Well, the rats have been cleaned out of the Old San Francisco Mint. No, these weren’t disreputable people. Rather, they were real rats, according to a report datelined Feb. 18 from the San Francisco Chronicle by Anastasia Ustinova.Ustinova quotes Erik … Continue reading →

I’m back from my trip to Minneapolis and the opening of the Anders Zorn (see prior posting for details) at the Swedish American Institute. It was fun, and I was able to snap shots that will come in handy in … Continue reading →

February should prove to be a busy and fun month for me. On Feb. 5 I head to Minneapolis for the opening of an art exhibit titled “From Peasants to Presidents: Sweden’s Greatest Etcher” and later that month my wife … Continue reading →

Much of my collecting lately focuses on drafts, checks, receipts, etc., related to the Comstock Lode, in Virginia City, Nev., and the Bank of California. Although I have acquired items of value pertaining to famous personages active on the Comstock … Continue reading →

With silver above $14 an ounce, it is a good time to check any old coins you may have lying about. Most people know that even common-date dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 and prior have most of their … Continue reading →

Next year, when the state quarter program ends, the plan is for the quarter’s reverse to revert to showing an eagle, as it had prior to 1999. That’s not a bad thing. Though Benjamin Franklin argued for adopting the turkey … Continue reading →

Have you ever seen 1 million silver dollars? It was long before I began collecting coins, but the tale of the Million Silver Dollar Exhibit at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair is fascinating nonetheless. Three Washington numismatists were behind bringing … Continue reading →

Today everyone wants ultra-grade coins. Many of those who buy directly from the U.S. Mint quickly send off these coins to one of the third-party grading services to see if they can score a coin in a high mint state … Continue reading →

It was once suggested that I write a book on coinage measures that were proposed but didn’t pass into law. It would have been a mammoth and likely tedious process and probably of dubious worth. However, it’s sometimes fun to … Continue reading →

OK. So the tune on one side of a 45 r.p.m. record I own may not rise to the level of George Harrison’s “My Guitar Gently Weeps” as a musical composition. And, even though it does feature a guitar, I … Continue reading →