NORTHFIELD, NJ — The Atlantic County Numismatic Society (ACNS), the coin club of record for Atlantic County, announces that its next club meeting will be held on January 14, 2009. All of the rest of the meetings in 2009 will be held on the first Wednesday of the month – the club’s normal meeting night.

The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. with a coin auction to follow. Attendees wishing to auction coins or paper currency can submit up to ten lots for a fee of two dollars. Proceeds from the auction benefit the club.
Members are encouraged to bring coins to show or to have evaluated by one of our resident experts. All numismatic questions are also encouraged. ACNS meetings are held monthly at the Linwood Library on the first Wednesday of each month.

See you in 2009!

This advisory was sent to all ANA members:

New counterfeit operations have sprung up across the world, particularly in China, where relaxed laws protect these operations from liability. The counterfeiters use clever production methods and cutting-edge die-making technology, creating forgeries that are difficult for most collectors to detect. A wide variety of counterfeit objects are being produced, including U.S. and world coins, paper money, errors, and even slabs. With the assistance of unprincipled dealers and investors, this new material is flooding the market at an astonishing rate, compromising the investments of collectors and the integrity of honest dealers.

Below are some links that look at counterfeiting in greater detail, including an eye-opening article in Coin World exploring how new counterfeit material is produced and finds its way into the United States market. In addition, the ANA will be developing a comprehensive online resource guide, offering counterfeit detection courses at Summer Seminar and conventions, and creating an exhibit exploring modern counterfeiting.

An educated numismatic community is the best defense against this widespread problem; we encourage everyone who loves the hobby to increase their awareness.

• Coin World Article
• ANA Consumer Awareness Page
• U.S. Mint Consumer Awareness Page
• Department of the Treasury, Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence
• Compilation of Articles on Counterfeiting (Robert Matthews)

UPDATE 12/08/08: It appears that the discount has been reduced to 8% (It started at 30%). Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. I hope that you picked something up!

Using this technique you can earn 20% (up to $200) cash back on qualifying eBay purchases. Yes, Virginia that means gold!

For example you can find $50 Gold Eagles on eBay for as low as $950 (with free shipping). After the $200 cash back (which takes 60 days to receive), your net price is $750 which is less than the spot price of gold as of this writing.

That’s a great deal considering that the Mint has been sold out of gold Eagles for a while and that many dealers (including large Coin World advertisers like APMEX) are currently charging a $200 to $220 premium over spot for gold Eagles.

Note: You must follow this technique exactly. Do not complete the eBay purchase if you don’t see the 20% off icon on the eBay listing and on the eBay Commit To Buy/Checkout page. I will not be held liable for your eBay purchases so please read and understand this technique before completing your purchase.

Here’s the summary:

• You must have accounts eBay, PayPal and Live.com where the name, postal address and email address match. If you already have a Live/MSN/Passport account and you’re not positive that all your credentials match, it’s best to just create a new account on the MSN Live Cash Back page. Remember to use the same name, postal address and email address that you use on eBay and PayPal.

• Once you’re certain that all three accounts agree follow this link and click on the first “Silver For Sale” eBay link in the shaded box at the top of the search results. This takes you into eBay through a special “Live.com” door that allows the 20% cash back eligibility.

• Be sure that you stay in the same window on eBay that you entered from Live.com. Don’t switch windows or tabs in your Web browser or you may lose the special eBay “session” that gives you the cash back. I think that you only have an hour to make your purchase, so it’s best to “watch” the item on eBay before you enter.

• Since the maximum cash back on eBay is $200, you should try to find a product that is as close to $1,000 as possible to maximize this deal. I purchased a gold Eagle for $950 which will net out to only $750 after the cash back.

• It’s strictly limited to one per person (too bad!) - hence all the account verifications.

Good luck and have fun!

The U.S. dollar on Tuesday lost steam, and helped gold recover from its biggest previous day session decline since March. That, despite another day of falling oil prices. New York silver and gold futures gained 2.5 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, while platinum declined 0.3 percent.

January crude-oil lost another $2.32, or 4.7 percent, following Monday’s $5.15 drop to close to $46.96 a barrel. Oil is now at its lowest level in more than three years. The average price for unleaded gasoline declined nearly one cent to $1.812 a gallon, according to AAA.

March silver gained 23 cents to close to $9.615 an ounce.

January platinum fell $2.60 to settle at $807.30 an ounce.

Gold for February rose $6.50 to close to $783.30 an ounce.

Tip: CoinNews.net

Pictured is the 39 mm silver medal/coin depicting presidential candidate Barack Obama now available from Vision Trading Partners for US$100.

Vision Trading Partners offers this piece as a tribute to Obama’s historic nomination as the Democratic candidate for president of the United States… Each historic Obama silver medal coin measures 39 millimeters in diameter and weighs one ounce of silver. All medals are deep cameo proofs struck by Sunshine Minting of Idaho.

The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) on Monday released an articulate statement cautioning that President-elect Barack Obama “Coins” are not rare investments.

In part, PNG President Gary Adkins said the following regarding the items,

“All of the items we’ve seen offered so far on television and online are merely political mementos that certainly may be enjoyable as a keepsake, but typically will have little or no re-sale value later in the mainstream numismatic market.  Privately-produced items are not legal tender U.S. coins.  In cases where a marketer has altered an actual U.S. coin after it left the Mint, such as putting a sticker with Obama’s picture on it, knowledgeable collectors usually consider that to be merely defacing the coin.”

Tip: CoinNews.net

Minting of Presidential $1 Coins have hit a new low, according to the latest production figures by the United States Mint.

The series, which started in 2007 with over 340,000 George Washington Presidential coins, has experienced a production decline with each succeeding $1 release, with the exception of the Jackson dollar.

Van Buren production is down by more than one-third compared to Washington dollar figures, as the following table reveals.

Tip: CoinNews.net