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Return Of The Large Sized Dollar Coin

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Following a gap of more than 30 years, the United States Mint resumed production of the circulating dollar coin. The new series known as the Eisenhower Dollars were struck from 1971 to 1978. Production of circulating coins took place at the Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities. The San Francisco Mint also struck 40% silver versions of the coins for collectors.

The idea to create a new dollar coin first began to circulate in 1969. The last time a dollar coin had been issued was back in 1935 with the Peace Dollar. The new dollar coins would honor Dwight D. Eisenhower who had died in 1969 and the Apollo 11 space flight, which had sent man to the moon in 1969. The authorizing legislation for the new coin was finally passed late in 1970. It called for the production of large sized dollar coins, as well as coins struck for collectors with 40% silver content.

The obverse design for the Eisenhower Dollar features a right facing portrait of the former President. US Mint Chief Sculptor and Engraver Frank Gasparro tried to capture the strength and character of this important man. The reverse of the coin, also designed by Gasparro, was based on the Apollo 11 space flight insignia. A bald eagle is pictured landing on the moon, carrying an olive branch. This hearkens back to the statement, “The eagle has landed.”

The original reverse design was replaced for one year in 1976. The purpose of the new design was to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution. The new design by Dennis R. Williams featured the Liberty Bell partially overlapping a moon. This paid homage to Revolutionary times as well as the contemporary event of the moon landing. The design was issued only during 1976 before the original was resumed.

Throughout most of the Eisenhower series, special coins were produced for collectors. This included silver dollars produced from 1971 to 1976. Unlike the coins struck for circulation, which were struck in copper and nickel, these coins had a composition including 40% silver. The coins were sold to collectors individually in proof or uncirculated finishes from 1971 to 1974, and as part of a three coin Bicentennial set in 1976.

Learn more about the Eisenhower Dollar. Find more background on the creation of this brief, but important series, details of each release, and a full listing of Eisenhower Dollar mintages.

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After Two Years Of High Demand, Gold Bullion Sales Decline

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

The American Gold Eagle was first issued by the United States Mint in the year 1986. The coins were struck in 22 karat gold and offered in one ounce size, as well as three fractional bullion weights. Created as a method to allow Americans to more easily invest in precious metals, the coins were instantly popular with a wide cross section of the population.

After more than two decades of relatively steady availability, problems for the program began to arise in the middle of 2008. At this time, uncertainties about the economy and other financial instruments caused a resurgence in precious metals investment as investors sought a safe haven. Sales of the United States Mint’s gold and silver bullion coins rose to unusually high levels.

The increased level of demand led to some problems. The bullion coins themselves were often in short supply, which prompted the US Mint to sometimes suspend sales of the coins. A rationing program was put into place for extended periods of time, when full demand could not be met. Finally, certain bullion coins such as fractional weight gold eagles and certain collector coins like proof gold eagles were delayed or canceled.

Even while the stock market recovered and the economy showed signs of recovering, the high demand for gold bullion persisted. For more than two years, physical gold and silver investment options continued to sell at elevated levels. The price of gold enjoyed a gradual rise, which may have drawn additional interest.

For the month of August 2010, the United States Mint’s unexpectedly declined. After three months of selling more than 150,000 ounces worth of American Gold Eagle bullion coins, sales registered at just 41,500 ounces. While still somewhat higher than historical averages, this was the lowest monthly total since June 2008, when the crisis had first taken hold. Does the latest month’s lower sales indicate that the period of elevated demand for physical gold is coming to an end?

Find additional information about Gold Eagles. Visit the site for detailed mintage and release information for each year of issue. Get the latest news on this year’s 2010 American Gold Eagle.

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US Mint Grapples With American Silver Eagle Demand

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

The Congressionally authorized American Silver Eagle bullion coins were first issued in 1986. The coins were immediately popular with precious metals investors for their one ounce silver content, and also popular with coin collectors for their classic design depicting Liberty. After offering the coins for more than twenty years without incident, the United States Mint is currently struggling with increased demand levels for the bullion coins.

