CoinWeek News Wire for May 26, 2017

May 26, 2017

CoinWeek Coin News News Wire

By Coinweek ….

CoinWeek News Wire for May 26, 2017

Brain Food

1.) How Learning to Love Coins Made the Vikings Modern

The Vikings originally traded with precious metals by weight, known as a “bullion economy.” They accepted coins from other nations, but only as their weight value in gold or silver. As the Vikings settled into England, they began minting coins of their own…

2.) Machines that turn cents into souvenirs date to 1893

Elongated cents first appeared at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. From that time forward it seemed every major exposition and fair had a vendor who offered a design that was a souvenir of that event, and the designs became more elaborate as time went on with renditions of some of the prominent buildings at the event…

Current Events

3.) Scammers faking ‘error’ £1 coins

Unscrupulous scammers are attempting to fake ‘error’ versions of the new 12-sided pound coins and sell them for inflated sums on eBay.

In some cases, all or part of the centre silver area is missing from the coin, in others, the queen’s head is on the wrong side, or else blank and shiny. Sellers are asking anywhere from £3.50 up to £20 for these coins…

4.) New Coin Issued to Mark 25th Anniversary of Croatia Joining the UN

The Croatian National Bank (HNB) have issued new commemorative 25 kuna coins on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Croatia being accepted into the United Nations.

A total of 20,000 new coins, which were designed by sculptor Damir Mataušić, were put into circulation on Monday 22 May 2017…

5.) ANS returns rare historic coins to Salzburg Museum 70 years after they were looted

Towards the end of the Second World War, around 4,000 historic coins were removed from what was then called the Salzburger Museum Carolino-Augusteum, packed in a chest and stashed in a salt mine in nearby Hallein. In May 1945, in the chaotic aftermath of the war, rumours of plunder in Hallein circulated. In June 1945, US military authorities took custody of the coins.

But when the Monuments Men returned the coin hoard to the museum in 1946, around 2,600 pieces were missing. Some were recovered from private individuals including US military personnel in the years after the war, but in 1955, almost 2,500 had still not resurfaced…

Change in Africa

6.) Ghana: Who’s Keeping ‘Little’ Coins?

A recent directive by the central bank to the banking community to release lower-denomination coins onto the market seems not to have been complied with yet…

7.) Nigerian Senate wants lower Naira notes changed to coins

The Central Bank of Nigeria should convert the country’s lower currency notes into coins to facilitate “highly repetitive” retail transactions, the Senate said Tuesday.

The advice came after a Senator spoke on the implications of rejection of the existing coin denominations for the economy…

Under the Radar

8.) Feel the Lions roar with a commemorative stamp and coin

New Zealand Post is celebrating The British & Irish Lions Tour 2017 with an official stamp and coin release. As well as the stamps, New Zealand Post is issuing two limited edition collectable coins, which will be of particular interest to rugby fans. The 1oz silver proof coin is limited to just 1,000 worldwide…

9.) Czech bank’s coin marks 75 years since WW2 Anthropoid operation

The Czech National Bank (CNB) has issued a silver commemorative coin to mark 75 years since the Anthropoid operation within which Czechoslovak paratroopers attacked and fatally injured Reinhard Heydrich, one of the highest-ranking Nazi officers, in Prague, the CNB announced on its website yesterday.

Its author is Irena Hradecka. The obverse side shows the rear of Heydrich’s car damaged by a bomb thrown at it in the May 27, 1942 attack carried out by Jan Kubis and Jozef Gabcik.

The reverse side shows a window and a wall of the crypt of Prague’s Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, where members of the Anthropoid group of paratroopers died after being revealed by the Nazis…

10.) Commemorative Taiwanese coins of Tsai and Chen sell out in first year

Coins commemorating the inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) sold out in the first year, setting a record, the Bank of Taiwan said on Friday…

11.) Fairy Tale Coin II. Hedgehog’s Coat voted in as Latvia’s Coin of the Year 2016

It is the second coin in a special Fairy Tale Coin Series which is dedicated to the Latvian folk tales; the first coin issued within this series was “Five Cats“, minted in 2015 to immediately win both fame and Coin of the Year 2015 Award.

The author of the winning coin’s graphic design is Gundega Muzikante, while the plaster model was made by Ligita Franckeviča…

12.) Silver Superman coins prove to be kryptonite to Royal Canadian Mint’s bottom line

Superman, Bugs Bunny, the starship Enterprise and other catchy images on the coins attracted hundreds of thousands of coin collectors and investors, and fattened revenues at the Crown corporation. More than 4.2 million such coins have been struck to date.

But the price of silver has fallen dramatically in the five years since, and Canadians are returning the coins by the truckload, protected from the fall in silver prices by that fixed $20 face value which the mint must pay back on request.

