Wash your hands regularly while using tissues when you sneeze. This should help control the spread of H1N1 or swine flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

According to the May 3 SmartMoney blog, there is another way to control the spread of swine flu - stop spending money.

What does SmartMoney mean by that? “Even if it’s not so good for the economy - the fact is paper currency - the dollars, fives, tens and twenties most people routinely touch every day - can spread a virus from one person to another. So if you have contact with money that an infected individual has also handled, there’s a possibility of catching the flu.”

Fortunately, Smart Money goes on to add, “Scientists interviewed by SmartMoney estimate the lifetime of a plain flu virus deposited on money at an hour or so.”
most unhygienic ever issue - These coins will be a disgrace to our country as a monument of our present ideas of art as applied to coinage.”

Ironically, it was Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, a Boston physician and friend of President Roosevelt, who came up with the concept of an incused design for the quarter eagle and half eagle coins.

Chapman’s comment about the coins being a “great receptacle for dirt and conveyor of disease” have since been scoffed at, but with the H1N1 flu rearing its swine-like head, was Chapman wrong?

Swiss bank notes were recently tested at the Central Laboratory of Virology at the University Hospitals of Geneva. A disgusting mix of flu virus and nasal secretions was placed on the notes to see if the mess would continue to be a health threat. A flu strain called H3N2 were still detectable on the notes for up to 17 days after application, while the dreaded H1N1 virus was only detectable for up to 10 days. The possibility of spreading disease is possible under laboratory conditions, but this, of course, assumes someone outside the laboratory would want to handle a bank note that has been slimed. Just looking at this mess on the notes is enough to make a person sick.

Tierno who is the author of The Secret Life of Germs, added that there is a fungicidal agent that inhibits the growth of bacteria and fungi mixed with the ink used on US dollar bills. This agent will help kill flu viruses until when the note is exposed to perspiration and water, weakening the ink as each note circulates. I guess the lesson to be learned here is to only use Crisp Uncirculated bank notes while avoiding all coins with incused designs when handling cash.

Back in 1909, Roosevelt did not respond to Chapman’s open letter, and it’s a bit unsettling to find that things haven’t changed much in our government bureaucracy since that time.

SmartMoney reported that the CDC wouldn’t discuss money as a vehicle through which the flu could be transmitted, and the New York State Health Department declined to comment, while the Bureau of Engraving and Printing said just what you might expect them to say - “what happens to US dollars once they’re in circulation is beyond the bureau’s control.”

Putting coins up for an Internet auction without the intent of delivering the described merchandise to the winning bidder, and then keeping

the money besides, is now provably a federal crime.

In a United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, a conviction on those charges has just been sustained by the United

States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in a decision handed down June 22.

Judgment of conviction and sentence was entered on Oct. 12, 2007 The case was argued a year ago and decided last week.

United States of America vs Jeffrey Heckel, and in the appellate court’s summary, they said this: “Beginning in March 2002, Jeffrey Heckel

used two Internet auction Web sites to defraud successful bidders on items he had listed for sale.”

As the Court explained it, “The scheme was simple: He would list an item for auction, accept the highest bid, cash the check sent to him by

the winning bidder, and ship a product far inferior to the one advertised on the Web site. Heckel’s fraud netted him in excess of $15,000.”

His appellate brief to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago detailed the scheme: from “April 1, 2002, through May 8, 2003, Jeffrey

Heckel used the ebay.com and yahoo.com online auction sites to fraudulently post five items up for bid…”

The brief from Heckel’s lawyers continues: “Heckel pled guilty to count five of the indictment, admitting that he had posted a picture of a

rare coin and instructed a bidder to the auction to send a $3,000 check to him via the U.S. mail. The coin that he sent to the bidder was not

the coin that was pictured and was worth much less than $3,000.”

Because Heckel pled guilty to at least one count, the appeal focused on sentencing, which was 30 months in prison plus three years of

supervised release.

The motif of the crime was to offer a “coin for sale on the Internet, as Heckel did in the count to which he pled guilty, [by which he] invited

the vast online public to bid.” The court noted that “those who did so were trying to purchase the item by suggesting a price that they

believed no competing online bidder would exceed.”

