Alan's Coin Blog

[alanscoins]

Late last night the Australian Perth Mint announced a 3-piece Back to the Future Coin Set. To celebrate Oct 21, 2015, the Perth Mint released a 1/4oz gold proof coin, a 1oz silver proof coin, and a 2oz silver hoverboard coin.

Each coin is legal tender and the silver coins come in really great packaging. The 1oz silver coin comes in a replica DeLorean! And the hoverboard coin features a custom display case. The gold coin comes in a standard wooden display case.

Here’s a video of the 1oz silver coin in the DeLorean.

And here’s the Australian Mint’s website page for the program.

These coins are very limited. There are only 1,000 gold coins being minted, 2,015 2oz silver hoverboard coins, and 7,500 1oz silver DeLorean coins.

These were only announced last night and the two silver coins are already Unavailable on the Mint’s website (meaning they’ve sold out), while there are a few gold coins still available, I don’t expect they’ll last long.

I bought two complete sets last night and I will upload my own photos of them once they arrive.

Happy Back to the Future day!

[alanscoins]

Australia, Gold - Bullion, The Australian Nugget - 1988, Pride of Australia

Grade: NGC PF 70 Ultra Cameo Composition: Gold (1oz .9999 pure) Diameter: 32.1mm Mintage: 8,180 Obverse: Crowned head effigy of Queen Elizabeth II above the denomination. Reverse: The Pride of Australia gold nugget, surrounded by the metal content and date. Designed by Stuart Devin. The Australian Nugget is one of the few gold bullion coins that change design each year. For the first few years, various large gold nuggets found within Australia were depicted, by shape and name, on the reverse. But in 1989 the Perth Mint began depicting various kangaroos on the reverse, a tradition that continues today. The “Pride of Australia” is the second largest gold nugget found by metal detecting in Australia so far. It was discovered in 1981 and weighed 256 ounces (as of today it’s melt value would be $290,000). It was purchased by the State Bank of Victoria in 1985 for $250,000. The nugget was on display at the Museum Victoria until it was stolen in a smash and grab robbery in August 1991. Its fate is unknown, but most likely it was melted. While these coins depict kangaroos currently, they are still most often referred to as Australian Nuggets, though some do now call them "gold kangaroos".

[alanscoins]

This is what’s called a “Birth Year Set” in coin collecting. It’s a collection of all of the coins made the year you were born. For me, that’s 1983.

My dad bought this proof set from the US Mint the year I was born and kept it in his safe until a few years ago when he gave it to me.

I recently sent the proof set in to NGC for grading and got back some really nice grades. Everything graded PF 69 Ultra Cameo except the dime which graded a perfect PF 70 Ultra Cameo.

Now that I have them graded I took photos and added them to my account on the Collector’s Society. Each coin shows a bit of toning, which happens naturally due to the packaging materials the Mint uses. But each coin is very attractive in my opinion.

Eventually I’d like to collect a proof set for my dad’s birth year (1958) as the penny and half dollar are both completely different designs (the wheat reverse penny, and the Franklin half dollar).

[alanscoins]

A few weeks ago I posted about the 2009 Tutankhamun Tomb Sand silver coin I had purchased. That silver coin was minted the year after a gold series of pyramid coins were minted, so of course I had to track down the full gold set, which I just completed last week...

"The World's First Pyramid Coin", minted by the Pobjoy Mint for the Isle of Man, these coins were minted in 2008 to celebrate the return of the Tutankhamun exhibition to London. These coins come in a heavy golden pyramid display case (pictured above) with a certificate of authenticity, and depict various images from within the Tutankhamun tomb. Tut’s tomb is the most complete ancient Egyptian burial site discovered to date, and the artifacts discovered within have toured the world on display in various museums since its discovery in 1922. The most famous piece probably being King Tut’s death mask, which is currently on display in the Cairo Museum (and is depicted above on the full 1oz gold piece).

The 1/5oz coin depicts Tut sitting on his gold throne, the 1/2oz coin depicts a wall of Tut’s tomb with his coffin in the center, and the 1oz coin depicts Tut’s iconic death mask surrounded by various hieroglyphs.

