(Los Angeles, California) – Veteran dealers John N. Rowe III of Dallas, Texas and Harlan White of San Diego, California each received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) during an awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California on August 4, 2009.

The award is presented in recognition of a person’s decades of significant contributions to the hobby or profession and devotion to numismatics.

Other award winners at the PNG Day banquet were:

Sol Kaplan Award: Bob Bruce of All American Coin & Jewelry Company in Pensacola, Florida.

“Bob Bruce helped recover more than $100,000 of rare coins stolen from an Ohio collector and personally assisted the FBI in the arrest of a suspect,” said Paul Montgomery, Kaplan Award committee chair.

The Kaplan Award, jointly presented by the PNG and the Lewis M. Reagan Foundation, is named after a former PNG President who was personally responsible for the apprehension of several people suspected of committing numismatic-related crimes.

Robert Friedberg Award: Arthur Houghton, Catharine Lorber and Oliver Hooper.

“They won the Friedberg literary award in recognition for their outstanding reference book, Seleucid Coins, Part II, published by the American Numismatic Society and Classical Numismatic Group,” said Jonathan Kern, co -chair with Richard Ponterio of the Friedberg committee.

Significant Contribution Award: Harvey G. Stack of New York City.

“Harvey Stack has not only been the driving force behind the Stack’s numismatic operation success story, but he continued over a half century to be influential and a sincere advocate for professional numismatists, fighting some of the Federal Trade Commission’s questionable regulations,” said Terry Hanlon, chair of the Significant Contribution Award committee.

“He has received the PNG Founder’s Award twice and working with Congress was one of the originators of the State Quarters program. Buy and Sell Singapore has helped guide the PNG in its affairs by providing valued opinions and historic information aimed at the growth, improvement and development of the PNG.”

Art Kagin Ambassador Award: Jeff Garrett of Lexington, Kentucky.

“Jeff Garrett has tirelessly promoted our hobby for decades,” stated Kathleen Duncan, chair of the Kagin Award committee. “He has been a member of the PNG since 1982, was recently the organization’s President in addition to serving on the PNG Board for many years.

Besides his excellent work with PNG, his numerous contributions to numismatics include writing books, including the award-winning 100 Greatest United States Coins. He is also a primary contributor to Whitman publishing’s ubiquitous “Red Book.” The vast number of hours he has spent on numismatic research has greatly benefited many. His passion for coins is contagious and he is certainly deserving of the PNG Art Kagin Ambassador award.”

The Kagin Award is named after a former PNG President and well-known Iowa dealer who provided distinguished service as an advocate of numismatic goodwill.

PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman and outgoing PNG President Gary Adkins acknowledged the long-time membership of three dealers: 50 years of PNG membership by James F. Ruddy of Rancho Mirage, California, and 25 years each for Robert B. Lecce of Delray Beach, Florida and Larry L. Lee of Panama City, Florida.

Starting September 1, 2009, NGC will begin encapsulating coins with detrimental surface conditions using details grades and descriptions of their impairments. This service will be provided automatically for all NGC grading tier submissions at no additional service charge. The authenticity of details graded coins will be covered by the updated NGC Coin Grading Guarantee, and coins graded under this program will be encapsulated with a distinctive purple NGC Details Grading label.

Coins that previously would have been returned ungraded by NGC, as so-called “No Grades,” will now be assigned a details grade that accords with their level of surface wear, such as VG DETAILS or XF DETAILS, when submitted for grading. Coins that have no wear but still display a problem surface condition will be labeled as UNC DETAILS or, in the case of Proof coins, simply PROOF. Following the details grade will be a description of the noteworthy surface condition, including, for example, Improperly Cleaned, Artificial Color, Environmental Damage and Tooled. A detailed guidebook available in hard copy and on NGC’s Web site called Understanding NGC Details Grading will define all the terms used by NGC to describe these surface conditions.

“NGC Details Grading allows us to provide the best experience possible for our submitters. Now as many coins as possible will be returned certified and encapsulated, meaning that they are covered by the NGC Guarantee. NGC Details Grading also provides comprehensive descriptive information for coins with surface problems, making them easier to buy and sell,” comments Rick Montgomery, President of NGC.

Once this service option begins on September 1, 2009, coins submitted to NGC will be graded either numerically (if they have acceptable surfaces) or with Details Grading, at the discretion of NGC’s grading team. It is not necessary for the submitter to declare which service is desired, as this will be determined automatically by NGC. While new NGC submission forms will permit submitters to opt out of Details Grading in favor of simply having the coin returned unholdered, NGC believes that its Details Grading certifications will find broad acceptance in the coin market. This opt-out feature is available on a submission-by-submission basis by checking the appropriate box on the submission form, or an account holder may arrange to make this opt-out feature automatically applied to all submissions on his account.

