2010 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Grand Canyon Coin Finally Goes on Sale

WASHINGTON - Collectors may begin placing their orders for the 2010 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin - Grand Canyon National Park on June 29, at noon Eastern Time (ET). Orders will be limited to one coin per household for the first week of sales. At the end of one week, the United States Mint will re-evaluate this limit and either extend, adjust or remove it.

The coin is currently priced at $279.95. As with all United States Mint products containing precious metals, pricing is subject to change.

Coins in the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin Program are collector versions of those issued through the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion CoinTM Program. The five-ounce, three-inch uncirculated and bullion coins bear the same

Full story at: usmint.gov

2011 American Eagle Silver Proof Coins Go On Sale June 30th

WASHINGTON - The United States Mint will open sales for the 2011 American Eagle Silver Proof Coin at noon Eastern Time (ET) on June 30, 2011. The coins will be priced at $59.95 each. Orders will be limited to 100 units per household.

The obverse (heads side) of the coin features a rendition of Adolph A. Weinman's Lady Liberty in full stride, with her right hand extended and branches of laurel and oak in her left. The reverse (tails side), by former United States Mint Chief Engraver John Mercanti, features a heraldic eagle with shield, an olive branch in the right talon and arrows in the left.

The American Eagle Silver Proof Coin contains .999 silver. The one-ounce coin is struck on specially burnished blanks and carries the "W" mint mark, indicating its production at the United States Mint at West Point. Each coin is encapsulated in protective plastic and placed in a blue presentation case with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Orders will be accepted at . . .

Full story at: usmint.gov

Ancient Greek Silver Coin of Medusa Found at Historic Site

Ancient Greek coin used by Macedonian soldiers as a protective medallion. The image of Medusa on the coin was believed to protect the soldiers life.

Bulgarian archaeologists have made crucial discoveries at the residence of the rulers of the Odrysian Kingdom, the state of the most powerful tribe of Ancient Thrace, including details about its sacking by the troops of Philip II of Macedon.

The discoveries have been made within the project of Bulgaria's National History Museum, whose team started in early June 2011 the largest alpine expedition in the history of Bulgarian archaeology in order to excavate the residence of the rulers of the Odrysian Kingdom.

Bulgarian archaeologists uncovered the unique residence of . . .

Full story at: novinite.com

Silver Coin Sales Booming as People Desert Paper Money

Silver-coin sales from Australia’s Perth Mint, which was founded in 1899 and processes all of the country’s bullion, have surged to a record as buyers seek to protect their wealth with the metal known as poor man’s gold.

The mint sold 10.7 million 1-ounce silver coins since July 1 last year, according to Sales and Marketing Director Ron Currie. That’s 66 percent higher than the previous full fiscal year and about 10-fold more than five years earlier. Sales of 1- ounce gold coins will be . . .

Full story at: Bloomberg News

Diver Finds Spanish Shipwreck Coin Hidden on Sunken USNS Vandenberg

Randy Pekarik's quest for a Spanish piece of eight hidden on board the USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg started long before he hit the water Saturday.

Pekarik, a dive master with Subtropic Dive Center, found the prized silver coin from the 1622 shipwreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha during his second dive on the Vandenberg Saturday. That discovery came after more than a year of regularly reading clues posted by Mel Fisher treasure salver Pat Clyne on his online blog.

Clyne placed the coin and . . .

Full story at: keysnews.com

Perth Mint to Release Bush Babies Koala Coin and Stamp First Day Cover

The Perth Mint and Australia Post are pleased to present the first coin and stamp cover in this adorable series featuring iconic baby animals. This series follows the same designs featured in the Australian Bush Babies 1/2oz Silver Proof series released from 2010-2011.

The coin and stamp both feature the koala, perhaps Australia’s most beloved animal. The cuddly koala ‘bear’ is not really a bear at all, but a marsupial. Protected by law, the koala lives on a diet of eucalypt leaves from the tree of the same name. This furry friend is one of the few animals that actually has fingerprints similar to humans and when distressed the koala issues a cry that has been compared to that of a human baby.