There were very few of these sets made, only 999, and they bring quite a premium already as these were the first in the Tutankhamun commemorative series, the full set contains 1.7oz of pure gold, and most sets were broken up.

[alanscoins]

Not all coins are round, as we saw with the Stradivarius coin I posted a few months ago. And yesterday I received this unique pyramid coin!

Only 3,000 of these pure silver coins were minted for the Isle of Man government in 2009, commemorating King Tutankhamun and his now famous burial site. If you look at the reverse (click on the above pic to enlarge), there is a small pane of glass at the top which holds actual sand collected from inside King Tut’s tomb! (let the curse of the mummy jokes begin!)

Each coin comes in a golden pyramid display case with a certificate of authenticity and a little book that covers a brief history of Tutankhamun and the media events that followed after his tomb was discovered.

Tut’s tomb is the most complete ancient Egyptian burial site discovered to date, and the artifacts discovered within have toured the world on display in various museums since its discovery in 1922. The most famous piece probably being King Tut’s death mask, which is currently on display in the Cairo Museum.

I purchased this coin raw to send in for grading (got two of them in fact, keeping with my recent pattern of buying duplicates). I’ll be sending them in with my next bulk shipment and will update with grades when I have them.

Of course when the coins arrived the first thing I did was examine them while listening to Steve Martin’s “King Tut” comedy song from 1978 (see the original SNL performance here).

[alanscoins]

Got the latest issue of The Numismatist in the mail (yes, of course I have coin magazine subscriptions)...

And there is a full-page article (not ad, but article) about the Alice In Wonderland clock coin I purchased and posted about a couple weeks ago...

How cool! I didn’t get the regular 1oz silver coin (pictured in the bottom left) because I didn’t care for the design, but I still think the 2oz silver clock coin is wonderful.

Too bad I don’t have my duplicate graded already, with this extra bit of hype, now would be a great time to have one for sale.

[alanscoins]

I recently purchased six new coins for my “A King’s Ransom” precious metals set. These six coins make a complete 20th Anniversary 2006 American Silver & Gold Eagle Set. These two three-coin sets were released by the US Mint in 2006 to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of America’s first two bullion coins.

Each set included a burnished, a proof, and a reverse proof coin.

These sets marked the first time a reverse proof finish was ever used on a US Mint product. And for the Gold Eagle this was the only year a reverse proof was ever released (the Silver Eagle also received reverse proof finishes in 2011, 2012, and 2013, so there are four reverse proof Silver Eagles). Here’s a close up of the reverse proof Gold Eagle, I think it photographs really well...

I took all of the above photos last night after the set arrived.

And I got a screaming deal on it. The eBay seller had listed the set with a terrible title and used a weird image for the description, so it hadn’t shown up in regular search results. I was actually looking for something else when I stumbled across the set. I checked each and every NGC certification number to make sure it wasn’t a knock off, and each coin checked out.

I don’t usually talk prices here, but I had recently researched these sets for my collection, so I know they typically sell for between $7,000-$7,500 currently. But I was able to pick up this complete set for just $4,900! Goes to show you the importance of researching what you have. The seller would have easily cleared another $2,000 if he had listed it properly. A valuable lesson for him maybe, but a great deal for me after a little bit of research.

And bonus, the set came in this solid wood display case...

Coin grades below:

2006-W Burnished Silver Eagle: NGC MS 69 2006-W Proof Silver Eagle: NGC PF 69 Ultra Cameo 2006-P Reverse Proof Silver Eagle: NGC PF 69 2006-W Burnished Gold Eagle: NGC MS 69 2006-W Proof Gold Eagle: NGC PF 69 Ultra Cameo 2006-W Reverse Proof Gold Eagle: NGC PF 69

[alanscoins]

Another raw coin that I’ll be sending in for grading with the Alice in Wonderland coin later this month.

This is the first ever Maple Leaf-shaped coin! It’s a $20 coin from (where else) Canada, featuring Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the denomination and date on the reverse. (usually my pictures utilize a black background, but I thought the white would make the coin’s shape easier to see, so even though it looks different, this is still my picture)

The coin is made of pure silver and has a limited mintage of only 15,000.

Each one comes in this wonderful display case from the Royal Canadian Mint...

