Article Type: Long Story
The Other Exposition Commemoratives
The 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition is very familiar to most numismatists, and the $1, $2 ½, and $50 gold commemoratives created as part of this event remain popular to this day. The first gold commemoratives produced …
From Pocket Change to Work of Art: Trompe l’oeil and Paper Money
Collectors of American paper money have long appreciated the artistry involved in the carefully engraved and printed designs of U.S. currency. What some collectors may not be as familiar with, however, is the tradition of …
Artistry and Coin Designs
From the earliest beginnings of the U.S. Mint in the 1790s until the early 1900s, designs for American coinage were not typically produced by outside artists. Instead, the images displayed on our nickels, cents, gold …
Challenges and Coinage in Early America
With the ease of today’s credit or debit cards and a seemingly endless supply of change collecting in our desk drawers and back pockets, it can be difficult to imagine that early Americans once did …
Barbecue Guns
For as long as humankind has been carrying weapons, people have been decorating them. Early designs were attempts to add a magical power to the piece. Later efforts were intended to beautify, and to show …
16 Carat Diamond from Colorado Kelsey Lake Mine Sold for $185,000
A 16.87 carat diamond from the Kelsey Lake Mine in Colorado was sold at auction for $185,000 in 2015. Buy, Value or Appraise Your Antique and Vintage Jewelry and Gems Bid or buy antique and …
The Enigma of Joan Clarke: Numismatist
Like many Holidays-makers (happy to be off work, though desperate to escape their relatives), I recently saw The Imitation Game. Based on true events, The Imitation Game chronicles the struggle of Alan Turing, father of …
A Moment of Peace during a Time of War: The Christmas Truce of 1914
Christmas is a magical time of year for me. I come from a fairly German family (my mother hails from a small town near Ludwigsburg in the German state of Baden-Württemberg) and there is no …
Condition Significance in Collectible Coins
When we happen upon a pile of old coins in an estate’s closet or safe, usually our first reaction is to look for the oldest coins in the cache. It may be counterintuitive however, that …
Hermès Scarves: Ties That Bind
My love affair with scarves began at the age of eleven when I inherited my grandmother’s collection. The rest of her clothes were given to charity when she died, but her scarves seemed too full …