Capital Treasures

The number of fake £1 coins in circulation has doubled in the last five years and now stands at more than 30 million, the BBC has learned.

This means one in every 50 pound coins in circulation is counterfeit.

Experts believe the fakes are being produced by organised criminal gangs using specialist machinery. The Royal Mint said it was illegal to make or use counterfeited coins and said people must hand them in if they thought they had one.  Although relatively easy to detect, their sheer number creates problems for shopkeepers, taxi drivers and other small traders who deal in cash for many of their transactions. According to figures obtained by the BBC from the Royal Mint, random sampling tests carried out earlier this year showed that approximately 2% of pound coins are fake.

[ read more ]

We make it a point in our house to shut off the TV and put the iPod in its recharger caddy once a week to sit down and gather around an old fashioned board game. Last week it was Battleship played on an old Radio Shack electronic-rip on the board game .

It has a built-in electronic tracking system to help keep track of ships and of course reduce ahem , cheating (i.e. moving ships around, why you haven’t read about the alternate rules? wink, wink, nudge, nudge)…

However, we decided it was better to teach the ABCs , numbers and grid-coordinates to our kids by just using the game and pulled the batteries on this unit so we could have a bit of fun with our imaginations and make up our own blips, bleeps and kaboom sounds.

So it’s interesting to read up on a small business start-up called Play Date Atlanta that used the traditional board game to gather people together for a real social networking game environment. Initially I scoffed at the idea that you could turn board games into a club scene but looking at the data it’s possible to put a new spin on it and breathe new life into traditional gaming.

It’s a Saturday night in Atlanta. Some 800 well-dressed, middle-aged adults are sipping cocktails, listening to jazz . . . and playing Candy Land or Twister. Welcome to “the new face of nightlife,” courtesy of three 30-something guys who realized they were too old to go out clubbing every weekend, but not old enough for reruns of The Golden Girls. “We didn’t go into this saying, ‘Let’s create a new business that will change the way people think about Saturday night,'” recalls Imari Harvard, CEO of Timeless Entertainment Concepts. “My wife and I just wanted to put together an event where folks could come out for some nostalgic games, cocktails and conversation.”

The trio behind Play Date may have stumbled upon their successful business, but The Intelligence Group, a New York City-based market research firm, has since come up with hard data showing that progressive 14- to 34-year-olds known as “trendsetters” prefer board games to video games by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent. Small wonder that in February a company named Winning Moves re-introduced ’50s favorites Parcheesi and Careers–complete with their original packaging.

[ Read More ]

See if you can find a Play Date near you…

Mike’s Coin Store has 15 original rolls of 1979 Brilliant Uncirculated Susan B Anthony Dollars.  Just like the Ike Dollar promotions they’ve run in the past they are going o pass this on to our customers at FACE VALUE ($1) with FREE SHIPPING!

These along with the Ikes are sleeper variety coins… totally unappreciated by the American public. Yes, it’s not silver per se and it gets confused with the quarter! But, hey, it’s a buck. No matter how you call it – it makes for great gifts and conversational pieces. Along with “Golden Dollars” we use these as tip money at the local restaurants.

Limit 1 per Ebay User ID. You may purchase additional coins using different Ebay User IDs, and you can create a new account if you wish as well. Must pay through Paypal and be an active Ebay member.

This is pretty nice too – they can ship to other addresses if you want to send this as a gift, great graduation gift for that kindergarten or middle-school student… high school students going off to college might find it a pretty good joke though.

No other strings attached!

Click here for $1.00 1979 BU Susan B Anthony Dollar with free shipping!

CNN has a great line up of snapshots of the “things we like to stash” submitted from their iReport affiliate staff members.

It truly demonstrates in a very limited number of pictures how crazy people can get about the stuff they are passionate about collecting. It is also very interesting to see how people display and showcase their collections.