Heckel evidently asked for mitigation on the ground that not many people were injured, but the 7th Circuit would have none of that. “That

only one such bidder eventually won the online auction does not negate the harm of this method of fraudulent solicitation,” its opinion said.

Heckel “first argues that the [U.S.] district court incorrectly calculated his offense level because the court added two levels for use of

‘mass-marketing.’ … The commentary to this [sentencing] guideline explains that ‘mass-marketing’ includes ‘a plan, program, promotion, or

campaign that is conducted through solicitation by telephone, mail, the Internet, or other means to induce a large number of persons to …

purchase goods or services.’

“Because the auction Web sites Heckel used were accessible to the general public and Heckel attempted to increase the price of the items

posted by soliciting a large number of bids over the Internet, the district court applied the enhancement,” which view the court of appeals

upheld.

Silver Coin Case

Avro 504K
Europe during World War I and as a training and private use plane, Qantas took delivery of its first aircraft the Avro 504K in 1921. This single engine wooden structured bi-plane carried two passengers and was used for joy flights, air taxi services and promoted the future advantages of air transport to thousands of Australians.

Airbus A380
The largest passenger jet ever built carrying between 500 to 800 passengers, with a cruising speed of 900 km/h. This true giant of the air is 73 m in length, with a 79 m wingspan and total weight of 540,000 kg. Designers claim it will actually increase efficiency, use less fuel and generate less noise; Qantas will introduce the Airbus A380 to its fleet of commercial aircraft in late 2008.

The only sure way of securing all six of the Flying Through Time Aviation Series coins is by registering your interest in our six coin program. Only 3000 of these sets are available.

Available now from the Perth Mint are two coins that are ready to slug it out against each other, like the figures they represent. The Transformers Silver Proof Collector Coins, one featuring the heroic Autobots leader Optimus Prime and the other depicting the evil Deceptacon leader Megatron, were minted with the approval of Hasbro and Dreamworks.

Sure to capture the interest of coin collectors, movie fans and more importantly the eye’s of the young who may step toward a new hobby in numismatics, each coin is struck in an ounce of silver and in collector proof condition.

The Transformers were based on action figures that could convert from everyday mechanical objects into robots. Hasbro initiated the line in 1984, and a cartoon series featuring the robots came soon after. The line has grown over the years to encompass new characters and several series of cartoons.

Leap ahead to 2007, when Dreamworks and Paramount collaborated to create a new live-action film incorporating computer generated graphics of the well-known robots. The movie Transformers was a huge blockbuster success, taking in an almost $70 million just in North America in its opening weekend. It would continue to rake in the cash and is estimated to have made over $700 million worldwide, ensuring a sequel would soon follow.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen debuted June 24, 2009 and once again blew the box office apart. In less than two weeks, it is estimated the movie has made over $590 million worldwide.
Transformers coins: specifications, price and order details

Each coin is struck from 1 oz. of 99.9% pure silver in proof quality and is issued as legal tender under the authority of the Government of Tuvalu.

The characters of Optimus Prime and Megatron are both presented in color on the reverse of their respective coins and also feature that characters affiliated logo and the Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark.

A maximum mintage of 5,000 units of each character will be strictly adhered to. The 40.60 mm diameter coins will ship in illustrated presentation packaging and are accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity. Each is priced at $88.64 (~$70 US).

For more information or to place an order from nearly anywhere in the world, visit the Perth Mint page and CoinNews affiliate link:
Transformers Silver Coins

About the Perth Mint

The Perth Mint, wholly-owned by the State Government of Western Australia, is the official issuer of the Australian Federal Government’s Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Program. The Mint opened in 1899 in response to the discovery of rich gold deposits in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. It was Australia’s third branch of Britain’s Royal Mint - the others being the Sydney Mint and the Melbourne Mint (both closed).

The Perth Mint remained under Britain’s jurisdiction until 1 July 1970, when ownership transferred to the State Government of Western Australia.

