Royal Mint Unveil New £5 Coin To Celebrate Princess' Birth!

The Royal Mint has unveiled the new £5 coin which was designed in celebration of  the new Princess of Cambridge's birth. 

 Royal Mint To Unveil New £5 Coin To Celebrate Princess' Birth!

A total of 500 gold coins and 9,500 silver coins will be produced to commemorate the arrival of the baby daughter of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, née Kate Middleton.

The Princess of Cambridge was born on 2 May 2015

The coins have a royal seal of approval from the Queen - who approved the decision during a meeting of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace on 19 March - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Chancellor.

John Bergdahl has designed the limited-edition pieces, and he was also the artist behind the commemorative coins which were minted for Prince George's birth in 2013.

The royal couple are expected to announce the Princess' name on Monday

The Royal Mint's Shane Bissett said: "It is only fitting that we commemorate this new addition to the Royal Family with the release of a special coin, just as we celebrated the arrival of Prince George."

When George arrived in July 2013, The Royal Mint produced 10,000 solid silver crown-sized £5 coins – which cost £80 each – and 2,013 22 carat gold sovereigns, priced at £800 each.

Both coins, which featured the newborn's namesake St George, were sold out within days.

In addition to the £5 coin, the Royal Mint has also produced 2015 silver pennies which will be given to babies born on the same day as the Princess.

Babies born on the same day as Prince George were also given their own royal gift in the form of a lucky silver coin. 

The Royal Mint struck a total of 2,013 silver coins and presented them, free of charge, to the tots who shared George's birthday. Depending on the sex of the child, the coin was delivered in a pink or blue pouch.

The royal couple are yet to reveal the name of their baby daughter, but it is expected to happen after the Queen is introduced to the Princess on Monday at Anmer Hall, William and Kate's official country residence.

http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2015050425021/royal-mint-new-coin-princess-cambridge/

The Psychology Of Coin Collecting!

What does psychology have to do with coin collecting?

Collectors have one distinct advantage over non-collectors. The hobby of coin collecting–and it is a hobby, pure and simple, not an “industry” or “market”–adds an extra dimension to the collector’s life, a safe and enjoyable retreat from the stress and pressure of everyday living. The hobby is a tonic that cures the daily ills and tensions. Numismatics is the magic carpet ride.

Some good quiet time with numismatic books, reading, studying or researching some interesting topic can also provide the relaxation and escape one often needs after a tough day at the office or factory.

It’s no wonder then why, when so many psychologists and other medical professionals suggest taking up a hobby, coin and stamp collecting traditionally head the list.

It’s not just sitting at home in an easy chair, being a loner. That’s OK some of the time. The real enjoyment and stress-reducer is in active participation in the hobby–and coin clubs fit the prescription very nicely. Coin collectors tend to want to enjoy their pursuit with a circle of friends. Psychologists call this a “support group”. 

Down the road I’ll talk about coin shows and conventions and how they replace the cares and woes of daily life. It’s all about having a worthwhile pursuit. Can one imagine any better hobby than numismatics?

One of the characteristics of many collectors, their “psychology” if you will, is that they suffer from the disease of “complete-itis”. Sound familiar? “I must complete this set as soon as possible”, or “Let me buy that complete set now”. 

There are other examples but these serve the point. To my way of thinking at least, who says that you have to have a complete date set or a complete anything? 

If so, you are afflicted with complete-itis. In my humble opinion it is more enjoyable to methodically seek one or two examples at any given time in whatever series or denomination that you’ve decided to collect. 

The important words here are “that you have decided to collect”. Don’t allow your psyche to be swayed by the mind-set of others.

In other words, don’t let them be your coin psychologist. The decision on how and what to collect is strictly your own.

Cycles in the coin hobby are also affected by their psychological movements. For example, one year everyone is scrambling for silver dollars. Next year they fall out of favour and large cents take hold. Then it’s off to something else, only to have the cycles eventually repeat themselves. 

Believe me, as an “old-timer” in the hobby I’ve seen them come and go, come and go, come and go… Well, you get the point. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by cyclical movements. Those jumping on today’s hot bandwagon will most likely fall off when that same wagon becomes cold.

Another point to remember is that most coin cycles are started by self-styled promoters and their flashy advertisements. The promoted item is usually one in ready supply: proof sets, rolls of coins, modern silver dollars and the like. “I’d rather buy your X at a high price rather than sell you my X at a low price”. 

