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COIN MARKET INSIDER's REPORT takes the pulse of the numismatic marketplace and talks about the buys, the sells, and the trades that all collectors and investors are interested in.
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COIN MARKET INSIDER'S REPORT is the award-winning column that has run in COINage Magazine monthly since 1974. Its author is David L. Ganz, a New York City lawyer, who for more than 35 years has covered the numismatic marketplace. Besides practicing law, he is a past present of The American Numismatic Association, and served for a dozen years as general counsel to the Professional Numismatists Guild. Appointed by President Nixon to the 1974 Annual Assay Commission, he served (1993-1996) as a Clinton appointee on the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee. His latest book, "The Official Guide to America's State Quarters" is a Random House mass market paperback, due out this fall.
The column began with a premise that it could report, telegraph style, about what was going on in the numismatic marketplace and talk about the buys, the sells, and the trades that investors and collectors are interested in. It now includes the internet, and http:// addresses you can hyperlink to, easily. This is an expanded version of the column as it appears in COINage Magazine. The author can be reached at: davidlganz@ganzhollinger.com.
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Insider's Report
April 2001
by David L. Ganz
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ANA's election for prez, vice prez and board will be heavily contested... For Prez, it lines up Will Rossman and John Wilson... For veep, Alan Herbert and Gary Lewis... There are 15 candidates for seven remaining board seats, with the term of office as three years... Several ANA guvs are not running for re-election... Outgoing prez Bob Campbell stands down...
Stack's and John Ford's lawsuit against Ted Buttrey over claims that western bars sold by Stack's and Ford are fraudulent was dismissed by a New York federal court on technical grounds... A similar suit was re-filed in Illinois where it is presently pending (motions to dismiss await a Court's determination)...
America Numismatic Society's grandest patron last year was Prez Don Patrick, who provided over $1-million in generous contributions.... Also in the mix: Chester L. Krause, with a donation of over $230,000.... It goes towards the new ANS headquarters in lower Manhattan...
ANA has raised over $200,000 for its long-awaited renovation... Work progresses with the library and museum closed to visitors until late June....ANA's library still available to borrow books by mail for members...
U.S. Mint and Steve Fenton are meeting to decide how to sell off their joint treasure, a 1933 $20 gold piece, formerly in the collection of King Farouk of Egypt... A court case gave each a half interest... Expectations are that it will be auctioned at or around an ANA convention... but no one knows the final outcome....
Heritage's new edge: in addition to the hard copy catalogue, a CD-ROM disk makes photos of coins available for review, close-up, and analysis... The lots with photos are also available on the web site (www.heritage.com).
Introduced: Rep. Steve Rothman, D-NJ, has introduced legislation to re-create a U.S. Assay Commission... The Assay Commission had public members and surveyed gold and silver coins from 1792 to 1980... There are gold and silver coins, again, that need public oversight... One co-sponsor has signed on, Rep. Dennis Moore, D-KN...
The Heritage of Sasanian Iran: Dinars, Drahms and Coppers of the Late Sasanian and Early Muslim Periods ...A Conference in Honor of William B. Warden, Numismatist (1947-2000) ...Sponsored by The American Numismatic Society, The Society for Iranian Studies, Sanford J. Durst well known lawyer and book publisher... Mark the date: June 8-9, 2001....
Exhibit awards at Salt Lake City: Kenneth R. Hill of Seattle, Washington, received the Best-in-Show Exhibit Award for his display entitled "United States Gold 12-Piece Type Set with Die Errors" at the ANA National Money Show 2001 March 8-10.... First runner-up award was presented to William H. Horton Jr. of Keyport, New Jersey, for his exhibit "Denomination Set of 1914 Federal Reserve Notes (Blue Seal)."
Interesting web-link to cents (commonly called "pennies"): http://www.kokogiak.com/megapenny/ ... Coin Star has now surpassed the U.S. Mint as a "producer" of new coins... The firm recycles coinage mostly from supermarkets and, for a fee, rolls them and re-pays in green cash....
A Coin Mentor(TM) program, initiated by the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) and the Industry Council For Tangible Assets (ICTA) to assist collectors and the general public, was successfully launched during the American Numismatic Association's National Money Show(TM) in Salt Lake City, March 8 - 10.... It quickly grew from 10 volunteers to 71 when the three-day ANA show ended...Volunteers, wearing large, colorful "Got questions?" buttons, answered bourse floor inquiries from visiting collectors and many members of the public who were attending their first coin show....
Minute book reviews: Scott Travers, "How to Make Money in Coins Right Now", 2d edition, House of Collectibles (Random House) 2001. 317 pp, illustrated.... A true how-to manual.... Wayne G. Sayles, "Classical Deception", Krause Publications, 2001 (196 pp, $24.95. Counterfeits, forgeries and reproductions of ancient coins. Great primer not on how to spot forgeries but rather how to differentiate fake coins from the originals... Scott A. Travers, "The Coin Collector's Survival Manual", 4th revised edition, Bonus Books, 2000. Newly revised with color photographs and added chapters on Internet and Ebay. $18.95, Bonus Books...
More books I'd like to have on my shelf: Arthur & Ira Friedberg, "Paper Money of the United States," 16th edition, 2001. 340 pages including 20 pages of color plates, $38.75. If there's one book on paper money that you should have, this is it... Another worthy edition: Arlie R. Slabaugh, "Confederate States Paper Money", 10th edition, Krause Publications, 2000; $21.95. Over 300 photos, current values....
From Ken Bressett: The Official Whitman Statehood Quarters Collector's Handbook, by Kenneth E. Bressett, 90 pp, $4.99 (St. Martins Paperback, Whitman, 2000) ... Interesting theories and documentaries: California Coiners and Assays, by Dan Owens, 448pp, Bowers & Merena Galleries and Stack's, 2000 $49.95...
One item close to my bookshelf: The Error Coin Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, by Arnold Margolis and Fred Weinberg, 456 pp, illustrated, $40. The "plaid" book....
50 state quarter mentioned: North Carolina first flight is now out... New to my collection, a double-struck New York state quarter with two statutes of Liberty... from Fred Weinberg... Gold medal introduced in Congress: to honor Sen. Eugene McCarthy... another to honor Rev. Jesse Jackson...
Coin bill on the move: legislative proposal to honor Rev. Martin Luther King (re-introduced by Rep. James A.S. Leach, R-Iowa).... Also moving: the Grover Norquist proposal for a Ronald Reagan $10 bill... during the Gipper's lifetime...
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David L. Ganz
