By Coinweek Coin News Wire ….
Coin News Wire for February 16, 2018
Brain Food
Throughout his career, Lincoln would be guided by what he identified as the core purpose of a national bank: “No duty is more imperative on that government, than the duty it owes the people, of furnishing them a sound and uniform currency,” he said in 1839…
[T]the classic piggy bank evolved from the tale of “Pete the Pig,” the mascot of The American Missions to Lepers (now American Leprosy Missions). The story went that a farm boy in Kansas sold a pig he had raised for $25 and gave the money to the mission. In the 1910s, $25 was enough to pay for a full year of care for a leprosy patient. To capitalize on the feel-good story, the organization created “Pete the Pig” coin banks to distribute to Sunday schools as a way of collecting donations, distributing 11,000 of them by 1919…
3.) ‘Leprosy Coins’ and the Legacy of Stigma
In many quarantines, these coins were the only form of money that leprosy patients could access during their indefinite medical exiles. They were created with the intent to keep disease from spreading by restricting patients’ handling of money, which was inaccurately feared as “tainted” by leprosy, from the mainstream circulation. And, with their value rendered null beyond the walls of their respective compounds, these currencies also made it nearly impossible for desperate patients to escape…
Under the Radar
4.) Mongolia Issues Commemorative Coin for Year of Dog
The Bank of Mongolia, the country’s central bank, on Friday issued a silver coin to celebrate the traditional Chinese Year of the Dog. The commemorative coin depicts a Mongolian bankhar, a mastiff formerly kept by nomadic herders…
5.) David Chipperfield designs £5 coin to mark Royal Academy of Arts’ 250th anniversary
British architect David Chipperfield has designed a commemorative coin to mark 250 years since the opening of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
Chipperfield worked with British graphic designer John Morgan on the £5 coin, which depicts the institution’s home at Burlington House near Piccadilly…
Current Events
6.) Royal Mint continues commercial drive launching a coin valuation service… for a fee
This latest move follows other commercial ventures since the 1100-year-old institution … became a limited company. These include the launch of a bullion-trading website, a visitor centre at its headquarters in Glamorgan and a partnership with derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Last year it was also announced that as part of a five-year plan to grow its interest in the coin-collecting market, The Royal Mint has taken a share in Mayfair numismatic dealership Sovereign Rarities…
7.) Abe Lincoln was a great president — is that any reason to keep the coin that bears his image?
When the penny was first minted in 1787 (the first official U.S. currency) it was worth far more than the copper colored disk that routinely clogs dresser-top jars and ‘take-a-penny’ receptacles. So why do we still have it? The answer seems to involve more apathy and tradition than science…
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News Wire
8.) What Bitcoin Reveals About Financial Markets
The spectacular increase and recent plunge in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have raised concerns that the bursting of the Bitcoin bubble will cause financial markets to crash. They probably won’t, but the Bitcoin bubble should finally destroy our faith in the efficiency of markets…
9.) How Iceland became the bitcoin miners’ paradise
The island nation is the first to use more electricity on mining cryptocurriencies than on its households – thanks in part to its magma-fuelled power plants…
10.) China’s unwanted bitcoin miners may move to Canada
About 60% of all cryptocurrency mining takes place in China, according to a study last year by the University of Cambridge. The country is a good fit for the activity because of the cheap electricity and land available in provincial areas.
But the industry is feeling unwelcome these days…
11.) Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency: 8 Facts to Know Right Now
While different gold-backed cryptocurrencies have different modus operandi, on a broad scale, each coin is backed by a certain value of gold at launch.
For example, a gold-backed cryptocurrency called OneGram was backed by one gram of gold at its launch. Since then, each transaction of the gold-backed currency has generated a small fee, which has been reinvested in more gold. This has increased the amount of gold that backs the coin. Therefore, each coin has increased in real value over time…
12.) Arizona Moves One Step Closer to Accepting Bitcoin for Taxes
As previously reported by CoinDesk, last month a group of lawmakers submitted a bill that, if passed, would enable taxpayers to use bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in order to pay “tax and any interest and penalties” to the state’s Department of Revenue. The Department, in turn, would have 24 hours to convert those payments to U.S. dollars…
13.) One Day The World Will Thank Bitcoin For The Blockchain And True Data
It may prove to be the biggest invention we have ever seen; time to thank bitcoin for its innovation and genius, not just what it represents as a financial disruptor…
14.) ‘Humans Die. Cryptocurrencies Don’t’: Why You Should Begin Planning Your Estate Immediately
[Pamela] Morgan, who is currently authoring a complete estate-planning guide for cryptocurrency investors, has published a handy “Letter to Loved Ones” template that investors can use to help heirs, including those without experience using cryptocurrency, access these assets and, if desired, liquidate them…
15.) Republican Senate Candidate Accepts The Largest Single Bitcoin Donation in Federal Election History
However, this isn’t the first-time cryptocurrencies have made an appearance within the realm of campaign contributions. Rand Paul, during his somewhat pensive 2016 Presidential Campaign, accepted Bitcoin. Other congressional and Senate campaigns have also accepted Bitcoin, with Jared Polis in 2014 being the first congressional campaign to accept Bitcoin.