The United States Mint has produced Silver Eagles in both bullion coin format as well as collectible proof format. The bullion coins are distributed through a network of authorized purchasers and sold based on the prevailing price of silver plus an established mark up. The proof versions of the coin are typically offered annually at fixed prices. These coins are sold directly to the public and come in special packaging with a certificate of authenticity. Proof Silver Eagles had been issued from 1986 to 2008, before the offering was unfortunately canceled in 2009.

The cancellation was the result of the unprecedented demand for the bullion version of the coin. Economic and financial uncertainty in the latter half of 2008 caused investor to seek a safe haven for their money. Very often this was physical precious metals, which sold in the highest quantities in years. By law, the United States Mint is required to produce Silver Eagle bullion coins in number necessary to meet full public demand. Supply chain problems prevented the rapid increase in production needed to meet high demand levels.

The United States Mint struggled to meet demand and was forced to take some drastic measures. This included the temporary suspension of bullion coin sales on numerous occasions when inventories became depleted. Eventually, this yielded to an allocation system, whereby available quantities were rationed amongst the eager buyers. Lastly, the US Mint canceled the collectible versions of the coins, which were not legally required, in order to divert these silver blank supplies to the production of bullion coins.

The increased level of demand that began nearly two years ago has not abated and the US Mint continues to struggle. Despite increasing production levels, the number of bullion coins minted still falls short of full public demand and rationing programs remain in place. The status of collector versions of the coin remains in doubt, although there has been discussion of a change in law to allow some limited collectible coin production. As it stands, bullion sales are on pace to set another record.

Find more information on the popular bullion and collectible Silver Eagles. The site includes release information for each coin, mintages, specifications, and images of rarities like the 1995-W Silver Eagle.

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200th Anniversary Of Abraham Lincoln’s Birth Marked By Coins

Monday, July 19th, 2010

In 2009, the country celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of the 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. To mark the occasion, several different circulating and commemorative coins were issued. This included four pennies carry different reverse designs and a dollar coin struck in a composition of 90% silver.

In 1909, the Lincoln Cent was introduced as the first circulating coin to bear the image of a former president. The coin was released for the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. In 2009, the reverse of the Lincoln Cent was redesigned to present the four different stages of the life of Abraham Lincoln. These coins were released into circulated at roughly three month intervals throughout the year.

The first of the 2009 Lincoln Cent designs depicts a log cabin to represent Lincoln’s humble beginnings in Kentucky. The second reverse design shows a young Lincoln pausing from his work splitting logs to read a book and educate himself. The third design presents Lincoln before the famous Illinois State Capitol building, dressed in his professional attire as a lawyer. The final design is a depiction of the Capitol Dome in Washington, DC at a point when it was half completed.

In addition to newly designed one cent coins for circulation, a special commemorative silver dollar featuring Abraham Lincoln was issued for collectors. The coins were available in both proof and uncirculated versions, limited to a mintage of just 500,000. The obverse featured a portrait of Lincoln by Justin Kunz. The reverse presented the final words of the Gettysburg Address, bordered by a laurel wreath with a reproduction of Lincoln’s signature below.

Following the bicentennial year, another new design for the Lincoln Cent will be introduced in the year 2010. This final design will represent Lincoln’s legacy, the preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country. A depiction of the Union Shield will replace the prior four rotating designs and the previous Lincoln Memorial design. The new Shield Cents will be produced into the foreseeable future.

For additional details on the coins issued for the bicentennial, visit 2009 Lincoln Cents. Information and images of the 2009 Birthplace Lincoln Cent and other coins is included.

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2010 Lincoln Penny Features Union Shield

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

Following the four different rotating reverse designs issued during 2009 to represent the different stages of the life of Abraham Lincoln, one final reverse design will be issued in 2010. This time the design is expected to remain in use for the foreseeable future. The topic of the redesign will be Lincoln’s preservation of the United States of America as a single country.

The Union Shield will be depicted on the reverse of the 2010 Lincoln Cent. This shield is composed of thirteen vertical bars with a single bar at the top binding them together. The Union Shield first appeared during the 1780’s and made a resurgence in use during the years of the Civil War. The arrangement on the shield symbolizes the original states joined in support of the federal government.

The new reverse was designed by Lyndall Bass who is part of the United States Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program. The sculptor of the reverse was Joseph Menna of the Mint’s sculptor-engraver staff. The shield is presented with the motto “E Pluribus Unum” on the top and the denomination “One Cent” contained on a banner draped across. The image is completed with the required inscription “United States of America” above the image. The designer and sculptors initials appear to either side of the shield.

