some experience with large crowds at a series of Lincoln bicentennial activities this year, including the Feb. 12 issuance of a commemorative stamp for Lincoln’s birthday. That event drew 5,000 to 7,000 people.

Illinois’ version of the penny features Lincoln in front of the Old State Capitol. It is designed to highlight his years as a prominent local attorney and legislator in Springfield before his election to the presidency in 1860

The Indiana penny features Lincoln’s “formative years,” while the Kentucky coin displays the log cabin where he was born. The fourth penny, featuring Lincoln’s presidency, will be this fall in Washington D.C.

The Kentucky penny was released in Hodgenville, about 55 miles south of Louisville, on Lincoln’s birthday. Mayor Terry Cruse said the resulting crowd of about 800 nearly filled a local gymnasium.

“There was a line of probably an hour or 45 minutes (to buy pennies),” said Cruse, who purchased a few rolls himself.

“People wanted them for keepsakes, and there were a lot of collectors,” said Cruse.

Lincoln City and Hodgenville are about a two-hour drive apart, and some collectors made it to both cities, he added.

Both Miller and Cruse said security is tight, and the events drew collectors from as far away as California.

An armored truck is used to bring in the pennies, and the specific number available is not publicized. But both also said everyone who wanted pennies was accommodated, some more than once after the initial line worked its way through.

“It was definitely a frenzied atmosphere — but it was exciting,” said Miller.

U.S. Mint spokeswoman Carolyn Fields said specifics of the Springfield ceremony will be released as the date nears, but that the agency also is preparing for heavy demand.

“At the first two events, people were lined up. They do come out,” she said.

Many people like to start a coin collection for their children, or grandchildren, as a sort of investment for them. These collections are typically held by the parent or grandparent on the child’s behalf, with the intention of giving them to the child at a certain age, or as an inheritance, although sometimes the coins are given directly to the children.

Before you start collecting coins on behalf of your kids, you should take a moment to consider a couple of points. First of all, like all investments, collecting coins costs money, so you need to determine how much you can afford to spend each year for this. Secondly, you must decide what the ultimate goal of this collection is. Are these coins meant to help put the child through college, or are they just meant to be a nice gift that hopefully has some greater future value? Is this coin collection meant as a monetary investment to be cashed in someday, or do you mean for the coins to become family heirlooms which will be passed down through the years? Or perhaps your hope is that the child will take up the coin collecting hobby someday. Depending on what your collecting goals are, and what your budget is, you’ll want to buy different types of coins.

Starting a Coin Collection on a Tiny Budget
For the sake of this discussion, we’ll consider a tiny budget to be between $50 and $100 a year. This is the type of collection where you buy something at Christmas and for the child’s birthday, and usually not at any other time. The typical coin gifts of this type are the national Mint Sets, such as the U.S. Mint’s annual Uncirculated Coins set, or the annual Proof set. These sets typically cost less than $25 for the Uncirculated sets and less than $40 for Proof. Fancier Silver Proof Sets run $50 and up.

Another popular U.S. Mint investment coin type for the person on a tight budget is the U.S. Silver Eagle. These are one full ounce silver bullion coins that are typically sold for a couple of dollars over the spot price of silver. They make a great investment if you think the price of silver will be going up. Although the U.S. Mint sells Proof Silver Eagles and specially mint-marked Silver Eagles directly to collectors through the U.S. Mint Web site, you’ll have to buy the “generic” Silver Eagles from a coin or bullion dealer. You can also find them online at auction sites like eBay and at dealers’ Web sites. I recommend buying the generic Silver Eagles if you are investing, and the Proof types if you are buying heirlooms.

Motivating a Child to Start a Coin Collection
If your primary goal is hoping that the child will someday take an interest in collecting coins, your best purchases are not the Mint Sets offered by the U.S Mint, but rather unsearched or “bulk mixed” lots of older U.S. coin types. For example, you could buy 20 rolls of mixed circulated Wheat Cents, plus the Whitman Wheat Cent Coin Folders to put the coins into. When the child is old enough, start giving them the accumulated stash, a little at a time, and see if an interest develops. Sit down with him, and show him how to look at each coin and place it in the proper spot.

Good coin types to accumulate for this kind of endeavor include Wheat Cents, Jefferson Nickels, Buffalo Nickels, Indian Head Pennies, Mercury Dimes, and pre-1965 Roosevelt Dimes. Once you start collecting silver quarters, halves and dollars, you’re getting into pricey coins that cross the line from “a starter collection for a child” to “investment quality coins.” Whatever coin types you buy, be sure to buy coin folders or albums so the youngster has somewhere to display all of his “finds” once he sorts through the rolls.