The wooden red maple leaf case holds the coin, the certificate of authenticity, and includes optional legs so you can stand it on a table or display shelf. Optional hanging hardware for hanging it on the wall is also included.

As you can see, I bought a number of them to send in to NGC for grading. I plan on keeping the highest graded coin and then selling off the duplicates for a profit now that these have sold out from the Mint. The hope is to have the sales cover the costs of all of the coins, essentially making the one I keep free.

I’ll post updates for all of these raw coins once I get grades back, that should be in a few weeks/towards the end of September. I love how much the Royal Canadian Mint experiments with their commemoratives and special issues. Way more fun than the US Mint’s offerings at the moment.

[alanscoins]

Macro coin photography is definitely an art. And like any artistic skill, you’ll get better over time, learning with almost every session. I spent a little time last night taking new photos of a handful of my coins, ones where I definitely felt there was some room for improvement...

The above 5oz silver America the Beautiful specimen coin was the winner for “most improved”.

The coin is very difficult to light because it’s a full three inches in diameter (most of the coins I photograph are around 1″ in diameter). And as you can see with the old pic, I had a difficult time getting enough light to the center of the larger coin. Here’s a comparison of this larger specimen coin vs a regular quarter:

The new image up top (and now in my online coin gallery) is not only more even, it’s also more dramatic and true to life with its shadows. More like a sculpture and less like a coin, which I love (and which I’m always striving for with my coin photos).

I achieved the better lighting by introducing a forth large light (most coins are photographed using three small lights). After my three standard lights were set, I held the forth larger light at a greater distance with one hand - almost mimicking the sun shining down and hitting the front of his face - while triggering the shutter with my other hand.

I am so happy with the improvement I just had to share. :)

[alanscoins]

2015 $2 Silver Commemorative, 150th Anniversary of Alice In Wonderland

Here’s another raw coin I purchased to send in for authentication and grading. It’s quite special...

The coin is made from 2oz of pure silver, and commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the first publication of Alice in Wonderland. Not only is the design work gorgeous, but the center piece is an actual working clock!

I uploaded the obverse and reverse as separate images so tumblr will allow you to enlarge them. If you look at the reverse picture you can see the winding mechanism for the clock. The center clock piece is actually separate from the coin, and can be removed so you can wind it and reset the time! (when removed the coin resembles a doughnut with an open center)

The coin is minted by the Australian mint for the country of Tuvalu (a small island located halfway between Australia and Hawaii). There was a very limited number of these commemorative clock coins made (just 2,500), and they’ve already sold out from the Mint. I was lucky enough to buy two of them before they were gone.

The obverse features Alice, the Cheshire cat, several playing cards, and the Australian mint’s ‘P’ mintmark surrounding the clock, with the White Rabbit featured on the face of the clock. The clock’s border includes the inscription “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!”.

The reverse features Queen Elizabeth II, the denomination, and the year surrounding a rose design. A quote from the book, “Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!” is included on the back of the clock in a spiral.

Many of these silver commemorative coins are written off by coin collectors as novelties. And maybe they are. But this is one badass novelty, and I’m happy to have it in my collection.

[alanscoins]

Over the past six months I’ve been working on a new custom coin set. I’m calling it “A King’s Ransom” and it’s a type set collection of pure gold and silver coins from around the world.

As of today there are 24 coins in the set so far, 16 gold coins and 8 silver coins, from five different countries - Australia, Austria, Canada, South Africa, and the United States.

You can CLICK HERE to view each coin individually and zoom in on much larger photos (there are multiple pages). I’ve also written a description and a little history of each coin. I’ll be expanding those descriptions as I post each coin individually here over the coming weeks.

The nice thing about ‘type sets’ is that you only need one coin to represent each design change or type. So, for example, American Gold Buffalo bullion coins have been minted every year since 2006 in business strike and proof strike. That’s 20 coins if I collect one of each strike for every year. But with a type set, I only need three coins to complete that series, one business strike, one proof strike, and for one year only they minted a reverse proof strike to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the original buffalo nickel (the design which is used on the gold bullion coins). So until the US Mint makes another change or special finish strike, my American Gold Buffalo type set is complete (it’s the three coins in the second to last row).