In the past, coins with problematic surface conditions were given Details Grades and were encapsulated by NGC’s affiliated conservation company, Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS). This service is being discontinued concurrent with the launch of NGC Details Grading, and all coins that were previously eligible for encapsulation at NCS will be certified by NGC under the Details Grading service. A new NCS CrossOver service is being introduced for $5 per coin. NCS-encapsulated coins can be details graded and encapsulated by NGC for this low service fee. Note that coins previously described as Genuine by NCS will be assigned details grades by NGC, and their surface conditions will be disclosed on the NGC Details Grading label. Should a submitter desire NGC Details Grading for coins previously returned as “No Grades” from NGC, they must be sent raw as new submissions for details grading; no discount is available for these re-submissions.

As with numerically-graded NGC coins, details graded coins will be encapsulated with the EdgeView holder using standard white inserts. Coins will be photographed prior to shipment and their images and coin details can be reviewed using NGC online certification verification tool. The Scratch-Resistant EdgeView® Holder will be used for all Express tier and higher submissions.

The full suite of US and World coins, tokens, medals and mint errors now graded by NGC will be eligible for NGC Details Grading. Details graded coins can also have varieties noted on their certification labels. All the varieties recognized in NGC’s variety attribution program, VarietyPlus®, can be noted on the NGC Details Grading label, just as they would for numerically-graded coins. Details graded coins will also be eligible for inclusion in the NGC Registry. In competitive Registry sets, they will receive 50% of the point value assigned to a numerically-graded coin of corresponding detail. For example, an XF DETAILS graded coin will receive 50% of the score assigned to an XF40 graded coin.

For more information about NGC Details Grading visit www.NGCcoin.com/details or contact NGC Customer Service with any questions or comments at service@NGCcoin.com or 1-800-NGC-COIN.

Flip a coin: In a tough economy is it worth spending $18 to see other people’s money?

The American Numismatic Assn. hopes to find out this week as it stages the World’s Fair of Money at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

A billion dollars’ worth of rare coins and big-denomination currency is on display, including part of a seldom-seen Smithsonian collection. And rare-coin dealers are offering free appraisals to amateur collectors and piggy-bank-toting visitors hoping to cash in.

The association, whose president is Barry Stuppler of Woodland Hills, sounded bullish about the opening day turnout Wednesday as about a thousand visitors milled around locked glass display cases loaded with Liberty Head nickels, silver dollars, antique gold pieces, state quarters and foreign coins.

They expect that more than 10,000 people will attend the show before it closes Sunday.

But there were plenty of empty chairs in front of dealers with magnifying loupes hanging from their necks waiting to sell and buy coins.

Jim Marshall, a collector from Hollywood who specializes in Ethiopian coins and currency, blamed the economy and the state of the collectibles market.

“It cost $12 to park and $6 to get in. So far I’ve only seen one item I don’t have, and they were asking $500 for it. They’re out of touch with reality,” said Marshall, who said he had come with $80 in his pocket.

Across the Convention Center’s West Hall, coin expert Steve Contursi of Dana Point carefully handed a plastic-encased 1794 silver dollar to Mark Schenter of Chicago and a 1787 gold doubloon to Bruce Zweiban of Panorama City.

The silver dollar, the first produced by the U.S. Mint, is insured for $10 million. The Brasher Doubloon, made by a neighbor of George Washington, is valued at $7 million.

“Don’t drop them,” Contursi, president of Rare Coin Wholesalers, cautioned the amateur collectors.

“You drop it, you’ve bought it,” Schenter told Zweiban.

A few steps away, professional and amateur numismatists crowded around a coin exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution featuring such national treasures as historic coins given to President Teddy Roosevelt and a Gold Rush-era $20 gold piece, known as a Double Eagle.

At a U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing display, visitors ogled glass cases holding pristine $100,000 currency notes, Treasury bonds and Gold and Silver certificates.

The big bills, featuring President Woodrow Wilson’s engraved portrait, are part of what officials call their Billion Dollar Showcase. In reality, the display is pricier: Each 1934 $100,000 note would be worth about $1.6 million today.

“We haven’t printed anything larger than $100 bills since 1945,” said Kevin Brown, bureau division manager.