Start Collecting for a Youngster Now
If you are ready to get started with a child who wants to start a coin collection now, check out my article about How to Start a Coin Collection on $4. This article tells you how to start a coin collection on $4 (2 rolls) of nickels. You can substitute pennies, dimes, or state quarters to start a collection right out of pocket change, but be sure to get the coin folder to collect them in! Finding a new coin to fill an empty hole is most of the fun and satisfaction for coin collectors!

Be Sure Your New Coin Collection is Safe
Whether you decide to collect for investment reasons, heirloom reasons, or for the fun of it, remember to use common sense safety practices in accumulating your treasures. Do not keep investment and heirloom coins at home! Get a safety deposit box for them. Coins that the kids are actively collecting can be kept at home, but keep them stored away in drawers out of sight of visitors to your home, especially if strangers come in (such as repairmen, etc.) Once the kids lose interest in a certain folder or coin type, take them to the bank and store them in the safety deposit box until the kids ask for them again. Coins are always one of the first things burglars will grab, because they are easily sold. It never hurts to establish good collecting practices right from the start by always teaching your child to put his coins and folders away out of sight when he is done with them for the day.

You Don’t Have to Collect Coins on Your Own
If you’d like to talk to someone else who can give you some advice about what to buy, develop a realtionship with a local coin dealer. If the kids have taken an interest in a new coin collection, find a local coin club they can join, and go to the meetings with them, not only as a chaperone, but to learn more yourself about what coins make good investments and which ones are just “fun to collect.” Many coin clubs have special programs for “young numismatists.”

The precise place in history of the 1848 “CAL” quarter eagle is hard to determine. Whether or not you think it is the first commemorative of the United States, there is little doubt that the 1848 “CAL” quarter eagle is important, tough and very historic. That group of factors makes it an awfully good coin.

The story of the 1848 “CAL” quarter eagle is the story of gold discovered in California. There was no doubt that the gold would change the sleepy area forever, but that gold meant a great deal to some in the East as well.
After all, California had not simply become a part of the United States without trouble. There had been a war with Mexico and not everyone was convinced that the war had been a good idea. California, in some minds, was not much of a prize and the debate and doubts had remained even after the firing had stopped.

In that atmosphere, Col. Richard Barnes Mason in Monterey, Calif., sent 280 ounces 15 pennyweight 9 grains of the first native California gold to Secretary of War W.L. Marcy in the care of Lt. Lucien Loeser. The gold was special for Marcy as it represented some vindication in the Mexican War matter. It was special for the president as well. Marcy went to President James K. Polk with a plan.

Marcy wanted the Mint to strike medals for heroes of the war from the gold and with the rest, make gold coins with some special indication that they were produced from gold found in California. It was natural to pick the quarter eagle as it was the lowest denomination at the time and would make the most coins.

The gold from California produced 1,389 quarter eagles, each with a small “CAL.” on the reverse. It appears that there was special care taken with the coins as many have raised die polish lines in the field and there is sometimes faint doubling of the reverse legend, suggesting at least two strikes to fully bring up the detail.

The idea was to get the coins in circulation so that people could see them and get the message that the California acquisition had truly been worth the cost. In fact, some examples do show evidence of circulation and they might have been more widely viewed than we suspect.

What we do know is the 1848 “CAL” quarter eagle is tough. Today is carries a price of $8,000 in F-12, while an MS-60 would is $50,000. In fact, they do tend to be more available in upper grades as some were definitely saved, even though that defeated the purpose of trying to have the public see them.

Certainly, with a low mintage and being made from that first shipment of native California gold, the 1848 “CAL” quarter eagle is a fascinating coin and one that is in constant demand. That keeps prices high and normally trending higher. This is one coin that almost everyone wants to own.

A 2007-P George Washington Presidential dollar with a serrated edge that seems to defy logic has been reported to me by Rodger L. Poole of Fairborn, Ohio.

The coin appears to have a serrated or reeded edge as you would find on a Roosevelt dime, Washington quarter or Kennedy half dollar and last seen on a business-strike dollar on the Susan B. Anthony coin.

He said: “I found the coin in a new, paper-wrapped roll that I got from the bank. I got two rolls and this coin was in the middle of one of the rolls. I initially thought that it was a wrong coin that found its way into the roll, because it looked reeded to me. But I noticed it was golden in color and the same size as the rest of the coins, so I took the coin out and it didn’t look like the rest of them (besides the reed type markings) … it was darker in color and a little banged up looking. The rest of them were shiny, lustrous coins except for this one, which for me, made it odder still.”

