By Coinweek ….
CoinWeek News Wire for January 13, 2017
Brain Food
1.) Collector has passion for ancient coins
Borland turns to the register and takes out a handful of quarters.
“See this?” he says. “That’s not money.”
He drops the coins back in the register.
“They’re tokens,” he says. “I know what money is, and we haven’t had any since they stopped putting anything valuable in coins. They haven’t made anything worth collecting in 50 years. No silver, no gold. It has no intrinsic value. Tokens.”
2.) How To Buy Bitcoin Anywhere in The World (Ultimate Guide)
Maybe you heard about this crazy cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The future of money, the revolution of payment, the digital gold, slayer of capital controls, holy grail of Fintech. Now you maybe want to know more. The best way to learn is just to try it. Buy a bitcoin, pay with it, store it in your digital wallet, watch the price rise or go down. But where can you buy it? And how?…
3.) Utah artist tapped for design as US Mint celebrates its 225th anniversary
Justin Kunz has experience in all sorts of artistic platforms.
Kunz, currently an assistant professor of illustration in the department of design at BYU and a Lindon resident, has a past of traditional painting, where he has focused on classical realist and religious design. He also worked 11 years in the video game industry, including more than five years helping designs for “World of Warcraft” games.
Designing coins, though? “I was always interested in historical subjects,” he said, and designing coins gives him an opportunity he typically doesn’t get…
Coins & Kids
4.) Margarash, the coin boogieman, puts a clever, modern twist on a classic folktale storyline
Deep down beneath the couch cushions, past the crumbs and pocket lint, lying in wait for loose change, lurks…Margarash! Mark Riddle’s titular character is a boogieman turned buddy in this sweet, silly, and just scary-enough picture book that follows Collin, a young coin collector, into the couch crack netherworld where Margarash lives…
Just for Fun
5.) Jack’s Journal: Coin Cut Art
His dad taught him back in the mid ‘80s while growing up on Beaver Island. He is always answering the number one question.
“It’s always a rumor that it’s illegal to destroy money. I have to answer a lot of questions about that,” says Jeremy Barrett.
So, what’s the answer?
6.) Starbucks’ Limited Edition Coin Pouch Sells Out in Five Days
According to Starbucks, pictures of the coin pouches used for other purposes, like carrying earphones or real coins, went viral … which led to their sudden popularity, and an immediate sell-out of the products…
7.) Antiques Roadshow audience in SHOCK as Maundy money coins are valued at £80,000
THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW audience was left shocked last night as a late father’s collection of coins was valued at between £60,000 to £80,000.
The coins, kept in two cabinets, were given by the monarch to the poor on Maundy Thursday from around the time of Charles II and are known as Maundy money…
Current Events
8.) New name in coins market after Baldwin’s splits dealing and auction business
Baldwin’s of St James’s, launched at the current The New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC), brings the auction business of numismatists AH Baldwin & Sons and St James’s Auctions together…
Crime & Punishment
9.) NCIC Crime Bulletin
From the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC):
Hotel Room Theft
Detectives with the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department are investigating a hotel room burglary that resulted in the loss of coins valued at over $40,000 USD. The victim was a collector attending the recent FUN coin show.
To review a list of the stolen coins, click here.
* * *
Contact the NCIC’s Doug Davis if you have information about the case above. Please call Doug at (817) 723-7231 or email him at [email protected].
The Numismatic Crime Information Center is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation. P.O. Box 14080 Arlington, Texas 76094.
10.) Nobel theft case: CID questions Bihar criminals
The Nobel medal and the citation, won by [Rabindranath] Tagore in 1913, were stolen from Visva Bharati University’s museum…
11.) Men sentenced in attempted coin shop robbery
Two men who tried to rob a Superior coin shop while armed with a knife have been sentenced in Douglas County Circuit Court. One was sentenced to four years on probation and 26 days in jail. The other will spend six years in prison, three of them for the robbery attempt…
12.) COIN-SNATCHING: Shop owner thwarts theft, police say
Police say an Oneonta business owner thwarted a theft of $1,500 in coins Tuesday, resulting in an arrest.
Timothy E. Arnold, 47, was taken into custody by Oneonta police after the confrontation at Christopher’s Coins on Main Street in Oneonta. Police said they were alerted around 10:30 a.m. about a disturbance at the business…
13.) Beachcomber in Galveston finds foreign coins believed stolen
Days before, a man on a Galveston Facebook group posted that his apartment had been burgled. Among the loot the burglar took was a TV, guns and a foreign coin collection.