In 2003, The Perth Mint officially opened an 8,400 square metre state-of-the-art manufacturing facility next door to its original limestone building. Dominating the Mint’s heritage precinct, these two important buildings are powerful symbols of more than 100 years of minting excellence in Western Australia.

OTTAWA — Was $15 million worth of gold stolen from the Royal Canadian Mint by dissolving it in acid, rendering it invisible to metal detectors?

Two gold-refining industry sources say gold chloride dissolved in an acid solution can be unrecognizable to metal detectors, such as those guarding the mint’s high-security Sussex Drive refinery in Ottawa — and the method might explain the recently announced disappearance of more than half a metric ton of gold from the mint’s inventory.

“It could be taken out in that form . . . in a liquid chemical form,” said one U.S. refining executive.

A similar method was used to hide two Nobel laureates’ gold medals from the Nazis when Germany occupied Denmark in 1940.

The mint dissolves gold in hydrochloric acid as part of the process to refine the precious metal to 99.99 and 99.999 per cent purity, the finest gold in the world.

The process electro-chemically disintegrates the metal into imperceptible particles of gold chloride suspended in the black-coloured acid solution.

“Being a high-security facility, the mint does not discuss its various security procedures and protocols,” said Christine Aquino, mint spokeswoman. “But I can confirm that we have methods to detect such a liquid.”

The alternative — spiriting even minuscule quantities of solid gold from one of Ottawa’s most secure buildings — seems all but impossible, save for a Hollywood-style heist plot, which seems almost as improbable.

“It would be highly unlikely that it would easily get out of the mint” in a solid form, said the U.S. industry source.

Stone-faced armed guards in RCMP-look-alike uniforms staff the high-security area containing the gold and silver refineries and coin-production shops. Workers wear metal-free uniforms. Any metal in their bodies, from dental work to surgical implants, is noted in a computer and electronically compared every time they arrive and leave.

To lessen the likelihood of an inside job on the shipping/receiving dock, guards are assigned that duty on a random basis. What’s more, only certain armoured-car companies are permitted on the property, and drivers must match photographs on file with mint security before heading off with bullion and coins.

Within the gold refinery, thousands of ounces are “in process” at any one time, amounting to several million ounces annually. Exacting efforts are made to retrieve every speck. Everything from the ductwork and crucibles used to handle molten gold, to rags and tissues that come in contact with the metal, are routinely scoured and processed for trace amounts.

And everywhere, unblinking security cameras watch and record every move in the multibillion-dollar enterprise.

So how then, did the mint lose track of 17,514 ounces of gold, and a smaller but undisclosed amount of silver and other precious metals?

That’s the equivalent of almost 44,400-ounce gold bars, worth about $15.3 million.

It apparently vanished between April and October 2008, around the same time a new computerized inventory system was being implemented.

Almost 16,500 of the ounces disappeared from the gold refinery, a couple of orders of magnitude greater than the gold typically lost during the refining process.

An eight-month hunt by mint staff and external auditors ruled out recent accounting, bookkeeping and other internal errors. They’re continuing to hope, and investigate the possibility, that production miscalculations or accounting errors before April 2008 will explain the puzzle.

But with the most obvious possible explanations now discounted, speculation grows about a massive and clever theft.

The Deloitte auditors, however, were not asked to probe that scenario. Instead, the mint has asked the RCMP to investigate. But for unexplained reasons, the Mounties’ commercial-crime section in Ottawa continues to review the request — the federal government ordered the mint to call in police — and has yet to open a criminal investigation.

With the mint also planning to file an insurance claim for the missing fortune, it’s likely its insurance carriers would first dispatch their own forensic accountants and other experts to investigate before cutting a $15.3-million cheque.

The Nobel Foundation website details how prize medals belonging to German physicists Max von Laue (1914) and James Franck (1925) were hidden from the Nazis at the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen during the Second World War by dissolving them in aqua regia. After the war, the gold was recovered and reconstituted, and the Nobel Foundation presented the men with new Nobel medals.

In the mint case, could the acid solution be somehow siphoned off and taken from the mint unnoticed, and the gold reconstituted at another location?

