Times have changed and coins have, too. Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s was a different world than what exists in 2012. There was a plethora of local coin and stamp shops, vacant lots on what are now prime locations in a family and kid friendly atmosphere. Continue reading →

F. Michael Fazzari’s “Making the Grade” column in the Oct. 2 issue of Numismatic News mentioned that Independent Coin Grading has begun using both the RB (Red/Brown) and BR (Brown/Red) designations to grade the color of copper coins. Continue reading →

I, too, found the idea of a commemorative coin being struck with proceeds going to Major League Baseball (can I even say those words in a letter to the editor without paying MLB a royalty?) to be about the most offensive thing I’ve learned about in a long time. Continue reading →

I could not possibly disagree with you more. The U.S. Mint in recent years has done as much as it could to drive me away from collecting. All I collect anymore are commemoratives and Presidential dollars. Continue reading →

In the world of philately (stamp collecting and study), First Day Covers (FDCs) are very collectible items. There are several organizations and groups in the stamp collecting world dedicated entirely to this area. Continue reading →

Being a member of the Carson City Coin Collectors of America is very educational and interesting for many numismatists. Rusty Goe is the president of CCCCOA and editor of Curry’s Chronicle, a journal published three times a year. Membership is only $30 per year, or $600 for lifetime membership if one lives in the USA. Continue reading →

The earth, home to everybody who has ever lived, has one less penny, or more correctly one less one cent piece, that will never be recovered or brought back to this beautiful blue marble. That is because that penny now lies on the surface of the fourth planet, Mars! Continue reading →

The Michigan State Numismatic Society was confronted with an extraordinary crisis this past spring and summer. It was publicly announced in the state-wide Detroit newspapers that the hotel management where we have held our fall convention and coin show since 1976 would be ending Oct. 1, 2012. Continue reading →

The debate, primarily within the collector community about dealers leaving shows before closing time on the last official show day, continues from the time I became involved in promoting Houston’s Money Show of the Southwest over a decade ago. Continue reading →

If history is any guide, there isn’t a lot of logic about what the U.S. Mint includes or excludes from its sets. When mint sets started in 1947, it included one of each coin produced by each mint. Continue reading →