The Federal Election Commission has given guidance to voters, donors and campaign chiefs about the use of cryptocurrency assets – in a further move to help bolster their use within the campaign contribution arena of US politics…
Crime & Punishment News Wire
16.) Coin victims lose hope of seeing money
Victims who had their money stolen by former Rare Coin Company managing director Robert Jackman have been given no hope of their money being returned, despite restitution being ordered by Albany District Court last week…
17.) ND man charged with receiving stolen property
According to a criminal complaint, Engst was pulled over in Breckenridge, Minnesota, in the early morning hours of Sept. 28, 2017 because of an illegible and non-illuminated license plate. Two other occupants were in the vehicle, and the officer noticed a small wooden box on the floorboard near Engst’s feet. The defendant showed the officer the box, allegedly stating it contained his coin collection and that he had it in the vehicle because he wanted to show it off, the complaint states. The officer collects coins as a hobby and determined the coins in the box were not collectible and had only silver value…
18.) Police looking for suspects in theft of $4.5K in gold coins
Police are looking for two suspects accused of stealing around $4,500 in gold coins.
The Kettering Police Department says the two suspects went to Belmont Coin and Jewelry on January 12 around 4:00 p.m. where they allegedly stole the gold coins…
19.) Elderly woman says coin seller duped her into $1.3 million in purchases
An elderly Houston woman says an on-line coin seller based in New York took advantage of her loneliness to sell her $1.3 million in gold and silver coins at inflated prices.
Patricia Thomas, 72, sued the National Collector’s Mint in federal court in Houston…
A Kalgoorlie man who stole more than $200,000 worth of gold from a mine in Western Australia’s northern Goldfields has avoided an immediate jail term…
Banknote News
21.) Sierra Leone News: New bank notes to be introduced in 2021
At their annual Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) Governor’s Dinner, it was announced that in the celebration of the country’s 60th Independence anniversary in 2021, the bank plans to introduce redesigned bank notes. These notes will bear the image of Presidents spanning the last two decades in the following denomination of Le 5,000 which will bear the portrait of the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and the Le 10,000 will also bear the portrait of President Ernest Bai Koroma…
22.) Australia’s new $50 note unveiled by Reserve Bank
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Thursday unveiled the design for the new $50 note, which will be released into circulation in October.
As with the current design, the ‘pineapple’ features portraits of David Unaipon, an inventor and Australia’s first published Aboriginal author, and Edith Cowan, the first female member of an Australian parliament…
23.) Cash is Not Going Away, ECB Executive Says
Long live cash, at least according to European Central Bank executive board member Yves Mersch.
In a speech hosted by Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt, Germany, yesterday, Mersch noted that although cards and mobile payments are seeing plenty of proliferation across Europe, there is still no “viable alternative [to cash].”
24.) SARB to honour Mandela’s centenary with commemorative notes
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will launch commemorative banknotes to honour Nelson Mandela’s centenary, it said in a statement on Sunday.
Commemorative notes will be made for all existing banknotes, in addition to a new R5 coin which will be circulated by the South African Mint. The commemorative banknotes are expected to be circulated from July 18, the day of Mandela’s birth…
25.) Rs. 23,000 Crore Printed, But Didn’t Reach RBI Before Demonetisation
“How such entirely misleading figures were given by three different and highly responsible government institutions, who are the culprits indulging in the misappropriation, where the staggering amounts of currency notes printed are actually going, are some of the questions that arise, and the answers may come out when my petition is finally heard,” Roy said…
Metal Detecting, Treasure & Archaeology
26.) Indian workers held for not declaring British-era silver coin trove
A pot containing silver coins from the British era was found by labourers while they were digging the earth for construction of a house at Hareenahalli village in Periyapatna taluk…
27.) Hoard of 100 Roman coins and Bronze Age bracelets found in Devon
A hoard of almost 100 Roman coins and Bronze Age bracelets are among items which have [last] week been declared treasure after being found by detectorists in Devon…
Upcoming Auctions & Events
- Solidus Numismatik Premium Auction 26 – February 17
- Goldberg Auctioneers Pre-Long Beach Auction – February 18-21
- Davissons Auction 37 – February 21
- Leu Numismatik Web Auction 3 – February 25
- InAsta Auction 72 – February 27
- Stack’s Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction – February 28
- Anti-Counterfeit & Currency Expo – November 6-8
Just for Fun
28.) Review of Bangkok’s awesome coin deposit machine excites a million Thais
A useful review of a coin deposit machine from SCB has reached over 4 million views within days, with most netizens saying they didn’t even realize the machines had finally been installed in Bangkok.
Korakot Jinaya posted the review from Central Westgate as he put piles of coins worth nearly THB2,000 into the machine. They heavy coins made satisfying dropping sounds as they were tallied and deposited into his saving account.
“I think this machine really suits Thai people. That’s why the video has got many shares. Our ancestors have taught children to save money in a piggy bank. I was one of those children,” he said…
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