Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Mint today announced the new design that Americans will see on the reverse (tails side) of Native American $1 Coins next year. The design, based on the theme "Government - The Great Tree of Peace," depicts the Hiawatha Belt with five arrows bound together, with the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $1, Haudenosaunee and Great Law of Peace. The United States Mint will commence issuing these coins in January 2010, and they will be available throughout 2010.

The U.S. Mint has announced that will stop selling 1-ounce gold bullion coins. Demand has been so strong that they've effectively run out of 2009 American Eagle coins. They sold 124,000 coins in November alone, after selling 115,000 in October and September. Have no fear, they plan to resume coin sales in early December. Reuters via CNBC: Produced from gold mined in the United States, the 22-karat American Eagles have been novel items among collectors and investors since their introduction in 1986. Each coin has a face value of $50 but it is sold by authorized dealers at a premium...

"The 2009 design depicts four faces representing the diversity of our Nation, with the clothing and hair weaving together symbolizing the principle, To Form a More Perfect Union."

The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — SNIPPET: "Khaled Nawaya, a flight instructor, was arrested by Canada Border Services agents when they found $800,000 in gold coins and other currency in his car and pockets on Oct. 6, as he crossed into Surrey, B.C., near Vancouver." SNIPPET: "He'd been living in the U.S. since he was 17 and had gained approval for permanent residency in Canada. Besides the gold, Canadian agents found a ring bearing the insignia of Hezbollah, which has been listed as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government since 2002. They also seized 9/11 conspiracy theory-themed DVDs and a...

JERUSALEM – Israel displayed for the first time Wednesday a collection of rare coins charred and burned from the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple nearly 2,000 years ago. About 70 coins were found in an excavation at the foot of a key Jerusalem holy site. They give a rare glimpse into the period of the Jewish revolt that eventually led to the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in A.D. 70, said Hava Katz, curator of the exhibition. The Jews rebelled against the Roman Empire and took over Jerusalem in A.D. 66. After laying siege to Jerusalem, the Romans...

"In an unprecedented find, a group of Egyptian researchers and archeologists has discovered a cache of coins from the time of the Pharaohs. Its importance lies in the fact that it provides decisive scientific evidence disproving the claim by some historians that the ancient Egyptians were unfamiliar with coins and conducted their trade through barter. "The researchers discovered the coins when they sifted through thousands of small archeological artifacts stored in [the vaults of] the Museum of Egypt. [Initially] they took them for charms, but a thorough examination revealed that the coins bore the year in which they were minted...

13 gold coins have been found, wrapped together, by the river in Córdoba If you know where to look, buried treasure can still be found in Spain. The latest find was not however thanks to a map marked with an ‘X’, but came as part of an archaeological excavation as part of new drainage works in Córdoba, close to the famous Roman Bridge in the city centre. 13 gold coins, escudos, from the reign of Carlos III, dated from 1776 to 1801, and wrapped in a cloth, were found under a layer of limestone which has kept them in a...

Roy Langbord had guessed that someone in his family might have hidden away a great treasure decades before, but not until his mother had him check a long-neglected safe-deposit box did he realize just how great it was. Inside the box, opened in 2003, he found an incredibly rare coin, wrapped in a delicate paper sleeve. It was a gold $20 piece with Lady Liberty on one side, a bald eagle flying across the other and, at Liberty’s left, the four digits that made it so valuable: 1933. The famous “double eagles” from that year were never officially released by...

A very large and important find of a hoard of Roman coins was recently discovered by a novice metal detector user in the Shrewsbury area. This is probably one of the largest coin hoards ever discovered in Shropshire. The finder, Mr Nic. Davies, bought his first metal detector a month ago and this is his first find made with it. The hoard was discovered close to a public bridleway on land that Mr Davies did not have permission to detect on. All land is owned by someone and it is important that permission to search is obtained in advance. The...

ROME – World leaders attending the Group of Eight summit opening Wednesday in Italy will each be presented with a gift from the past and one for the future. Handmade books portraying works by Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova, as well as gold coins representing an imaginary future world currency will be given to the participants at the opening of the three-day summit...