The electrolysis room is about two metres below grade. High windows facing Sussex Drive are sealed. There are no floor drains. And, as always, a security camera stares down from the ceiling.

If that’s not daunting enough, there’s the math of gold electrolysis: each litre of hydrochloric acid contains about three ounces of gold. Based on the 17,500 ounces reported missing, it would take 25 working years to steal one litre a day, hidden in a bottle of some sort.

A more plausible alternative would be to sneak a few far larger quantities out, presumably in metal or plastic drums from the shipping area and — somehow — cover up the thefts by replacing the gold anodes and acid from other parts of the refinery.

The mystery continues.

As a series, gold dollars are more popular than many non-specialists realize. The natural inclination that most people have is that since these coins are so small, they are not readily collectible. I have found this to be untrue and I am aware of a number of people who either collect all the gold dollars by date or they specialize in one or two of the mints (usually Charlotte or Dahlonega).

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the ten rarest gold dollars.

1. 1849-C Open Wreath: This is not only the rarest gold dollar, it is the third rarest regular issue Liberty Head gold coin of any denomination, trailing the 1861 Paquet Reverse $20.00 and the 1854-S $5.00. There are either four or five 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollars known. The finest is an NGC MS63PL that sold at auction in July 2004 for $690,000 which is, by far, a world record for a gold dollar of any date. This same coin is said to have later traded in excess of $1 million. The lowest graded is an NGC F15 which has signs of having been mounted at one time but which is slabbed by NGC nonetheless. I have handled two of the 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollars and I believe that if this issue were better known (and larger in size) it would easily be a million dollar plus coin.

2. 1861-D: This is not only the rarest Dahlonega gold dollar, it is the single most popular issue of this denomination from any date or mint. Much of the 1861-D gold dollar’s popularity has to do with the fact that it is known with certainty to have been produced by the Confederacy. It is believed that around 1,000-1,500+ were originally struck of which an estimated 60-80 exist today. The survivors tend to be divided between low-quality damaged pieces and examples that are relatively high grade and nicer than one might expect. There are two known in PCGS MS64 (the Ullmer/Miles/Pierce coin and the Duke’s Creek coin) and a grand total of ten to fifteen in Uncirculated grades. The 1861-D is one of the few gold dollars that has strong demand from non-specialists and as a result, it is one of the most expensive issues in the entire series.

3. 1855-D: The 1855-D is a one-year type coin with a tiny original mintage figure of 1,811. It is the only Type Two dollar from the Dahlonega mint and its status as a one-year issue makes it extremely popular among date and type collectors. There are between 75 and 100 known and it is the rarest Dahlonega gold dollar in terms of availability in higher grades. At one time I felt that as few as three Uncirculated pieces were known. Today, I believe that this number is a bit higher but this is due to gradeflation and not the discovery of new examples. When available, the typical 1855-D grades VF to EF and is characterized by weakly struck digits in the date. Examples do exist with full dates but these are quite scarce. This is one of my very favorite gold dollars and it is an issue that I believe will always remain in high demand in virtually all grades.

4. 1875: Due to its tiny mintage of just 400 business strikes, the 1875 is among the best known gold dollars outside of the specialist community. As one might expect, this is a very scarce coin but examples appear to have been saved by contemporary collectors and dealers with an estimated 75-100 known today. All business strike 1875 dollars are prooflike but can be easily distinguished from their Proof counterparts by the presence of a thorn that protrudes from the lower portion of Liberty’s jaw into the field. The 1875 dollar is not often found in grades below AU55, indicating that this issue did not see much circulation. There are some extremely nice Uncirculated pieces known and I have personally handled three or four Gems that had great eye appeal. PCGS has graded two in MS66 with none better while NGC has graded one in MS66 with none better. One of these is almost certainly Brand I: 51 that was sold by Bowers and Merena in November 1983 and which I still remember being the best example that I have seen. The auction record for a business strike 1875 dollar is $33,350, set by Heritage 2007 ANA: 1814, graded MS66 by NGC.