The “heads side” of the Lincoln Cent will continue to carry the familiar portrait of Abraham Lincoln that has been in use for more than 100 years. The obverse was originally designed by Victor D. Brenner and paired with a reverse featuring two wheat stalks. The portrait will get a touch up, with the details of the original portrait restored by the US Mint.

Production of the new 2010 Lincoln Penny began in January 2010. The United States Mint strikes coins for circulation at the Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities. To date, production has already exceeded 1.8 billion coins and many have been spotted in circulation. Later in the year, the US Mint will issue a proof version of the coin minted in San Francisco with a high quality finish.

Find more information and details about 2010 Lincoln Cents. The site includes information on circulation strike coins as well as the collectible 2010 Proof Lincoln Cent.

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Alterations In Lincoln Cent Composition

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

The Lincoln Cent is the well known as the one cent coin of the United States. The coin has depicted a bust of Abraham Lincoln on the obverse since first introduced in 1909, representing the longest used design on any circulating U.S. coin. The reverse design has undergone some changes over the years. The metallic composition has also undergone a series of interesting alterations over the years.

Initially, the composition of the Lincoln Cent consisted of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. This was the composition that had been used for the one cent denomination since 1864 and for the majority of the previous Indian Head Cent series. Coins of this composition have a weight of 3.11 grams.

The first composition change took place in 1943. As a response to wartime needs for copper, an act of Congress approved on December 18, 1942 authorized a new composition. The wartime “Steel Cents” were composed primarily of low grade carbon steel base coated with zinc. The coins had a dull gray color, somewhat similar to the silver color of higher denomination circulating coins of the era. During 1943, Mint facilities in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco produced more than one billion Steel Cents.

The production of predominantly copper composition cents was resumed in 1944, albeit with a slight modification. The zinc component was removed from the cents from 1944 to 1946 and the copper was sourced from expended shell casings used during the war.

In mid 1982, the coin underwent its most recent composition change. This change was in response to the rising price of copper. The new composition was zinc plated with copper, containing 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. This resulted in a coin visibly similar to the original, but with a much lower intrinsic value and cost of manufacture. In recent years, the composition of the Lincoln Cent has once again become a topic of debate. Some call for a cheaper composition such as steel, while others say to eliminate the one cent coin completely.

To find out more about Lincoln Cents, visit the site for complete series history and highlights. Learn about key date coins like the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent and others.

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Large Copper Cents Replaced By Small Cents

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Around the middle of the nineteenth century, the United States Mint faced up to the mounting problems of the one cent denomination. They were increasingly unpopular with the public due to their size and weight. The coins were often considered filthy. Because the coins were not legal tender, they were often rejected by banks who would only accept silver and gold coinage. Sometimes the cents were accepted but only at a discounted rate. Finally, the rising cost of copper had made the large cent unprofitable for the mint to produce. It cost about $1.06 to produce 100 cents.

In order to try to deal with the problem of large cents, several new compositions were considered. This included German silver, which consisted of copper, nickel, zinc, tin, and antimony and billon, which included 90% copper and 10% silver. The Director of the United States Mint eventually settled on a composition consisting of 88% copper and 12% nickel.

The new composition coins would feature a different size and a new design. The design approved for the coins was a rendition of a flying eagle after the silver dollar design from Christian Gobrecht in the 1830’s. The reverse would feature an agricultural wreath of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. This design was created by James B. Longacre.

A large number of patterns were prepared for the new Flying Eagle Cents before official production for circulation would begin. There were some concerns that the new format would be rejected by the public, so these patterns were distributed to members of Congress and others for evaluation and approval. The pieces were ultimately accepted.

When the new flying eagle cents were ready for release, the Mint set up booths to exchange old copper cents or silver for the new small sized cents. Thousands of people lined up for the release and newspapers carried stories about the new coins. Some of the new coins, popularly referred to as “nickels,” were even sold on the street for greater than face value.

Want to find out more about Flying Eagle Cents, then visit the site to find more information on important issues like the 1856 Flying Eagle Cent as well as other highlights of the series.