The bait has been set. The next ad proclaims that “we are out of X and must buy yours”. The fat is in the fire. This goes on for a week or two and then the sell ad appears stating that “X is available once again but we had to pay top dollar and have adjusted our selling price accordingly”. 

What you were not told was that this dealer had a large supply of X on hand before the promotion began and wanted to raise the selling price to make more profit. What was it that P.T. Barnum once said about being born every minute?

Beware of rising (cyclical) markets, especially those on a fast track steered by a flashy promoter. Usually what goes up too quickly will tumble down just as quickly if not more so.

The veteran collector of course looks at situations like this from a different perspective than that of the neophyte. This may be termed the psychology of experience. Noted old-time dealer Wayte Raymond once remarked “The best investment in numismatics is knowledge”. 

We can also offer the sage advice given by noted financier Bernard Baruch. To paraphrase this into numismatics, he said that the time to buy is when other collectors are selling and the time to sell is when the collectors are buying. 

In essence, many collectors are trapped by a cyclical situation and trip over themselves in an effort to buy before prices go “through the roof”. The seasoned collector has seen this situation many times and knows that now is the time to sell before the price level reaches the top and begins to descend. 

The new or unwary collector is doomed to be trapped into the follow-the-sheep psychology unless this vital lesson is learned early on.

I’d like to quote another old-timer.

Lee F. Hewitt, former publisher of The Numismatic Scrapbook magazine was fond of saying that “there is no Santa Claus in numismatics”. These are words to consider if you ever feel trapped by someone making an offer that sounds too good to be true. 

We can call this the “gift horse” psychology. When something sounds too good to be true it invariably is too good to be true. I remember being offered a 1916-D Mercury dime years ago for a price that was well below advertised buying prices for that particular grade. 

Naturally a light bulb went off in this gray-haired brain. My first thought was why is he offering this to me at a lower price than he can easily obtain elsewhere? Curious, I picked up the phone and was told that he knew of me and wanted to give me a little bit of a price break. 

By this time I knew I wasn’t going to buy the coin but replied that he should send it along and that if I didn’t purchase it the only loss would be a few dollars to each of us for postage and insurance expenses. You guessed it! The coin featured an added “D” mint mark. 

I photographed the coin and sent it along to the publisher of the periodical in which the ad appeared. I mentioned this to the so-called dealer. His reply was that anyone can make a mistake. Hmmm.

A final psychology lesson is offered. Have fun and try to share that fun with others.

Until next time, stay well and enjoy your hobby.

http://www.coinweek.com/opinion/psychology-coin-collecting/

Ships On Ancient Coins!

BY THE SIXTH CENTURY BCE, when coinage came into wide use in the Mediterranean world, ships had evolved to a high technical level. Most ships on ancient coins are rowing galleys: big, fragile racing shells designed for ramming. 

Rowers were free citizens, often highly trained athletes. Hollywood, as usual with history, gets it wrong; galley slaves were a medieval innovation rarely employed in the ancient world. Cargo ships, which relied more on sails, were not symbols of power and appear on coins less often.

Greeks
"We live around the shores of the sea like frogs around a pond,” said the philosopher Plato[1] (c. 424-347 BCE). 

Considering the importance of maritime trade and conflict in ancient Greece, it is surprising how few ships appear on archaic (before 500 BCE) and classical (500 – 336 BCE) Greek coins. We hardly ever see a whole ship, usually only the prow (the bow section, with the ram) or the stern (where the steersman sat).

Greek Early Ship

Mariners are famously superstitious–was it bad luck to depict an entire ship? Probably not, since vase paintings of this era often show complete vessels. 

More likely it was simply too difficult for die cutters to engrave so many oars. Even a small warship (the pentekonter) had 25 oars per side, while the standard war vessel (the trireme) had 85 oars per side, packed in three tiers.

Phaselis, established about 700 BCE on the south coast of Lycia in Asia Minor, may have been the first Greek city to use a ship as its emblem on coins. 

The obverse of a rare silver tetrobol (c. 500 – 440 BCE) shows the bow of a ship (in the form of a boar) while the reverse shows the graceful upward sweep of the stern. 

Two centuries later, on a handsome silver stater, the style is more refined, but the imagery is the same (Coinage is conservative!). Note the prominent “eyes,” which were carved from marble, painted, and attached to the bow. Greeks believed these eyes gave the vessel a living spirit and helped it to find its way (Carlson, 359).