5. 1856-D: Assuming that the mintage figure for the 1861-D was in the 1,000-1,500+ range, there is a chance that the 1856-D has the smallest number struck of any gold dollar from this mint. Even if this is not the case, the 1856-D is a rare issue with just 1,460 produced. My best estimate is that around 80-100 are known today. The 1856-D is usually found in the EF40 to AU50 range and it is quite rare in properly graded AU55 to AU58. (Both the PCGS and NGC population figures for AU55 and AU58 examples are greatly inflated by resubmissions. The 1856-D is extremely rare in properly graded Uncirculated with an estimated four to six known. NGC has graded a single coin in MS63 but the best I have personally seen is the PCGS MS62 Green Pond: 1009 coin sold by Heritage in January 2004 that brought $47,150. All known 1856-D gold dollars show a weak U in UNITED.

6. 1863: Many people reading this article will be surprised to see the 1863 listed as the sixth rarest gold dollar, ahead of dates like the 1854-D and the 1860-D. It is an issue that has long been a favorite of mine and even though prices have risen significantly for the 1863 dollar over the years it is still a “sleeper.” There were 6,200 business strikes produced but unlike the dates from the later Civil War years, not many were saved. My best guess is that there are around 100-150 known including three dozen or so in Uncirculated. There are a few really superb pieces including a remarkable PCGS MS68 and a single NGC MS67. The 1863 is usually seen in the middle AU grades. Uncirculated coins tend to come in the MS62 to MS63 range and are characterized by heavy die striations on the surfaces. This is an issue that is only now coming into its own and a strong case can be made for it being the rarest Philadelphia gold dollar in Uncirculated.

7. 1854-D: The 1854-D is the fourth rarest Dahlonega gold dollar with an estimated 100-150 known from the original mintage figure of 2,935. It has a very distinctive quality of strike with the obverse typically much better detailed than the reverse. The 1854-D is not often seen in grades lower than EF and many of the examples that have been slabbed are in AU holders. Properly graded AU55 and better pieces are very rare and this is an issue that is extremely rare in Uncirculated with around nine or ten known. The best I am aware of is the Reed Hawn coin that was graded many years by NGC as MS63. PCGS shows a population of five in MS61 and six in MS62 but this seems inflated by resubmissions. There have been a number of auction records in the $13,000-15,000 range but the single highest price that I know of is $17,250 for a PCGS MS62 set by Heritage 4/06: 2209 in April 2006. The low mintage of this issue and its status as the final Type One gold dollar from Dahlonega make it an intriguing date.

8. 1860-D: The 1860-D is another rare gold dollar from Dahlonega with a very low mintage figure. There were just 1,566 produced and around 100-150 are known today. This date is similar in overall and high grade rarity to the 1854-D despite the fact that the 1860-D is generally valued quite a bit higher. The quality of strike seen on this date is the worst of any Dahlonega gold dollar; even more so than the 1861-D. All 1860-D gold dollars show a very weak U in UNITED and some pieces have the N weak as well. The obverse has a flat overall appearance while the reverse shows weakness on the lettering and the date. There are around a dozen known in Uncirculated. The highest graded by either service is an NGC MS64 (formerly in a PCGS MS63) that was last in the Duke’s Creek collection. It holds the all-time auction record for the date at $57,500 when it was sold as Heritage 4/06: 1492; the same coin brought $48,875 a year later when sold as Heritage 8/07: 1811.

9. 1850-D, 1852-D (tie). Both issues have total populations in the area of 150-200 coins and it is hard to determine which is rarer in terms of the total number extent. In higher grades, the 1850-D is the rarer of the two. It is unlikely that more than a dozen accurately graded Uncirculated pieces are known and the best is the Duke’s Creek coin that has been graded MS64 by NGC and MS63 by PCGS. All 1850-D dollars have a flat appearance but this is a much better made issue than the 1852-D. Speaking of which, the 1852-D is probably a bit more available in lower grades than its counterpart the 1850-D but it is a very rare coin in full Mint State. There are two NGC MS63 coins and one graded as such by PCGS. The best of these is the Duke’s Creek coin, graded MS63 by NGC (ex Heritage 4/06: 1484) that sold for $27,600. The 1852-D has an extremely distinctive appearance with most coins showing heavy roughness in the obverse fields as the result of multiple clashmarks.