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What Are Poker Chips?

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

To be able to refrain from problems in playing genuine cash in poker, land based venues like casino houses asks for poker gamers to purchase poker chips as token to wager in playing poker. Poker Chips tend to be employed as replacement for the funds and also to preserve the activity in replacement of the real cash of the participant. It is actually better to avoid problems regarding money matters in the table. This coin offers different colors like red, white, blue, green and black and matches particular funds value.

Tracing back memories last 1800, when poker players play poker, they did not necessarily use the poker chips yet used jaggled gold pieces, gold nuggets, coins or gold dust as their particular money in the game. The coins that early gamers employed are constructed with clay, plastic composite, ivory, bone, wood or paper. The idea has started in 1930 whenever poker chips are presented within the market which is created of clay, acrylic, and plastic with metal foil for stability and stability reasons.

Poker chips are usually identified as casino tokens that are employed inside the casino as funds in enjoying playing different variations of cards or perhaps the coins applied in slot machines. This will be the actual currency utilized in the casino in order to gamble as well as possibly applied to play in poker tournaments. Some gambling establishments have their own design and materials used inside their poker chips and some of them consist of serial numbers at the borders especially for large denominations.

Poker chips might be the cash employed inside the casino or in using poker throughout different tournaments along with land based venues; however, it will not own any value outside these locations. Gamers can easily claim their tokens at the gaming tables with the dealer or might substitute their cash at the counter prior to the game or getting started enjoying at the casino or perhaps at the poker table.

Each casino may produce their own design of poker chips but these tokens have universal chip colors with corresponding denominations that are followed worldwide. The white colored poker chips are $.50- $1 but may vary in every state, sometimes they can be blue, red or grey. Pink chips are worth $2-$2.50. Red poker chips are $5 but are color yellow in California card rooms. Blue poker chips are worth $10 but are usually brown in California. Yellow poker chips are $20 in Atlantic City. Green tokens are $25 but are purple in California poker rooms while black is worth $100 but are white tokens when you are in California for $100. Purple poker chips are worth $500 that almost all casinos used. Orange poker chips are worth $1,000 and grey is worth $5,000. Remember that these colors and denominations may vary from different casinos especially outside Nevada.

Poker chips are useful and beneficial not only to casino owners but as well as to all players inside it. It decreases the rate of theft and counterfeiting acts inside the play room. It is also easier to count compare to paper currency and can be counted in stacks thus giving the cashier and dealer little time spent in counting.

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Unveiling Planned for America the Beautiful Quarters Series

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

Collectors will soon be able to put an image to the first five coins of the new America the Beautiful Quarter coin series. After months of waiting the US Mint will unveil the final designs in a special ceremony. Shortly thereafter, the first coin in the series will officially be released into circulation.

The upcoming circulating commemorative coin series traces its roots back to the bill H.R. 6184, which was introduced by Michael Castle of Delaware. Titled “America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008,” the bill was soon passed by the House, Senate, and signed into law by the President. The law provides for the issuance of quarter dollar depicting parks or sites in each location of the United States. The full register of sites was development soon after enactment.

The full register of sites to be depicted on the reverse of the quarter designs was unveiled by the US Mint on September 9, 2009 with much fanfare. This register lays out the content of the entire series from 2010 to 2021. The parks and sites are depicted in the order federally designated, making Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas the first design to be featured on the new quarter series. This is followed by Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon National Parks.

Design candidates for the 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters were reviewed by the Commission of Fine Arts and Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee at meetings which took place later in the month of September 2009. The design candidates were also presented to the Secretary of the Interior and the chief executive of the host jurisdiction. After considering the feedback and recommendations received, the Director of the US Mint makes a recommendation to the Secretary of the Treasury, who is responsible for making the final design selection.

The United States Treasury Secretary’s official design selections will finally be revealed at a special ceremony held in Washington, DC. The ceremony has been scheduled for March 24, 2010, although some details are still forthcoming. The expected release date of the first coin of the series will be about a month later on April 19, 2010. Still later, the US Mint will release over sized silver bullion coins bearing duplicate designs of the quarters. These are expected in late summer of early autumn.

Find additional information and images of America the Beautiful Quarters or stay up to date with the latest news and developments in coin collecting.

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