President Obama on Thursday signed the Girl Scout Commemorative Coin Act into law, authorizing the Untied States Mint to strike up to 350,000 silver dollar coins to honor the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA).

The coins will be minted and sold in 2013, marking the end of Girl Scouts’ yearlong centennial celebration and kicking off a new century of leadership and service to girls.

The bill, H.R. 621, was introduced by Rep. Jack Kingston and easily passed by a voice vote on Oct. 13. Sen. Susan Collins sponsored a companion bill, S. 451. Instead of moving that forward, the Senate simply passed the House version on Oct. 19 by Unanimous Consent.

President Obama signed the bill at 3:15 p.m. ET during a ceremony at the White House that included Connie L. Lindsey, GSUSA National Board Chair, Laurie Westley, Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Advocacy & the Research Institute, and girls from the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital.

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Read the rest of Girl Scout Commemorative Coin Act is Law (313 words)

Spot Silver prices opened this week at $17.48. Silver reached a high of $17.97 on Friday, October 23rd. The low for silver occurred on Thursday, October 22nd at $17.38. Silver ended the week up $0.23 at $17.71. This week, investors concentrated on 2009 1 oz. Silver American Eagles, 2010 1 oz. Canadian Silver Maple Leafs and 1 oz. Sunshine Minting Silver Rounds.

Platinum:

Spot Palladium prices opened this week at $331.00, and ended the week up $7.00 at $338.00. 2009 1 oz. Palladium Maple Leafs, 1 oz. Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars and 10 oz. Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars are consistently popular palladium items.

Girl Scout Commemorative Silver Dollars are in the works. Legislation to celebrate the Girl Scouts with silver coins passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last Tuesday, and the bill was given a thumbs up in the U.S. Senate on Monday without amendment and by Unanimous Consent. Following a few minor procedural details, the bill will make its way to President Obama for his expected signature and will officially become law.

The Girl Scouts USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, or H.R. 621, was introduced on Jan. 21 by Rep. Jack Kingston. (A nearly identical bill, S. 451, was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Susan Collins on Feb. 25.) When H.R. 621 is signed into law, it will authorize the United States Mint to strike up to 350,000 commemorative proof and uncirculated silver dollars to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of the USA.

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Read the rest of Girl Scouts Commemorative Coin Bill Set to Become Law (219 words)

(Fallbrook, California) — The combined total of the cash reward offered by the Professional Numismatists Guild, PNG member-dealers and others is now $159,250. The money will be given for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief or thieves who recently stole rare coins from long-time PNG member-dealer Julian M. Leidman of Silver Spring, Maryland. Six dealers pledged $10,000 each to help solve the crime.

This pattern 1879 silver dollar and off-center 1929 5 Reichsmark silver coin are two from the over 1,000 coins stolen from PNG member-dealer Julian M. Leidman

The theft occurred on Sunday, October 11, 2009, as Leidman was returning from a coin show in Stamford, Connecticut. His entire inventory of over 1,000 coins as well as currency ranging from Colonial era to small size notes was stolen when his minivan was broken into during a stop in Pine Brook, New Jersey.

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Read the rest of Reward Now $159,250 in New Jersey Coin Theft (498 words)

Gold hit another record high this week, as the yellow metal moved above $1,070.00 per ounce. “There’s lots of concern about the weakness of the dollar, and this had been driving gold,” said Peter Fertig, owner of Quantitative Commodity Research to the financial website Bloomberg.com. “The fear that central bank exit strategies will come too late to prevent inflation is also giving support to gold.”

As the U.S. Dollar continues to slide, gold may continue its climb to even higher prices. Talks of foreign countries replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency were still present in the marketplace this week. China, among others, is considering how to diversify its foreign exchange reserves which lends merit to the continued weakening of the U.S. Dollar. For example, the Dollar Index, a measure against six major currencies, fell about 14% since March, while gold rose about 13% during that same period.

The U.S. Commerce Department released reports this week saying that U.S. business inventories fell by 1.5% in August. This represented the largest drop in the 17 years that the data has been collected. The decline was also the 12th in a row and is an indicator that businesses are still cutting back to deal with weak consumer demand.

APMEX is proud to announce that we have been selected by the Austrian Mint as one of the exclusive distributors of the very limited edition 20-ounce Gold Philharmonic Coin. This coin has an extremely low mintage of only 6,027 coins, of which only 2,009 will be available for sale in the United States. APMEX has these beautiful coins in stock and ready to ship. Enjoy your weekend and thank you for choosing APMEX for all of your precious metal needs.

Gold:
Spot Gold prices opened this week at $1,051.80. The high during the week was on Wednesday, October 14th at $1,070.50, while the low for the week was on Friday, October 16th at $1,042.20. Gold ended the week with a gain of $2.80 at $1,054.60. This week, 2009 1 oz. Gold American Eagles, 2009 1 oz. Gold Buffalo Coins and 1 gram APMEX Gold Bars were some of the most popular items that investors purchased.