Sales of gold and silver bullion coins were up sharply in the first half of 2009, when dealers were citing strong physical demand amid worries about other investments. Sales remained strong but abated somewhat in late spring and early summer, but there are at least some signs it might be on the rise again, said one dealer. “Over the last 30 days, business has picked up again mostly because, I believe, there is a lot of skepticism still in the market about which way the economy is heading,” said Scott Thomas, president and chief executive of American Precious Metals Exchange...

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: Ever looked at your spare change before you spend it? There may be a treasure or two lurking about. Such was the case of a friend of mine who works in retail. Part of his job is to make sure the automatic change dispensers are working. Recently, however, he was called down after one of the dispensers became jammed. On closer inspection, he discovered at first glance what appeared to be a slug. Imagine his surprise when he pulled from the dispenser, an 1865 Indian head U.S. penny (see photos to the right). I must admit...

New Dollar coin "In God We Trust" IS GONE! The printing of these coins was supposedly an accident - it was only to "test the waters" for what they plan to do, by removing that from all new currency. From Antoniette D. Walker REFUSE NEW COINS This simple action will make a strong statement. Please help do this. Refuse to accept these when they are handed to you. I received one from the Post Office as change and I asked for a dollar bill instead. The lady just smiled and said 'way to go', so she had read this e-mail....

In the heart of Vienna in a Biedermeier building commissioned by Emperor Franz I, a man wearing a khaki uniform and beret exchanges a wad of euro notes across the counter for a few sparkling gold coins. Guenther Fuchssteiner, 59, is a military doctor who for over 20 years has been coming to the Austrian Mint and exchanging whatever spare money he has for gold, following a habit established by his parents. "I have always tried to put a little bit of gold aside, as an investment, and I have been doing so more since the crisis," said Fuchssteiner. A...

I would like to buy several ($1000) bags of junk silver coins. I'm concerned about how to securely make the exchange of my paper money for these coins. Does anyone have any experience and/or advice. ML/NJ

Will NBC be surprised??* Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency. Please send this to every Christian you know so they can vote on this important subject. Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is still open so you can vote: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/ This is not sent for discussion. If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it. By my forwarding it, you...

They thought they were buying a piece of history but many customers now say they were ripped off. VIDEO HERE

We once knew someone who was so frustrated by pennies that he promptly disposed of any that he received. We couldn't relate. But perhaps the anti-penny pincher will reconsider now that the coin has gotten a makeover to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The first redesigned penny in 50 years enters circulation today. It features a log cabin on the tails side, emblematic of Lincoln's Kentucky roots and designed by Richard Masters. And the fun doesn't stop with log cabins (it never does)! That's just the first of four new designs to look out for on 2009...

The number of fake £1 coins in circulation now stands at more than 30 million, according to the Royal Mint. How do you know if you've been given one? That £1 coin in your pocket could be worthless. The number of fake pound coins in circulation has doubled in the past five years and one in every 50 is now counterfeit.

The largest hoard of prehistoric gold coins in Britain in modern times has been discovered by a metal detectorist in Suffolk, it emerged today. The collection of 824 gold staters was found in a broken pottery jar buried in a field near Wickham Market. Jude Plouviez, of the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, said the coins dated from 40BC to AD15 and were thought to have been minted by predecessors of Boudicca - the Iceni Queen who spearheaded a revolt against occupying Roman forces. Their value when in circulation had been estimated at a modern equivalent of between £500,000 and...

One of the UK's largest hauls of Iron Age gold coins has been found in Suffolk. The 824 so-called staters were found in a broken pottery jar buried in a field near Wickham Market using a metal detector. Jude Plouviez, of the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, said the coins dated from 40BC to AD15. They are thought to have been minted by predecessors of the Iceni Queen Boudicca. Ms Plouviez said their value when in circulation had been estimated at a modern equivalent of between £500,000 and £1m, but they were likely to be worth less than that now....

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Dec. 30, 2008) - President George W. Bush signed into law the "United States Army Commemorative Coin Act of 2008" on Dec. 1, authorizing the creation of a series of commemorative coins to recognize and celebrate the establishment of the United States Army in 1775, and to honor the service and sacrifice of American Soldiers of both past and present, in wartime and in peace. These will be the first U.S. coins ever issued to celebrate and honor the Army and its 234 year heritage. The U.S. Mint will work on six coin designs, front and...