Nearby, the bureau’s chief engraver, Christopher Madden, demonstrated how he creates portraits for U.S. currency, and chief printer Michael Beck showed off a hand press used by the government in the Lincoln era.

The bureau’s head currency restorer, Roscoe Ferguson, used tweezers and razor blades to show how he painstakingly reassembles cash that is burned, hardened into blocks by water, nibbled on by rats or cut into pieces by vengeful mothers-in-law.

Anyone who sends in damaged bills will get a full replacement check if at least 51% of the currency is still there. There is no charge for the service.

“Since we make the money, we stand behind our product,” Ferguson said.

In this climate, those were encouraging words.

Usually the British treasure trove laws work favorably to protect the amateur finder, professional archaeologists and museums that may become involved in any find. I said, “Usually.”

In recent years, all sorts of artifacts have been found in a field at Clarkly Hill in Burghead, Scotland, by people with metal detectors. Among the many artifacts are some Roman coins, two gold finger rings believed to date from the fifth and the 12th centuries, a gold earring believed to be Roman, and some odd and curious or primitive gold ring money understood to date from the Bronze Age.

The items are by law to be submitted to a museum for study and evaluation. Depending on the significance of a find and the circumstances under which it was lost or intentionally buried, the finder may eventually either receive the artifacts or their value. The Clarkly Hill finds have been sent to the Elgin Museum in Moray, the Elgin Museum in turn sending the coins and other artifacts to the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh for additional examination. Unfortunately, this is where something has gone amiss.

Elgin Museum Curator David Addison is quoted in the May 25 issue of The Press and Journal newspaper as saying he will “kick up a stink” if the NMS doesn’t start returning the artifacts, most of which at the time this article is being written had not been returned.

Under the rules of engagement, museums can bid on artifacts and coins once the artifacts and coins have been evaluated. Exceptionally rare coins and artifacts can be kept by the NMS to complete its collection. This appears to be the position of the NMS regarding the Clarkly Hill finds.

Addison is not taking the news lying down. He told the newspaper, “The way I see it we’re trying to tell a story here and if pieces of Moray don’t end up in Moray there’s no way we can do that.”

Although The Press and Journal story doesn’t indicate if the NMS is listening to Addison or not, the Elgin Museum has established a fund-raising campaign to raise funds to buy back the coins and artifacts. The Elgin Museum plans to form a collection the museum will title Burghead. So far the Elgin Museum has received £2,100 in donations from museum members, as well as an additional £60 in public donations.

It is possible that by “kicking up a stink” the national museum may have begun to listen. According to the newspaper, a group of nine ancient Roman coins found in the area were recently returned. The coins had been found in the 1960s and had only recently been turned over to the Elgin Museum.

While things have been turbulent in Scotland, in England it has been a different story. About 30 years ago, a hoard of 59 gold unite or “jacobus” coins of King James VI of Scotland were found by a builder digging foundations for a block of houses in Chipping Norton. The coins were struck following the king’s becoming the first Stuart king of England in 1603.

The builder failed to disclose the find, giving them instead to his grandson who is now 39, married, and anxious to sell them. The grandson has jumped through all the appropriate hoops, including having the British Museum examine the coins, resulting in permission to sell them at auction June 9 through Morton and Eden in London. The two rarest coins were purchased by the British Museum, which plans to display them.

The coins of Sealand offer coin collectors an opportunity to own some great conversation pieces that also have a real chance of becoming fairly valuable someday. In order to discover why Sealand coins make such fascinating collectibles, a brief history of the Principality of Sealand is in order.

Sealand - Abandoned as Scrap After WWII
Sealand is an anti-aircraft artillery platform formerly known as Rough’s Tower that was built in (then) international waters about 6 miles off the coast of England during World War II, and abandoned as scrap after the war. In 1967, it was occupied by pirate radio broadcasters when the current owner (who styles himself Prince Roy Bates) forcibly evicted (overthrew) his rival pirate broadcasters to claim possession. Following this “war for independence,” Prince Roy declared sovreignty, establishing his “nation” as the Principality of Sealand.

Sealand Issues Coins and Stamps
Sealand soon began issuing its own coins, stamps, and passports. A couple of other “wars” followed, one in which Prince Roy fired warning shots at a ship that came into his “territorial waters” without consent, and another in which a German professor named Alexander Achenbach kidnapped Roy’s son, Prince Michael, and took forcible possession of the Principality of Sealand. Prince Roy hired a mercenary force to reclaim his nation from the professor, (who held a Sealand passport and dual Sealand/German citizenship.) When Roy successfully re-invaded Sealand, he held the professor in the Sealand jail for treason! When the professor was finally released months later, he set up a rebel government on the mainland in opposition to Prince Roy. The British courts have decided that Sealand lies beyond the jurisdiction of the U.K., so the U.K. authorities won’t involve themselves in Sealand’s affairs, further strengthening Sealand’s claim of sovreignty.