Full coin and stamp details at: Perth Mint

U.S. Mint to Issue 9/11 Medal Commemorating 10th Anniversary of Terrorist Attacks

WASHINGTON - The United States Mint today announced that it will begin accepting orders for the 2011 September 11 National Medal on June 20, 2011, at noon Eastern Time (ET). Public Law 111-221, the "National September 11 Memorial & Museum Commemorative Medal Act of 2010," authorizes the minting and issuance of up to two million one-ounce silver medals in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and the establishment of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center.

The proof quality medal's . . .

Full story at: usmint.gov

Olympic National Park Quarter Launched by U.S. Mint on Flag Day

PORT ANGELES, Wash. - Scores of local area school children recited the Pledge of Allegiance today--the 234th anniversary of the adoption of Old Glory as the Nation's flag--as part of the launch ceremony for the Olympic National Park quarter, the eighth coin issued in the United States Mint's America the Beautiful Quarters® Program.

"The beauty of Olympic National Park is in its biodiversity, three distinct ecosystems of sub-alpine, coastal and forest," said B.B. Craig, United States Mint Associate Director for Sales and Marketing. "There is no other national site like it, and the new Olympic National Park quarter will connect . . .

Full story at: usmint.gov

Rare Gold Coins: How Much Do You Have to Pay to Play?

(Doug Winter, DWN) I get calls from potential new gold coin collectors nearly every day. Some of them have spent a good deal of time researching the gold coin market and have a good idea what the coins that they may be buying will cost. Others have no clue and are almost charmingly naive about what they can buy given their budget. This leads me to the topic of today’s blog: how much does a collector realistically have to commit per coin to put together a nice collection of rare gold coins?

I’ve stressed in numerous articles and blogs the importance of . . .

Full story at: Douglas Winter Numismatics

Pushing for a Return to the Gold Standard

The idea to make the precious metal legal tender has gained currency in more than a dozen state capitals. Economists say the plan would be disastrous.

Mike Pitts is no economist, but that hasn't kept the retired small-town cop from taking a prominent role in a quixotic campaign to push the U.S. monetary system back to another century.

Pitts, a South Carolina statehouse representative, introduced a bill in April that would make gold and silver coins legal tender in . . .

Full story at: Chicago Tribune

U.S. Mint to Launch 5 Ounce Silver Yosemite National Park Coin

WASHINGTON - Collectors may begin placing their orders for the 2010 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin - Yosemite National Park on June 9, at noon Eastern Time (ET). Orders will be limited to one coin per household for the first week of sales. At the end of one week, the United States Mint will re-evaluate this limit and either extend, adjust or remove it.

The 2010 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin - Yosemite National Park is currently priced at $279.95. As with all products sold by the United States Mint containing precious metals, pricing is subject to change.

Coins in the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin Program are . . .

Full story at: usmint.gov

Even Recovered, the S.S. Central America's Shipwreck Gold is Still a Mystery

Investors still have no return on treasure salvaged in 1988-89

The proposal seemed preposterous: Tommy Thompson, an engineer and shipwreck-enthusiast, said he could find a steamer that had sunk in 1857 off the Carolina coast with 21 tons of gold in its hold.

Wealthy central Ohio men and women listened, and one by one anteed up money so Thompson's expedition could move forward. The chance that Thompson would find the ship was one in a million, they knew. On the other hand . . .

Full story at: The Columbus Dispatch

Lesson in Hard Times of 1837

Serious coin collecting as numismatics tells more on economics, when history shows some solutions as today legislators chip away at the penny. Forgotten is the depression of 1837 when the rich people came to the rescue of the US failing commerce and minted coins to stimulate the economy.

No one talks about the depression of 1837, though the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner, openly brought up the 1787 coin and currency act of the First Congress of the United States. Now, that first version of the act began with a scandal and grew worse over corrupt private contracts to mint coins until . . .

Full story at: OpEdNews

Chinese Cook Obsessed with Jewish Coins

At his day job, Xu Long works endless hours in the sweltering kitchen of the Great Hall of the People, China's equivalent of the Capitol building. But for the last decade, when Xu, head chef of Western cuisine, chopped onions or grilled steaks for the Chinese leadership, his mind often drifted to his personal passion: money. Or, more specifically, ancient Jewish coins.

In December, the 47-year-old chef published a 575-page tome, "Money of Ancient Judea and Israel," the culmination of 10 painstaking years of . . .

Full story at: Los Angeles Times