…that the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin program is made up of the first U.S. coins that have ever been minted on purpose with convex/concave surfaces? A unique design concept, issued in denominations of $5 gold, $1 Silver and a 50 cent clad half. The 3 denominations were struck as Proof and Mint State. The 50,000 gold $5 coins sold out in less than 3 days. The 400,000 Silver Dollar coins sold out in less than 11 days. Sales consisted of about two to one proof vs Mint state surfaces. As of this article date (08/11/14) the halves are still available from the U.S. Mint, and should be for some time. If you want to own a unique design honoring America’s favorite past time, you still have the chance to get one. If you were fortunate enough to purchase the gold or silver coins during their window of availability, you have a beautiful coin that is currently reselling for about twice the Mint’s initial offering price. Play Ball!
…that the 2004D Wisconsin State Quarter has two very valuable varieties? These are referred to as “extra leaf high” and “extra leaf low”. There are two schools of thought on the issues. One possible explanation is that a die engraver got a bit bored and decided to “add” a little something to one of the finished dies. The high and low leaf varieties appear to show an extra corn stalk leaf on the reverse, towards the top, left of center. Both are very visible, even to the naked eye. Some have proposed that the two leafs are actually die clashes that were created by accident, or maybe die gouges on the surface. Either way, the extra leaf variety has become very collectible and valuable coin. The extra leaf high currently has a retail value of $300. The extra leaf low is listed at about $200. They were only found in quantity in a few specific areas of the country. However, the BU rolls have since moved around a bit, and there’s a chance that you could have one of the valuable varieties. Better search any BU rolls of 2004D Wisconsin quarters you still have lying around!
…that many Carson City Dollar experts are skeptical that one 1893-CC GSA (General Services Administration) encapsulated dollar exists, even though it is officially listed in the GSA dollar release numbers for the 1970’s – 1980 GSA sales? Government records indicate that there were 3 specific Carson City coins that were sold with a population of one: 1889-CC, 1892-CC, and 1893-CC. The 1899-CC is known to collectors, is or was once owned by Alpine Numismatics, and is a very valuable coin, rumored to have turned down a million dollar offer- to-purchase. The coin is in a hard GSA “Carson City” holder (not a hard “Uncirculated Carson City” holder) and has reverse rainbow toning. Many believe that the reason for just one coin in the GSA CC horde was that it may have been placed into an 1890-CC bag to complete a 1000 count (each bag of CC dollars contained 1000 coins). The same thought process applies to the single 1892-CC dollar listed in GSA inventory. It’s plausible that one coin was needed to complete filling an 1891-CC bag, and the ’92 CC was inserted to achieve this goal. However, this reckoning does not hold up for the single 1893-CC coin listed. There were no bags of 1892-CC dollars that might need a “topping off” with one additional dollar from the following year, and 1893 was the last year that the CC Mint mark was placed on a dollar coin. So how did an 1893-CC dollar make it into the horde of over 3 million coins, when the last bags were filled with 1891-CC coins? Maybe it didn’t. The coin’s whereabouts is unknown to the collecting community, and many believe that the record may be a “typo.” Want to retire? If you own this coin, bring it forward and become a numismatic celebrity. Not to mention completing a potential million dollar coin sale!