Zancle (now Messina, Sicily), founded as a Greek colony in the eighth century BCE, was another early user of the ship’s prow on coinage. A tetradrachm of about 494 BCE shows a samaina, a distinctive type of warship developed by the island of Samos.

In the Hellenistic era (336-146 BCE) ships appear more frequently on Greek coins. Demetrius I of Macedon (who ruled 301-283) issued handsome silver tetradrachms to celebrate his naval victories. 

On the obverse, Nike (winged goddess of victory) stands on a platform at the richly decorated prow of a galley, blowing a trumpet. She holds a ship’s mast, symbolic of sea power. 

On the reverse, Poseidon is about to hurl his trident. Thanks to a hoard of high-grade examples that reached the market in the 1990s, such magnificent coins typically sell for about US$5000.

http://www.coinweek.com/ancient-coins/ships-on-ancient-coins/

Dissing The Dollar! - Downtown Kingston Wholesalers Reject $1 coins

Several wholesalers in downtown Kingston are rejecting $1 coins as payment for goods, declaring the legal tender unacceptable in their facilities.

"Go throw them weh; nobody no want them," declared one wholesale operator on East Queen Street when a member of our news attempted to pay 35 $1 coins for an item.

 

Downtown Kingston Jamaica

"I don't owe you any explanations," growled the woman of Asian descent when asked for an explanation as to why she would not accept the coins.

It was a similar story for more than half the other wholesales in the business district as they declined the dollar as payment for items valuing between $35 and $40.

One worker in a wholesaler declared that her boss had a policy that he does not take $1 coins. "No, sah. Him not taking it," the woman said while pointing to a man seeming of Asian descent.

 

Bank of Jamaica $1 Dollar Coins

He ignored The Sunday Gleaner's query as to why he does not accept $1 coins.

One person who was in the wholesaler at the time charged that the operators, who are mainly Chinese, do not want to accept the coins because "them don't want to bank them money so them no want the heavy silver (coins)".

Under the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Act, coins are legal tender of payment of an amount not exceeding the face value of a maximum of 50 coins in any combination of denominations.

Last week, the BOJ reiterated that "coins are a legitimate means of settling small transactions and are, by law, legal tender for payment".

According to the BOJ, it stands ready to exchange coins for notes whenever persons accumulate more coins than they deem necessary to keep for daily transactions.

"And we redeem coins for merchants and individuals on a regular basis. We will continue to inform the public as to the provisions of the law with respect to legal tender, and stand ready to facilitate the issue and redemption of notes and coins as demanded by the public," said the BOJ in response to The Sunday Gleaner queries.

However, the BOJ pointed out that not being a law enforcement agency, it is not able to compel business operators to accept the various denominations.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20150419/dissing-dollar-downtown-kingston-wholesales-reject-1-coins

Memorabilia For Birth Of Royal Baby!

The Royal Collection Trust is to issue an official range of commemorative china. The designs will not be unveiled until after the birth and confirmation of the baby's sex and production is not likely to be completed until after the baby has been named.

For George in July 2013, the Royal Collection produced items including a pillbox (£30), a small loving cup (£39), a dessert plate (£45) and a limited-edition loving cup (£195).

They featured a design of scrolls incorporating George's name and birth date, with the lion and unicorn from the Royal Arms supporting William and Kate's coronet, surrounded by oak leaves from the Middleton coat of arms.

Emma Bridgewater confirmed it will issue a commemorative mug, with work set to start as soon as an official birth announcement is made.

Kate has her own connection to the company, having visited its factory in Stoke-on-Trent to see a charity mug she helped design for East Anglia Children's Hospices.

Staffordshire potteries historically mark royal events. Hours after George's name was confirmed, Emma Bridgewater produced a "Hooray for George" half-pint mug with blue print including a heart emblem. The new royal baby's mug will be in a similar vein, a spokeswoman for the firm said.

The Royal Mint will produce a £5 coin in celebration after the Queen - the baby's great-grandmother - approved the decision at a meeting of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace on March 19.

Babies born on the same day as the royal baby will also be eligible to receive one of 2,015 free "lucky" silver pennies.

Parents of newborns who share a birthday with the new prince or princess will have to register the birth of their child on the Royal Mint's Facebook page to receive the commemorative gift.