Stung by the massive returns, the mint abruptly ended its so-called Face Value collectible coin business earlier this year, and has taken a big hit on its balance sheet…

Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency & Digital Currency

13.) 3 Reasons Why Bitcoin Broke $2,000

The digital currency bitcoin is on another remarkable run, soaring nearly 65% in the last month, and smashing the symbolic $2,000 mark for the first time ever this week. Bitcoin has gone on tears in the past, but never quite like this…

14.) IRS Probe of Bitcoin Goes Too Far, GOP Warns

A closely-watched fight between the Internal Revenue Service and a popular bitcoin exchange took a new twist last week, as senior Republicans in Congress sent a sharply-worded letter that suggests the tax agency is overstepping its powers…

15.) Fidelity Admits It’s Got A Massive Bitcoin Mining Operation

Fidelity has also set up a bank of computers built by 21 Inc that can crunch complex algorithms to be rewarded with bitcoin. Johnson also added that Fidelity now allows employee to pay for lunch with bitcoin at the cafeteria in its Boston headquarters…

16.) Bitcoin May Have The Most Incredible Price Chart In History

What is the most amazing thing about cryptocurrencies? Nobody has any idea where the limit is of its value. All other markets work differently. They have a point where it becomes overvalued. What is overvaluation in Bitcoin?

17.) Microsoft Accuses Chinese Coin Farmer of Hacking XBox Accounts

Microsoft has taken legal action against one Chinese company it feels it flagrantly and deliberately hacking their users accounts specifically for the use of stealing online currency. This is particularly targeting what they feel is deliberately hacking X-Box accounts to achieve this. If successful, this would represent the first major instance of online currency fraud being tackled. It would also ensure that your gaming accounts could be better protected in the future. This is a step that many victims would welcome.

So next time you think you could do with a little more gaming cash, maybe just take a minute to think about where it comes from.

Crime & Punishment

18.) Meet the ‘Coin Artist:’ On the shadowy trail of Angelina Lazar

The former head of an elusive Las Vegas-based international investment concern called Charismatic Exchange, Inc. is scheduled to appear Monday in Alexandria before U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady as part of a plea agreement in connection with a once-lucrative Ponzi fraud scheme that took place from May 2005 to February 2007. Lazar was indicted in April 2009 on four counts of wire fraud…

19.) Police appeal after rare Royal Mint coins stolen from home in Bridgwater

The coins, which are estimated to be worth £1,000 each, were taken between 2.30-4.45pm on 3 May when entry was forced into a property in Wembdon Road in Bridgwater.

According to Avon and Somerset Police, the sets were a Royal Mint Roman Coin set and Royal Mint King Arthur coin set…

Banknote News

20.) Jane Austen Airbrushed on New £10 Notes, Say Campaigners

The polymer note, which was unveiled in July, features a portrait of a sweet-looking, plump-cheeked Austen wearing a lace bonnet, reports The Sunday Times. The image was created in 1817 after the writer had died and was commissioned from a sketch by Austen’s sister, Cassandra, in which the novelist looks shrew and cross.

“They presumably said to the artist, make it look prettier,” said Austen biographer Paula Byrne. “It is like doctoring a selfie by a celebrity. It is such a shame because that demure image is just not Austen.”

21.) Bank of Albania presents “Interesting facts from the Treasury: Art in Albanian Banknotes” on Museum Day

On 18 May 2017, on the occasion of the International Museum Day, the Museum of the Bank of Albania organized an activity to present: “Interesting facts from the Treasury: Art in Albanian Banknotes”. Every year, on and around this date, museums across the world celebrate a specific theme with the common goal of promoting the national history and culture. In 2017, the theme chosen from all the museums was: “Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums.”

Gold, Precious Metals & Bullion

22.) Moves to boost value of platinum under way

As the Krugerrand, the world’s most popular collectible gold coin, celebrated its 50th anniversary last week, Anglo American Platinum chief executive Chris Griffith revealed that the industry was planning to lobby the government to use platinum as a reserve currency and produce a platinum coin…

23.) SA Mint should review Mandela coin plans after Royal Mint blazes new platinum coin trail

One senses that a coin made from African platinum and bearing the image of the late, great Nelson Mandela could be a winner if given the correct marketing thrust…

Treasure & Archaeology

24.) Teen discovers 18th century Russian coin on Pictou County beach

Coins most often end up on a beach when people are carrying them in their pocket and changing to swim … It’s possible someone was visiting from Russia or had visited and gave the coin to someone in Pictou County. Given the age of the coin, it’s also possible it came from a ship that sank in the area or was passing through the area and someone dropped it. There’s a place near the Abercrombie beach on the East River, which is a tidal river, where coal ships were loaded many years ago…

25.) Diver Finds 17th Century Gold Coin Worth $17,000 in Moscow River

The coin turned out to be a gold ugorsky chervonets minted during the reign of Russian Tsar Boris Godunov (1598-1605), TV channel Moscow 360 reports. Such coins weren’t used as currency but were issued as a reward for martial valor. It is considered extremely rare, as only six such coins have been found to date, and may be worth over $17,000 [USD]…