When I first saw his images I wrote off the serrations as damage. I reasoned that they must have occurred after the Schuler edge-lettering machine applied the edge inscriptions to the coin. I felt the grooved lines must have occurred some time during the coin wrapping operation where the tubes that feed the coins into wrappers are known to have at times created similar effects to slightly oversize coins, such as minor off-center cents or dimes.

However, Poole disagreed, saying that the serrations could clearly be seen underneath the edge inscriptions. I agreed to examine the coin so I could get a closer look and photograph the evidence if the aberrations did indeed occur to the edge prior to the edge inscription process, which in 2007 included the date, mintmark, E PLURIBUS UNUM, IN GOD WE TRUST and three delimiter dots.

Upon its arrival, I was surprised to see that the groves in the edges were indeed there prior to the coin being run through the edge-lettering machine. You can clearly see letters over the serrations with the most obvious ones showing under the second “0” of the date, a serration underneath the “M” of UNUM and another under the “R” of TRUST, to mention just a few.

I have no idea of what the cause was and can only say that the photographic evidence shows conclusively that the serrations were placed on the coin prior to the completion of the minting process, i.e., before the coin was run through the edge-lettering machine. Technically, this indicates that it is a legitimate error or variety coin. While it appears to be rare, its stature and value will be will be based on supply and demand.

Instant Collection Goes Back to Early 1850’s!

These bags of mostly old silver coins pack two punches in one: High silver content and a great variety of vintage U.S. coins—with coins dating back to the 1850’s. Collecting different types of old coins is an interesting challenge—it could take a lot of time and effort to find nine different types, but we’re guaranteeing you’ll get them ALL in every bag. Each bag contains at least ONE of all these coins: Three Cent Silver; Seated Liberty Half Dime; Seated Liberty Dime; Barber Quarter; Standing Liberty Quarter; Seated Liberty Half Dollar; Barber Half Dollar; Morgan Silver Dollar and Peace Silver Dollar. You can’t have too many. Stock up and save BIG.

NEW YORK. The Hispanic Society of America has recalled 38,000 coins from the American Numismatic Society (ANS) which have been on loan for more than half a century—and appears to be preparing to sell them.

The valuable collection consists of coins minted in Spain, its dependencies, and the powers that controlled Spain from the 5th century BC until the 20th century. They were deposited at ANS by the organisation’s president and patron Archer Huntington (1870-1955), who was also founder of the Hispanic Society. Ute Wartenberg Kagan, executive director of ANS, estimates that the collection may be worth $30m-$40m, with the Roman gold and silver and a rare 50 excelentes of Ferdinand V and Isabella—the world’s largest struck-gold coin—alone worth perhaps $15m—$20m. Sotheby’s and the London-based coin firm Morton & Eden began creating an inventory and appraising the Roman, Visigoth and Islamic gold coins last month.

A Hispanic Society spokesman says that the trustees “have decided to explore a deaccession [but] no decision has been made on going forward”. But The Art Newspaper has seen a copy of a letter that the Hispanic Society’s director Mitchell Codding sent to Ms Kagan on 25 January 2008 in which he informs her that “the board of trustees adopted a resolution to deaccession the loan collection” with the assistance of Sotheby’s International.

Ms Kagan believes that Huntington intended that the coins remain with the Numismatic Society, and that selling an irreplaceable body of material integrally connected to the Hispanic Society s mission should not be allowed.

Huntington, heir to a vast railroad fortune, amassed the collection before he was 35 and kept it at the Hispanic Society, which houses one of the greatest collections of art and books related to Spain. In the mid-1940s he placed more than 30,000 coins on indefinite loan to ANS, of which he was then president, and hired a curator to study and publish them. (Additional items were transferred after his death.)

Title to the coins became an issue in early 2007 when the Hispanic Society drew up a “modern” loan agreement. “We signed it in April 2007 and in July received a letter cancelling it and saying we want our coins back,” says Ms Kagan, calling the revised document a “set-up” intended to eliminate any questions of ownership related to the original informal deed of loan. In February 2008, two weeks after the loan expired, the Hispanic Society filed a lawsuit in Supreme Court of New York County demanding the return of the coins, and in April won a judgement that the Hispanic Society alone owned the coins and that ANS must return them.