The TV ads tout a "genuine" U.S. Inaugural Presidential Dollar showing President-elect Barack Obama depicted in "glorious full color" for just $9.95, plus shipping and handling. A coin-collecting expert says the gold-dipped, painted coins are nothing more than a trinket, and the U.S. Mint -- the only official purveyor of U.S. currency -- says buyer beware. "They are worth the face value of the coin. If the coin says 25 cents, it's worth a quarter," says Scott Travers, author of the Coin Collector's Survival Manual and a New York City coin dealer. The U.S. Mint last month issued a warning...

US Mint labors to meet demand as investors buy up assets they can hold in their hands Investors who have forsaken shaky financial markets for the safety of gold must feel a little bit like prospectors As the worst recession in at least a generation spreads, so too does the clamor for gold bars and coins, assets less likely to go up on smoke like so many derivatives and asset-backed securities. "I've never seen a case where demand was so high and supply was so short," said Chicago coin dealer Harlan Berk,who has been in the business 44 years. Spikes...

An important discovery of more than 100 Roman coins has left archaeologists wondering whether Petworth has more to do with the Romans than first thought. The 103 coins, which equate to a third of a year's wages for a Roman soldier, were found on farmland in the area on November 24. Experts have previously believed Petworth to have been little affected by the Romans, but the discovery of the silver coins could mean there were wealthy people living there. The coins date from the third and second century BC to the Hadrian period of 132 to 148AD. Sussex Archaeological Society...

Excavations have unearthed a hoard of more than 1,300-year-old gold coins under a car park by the ancient walls of Jerusalem, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said on Monday. Archaeologists said the discovery of the 264 coins, in the ruins of a building dating to about the 7th century, the end of the Byzantine period, was one of the largest coin hoards uncovered in Jerusalem. "We've had pottery, we've had glass, but we've had nothing like this," said British archaeologist Nadine Ross, who found the hoard under a large rock on Sunday, in the fourth and final week of a trip...

WASHINGTON - The United States Mint today announced six new designs that will grace the quarters issued next year to honor the District of Columbia and the five United States territories: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The coins will be put into circulation in approximately two-month intervals throughout the year. "Like the 50 State Quarters® Program before it, these new quarters will encourage Americans to appreciate the unique history of the District of Columbia and the territories of the United States," said United States Mint Director...

2009 Presidential Dollar Designs Released The United States Mint has released the designs for the upcoming 2009 Presidential Dollars. Next year's coins will honor the Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor. Next year the motto "In God We Trust" will be moved to more prominent placement on the obverse of the coin. The date, mint mark, and "E Pluribus Unum" will be featured on the incuse edge lettering of the coins. The reverse design featuring the Statue of Liberty that has been used in prior years will remain unchanged and continue to be used....

Mexico wants to shrink the size of some of its coins and use stainless steel to make them instead of copper, zinc and nickel alloys, which have hit record prices in recent months. President Felipe Calderon sent a bill to Congress this week proposing to slightly reduce the diameter of centavo coins and stop making them from the more expensive metals. Stainless steel also would be used in some peso coins. Bulging wallets and pockets jangling with coins are common in Mexico where everyday purchases, from bus fares to tacos, are often paid for with small denominations like 10 pesos...

A hobbyist with a metal detector struck both gold and silver when he uncovered an important cache of ancient Celtic coins in a cornfield in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht. "It's exciting, like a little boy's dream," Paul Curfs, 47, said Thursday after the spectacular find was made public. Archaeologists say the trove of 39 gold and 70 silver coins was minted in the middle of the first century B.C. as the future Roman ruler Julius Caesar led a campaign against Celtic tribes in the area. Curfs said he was walking with his detector this spring and was about...

Three 700-year-old coins which were found in a field have been declared treasure by a coroner at Flint. The silver pennies date back to between 1307 and 1314, to the reigns of both Edward I and his son Edward II. Archaeology enthusiast Peter Jones, from Holywell, found a coin in 2006, then returned to the same spot a year later, when the other two were found. The coins were analysed by experts at Cardiff's National Museum of Wales who discovered they were 90% silver. Mr Jones regularly scours a field owned by his friend Ron Davies, for pre-historic items. He...