Longworth then made the connection to the man who had been burgled, Peter Grasso, 64, of Galveston. When Longworth visited with Grasso, he identified several of the coins as his…
Banknote News
14.) Bahrain introduces new features to banknotes
From a January 11 press release:
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announced today that it will be issuing the BD5, BD1 and BD1/2 denominations of the fourth issue of the Bahraini dinar, with a change in the position and size of the identification feature for the visually impaired.
The new feature is a series of short raised lines on the right of the front side of the banknotes, which indicate the value of the note. The BD1/2 has one line, BD1 has two lines and BD5 has three lines.
It is also worth noting that the Central Bank of Bahrain has previously changed the position and size of the identification feature for the BD20 and BD10 denominations in September 2016.
15.) Indonesia Confirms No ‘Hammer and Sickle’ in New Banknotes
“The image that was perceived as a ‘hammer and sickle’ symbol by a number of people is actually a BI [Bank Indonesia] logo that was cut diagonally, which formed an abstract ornament,” Agus said on Tuesday, January 10, 2017…
Treasure & Archaeology
16.) Public asked to solve mystery of gold coin hoard hidden in antique piano
Sources said the coins might be the ill-gotten gains from a robbery, hastily hidden until the “heat was off”, in which case they could become property of the Crown.
If they are deemed Treasure, due to their gold status and a clear intention that they had been concealed for future recovery, then a possible claimant can override the claim of the Crown…
Medals, Tokens & Exonumia
17.) Attorney General Brad Schimel drops $10,000 on commemorative coins
Attorney General Brad Schimel is really proud of the motto he coined for his agency:
“Kicking Ass Every Day” — or KAED, as he likes to sign off his emails to staff.
So impressed is Schimel with his mildly crude, get-tough motto that he ordered 2,000 challenge coins with the acronym on them. Records show the state Department of Justice paid nearly $10,000 in taxpayer dollars — $4.75 each, plus other costs — to Lexington Metal Products Corp. in Lithia, Fla., for two shipments of the commemorative coins.
It was an odd expenditure by an official who is often complaining about his lack of funds…
Upcoming Auctions & Events
- Stack’s Bowers 2017 NYINC Auction – January 12-14
- Dr. Reinhard Fischer Auction 154 – January 14
- Kolbe & Fanning New York Numismatic Literature Auction – January 14
- Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) Electronic Auction 389 – January 18
- Stephen Album Rare Coins Auction 27 – Dr. Paul Stevens Collection of Indian Coins, Part VI – January 19-22
- Naville Numismatics Live Auction 28 – closes January 22
- Nomisma Auction 17 – January 24
- Numismatics Felsinea Correspondence Auction 5 – February 1
- Laser Invest Public Live & Correspondence Auction 163 – February 4
- Effigy Mounds National Monument Quarter Launch – February 7
- Bertolami Fine Arts E-Auction 39 – February 15
- Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger Auctions 325-327 – February 15-17
World of the Weird
18.) Coin-offering visitors wish big on smaller tuna at Hyogo shrine
Nishinomiyajinja is the head shrine of those dedicated to the Shinto god Ebisu, the bringer of prosperity. At the start of a new year, the shrine has conducted an annual practice of displaying a large bluefin tuna on its offering box.
Visitors placed coins on the fish body on Jan. 8 as a gesture wishing for prosperity…
19.) Mystery Behind The Coins Inside Apple MacBooks — Did Apple Put It There?
If you are low on change then you might consider opening up your old Apple MacBook. You might find a penny or some other coin inside the plastic seal of the SuperDrive…
20.) Where money grows on trees: Story of Scotland’s wishing coin trunks
The clearing unveils Ossian’s Hall to the intrepid explorer, itself mysterious and full of surprises, and just past it a crashing waterfall transforms into foam on the black rocks below.
Yet, it is a small felled fir that has been attracting visitors to the National Trust for Scotland site for the past five years, a small wishing tree hammered with dulled pennies in exchange for good health.
“It’s very much in keeping with the original 18th century philosophy whereby you would come across things by surprise,” explains Ben Notley, property manager for the National Trust…
* * *
Follow CoinWeek on 
and 
— Subscribe to CoinWeek’s YouTube channel.
American Gold Eagles Currently Available on eBay
[wpebayads]