So yeah, just wanted to share! I’ve been really digging into this set for the last few days, taking new pictures and expanding descriptions, and it’s been quite a bit of fun. I’ll continue to post individual coins here as I go, but thought I’d share a little Gallery view of the progress :)

[alanscoins]

In addition to classic US coins, I also have a collection called The Symphony Set. In fact, it was my Symphony Set collection that won a numismatic award for “Most Creative Set” in 2012.

The Symphony Set is a collection of coins featuring music elements including instruments, composers, sheet music, etc.

Today I bought this diamond shaped silver dollar to add to my Symphony Set. This is the first coin to ever contain real wood. The reverse violin body is an actual piece of wood infused into the silver coin. This makes the coin pretty thick and gives it a very tactile appearance. I tried to capture the depth in the side picture which also shows how each coin was individually numbered. This specific example is #175 of a total 999 mintage.

I have a lot of fun with the Symphony Set because I get to collect interesting and “novelty” coins like this under the banner of a common theme.

I bought this coin raw, so I need to send it to NGC for authentication and grading before I can officially add it to the symphony set, but if you’d like to view the rest of the Symphony Set, click here.

[alanscoins]

Just received this coin back from the authentication and grading company NGC (it took me a few months to send in a box of coins). It graded MS 69, which is one point away from perfection (coins are graded on a scale of 1-70). So I’m happy about that.

In the comments should-be-sleeping asked how this coin is stored, due to its unique shape and larger size it does not fit in a regular flip. So I thought I’d share a quick snap of its new NGC holder. It’s an oversized holder, used for larger coins (the violin coin is just 2mm too large for the standard holders). I put it next to a 1oz American Gold Eagle for size comparison...

Overall a nice new home for this awesome coin. And NGC used a gasket that allows the individual numbering on the edge to still be seen while in the holder, which is a nice touch as well.

[alanscoins]

2012 “Farewell to the Penny” $20 Silver Commemorative

Grade: NGC SP 69 Composition: Silver (1/4oz .9999 pure) Diameter: 27mm Mintage: 250,000

Obverse: Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Designed by Susanna Blunt.

Reverse: Two maple leaves (originally featured on the penny's reverse) creating ripples in a pond below the denomination. Designed by Jesse Koreck.

This 2012 silver coin says farewell to the penny by  commemorating the year Canada ceased minting pennies. This was the fifth coin in the Royal Canadian Mint's popular $20 for $20 program, which sells commemorative silver coins direct to the public for face value (the vast majority of precious metal coins carry premiums).

Canadian citizens and businesses may continue to use pennies indefinitely, but the RCM officially stopped production of pennies in 2012, citing the 1.6 cent cost to produce each penny and inflation as the main motivators for the elimination.

Similar legislation has been introduced half a dozen times here in the US, but has failed to pass. Not only did Canada succeed in passing their legislation, they then celebrated it with this and a few other fractional silver and gold commemorative coins.

I’m particularly fond of the reverse design, which features the iconic maple leaves from the reverse of the Canadian penny, but depicted here being laid to rest in a pond. A wonderful send off for the penny.

[alanscoins]

2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Double Eagle

Grade: NGC MS 69 Composition: Gold (1oz .999 pure) Diameter: 27mm Mintage: 115,178

Obverse: Augustus Saint-Gaudens' striding Liberty as seen in lower relief on double eagle coins from 1907-1933.

Reverse: Augustus Saint-Gaudens design of the eagle, with the "In God We Trust" inscription added, which was missing from the original 1907 double eagle design.

What could not be done in 1907 was finally realized in 2009, the Mint had successfully rendered Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Ultra High Relief double eagle. Considered by most to be one of the most beautiful coins ever produced, the US Mint had to lower the relief of the double eagle design in 1907 as the machines and technology of the time could not produce the coins fast enough and economically enough.

In 2009 the original plaster molds were digitally scanned, repaired, and used to prepare these special 2009 Ultra High Relief strikes. The coin is only 27mm in diameter and 4mm thick, and was struck in one ounce of 24-karat gold. The date was changed to 2009, four additional stars were added to represent the current 50 states, and "In God We Trust" was added to the reverse, as it appears on all double eagles minted from 1908-1933.