With regards to safety and security, a personal collection of high profile coins and comics doesn’t work quite the same to showcase them openly in your living room… Most of these collections reside in a safety deposit box or tucked away in a back closet locked up in a fire-proof container and they rarely get shown in the light of day – although showing someone your secret panel (Indian Jones style), only revealed by tilting back your copy of the epic Moby Dick which remotely unlocks the treasured vault of your collection. I guess that might be an exciting offering to show your guests…

Side note: These images and comments brings up an interesting short-essay book about collecting in general and how artifacts acquired from personal experiences manage to persist in our lives. It encompasses something everyone does and hardly anyone really thinks about…Take a look at 75 Objects with Unexpected Significance.

Lenticular visual technology isn’t just for paper money…

The Netherlands first issued their lenticular “video” stamp in 2006, using a special printing process on a stamp-sized piece of plastic. Each stamp sells for €.39 (46 cents US), and before you think that’s crazy, keep in mind that these are not flat panel displays that we’re talking about. How does this work, you might ask? The technique is a variation on those little plastic decoder rings you might have seen as a kid—as you tilt the stamp to the left and right, the series of images appear to play back in sequence. Here’s how Outer Aspect, the company that printed these video stamps, explains it:

“Lenticular is a specialised printing process that can show depth, motion, HD video, film or combinations of these. The lenticular material is made up of tiny ridges or lenses (hence the name “lenticular” printing). We take raw images and process them through a computer algorithm, which matches the lens surface of the lenticular material. When the two work together it enables the image to be replayed back to you. The printing is always on the reverse side of the Lenticular lens material, as this is where the focal point is, allowing the images to be replayed back to the human eye as the viewing angle changes.”

Most recently, Finland Launched 2008 with MotionPrint Alpine Skiing Stamps. Never been seen before on Finnish stamps, the miniature sheet designed by Susanna and Ari Lakaniemi is dedicated to alpine skiing features Tanja Poutiainen, Antti Avtti, Matti Raty and Tapio Arska Saarimaki. This is the largest motionprint sheetlet that has ever been produced which included four individual stamps.

For the first time ever Austrian Post has produced an official postal stamp using lenticular printing technology. Arguably it is the technologically most sophisticated stamp of all times.The stamp features the legendary goal scored on September 6th, 1997 by Andi Herzog, Austria’s record-breaking international player, in a game against Sweden – With Multiple Camera Angles !!!

[ via http://www.lenticular.org.nz/lenticularstamps.htm ]

An 1846 shipwreck 60 miles off the coast of Louisiana has yielded $1 million in sunken treasure comprised of U.S. gold coins from Southern U.S. mints and a nearly complete Capped Bust set. Recovery of the coins was announced May 13 by a group from New Iberia, La., called the Gentlemen of Fortune, which identified the SS New York in 2006 off the coast of Cameron, La., in 60 feet of water.

“This is the most important group of Southern gold coins ever found on a treasure ship. There are some of the finest known quarter eagles and half eagles struck in Charlotte and Dahlonega, as well as examples of gold coins struck at the New Orleans Mint,” said prominent numismatic researcher and author Q. David Bowers, co-chairman of Stack’s of New York City.

“They include an 1845-D $2.50 graded NGC MS-64; 1844-D $5 graded NGC MS-63* prooflike; and an 1844-O $5 graded NGC MS-64. There’s also a nearly complete set of Capped Bust halves with over two dozen different dates, including an 1815, and quite a few foreign gold coins as well,” said John Albanese, a dealer from Far Hills, N.J., who appraised them.

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Buying coins online has never been easier. Besides the traditional online coin store there are also ways to get coins through eBay, Craigslist, Teletrade, VCoins and Heritage – to name just a few. Catching a great example of an early 2-Cent piece in an auction that nobody found on eBay is pretty fun – score!  Outbidding other collectors can definitely get you excited, as long as you don’t get too carried away of course…

However, there has been an increasingly number of an odd offerings of coins and collections available on eBay. Since the rise in the number of new collectors into the market, the jump in the price of gold and silver as well as the increase in value of good quality coins it has been more difficult to catch the good catch on eBay. With an increase in novice collectors there is an inverse increase in unique and exotic collections going up for auction. However, it’s still possible to get a great specimen from these auctions if you can avoid the bids with ridiculously soaring prices and you to try to be wary of these often entertaining but rather annoying features and descriptions on most of the so called great auctions.