Sotheby’s vice-chairman David Redden helped convince the judge that ANS should make available not only the photographic record that Huntington provided for most of the coins, but also the computer database that ANS subsequently created. “We were told to hand over the entire record and that we had no copyright on this material. We basically gave them a sales catalogue as well as the coins,” Ms Kagan says.

“We will submit a formal letter to the New York attorney general objecting to the sale,” she says, referring to the state official who oversees charities. “We want to point out the violation of Huntington’s very clear intent that nothing would be sold,” she says. The Hispanic spokesman maintains that any sale “would be done with full transparency and in compliance with the rules of the American Association of Museums and applicable laws of the State of New York”.

In recent years the Hispanic Society board altered the founder’s restrictions on sales and deaccessioned a number of valuable objects deemed outside the institution’s Spain-related mission: a 13th-century French ivory Madonna was bought by the Metropolitan Museum in 1999, and two Qurans brought more than $4m at Christie’s London last October, with one dated 1203 selling for $2.32m to a British dealer, a record for a Quran and an Islamic manuscript. But it remains to be seen how the society could justify selling material so integral to its Hispanic collection and identity.

The fear among scholars is that the historic Huntington collection will be broken up. Ms Kagan says ANS donors would not be able raise the funds to buy it, though she would particularly like to acquire the antique items that today cannot be obtained legally because of restrictive patrimony laws.

Some insiders believe the Spanish government may be interested in purchasing the collection en bloc. The Hispanic Society has cultivated close relations with Spain, and sought the government’s financial assistance to move the museum and its holdings from upper Manhattan to a more accessible location in the city centre, but that support never materialised and last year the relocation was abandoned. “We just want to preserve what can be preserved,” she says, “but I am pessimistic.”

The 1933 Gold Double Eagle was Never Officially Issued:

The U.S. Gold Double Eagle, Saint-Gaudens type, had been issued from 1907 until 1932. Although 445,500 Double Eagles had been minted with the 1933 date, none were released into circulation because of changes made to currency laws during the Great Depression. In an effort to end the run on the banks and stabilize the economy, President Franklin Roosevelt took America off the gold standard. Not only were no more gold coins to be issued for circulation, people had to turn in the ones they had.

The 1933 Double Eagles are Ordered to be Destroyed:

It became illegal for private citizens to own gold coins, unless they clearly had a collectible value. This law was enacted during desperate times to prevent the hoarding of gold currency. Since there would be no more gold currency issued in the U.S., the Mint had melted down the 1933 run of Gold Double Eagles and converted them to gold bullion bars by 1937.

Some of the Double Eagles Escaped the Melt Down:

Two of the 1933 specimens were given by the Mint to the U.S. National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institute. These were the only two legal specimens to ever become part of a coin collection; however, by 1952, the Secret Service had confiscated 8 more 1933 Double Eagles! How did they leave the Mint? Why weren’t they melted down?

Was the 1933 Double Eagle Switched for Another Coin?:

We may never know for certain how these coins left the Mint, but there is a general consensus among scholars that a Mint cashier by the name of George McCann exchanged about 20 1933’s doomed for destruction and replaced them with earlier dated Double Eagles. This way, the accounting books would balance and nobody would realize that anything was amiss.

What we do know for sure is that a Philadelphia area jeweler by the name of Israel Switt came into possession of at least 19 of the coins.

The Coin of a King:

Israel Switt sold at least 9 of the 1933 Double Eagles privately to collectors, one of which found its way into the collection of King Farouk of Egypt. When the Secret Service discovered that these coins had surfaced, they confiscated them all because they were considered to be stolen property of the U.S. Mint. However, King Farouk had legally exported his coin before the theft was discovered, and the Secret Service was unable to recover his specimen through diplomatic channels.

The King’s Specimen is Recovered in a Sting Operation:

After King Farouk was deposed in 1952, his 1933 Double Eagle briefly appeared on the market, but when it became clear that U.S. authorities still wanted to confiscate it, it vanished again! More than 40 years later, British coin dealer Stephen Fenton showed up with it in New York, and the Secret Service finally seized it during a sting operation during which they purportedly negotiated to purchase the coin.

The 1933 Double Eagle is Nearly Destroyed by Terrorists:

Fenton fought a several year-long legal battle in the U.S. courts over ownership of the coin, during time which it was stored in the Treasury Vaults at the World Trade Center. A mere 2 months before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the lawsuit was settled and the Double Eagle was moved to Fort Knox. Fenton and the U.S. Mint had come to a compromise: the coin would be sold at auction, with the proceeds split between the Fenton and the Mint.