Sealand is a “Micro-Nation” Coin Issuer
With such a colorful history, it is no surprise that the coins of Sealand are among the most collectible of the so-called “micro-nations” coinage. Sealand’s coins, currently issued in precious metals with limited edition mintages, are probably more properly designated as rounds, since they don’t circulate anywhere and are not accepted as currency by any nation. Krause Publications lists the coins of Sealand in its fascinating Unusual World Coins catalog, a companion volume to the Standard Catalog of World Coins. Sealand is also noted for being the only micro-nation to have an unofficial rebel coinage, issued by Johannes Seiger, the anointed successor to the German professor who set up the rebel government.

Sealand Coins - Limited Editions in Precious Metal
Sealand has struck coins intermittently since 1972, when the first issue depicted Princess Joan and a classic sailing vessel in .925 fine Silver. Another silver issue featuring Princess Joan was released in 1975, this time with the Sealand Coat of Arms on the reverse. 1977 was a banner year for the coins of Sealand, when it issued at least five different types of .925 silver coins featuring various combinations of Princess Joan and Prince Roy, and one .900 fine gold coin featuring Prince Roy.

Sealand Rebel Coinage
As noted, Sealand is unique among the micro-nations for having its own rebel coinage, issued in 1991 by Sealand Rebel Prime Minister Johannes Seiger. This one-coin issue features a left-facing bust of Seiger, with the Sealand Coat of Arms on the reverse, and was minted in base metal, probably as an attempt to cash in on Sealand’s notoriety.

Current Sealand Coin Issues
Sealand’s current coin issues are from a series called “Treasures of the Sea.” The first coin in this series, and so far the only one issued, features a bold depiction of an Orca whale apparently breaching the water, with the Sealand Coat of Arms on the obverse this time. These coins have been minted in a range of metals, from .900 gold to .999 silver, as well as bronze and cupro-nickel. A number of trial strikes and varieties are known.

It’s so easy to forget that what really matters in the price of a coin, other than the demand, is not the number that were made but rather the number that survive to the present day in a certain grade. It is repeated over and over again in the case of coins that are less available than we might expect. More often than not, the reason the coin is not as available as the mintage would suggest is that there was some reason why it did not survive.

We see that in the case of some Morgan dollars, which were melted in large numbers. In other cases, it might be simply that the coins from that facility did not survive in the numbers we might expect for other reasons. Whatever the reason, the result is the same in that the coin, which is expected to be relatively common, turns out to be tougher.

However, this works the other way as well. Take the 1938-D Jefferson nickel. The 1938-D today, in the minds of those who study mintages, has to be called a real sleeper. After all, the mintage of the 1938-D was just 5,376,000 and that is very low. Certainly, having that low a mintage, the assumption would be that the 1938-D would be fairly expensive. However, it is currently priced at just $20 in MS-65, while an example with full steps in MS-65 is just at $95.

The reason for these lower-than-expected prices is that the 1938-D was definitely saved. Back in 1938, there was a surprising amount of saving in the case of both Buffalo nickels and the new Jefferson. We have no particular reason for people assembling rolls of the old and new nickels, but they did - and a lot of them. In fact, it is not that unusual, even today, to see an offering of original uncirculated rolls from the period.

There is a lack of price movement, and that is probably a result of a very solid supply and a lack of demand. But at least the last part of that equation may be changing. The 1950-D tends to be the leader of Jefferson nickels. If the 1950-D is moving, the others are likely to move in price as well. Recently, the 1950-D, after decades of doing nothing, jumped to $30 in MS-65. It would not be at all surprising, especially at today’s price, to see the 1938-D and other low mintage and inexpensive dates make a move as well.

Something else to be considered is whether any dealer with an uncirculated roll of a date like the 1938-D is seriously going to break up that roll to sell MS-60 coins for $10, or even to sell MS-65 coins for $20. It seems unlikely as there is very little profit. While rolls might have been available back in 1955, a roll of the 1938-D is far too hard to find today. It will take higher prices to get an owner to break up a roll and those higher prices might well be coming. While it isn’t a scarce coin, the 1938-D is still a good low mintage date worth considering, especially at the current levels.