Ames Club Dinner Wednesday

May 30th Meeting at Mongolian Buffet

“Postcards are in the mail,” Secretary-Treasurer Tim L. Shuck says, “but a reminder that the Ames Coin Club Dinner Meeting will take place next Wednesday, May 30, at the Mongolian Buffet in Ames. Time for the event is 6:30 to 8:30, cost is $5 per person, young or old. Members are welcome to bring a guest. We have a separate room for our use, and food choices range from sushi to chicken, salad to soup, pastas to deserts, and more.”

“A final email reminder will be sent early next week,” Tim adds. “Both the postcard and the email have a map for those unfamiliar with the restaurant location.

“Hope you all can make it!”

Numismatic Referees

By Michael Bugeja

Those of us who submit to the major coin grading services, NGC and PCGS, are often disappointed because we would like to think our coins are better than they often are. That’s the reason why we have slabbing companies.

Collectors (first party) typically think their coins are in better condition than do buyers (second party); so we rely on third-party graders to give us their best objective estimates. In that role they become numismatic referees. Like those in the sports world, their reputations are based on consistency.

Yes, coin grading is a subjective exercise–to an extent. Grades from top companies shouldn’t be off by more than a point or two.

Every now and then, though, collectors get grades that seem overly subjective, to the extent that they want to do something about it.

Both of the top grading services have outlets for that. If you disagree with a grade, you can resubmit the coin and pay the appropriate fees. I usually send the coin to the rival grading service. This way, I get an education for my fees, ascertaining the fine points of slightly different grading practices.

For the rest of the article, click here.

A three-sided canvas

The edge can tell a story, too

By Michael Bugeja-Special to Coin World | May 13, 2012 9:56 a.m.
Article first published in 2012-05-21, Expert Advice section of Coin World

When we think of a coin, we typically imagine two sides: obverse (or heads) and reverse (or tails). However, including the edge, a coin actually has three sides.

Usually the edge serves a coin as a frame serves a portrait.

Before we delve into the various types of edges in U.S. coinage, we might think about how obverse and reverse of a coin should combine to tell a story or depict a moment.

For the rest of the article, click here.

Two Weeks with No Dollars

Tim Shuck, Metacoin

Dollar bills that is. With all the recent discussion about dollar coins versus dollar bills I realized that though I’ve used dollar coins intermittently in past, I’ve not done so exclusively.

So, I removed the dollar bills from my wallet and made sure I had a good supply of dollar coins. Anytime I bought something for which I normally would have used a dollar bill, I used a dollar coin. Any dollar bills received as change were set aside, replaced with dollar coins.

After doing this for a couple of weeks here are my observations and comments. …

For the rest of the post, click here.

Message from Tim Shuck

Club members will be getting the usual reminder mailings later in the month but this post gives everyone an early ‘heads up’.

The club has a confirmed response from the Mongolian Buffet as our location for the May 30 dinner meeting. Here’s the information we received:

“All the food, Mongolian, sushi bar, Chinese buffet, salad bar, American buffet, desert buffet as well as all non alcoholic drinks are included in the price. You will have a private room, just for your party. We will make sure the room is booked from 6 for you. We look forward to having you!”

The room is reserved from 6 until 9, but start time was set at 6:30 from discussion at the last meeting. Price will be $5 per person, young or old, with the Club paying the remainder.

Mark your calendar and hope you can make it!

Minutes from April Meeting

The meeting opened with introductions by each member present.

There was brief discussion about the dinner meeting for May, with members in agreement to hold the meeting at the Mongolian Buffet in Ames, pending availability. Each person attending the dinner will be charged $5 with the Club paying the remainder of the cost. Tentative time for the meal will be 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Scott Nichols provided several coins as door prizes, selected by drawing names from a hat.

Tim Shuck gave an overview of Club finances. There are no outstanding bills and the Club remains in sound financial condition.

In preparation for the auction, all attendees who intended to participate were given a bidder card with a unique bidder number and a place to record winnings. Youth members present were given $5 in ‘Kids Bucks’ to use at the auction or at the coin stores operated by Scott Nichols and Michael Bugeja.

The 32 items offered by consignors were auctioned, with Scott Nichols as auctioneer. The youth members proved to be some of the most aggressive buyers, with multiple bidders for many items in the sub-$10 range. Interestingly, all but one young buyer chose to keep his Kids Bucks to use at a later date, rather than using them to pay for auction winnings.