10. 1865: The 1865 gold dollar is not as scarce as the 1863, despite the fact that it has a much lower mintage. There were 3,720 business strikes made of which around 150-200 (or perhaps a few more) exist. In spite of this date scarcity, it is easily the most affordable date in the Top Ten list and I have seen nice AU’s trade for less than $1,500 which seems like great value to me. While very scarce in Uncirculated, there are a few amazing 1865 gold dollars known including two graded MS67 by PCGS and the finest known, a PCGS MS68, that sold for $34,500 in the Heritage March 2008 auction. This date is usually seen with clashmarks and all have mint-made die striae in the fields. Examples are usually frosty and original pieces tend to show excellent multi-hued coloration.

World Coin News, and just about every other numismatic publication, feasts on reporting the highest prices fetched at auctions, the fabulous increases of coin values, the frenzy to buy this or that coin for investment. Thus, coin collecting becomes associated with coin investing, eventually to the point that gaining a profit subsumes the joy of collecting, and the coin purchaser no longer cares a whit about the coin per se. In this series of occasional articles, my intention is to persuade collectors that accumulating coin as a hobby can still be fun.

In these articles I will be addressing three levels of collecting based on relative affordability: Level A for those who can spend about $100 per month, Level B for $200 per month, and Level C for $500 per month. Periodically, I’ll make a comment for what might be Level AA at $50 per month or less, and Level D at $1,000 per month.

But first, a few caveats. Coin collecting at these levels will only be an enjoyment if the collector rejects the concept of investment. Rather, he or she should regard it as recreation - an “investment” in fun, like a holiday in Cancun, tickets at the stadium to watch the San Francisco Giants lose another ball game, a weekend at Disneyland, a Harley-Davidson and so forth. Affordable collecting is a hobby, for which resale for profit should be irrelevant.

Secondly, buying coins is not the only expense confronting the collector. He will need storage material and other supplies such as paper envelopes or safe plastic flips, perhaps coin albums (especially for U.S. coins), books and magazines, perhaps a safe deposit box at a nearby bank or a secure safe at home. There is also membership fees for the American Numismatic Association or a local coin club, and travel expenses to visit coin shops or coin fairs. These peripheral expenses are additional to the monthly coin purchases, thus above the $100 at level A, etc., but must nonetheless be taken into account by the collector. I shall occasionally provide suggestions on how to minimize these expenses.

Thirdly, new collectors will inevitably make the classic mistake of purchasing an over-graded or grossly over-priced coin, or nowadays, a piece that proves to be a forgery (unless he chooses to collect forgeries - more on this later). While the great majority of coin dealers are honest and law-abiding, there are some crooks, especially when purchasing over the Internet at sites such as eBay. However, when properly approached, eBay is an excellent source of reasonably priced numismatic items. The new collector will undoubtedly be annoyed by these mistakes but should regard them as part of the learning experience.

Fourthly, the collector of inexpensive coins should disregard the concept of investment. When he loses interest and decides to sell the collection, he will reclaim some of his expenses  most likely 50 percent or less - but he would not get a nickel back from a hotel bill in Cancun. One might conceive the cost of creating a coin collection similar to buying an automobile. While the price of the car will drop precipitously for the first 10 or 15 years, if well maintained it might gain in value later.

The key to numismatic enjoyment at a modest expense is the coins themselves. Above all, the intrigue of the coins rests on history, whether it be political history, economic history, social history, whatever. A cheap coin regarded as worthless by the investment dealer could yield hours of enjoyment. Have you ever asked yourself why the reverse of our dime has borne the fasces since 1916, without association with Mussolini? Or why the Latin inscription Annuit Coeptus is above the eye atop a pyramid on our $1 bill? I confess that I too was unsure of how and why this Great Seal of the United States arrived on the reverse of the dollar bill and just looked it up on Wikipedia while writing this article. I knew it was a Masonic symbol, but beyond that I was clueless. And learning is fun!