My wife wants to own at least $10,000 of gold. She has never trusted stocks much, and recent events have made her more concerned. I have told her about the Gold ETF (symbol: GLD) and about gold futures contracts, but she does not want "paper". So I suppose we could buy gold coins or gold bullion and store it in a bank safe deposit box or a safe at home. How do the Freepers who invest in gold do it? How do you sell when the time comes? We are of Indian origin. Indians (especially women) cherish gold. As India...

The U.S. Mint is temporarily halting sales of its American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it can't keep up with soaring demand as investors seek the safety of gold amid economic turbulence. The 1-ounce coin has a face value of $50 but is priced for sale according to the fluctuating value of gold.

The U.S. Mint is temporarily halting sales of its American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it can't keep up with soaring demand as investors seek the safety of gold amid economic turbulence. The 1-ounce coin has a face value of $50 but is priced for sale according to the fluctuating value of gold.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=7ef5202a-15d8-4a2e-ae85-41U.S. Mint suspends Buffalo gold coins after depletion Reuters Published: Thursday, September 25, 2008 NEW YORK - The U.S Mint said Thursday it was temporarily suspending sales of American Buffalo 24-karat gold one-ounce bullion coins because strong demand depleted its inventory. "Demand has exceeded supply for American Buffalo 24-karat gold one-ounce bullion coins, and our inventories have been depleted. We are, therefore, temporarily suspending sales of these coins," the Mint said in a memorandum to authorized American Buffalo dealers. The Mint also told dealers that it would work to build up its inventory to resume sales shortly. Email to a...

Obama's image, like that of Roman emperors and European monarchs, to appear on commemorative coins It is illegal for the U.S. Mint to produce a coin that bears the image of a living person, and the U.S. Postal Service never puts a living person's picture on its stamps. This taboo probably dates back to the War of Independence, when the Founding Fathers decided that the United States would never exalt an individual, no matter how prominent, in the manner of Roman emperors and European monarchs. This law does not apply, of course, to private mints that produce commemorative (non-legal-tender) coins,...

I have inherited a coin collection, How do I go about getting info on the coins and appraised? I am in the process of trying to catalog and photograph the coins. Any info on who to contact or FReeper’s with this interest or knowledge,would be greatly appreciated. TW

A ROMAN coin unearthed by a Wrexham metal detecting enthusiast has been confirmed as one of the oldest ever found in Wales. Retired butcher Roy Page, 69, of Coedpoeth, found the detailed 2,000-year-old coin on a farm near St Asaph when he went on a search there with the Mold-based Historical Search Society earlier this year. Roy gave the tiny silver coin, which depicts two horses being driven by a man on a chariot, to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), who have recently confirmed the specific date that it was made. It is believed to have been brought over some...

Should the motto "In God We Trust" be removed from U.S. currency? Yes. It's a violation of the principle of separation of church and state. No. The motto has historical and patriotic significance and does nothing to establish a state religion.

An Ohio man with a hatred of paper money slapped down $8,000 in coins at a car dealership to buy a Chevrolet pick-up - then paid the rest by cheque. James Jones, 70, produced 16 coffee cans full of coins to buy his new Chevrolet Silverado in Cincinnati and staff spent 90 minutes counting it. But his coin hoard only covered half of the $16,000 (£8,500) price tag. The man's son said the most amazing thing for him was his father deciding to replace his 1981 pick-up at all. As far back as he could remember, Dennis Jones told the...

The federal government's attempt to stop a group of gold-standard activists from minting an alternative to the greenback is about to face its first legal test. A dozen people around the country filed suit in U.S. District Court in Idaho this week demanding the return of all the copper, silver, gold, and platinum coins — more than seven tons of metal in all — that the FBI and Secret Service seized in November during raids of a mint in Idaho and a strip mall storefront in Indiana. The Justice Department had decided that the coins, many of which bear the...

"BAGHDAD, May 29 -- The U.S. military suspended a Marine on Thursday for distributing coins quoting the Gospel to Sunni Muslims, an incident that has enraged Iraqis who view it as the latest example of American disrespect for Islam...." "Regulations prohibit members of the coalition force from proselytizing any religion, faith or practices," said Col. Bill Buckner, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. "Our troops are trained on those guidelines before they deploy."

