Readers’ Letters: November 25, 2025 Numismatic News
Readers weigh in with questions, comments, and collecting stories.
Fact Checking
As you know, I am employed by ICG. It’s a fact that the news we get from our various TV, print, and online sources affects what we believe to be true. This holds true for our numismatic sources. The internet, especially, is filled with both true, factual information and misinformation. Numismatic print media is more reliable. As a columnist myself, I am extremely careful about what I write. I don’t write about subjects I am ignorant about, as misinformation can foster both myths and disputes. Any conscious omission of facts also leads to ignorance, so I believe columnists should seek to inform their readers with the full story. If this is not done, over time, any falsehood or omission becomes accepted as the truth. I’ve seen this happen in the past, and it continues today. So here and now, I wish to inform anyone reading this that there have been FOUR major coin grading services for decades - NGC, PCGS, ICG, and ANACS. CACG can be considered the fifth. Any writer who is ignorant of this fact or refuses to acknowledge it in their writing is doing a disservice to our hobby/business.
F. Fazzari, Address withheld
Respect for the Dollar Coin
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the recently received 2025 Proof Sacajawea Gold Coin. I was very impressed with the quality of the coin and the deep mirror finish. It was outstanding.
I am likely one of the few people who still use dollar coins on a regular basis (SBA, Sacajawea, Presidential). I keep them in my vehicle for when I go through a fast-food drive-thru. I don’t have to dig in my pockets for dollar bills, and I also use them for tips.
Sometimes, the interaction is very interesting.
Occasionally, some younger people don’t really know what they are, and sometimes you hear people say, “I’m going to buy these,” before I’m even gone. And sometimes I add $0.50 pieces or $2 bills to the transaction.
In reflection...I’m sure that I am an O.M.U.O.M (Old Man Using Odd Money).
William (Bill) Bowers, Marion, Ohio
Collecting American Innovation Dollars
Several recent articles in NN have discussed American Innovation Dollars (AI$). The articles were of interest to me because I’ve been collecting AI$ as well as offering them for sale in NN classified ads. MS-70 dollars were mentioned a couple of times in the articles, as I recall. I was just wondering if anyone has actually seen an MS-70 American Innovation Dollar.
Since the series began in 2018, I have personally searched through a full bag of every issue. By now, that comes to more than 5,000 individual coins. To my eye, at least, none of them has approached MS-70. Because the AI$ is not being produced for Mint Sets, bags and rolls are the only source. Ergo, every one of the uncirculated AI$ being made has been in contact with one or more other coins. Contact marks are inevitable, and the large open field on the obverse of this coin seems to act like a magnet for them.
To verify my sense of the matter, I searched eBay listings for graded slabs. The highest grade listed there was MS-68. A close look at pictures of coins in these slabs indicated to me that they represented the absolute best of those I personally have ever seen. I think we’re looking at the highest grade available with the MS-68 American Innovation Dollar. The fact that MS-68 coins were priced at levels many multiples of what MS-67 coins were going for supports this idea.
It’s been a curiosity to me why the American Innovation Dollar hasn’t been more popular. My sales have not been as robust as one might expect. The coins are reasonably attractive, are being produced in fairly low mintages, usually under half a million, and a collection can still be put together at a very reasonable cost. But there are another seven years to go before the series ends, so perhaps collectors are wary of a long commitment.
Gregory Kipp, Windsor, Calif.
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