As is the custom, 10% of each consignor’s sales was paid to the Club to fund the distribution of Kids Bucks at future auctions.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm with a few members staying for additional discussion.

Great Coins for April 25 Ames Club Auction!

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The Ames Coin Club will feature four consignors offering a little over 30 coins, with lots of variety, for the Ames Coin Club auction Wednesday, April 25, at the Heartland Senior Citizen Center, 205 Walnut.

See the list below for individual lots.

Everyone who wants to bid will receive a bid card with a bid number and place to record your auction winnings. The attendance signup sheet will be used to note your bid number. Auction lot numbers will correspond to the list included in this email. For example, lot 3c is the 1923-S silver dollar offered by Merlin Hove.

Each youth member present will receive $5 in ‘Kids Bucks’, the Club scrip that can be redeemed at the auction, at Chester’s Coins in Ames, or at MS Coins in Story City. Sellers are assessed a 10% fee of their winnings that helps pay for the Kids Bucks. Both Scott and Michael are reimbursed for any Kids Bucks redeemed at their stores.

Here’s the list:

1. Bob Carr:
a. 1875 Indian Head Penny
b. 1899 Barber Dime
c. 1943-S Mercury Dime, PCGS, MS64
d. 2006-D Jefferson Nickel Return to Monticello, PCGS, MS65FS
e. 1892-CC Morgan Dollar, PCGS, VG08. $145 minimum bid.

2. Paul Heinen:
a. 2011 silver proof quarters
b. 1949 Iowa commem – ag/good
c. 1853 o – seated dime – good
d. 1943 steel cent – f/vf
e. 1853 arrows and days quarter – good
f. Cent planchet
g. Nickel planchet
h. Dime planchet
i. Shipwreck silver coin from the El Cazador
j. 1874 six pence silver
k. 1926 silver peso
l. Cancelled dime die
m. 16 subject uncut sheet of 1995 series $1 notes – has been folded and a little rough around the edges but a cheap way to obtain a neat item.

3. Merlin Hove:
a. 1876 Bronze dollar sized US mint medal. 13,000 were distributed by the US mint at the display set up for the centennial exposition in 1876. Very Good.
b. Roll of 50 wheat cents
c. 1923-S silver dollar. Fine.
d. 1858 Flying Eagle one cent large letter. Very Good.
e. 1926-P buffalo five cent nickel. Fine.

4. Alan Bardwell
a. Lincoln Penny Set 1941 to 1974 (missing 1955-s)
b. 1986 Liberty Half Dollar w/ box and certificate
c. 1863 Indian Head Cent
d. 1910 (VF), 1917 (F), 1919 (VF) Lincoln Pennies
e. 1980s Proof Roosevelt Dime, 1980-S Proof Kennedy Half
f. 1911 & 1912-D Liberty Head Nickels
g. 1973-S & 1974-S Proof Quarters
h. 1979-S Proof Kennedy Half Dollar
i. 1978-S Proof Kennedy Half Dollar

Former Club President to Present at CCAC

By Paul Gilkes, Coin World staff

Excerpt: Former Ames Club President Michael Bugeja will show a presentation on historical coin legends, mottoes, dates, symbols and devices. Bugeja is the director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. He writes the monthly Coin World column “Home Hobbyist” and is a reporter for Coin Update News, for which he authors the “Coin Capsule” feature.

Meeting time and location: The 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. session is scheduled to be held in Conference Room A at U.S. Mint headquarters, 801 Ninth St. NW. The CCAC meeting is open to the public. Persons interested in attending should call the CCAC Hotline at 202-354-7502 for the latest update on meeting time and room location. ■

For the complete article, click here.

Column Mentioning Chester’s Coins

Case of the counterfeit $2.50

Investigation prods memories

By Michael Bugeja | April 08, 2012 9:56 a.m.
Article first published in 2012-04-16,
Expert Advice section of Coin World

In recent years I have purchased a half dozen counterfeit coins online, learning that they were fake only upon showing them to my local dealer who has a coin shop on Main Street in Ames, Iowa.

My dealer is an expert counterfeit sleuth. But this time, I didn’t need him because I, myself, was able to detect a fake 1862-S Coronet gold $2.50 quarter eagle.

The 1862-S quarter eagle is a sleeper that rarely shows up in the market. Fewer than 100 such coins actually survive today. I placed a winning bid, received the coin and inspected it upon arrival. Something wasn’t right.

I weighed it on my coin scale. It was the correct weight of 4.18 grams.

For the rest of the column, click here.