The silver coin will be minted with the one penny's Royal Shield design and the new effigy of the Queen, which was unveiled in March. It will be presented in a white box tied with a purple ribbon and featuring the image of a silver carousel horse.

Thousands of commemorative coins were struck to celebrate the arrival of George and sold out within days.

The Royal Mint produced 10,000 solid silver crown-sized £5 coins, which cost £80 each, and 2,013 22-carat gold sovereigns, which cost £800 each. Both featured the prince's namesake St George.

Babies born on the same day as George were also eligible to receive one of 2,013 free silver pennies.

When George turned one, the occasion was also marked by a commemorative £5 coin, making him the first member of the royal family to have his first birthday honoured with a new UK coin. His christening was also marked with a coin.

The Isle of Man Post Office marked George's arrival with a £1 stamp.

The Highgrove Shop - profits from which go to the Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation - already sells organic baby balm for £24.95, a Highgrove baby bear for £34.95 and a "happy and glorious" baby blanket, featuring guards in red tunics and bearskin hats, priced at £94.95.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3039601/Memorabilia-birth-royal-baby.html

Why Are NGC Certified Coins In “Old Holders” In Such Demand?

Many of the early graded NGC coins are highly sought after by dealers and collectors. During the recent Baltimore show, one of the dealers had on display an example of the infamous “Black NGC” holders. 

The holders date from the very beginnings of NGC in November of 1987. I have been told that NGC only produced a few hundred coins with the black inserts. 

 Early Graded NGC Black Holder Coins

Apparently, bright silver coins and gold looked great in the holders, but darkly toned coins practically disappeared.

Today, these original NGC black holder coins are extremely collectible in their own right. One dealer who specializes in these holders estimates that fewer than 25 still exist. 

The coins sell for many times the value of coins with the same grade in modern style NGC holders.

The 1837 Seated Dime in an NGC MS65 “Black NGC” holder (pictured below) was being priced at several times the $5,000-$7,000 an average coin would sell for. 

Why do collectors place high values on old holder coins? The answer is actually more complicated than some would think.

There is an avid collector market for examples of certified coins in all old generation holders. Quite a few collectors attempt to purchase an example of every generation of every certified coin ever produced. 

There is even a guide book for the subject that explores NGC and about every other company that has attempted to certify coins in the last 25 years.

Obviously, for collectors of these old holders, a “Black NGC” holder with just 25 or so known is quite the collectible. They would probably much prefer a common date issue to avoid serious sticker shock.

Interestingly, NGC next produced a similar holder, but with a white insert. They used a plain “white” label, and this was deemed unacceptable as well. These “white” label coins are also highly collectible.

http://www.coinweek.com/education/coin-grading/ngc/why-are-ngc-certified-coins-in-old-holders-in-such-demand/

Queen To Hand Out Royal Maundy Coins Tomorrow For 60th Pre-Easter Tradition!

The Queen will undertake the pre-Easter tradition of handing out commemorative Royal Maundy coins tomorrow for the 60th time since her accession to the throne.

Each year, the Royal Mint produces a limited number of special coins for the service. The one, two, three and four pence coins are all legal tender, but the specially made silver coins are not intended for everyday use.

Unlike those in general circulation, the Royal Maundy coins continue to bear the portrait of the Queen produced by Mary Gillick for the first coins of her reign.

Gillick, a sculptor, designed the portrait which appeared on the coins of the UK and some Commonwealth countries from 1953 until preparations for decimalisation began in 1968.

The portrait of the Queen wearing a wreath on her head was considered to reflect the nation's optimism as it greeted a new monarch in the post-war years.

The elderly recipients of Royal Maundy coins have been chosen for the service they have given to their parish and community.

This year the group of 89 men and 89 women from the Sheffield area will each receive two leather pouches, one white and one red, from the Queen during the Royal Maundy service at Sheffield's Church of England Cathedral.

The white purse will contain Maundy coins equating in pence to the Queen's age (89p at present), while the red purse will contain a £5 and a 50p coin.

There have been just five official UK coin portraits created during the Queen's reign, the most recent by Royal Mint designer Jody Clark.

The Royal Maundy is an ancient ceremony which has its origin in the commandment Christ gave after washing the feet of his disciples the day before Good Friday.

The Mint said it seems to have been the custom as early as the 13th century for members of the royal family to take part in Maundy ceremonies.

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Queen-hand-Royal-Maundy-coins-tomorrow-60th-pre/story-26265639-detail/story.html