Less than 20 examples of the original 1907 Ultra High Relief coins were ever struck. When examples do surface at auction, they typically bring between $1 million and $3 million a piece depending on condition. The 2009 examples are thankfully much more available and much more affordable at between $2,000-$3,000 a piece depending on condition.

This coin is beautiful and it's almost a shame to include it in a "bullion" collection, but it is what it is. I bought this coin last week for my “A King’s Ransom” collection, which is a precious metals/bullion collection.

[alanscoins]

2014 50th Anniversary High Relief Gold Kennedy Half Dollar

Grade: NGC PF 69 Ultra Cameo

Composition: Gold (0.75oz .9999 pure) Diameter: 30.61mm Mintage: 75,000

Obverse: Portrait of John F. Kennedy above the dual dates 1964 - 2014.

Reverse: An interpretation of the Presidential Seal surrounded by 50 stars and the coin's denomination.

This is the first gold half dollar ever offered by the US Mint. This coin was struck in high relief by the Mint in West Point, New York to honor the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy half dollar. Kennedy was the youngest President ever elected, but was assassinated on November 22, 1963, before finishing his first term in office.

The following month Congress passed legislation that allowed the Franklin half dollar (then only 15 years old) to be redesigned in 1964 to the Kennedy half dollar. The Kennedy half design is based largely on an earlier presidential medal, which allowed for a quick design turnaround.

The public admired Kennedy so much the Mint could not produce enough half dollars in 1964 for them to be found in circulation, most people hoarded every half they came across. The design still stands, in my opinion, as one of the better designed modern coins. And looks especially attractive in high relief.

The obverse was designed by Gilroy Roberts and the reverse was designed by Frank Gasparro.

[alanscoins]

should-be-sleeping said: I’ve never seen such a coin. How unique! How do you store it? I imagine it would need a special case due to shape and thickness.

Well it came from the mint in a custom box, sort of like an oversized ring box you'd get from a jewelry store. So that protects it currently. But I will be sending it to NGC for authentication and encapsulation. 

NGC is one of the top professional coin grading companies that authenticates, grades, and then encapsulates coins into what we collectors affectionately call "slabs". They look like this:

The slab is sonically sealed and air-tight. This preserves your coins in their current state from all damaging elements (air, moisture... the fingerprints of your friends and family). In fact, the Smithsonian uses NGC to protect and preserve their entire rare coin collection, which is worth tens of millions of dollars.

Each coin is given a unique barcode and serial number so you can bring up the details of that specific coin at any time by either typing the number into NGC's website, or scanning the barcode with any iDevice.

My entire collection is "slabbed" by NGC, either because I bought the coin already graded and authenticated, or because I sent the coin in myself.

Once your coin has its unique barcode you can register your coins and display your sets with the Collector's Society registry, which is how I won the award three years ago for my Symphony Set. Each year the registered collections compete in a little friendly showcase. It's fun.

Also, having your coins registered helps you identify them in the case of a stolen or lost coin. The registry acts like one big up-to-date database for your collection.

So to make a long story longer, I will send this coin in, along with a few other raw coins I have sitting around, and NGC will authenticate it, grade it, and provide a permanent protective case for it. =)

[alanscoins]

In addition to classic US coins, I also have a collection called The Symphony Set. In fact, it was my Symphony Set collection that won a numismatic award for "Most Creative Set" in 2012.

The Symphony Set is a collection of coins featuring music elements including instruments, composers, sheet music, etc.

Today I bought this diamond shaped silver dollar to add to my Symphony Set. This is the first coin to ever contain real wood. The reverse violin body is an actual piece of wood infused into the silver coin. This makes the coin pretty thick and gives it a very tactile appearance. I tried to capture the depth in the side picture which also shows how each coin was individually numbered. This specific example is #175 of a total 999 mintage.

I have a lot of fun with the Symphony Set because I get to collect interesting and "novelty" coins like this under the banner of a common theme.

I bought this coin raw, so I need to send it to NGC for authentication and grading before I can officially add it to the symphony set, but if you'd like to view the rest of the Symphony Set, click here.