Legal Tender at Last - and the Most Valuable Coin in the World:

The 1933 Double Eagle sold at auction on July 30, 2002, for $6.6 million, plus the 15% buyer’s fee, which brought the total cost to the buyer to $7,590,000, plus $20 to monetize the coin and compensate the Mint for the $20 it believes it lost when the coin was thought to have been stolen. The buyer chose to remain anonymous, so once again we don’t know where the Farouk specimen is, or when it might suddenly show up again. One thing is for sure: the Secret Service can’t confiscate it any more!

Ten More Specimens Hang in Limbo:

In September of 2004, Joan Langbord, one of Israel Switt’s heirs, discovered ten more specimens of the 1933 Double Eagle amongst his effects. Apparently unaware of the legal status of these coins (or perhaps just a bit too trusting of the government) she sent all ten specimens to the U.S. Mint to have them authenticated. The Secret Service declared the coins to be seized, and now Langbord is fighting the government over ownership while the specimens languish at Fort Knox.

Is the 1933 Double Eagle Still the World’s Most Valuable Coin?:

It will be interesting to see, should the 10 Langbord coins ever come to market, if the 1933 Double Eagle will retain its place as the world’s highest priced coin when the number of available specimens increases ten-fold.

U.S. silver dollars did not circulate much in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Mostly they served as backing for federal paper money, principally Silver Certificates. Notes bear legends to that effect.

Mostly the dollars sat around in canvas bags in the U.S. Treasury and other federal depositories. A few were kept on hand at most banks so uncle Steve could carry a couple around in his pocket to his Friday night poker game and feel like a big shot, or aunt Dorothy could buy a stocking stuffer for a holiday present for nieces and nephews.

Of course, in the hobby of coin collecting, silver dollars have been a perennial favorite for more than a century. But these are the exceptions. Paper substitutes for the bulky coins were the rule.

Notes like the saddle blanket (large size) Fr. 259 reverse shown bear the legend: “This certifies that there have been deposited in the Treasury of the United States Five Silver Dollars payable to the bearer on demand.” Thus it’s quite appropriate that five splendid silver dollar images grace the backs these wonderful and popular Series 1886 $5 Silver Certificates.

Printing images of coins on notes traces back to the 18th century when virtually identical images appeared on many of the Continental Currency notes and coins authorized by the Continental Congress. In the 19th century many obsolete bank notes and scrip bore images of Spanish “dollars” (ocho reales) and U.S. coins.

The Act of Feb. 28, 1878, authorized Silver Certificates of $10 and up, and the Act of Aug. 4, 1886, added the lower denominations $1, $2 and $5.

The five-spot became the showcase for five contemporary Morgan silver dollars. The central dollar is an obverse of a then current 1886 cartwheel in a central engraved medallion. The entire cartouche contains five coins. Flanking this image are four silver dollar reverses.

Morgan dollars as many readers know were designed by George T. Morgan, an English artist, who studied at the Royal Mint in London. He was recruited by U.S. Mint Director Henry Linderman, and offered a six-month contract at $8/day.

Morgan accepted and immigrated to the United States, sailing from Liverpool in 1876. Coinage commenced in 1878. Morgan was appointed assistant engraver at the Philadelphia Mint in 1880. According to tradition, Anna Williams was his model for the Liberty head profile on the coin’s obverse.

The silver dollar reverses that appear on note backs were historic. Because they bore the motto “In God We Trust” above the eagle, this was the first time this particular religious phrase appeared on our federal paper money. Its use was made mandatory during the Eisenhower Administration following World War II.

According to Treasury Department records, nearly 34 million of these $5 certificates were issued, representing approximately 170 million silver dollars. By way of comparison, during the time these notes were issued, approximately 180 million silver dollars were struck.

Notes were issued over a five-year period before a plain back was introduced on the Series 1891 $5 Silver Certificates. The new back had a great deal of open space. It was believed the complex silver dollar back contributed to the ease of their counterfeiting, while this “white space” would make the notes easier to identify as genuine and harder for the felon to copy.

When these notes were issued, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was in the process of assuming full responsibility for executing U.S. currency. You’ll notice the small legend at the bottom of the note’s back reads “Engraved and Printed at the Bureau, Engraving & Printing.” It was not until Oct. 1, 1887, that the BEP was given the responsibility to print all U.S. currency and securities, and 1894 when it took over printing stamps as well.

Fortunately for collectors, the silver dollar backs are plentiful and readily available in high grades, making them prime candidates for the type collector or collector of coins on notes. Experts estimate 1,200 notes are extant.