Ye ‘ol Teasure Chest. 
Usually full of vintage coins… this also includes: long box, red box, black box, cigar box, mason jars, tin cans, coffee cans – well, basically anything in a can. These auctions are for fun, face it… it’s a novelty and it’s cute. But serioiusly, a great coin find in an auction online featured in this manner. It doesn’t take a lot of time and care to throw a bunch of coins in a box or jar. And you can be sure that you’re not going to get a great coin find in something this haphazardly put together.  

Remember,  mason jars are for canning food or drinking moonshine , uh I mean Kool-Aid. Coffee cans should be used for coffee and when you’re done with the coffee maybe recycle and reuse it for mixing paint or cleaning brushes.

Estate collection from [insert state here].
If you want to go to an estate sale or auction check out your local papers.  Make sure it’s truly a real auction estate company that you’re purchasing/bidding from. It’s pretty clear that the amount of inventory they are carrying or the nature of the auction that it’s from an real estate sale firm and not someone trying to dump old aunt Getrude’s junk off to you. Be aware that true estate collection auctions will usually carry a buyers fee on top of the standard eBay bid – usually 12% – 15%. This should be noted in the auction. If you feel lucky you should try out your storage bin businesses they often sell off storage bins by the unit for people that are delinquent on the account or have just moved on. I would recommend a local estate auction or even the ones held by the state, often drug seizure or escheat auctions from bank safety deposit boxes … they are both entertaining bringing out the collectors, dealers and crazies.

Stupendous Adjectives.
Any eBay item that includes such nice descriptive terminology as OLD, RARE, GIANT and it’s variational cousin GINORMOUS. Vintage is a given. This should also include STUNNING, MASSIVE, and SUPER.

Coin dealers. 
Yes, gasp, it’s true… These are along the same lines as the estate collection auction/sales are the coin dealer from [insert state here]… I know that there are plenty of good coin dealers that use eBay and various other online avenues to get their inventory sold. However, If they are a serious coin dealer then they should have a real, functioning website – not just an eBay account. Hopefully they have a real mom-and-pop shop with a bricks-and-mortar store. It would be great if they are long-standing ANA member with a current membership. More often they will run ads in the local paper, trade coin magazine/journal or have a booth at their local coin show or even at a national coin show not just on eBay.

 Visit and support your local coin store and coin show. Try to get to a national coin show just once in your lifetime.

Bonus items!!! 
Any coin collection that includes one or more of the following: stamps, rail road stock certificates and the favorite vial of gold dust/shavings. You’re supposed to be collecting coins or putting together a series of coins for a nice collection – how on earth does the junk bond or stock certificate from a company that no longer exists help in completing that set!?

If you want to buy stock certificates get an account through scottstrade, buyandhold or eTrade and buy some ibm, 3m, kraft, google, apple or cisco… then use any dividend return money for buying your coins. If you want to buy old stock certificates, stop by your local coin show or stamp show and visit the lonely aisle of exonomia dealers and buy their colorful collection.

Paper money.
A collection or item that includes paper money of any kind including the most sought after red and blue silver certificates, stack of $1 dollar sequential bills, star notes and any foreign colorful foreign money (any money outside the US has nice fancy colors). You’re looking for coins, not paper money… if you want to invest in paper money then don’t waste the bulk of your time with basic silver certificates, duplicate/sequential/odd serial numbers or star notes – you can get those from your local bank or often out of your own wallet.

Unsearched!!!  
It’s just not possible, even if you weren’t curious enough to look at the coins your obsessive compulsive nature would want to put them in dated chronological order. enough said, move to the next item.

