Author Archives: Dave Harper

Can the problem of counterfeit coins manufactured in China and shipped to the United States be eliminated? Congress just increased the weaponry available to defeat the menace. The Industry Council for Tangible Assets announced that the Senate passed legislation Dec. … Continue reading →

Headlines this morning make an interesting pairing. The Russian ruble is falling dramatically. It was down 13 percent yesterday. It is down another 10 percent as this is written. The ruble has lost 56 percent of its value since the beginning … Continue reading →

The Mint wants more time to come up with alternative compositions for U.S. coinage. Financially, it has that time. Thanks to rebounding quarter mintages, seigniorage profits to the Treasury are once again rising despite the losses taken on cent and nickel … Continue reading →

Congratulations to the Austrian Mint for winning the 2015 Coin of the Year Award. Word went out this morning via the Friday Edition of the Numismatic News e-newsletter that a gold 50-euro Austrian coin honoring painter Gustav Klimt was voted … Continue reading →

Price guides have always been popular. They help newcomers get a sense of values. They help longtime collectors keep generally abreast of market movements. However, whether they are retail price guides or wholesale price guides, they are not like stock … Continue reading →

I have taken the time to browse through the latest U.S. Mint sales catalog that arrived in my home mailbox recently. It is a holiday offering called “2014 Gift Ideas.” The cover shows photographs of the silver American Eagle, the … Continue reading →

The wait for a new record number of 2014 silver Eagle sales that I mentioned yesterday lasted only until the Mint posted its most recent sales figures. The current number is 42,864,000. Next week the Mint expects to run out … Continue reading →

It is the last month of the year and the U.S. Mint is about to run out of U.S silver American Eagle bullion coins. On Friday, the Mint notified its Authorized purchasers that it expects to run out of the … Continue reading →