Although I have been a full-time coin dealer since 1975 and have previously been an active collector, sometimes saving expensive coins in my coin collection (now at the University of Tübingen in Germany since 1988), I started collecting again around 2002, now between Level B and Level C.

I now collect modern (post-1965) commemorative, souvenir, advertising, coin club and other medals. Some are in silver, most in base metals, nearly all very cheap. These will never have any great value, but they provide immense enjoyment at a thoroughly affordable level and in no way conflict with my numismatic business of foreign coins.

Designed by indigenous artist Darryl Bellotti, the 2009 Australian Koala Silver Coin is one of the world’s most popular 99.9% fine bullion silver coins. This is the third year a koala design has been available as part of this very successful series from the Perth Mint of Australia.

The koala, native to Australia, has long been associated with that country. As such, it is the perfect animal to depict on a coin. Artist Darryl Bellotti has taken his experience as a Mint designer and created a coin worthy of the creature. The reverse showcases a young koala sitting on a tree branch, looking towards the viewer. On all but the 1 kilo coin, behind the koala and the branch, a unique shimmer background is used which focuses our attention on the iconic marsupial.

Koalas are protected by the government of Australia, but that has not always been the case. They were hunted almost to extinction for their fur, a practice which is now against the law. In fact, it is illegal to even have possession of a koala, except in special circumstances such as healing a wound.

This governmental protection has not eliminated all risk for the koalas. As civilization continues to encroach upon their territory, the Eucalyptus trees which the koalas feed and live on are being cut down. Also, attacks from dogs and disease are of major concern.

The 2009 Koala coin is available in 1 kilo, 10 oz, 1 oz, and 1/2 oz sizes which carry a face value of $30, $10, $1, 50 cents respectively. They ship on an illustrated display card with a Certificate of Authenticity on the back.

Mintage is based on demand, but the annual design changes and the fact that the government guarantees the weight and purity insures the collectible nature of these coins.

The Perth Mint, wholly-owned by the State Government of Western Australia, is the official issuer of the Australian Federal Government’s Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Program. The Mint opened in 1899 in response to the discovery of rich gold deposits in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. It was Australia’s third branch of Britain’s Royal Mint - the others being the Sydney Mint and the Melbourne Mint (both closed).

The Perth Mint remained under Britain’s jurisdiction until 1 July 1970, when ownership transferred to the State Government of Western Australia.

Rochester, N.Y. July 2nd, 1979. The director of the U.S. Mint came to the Susan B. Anthony house to officially unveil to the nation the new dollar coin bearing the suffragette’s image.

Hundreds gathered outside Anthony’s house on Madison Street. It was the first time the face of a real historical woman ever graced an American coin. And Rochesterians grabbed up tens of thousands of the new Anthony dollars in the days that followed.

In commemoration, Rochester hosted a weeklong celebration including a 500-person gala at the Camber of Commerce.

And there were re-enactments of Anthony’s trial for voting illegally in the 1872 election. One was held in the same courtroom in Canandaigua where she was convicted with congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman of Brooklyn, then the youngest women ever elected to Congress portraying Anthony.

Clay Arnold is board chairman of the Susan B. Anthony House. He was in elementary school in 1979.

“It was neat the see there was anew coin coming out and obviously with the coin being the first woman depicted on a U.S. coin was very amazing. I do remember a little bit of it, yeah.”

The Susan B. Anthony $1 coin never succeeded with the American people and is seldom seen in circulation today.

“When the coin was first designed and minted, people at the time recognized that it was time to put a woman on a coin. And the fact that they chose Susan B. Anthony, I think is a testament to her legacy.”

Anthony was a pioneer in the fight for women’s rights and to get women the right to vote.

In a 3-volume history of the suffragette movement Anthony wrote of the most momentous reform that has yet been launched in the world — the first organized protest against the injustice, which has brooded over the character and destinies of half the human race. It consumed 50 years of her life.

And in her last public statement, 14 years before the 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920 that gave women the right to vote, Anthony predicted the outcome of the women’s movement.

She said, “Failure is impossible.”

By the way, as a protest, Anthony never paid her $100 fine.

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.