By the pound. Buy the pound…
This term falls in line with the unsearched term but gets its own category because of the nature of this kind of auction.  By the pound, usually in reference to some burlap bag or “sealed” cotton bag full of ‘unsearched’ and ‘large’ silver coins by the pound… side note: it never ceases to amaze me how people at a buffet just stack food on the plate until it’s overflowing – seems like they forgot that it’s a buffet and that they can actually go back for more. By the pound infers hoarding and well being greedy…

Now, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this trait however it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to get the best quality coin from the effort you put into the search. These auction types might also include unsearched wheat pennies – if they didn’t have the time to search through 1000’s or 10,000’s wheat pennies what makes you think your eyeballs can withstand the strain of looking for the key dates or double-die varieties.  Now if you do have a bad case of OCD and like to stack pennies in a row by date and mint-mark late into the night- go for it!  There are exceptions to the rule, I’m sure…

A great example is my father… he is retired military and loves this sort of thing as a simple past time. He kicks off his garden shoes, turns on the lamp, grabs the magnifying glass and pours himself a rum+coke and starts digging through them… if you don’t have the hours to doing this then spend your time better by organizing your collection in your mind, put it to  paper and get precisely the coins you want in an affordable condition or quality.

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Note, Product Tags are just now being implemented so they may not work…, fixed 5/9/08

Should speed things up.
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Sincerely, Upper Management, Powers that be…

Back to collecting from common sources…

Here’s an “error” collection series that could be found straight out of your wallet – you might even have a few of these crumpled in the bottom of your front pocket. During 1988 through 1996 the US Government decided to try an alternative printing method and created what are dubbed Web Notes.

A Web Note is a type of US $1 bill printed by the BEP (Bureau of Printing and Engraving). They are commonly referred to as Web Press Notes, Web-Fed notes, or simply, Webs. These notes are different from typical $1 Federal Reserve Notes that you find in circulation every day, although at first glance you may not know it.

The Web Note was the US Government’s effort to make the production of the One Dollar Bill cost effective. A Web-Fed Press was built which printed one dollar notes on a roll , much like a newspaper. Traditional methods of printing US Paper Money is on flat sheets. This press was eventually completed and produced a limited number of notes while simultaneously printing sheet fed notes on the traditional presses. The notes printed on the “Alexander-Hamilton Web-Fed Press” were produced for the following series: 1988-A, 1993, and 1995.

How do I identify a Web Note?

Very Simple. Look at the photos below … notice the little tiny “D 29” in the lower right of the Bill? This is a “plate position indicator” containing tiny letters and numbers. This is NOT a web-fed note. The photo on the right is another Federal Reserve Note. Take note of the little number “1” on the lower right. This is an indication of a typical $1 WEB Fed Note.

A Web Note’s plate number ONLY contains tiny numbers (NO LETTERS) and more specifically, the little numbers will range from 1 to 10. These tiny numbers on these notes indicate plate numbers that the BEP uses to print the currency. Each Web Note has its own characteristics and should all be revered as Unique! Check your Wallet! You may have one! Some are worth up to $2000.00 each! They are still in circulation Today!

Happy Hunting.

For more information on Web Notes go to:

http://www.uspapermoney.info/general/webs.html
http://www.webpressnotes.com/

The Fed has Sold Half of all US Gold to Suppress Gold Prices

 This could be a good thing for new collector’s looking to score some gold for their collections… bad if you are planning to ‘retire’ on your “gold assets”.

Current gold buillion prices have drop by $6 today on normal trading levels… this may not be too far off. Makes you wonder just how much is coinage is tucked away in other closed vaults owned by the federal government.

“the gold price suppression scheme was the cornerstone of Secretary Treasury Robert Rubin’s ‘strong dollar’ policy”, and “Treasury Secretary Paulson, a key member of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (popularly known as the Plunge Protection Team)” who chillingly said, “The United States will do what it takes to calm markets”…

In fact, Bill Murphy of GATA says, “The Gold Cartel is running out of available central bank gold to meet surging demand for physical gold. It is the opinion of the GATA camp that the central banks only have half the gold they say they have in their vaults – not the commonly bandied about 30,000 tonne number, but less than 15,000 tonnes.”

[ via Asia Times ]