BAGHDAD - A U.S. Marine handed out coins promoting Christianity to Muslims in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, outraged Sunni officials said Friday. The U.S. military responded quickly, removing a trooper from duty pending an investigation. The distribution of the coins was the second perceived insult to Islam by American service members this month. A U.S. sniper was sent out of the country after using a Quran, Islam's holy book, for target practice in a predominantly Sunni area west of Baghdad.. Photographs of the coins, which were inscribed with phrases in Arabic, were widely distributed via cell phones in...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2008 – Searching for a tangible way to help Americans express their deep gratitude to servicemembers for their sacrifices, a Tampa, Fla., couple has designed their own challenge coin. The Grateful American coin is presented in the tradition of military challenge coins. With the five service insignia on one side and the phrase “Thank you for your service from a grateful American” on the other, it’s meant to be a tangible form of gratitude for the recipient. Net proceeds from sale of the coins help support two nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping wounded servicemembers and their...

NEW ORLEANS (May 14) - A steamship that sank off the Louisiana coast during an 1846 storm has produced a trove of rare gold coins, including some produced at two largely forgotten U.S. Mints in the South, coin experts say. Last year, four Louisiana residents salvaged hundreds of gold coins and thousands of silver coins from the wreckage of the SS New York in about 60 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, said David Bowers, co-chairman of New York-based Stack's Rare Coins. "Some of these are in uncirculated or mint condition," Bowers said, predicting the best could bring...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Further evidence that times are tough: It now costs more than a penny to make a penny. And the cost of a nickel is more than 7 1/2 cents. Surging prices for copper, zinc and nickel have some in Congress trying to bring back the steel-made pennies of World War II, and maybe using steel for nickels, as well. Copper and nickel prices have tripled since 2003 and the price of zinc has quadrupled, said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose subcommittee oversees the U.S. Mint. Keeping the coin content means "contributing to our national debt by almost...

Gold coins of rebel British Emperor uncovered Two rare gold coins of the rebel Roman emperor Carausius have been discovered on a construction site in the Midlands. Gold coins of Carausius are extremely rare. Only 23 are known, and the last was found as long ago as 1975 in Hampshire. Carausius was a Menapian (an ancient Belgian) who commanded the British Fleet (Classis Britannica) operating in the English Channel and the North Sea in the AD 280s. Carausius fell out with reigning emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Hostile sources have it that he was lining his own pocket with plunder recovered...

Wari-Bateshwar one of earliest kingdomsSuggests find of pre-Mauryan silver coins in the area Emran Hossain, back from Narsingdi The coin hoard, unearthed by excavators from Wari-Bateshwar, containing silver punch-marked coin of Pre-Mauryan (right) and Mauryan (left) periods reveals that Wari-Batehswar was one of the Mahajanapadas in the Indian sub-continent. The discovery of silver punch-marked coins of the pre-Mauryan period dating back to 600 BC to 400 BC in Wari-Bateshwar reveals that the place was a Mahajanapada, one of the earliest kingdoms or states in the Indian subcontinent. The silver coins and artefacts unearthed and collected so far and geographical positioning...

Rare Roman gold coins regarded as "priceless" by experts have been unearthed in Derbyshire. The coins, which date back to AD 286, were discovered by Derrick Fretwell while he was out digging near Ashbourne. After an internet search failed to shed any light on his discovery, he turned to Derby Museum who, in turn, sought help from experts at the British Museum in London. Their studies have revealed that one of the coins has never been classified before and the other is the first example to be found since 1975. The museum's Sam Moorhead, an expert in Roman antiquities, said:...

Treasury secretary wants to dump pennies By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer 4 minutes ago A penny for your thoughts? Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson thinks the answer to that question should be not much. In fact, if he had his way, he would like to get rid of the penny. Asked Friday whether he thought the penny should be eliminated, Paulson agreed that it would make sense, saying, "The penny is worth less than any other currency." However, he quickly added that he didn't think it was "politically doable" to eliminate the one-cent coin and it wasn't something he planned...