Silver:
Spot Silver prices opened this week at $17.79. Silver reached a high of $18.06 on Wednesday, October 14th. The low for silver occurred on Friday, October 16th at $17.18. Silver ended the week down slightly at $17.50. This week 2009 1 oz. Silver American Eagles, 2010 1 oz. Canadian Silver Maple Leafs and APMEX .999 Fine 1 oz. Silver Bars were quick sellers on the APMEX website.

Platinum:
Spot Platinum prices opened this week at $1,344.80, and ended the week up $5.90 at $1,350.70. The most popular platinum products for this week included 1 oz. Pamp Suisse Platinum Bars, 2009 1 oz. Platinum Canadian Maple Leafs and 2009 1 oz. Platinum American Eagles.

Palladium:
Spot Palladium prices opened this week at $322.00, and ended the week up $8.90 at $330.90. 2009 1 oz. Palladium Maple Leafs, 1 oz. Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars and 10 oz. Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars sold quickly on APMEX.com.

Numismatics:
The spot price of Silver has certainly made its impact felt here at APMEX. Peace Silver Dollars grading from Very Good to Extra Fine have been giving Cull Silver Dollars a run for their money as APMEX’s leading choice among investors and collectors. These coins were minted between 1921 and 1935 and they contain .77344 ounces of pure silver. They are an excellent way of positioning your portfolio or collection in silver. Morgan Silver Dollars that grade Extra Fine also continue to arouse investors as silver maintains its slow but steady rise. The smart investors are continuing to add these Silver Dollars to their portfolio on a regular basis.

As we continue our series on Silver Dollars we will be getting into more of a collector’s state of mind – by discussing VAM’s. What is a VAM? A VAM is a specific die variety of silver dollar as defined by Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis. Many of these varieties are very highly collectible. In fact, there are Silver Dollar collectors that only collect VAM’s. There is a case to be made that every Morgan Silver Dollar is a VAM, however, there are only a few dozen varieties that are popular and worth considerable sums of money.

Ironically, the more interesting sounding names such as Scarface, Alligator Eye, Spitting Eagle, and Hot Lips, are the more sought after varieties, regardless of their rarity. As there were hundreds of thousands to millions minted, there can be multiple VAM’s for the same date and mint mark. Both the Scarface and Hot Lips varieties can only be found on the 1888-O. Because of the cost involved in collecting and attributing VAM’s, many are graded by a third party grading service. But there are many specialists in the hobby that can easily decipher one VAM from another. APMEX has its very own VAM specialist and has a wide variety of VAM silver dollars in both certified and uncertified states. Click here to view our complete list of VAM varieties!

The “Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection” by PCGS is in its second edition and is considered to be at the foremost expert on identifying and exposing counterfeit coins.

Not only are the fundamentals of detecting a counterfeit coin discussed but also how to spot altered and cast counterfeit coins. One of the easiest ways to detect a counterfeit coin is either by a size difference or weight. The weight is how many of the newly minted counterfeit Morgan Silver dollars are being exposed. The metal used is from a different source that the Nevada load. This does make a difference. Small imperfections like this are described in detail to help not only the novice but experienced coin collector with spotting a fake.

The grading sections of this book are considered second to none when it comes to a third party grading system. The terms of wear on circulated coins and of Mint uncirculated proofs are explained. Categories covered are familiar marks, luster, the strike, die cast marks are all covered. Knowing that eye appeal is important but so are the little details that can make the difference in value of any particular coin.

This book covers coins that were minted in America from the ½ cent denomination, all the way up to and including the America Double Eagles. This includes the newly finished state quarter series.

The descriptions set out in their guild cover 416 pages with accompanying pictures to help any coin collector improve their knowledge of this art. No coin collecting library would be complete with it.

Consider The “Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection” by PCGS as an investment in your collection.

Read more….

Legislation passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday that would authorize the United States Mint to strike up to 350,000 commemorative silver dollars in 2013 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of the USA.

The Girl Scouts USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, or H.R. 621, was introduced on Jan. 21 by Rep. Jack Kingston. It represents a second attempt at passage as the first version failed to make its way through last year’s 110th Congress.

The final outcome for this bill would seem to be different. It had the support of 304 cosponsors and easily passed in the House by a simple voice vote. Then there is the Boy Scouts Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, which was signed into law in October of 2008. It would seem an unsupportable position to honor the Boy Scouts next year for their 100th anniversary, and then not do the same for the Girl Scouts on their centennial.

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Read the rest of Girl Scouts Commemorative Coin Passes House (249 words)

An objective of many coin collectors today will be to fight through the expected wait lines to acquire the US Mint’s 2009 Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set. It launches at noon Eastern Time for the price of $55.95. As the Mint announced in Sept., there is a one order limit per household in affect, with a total of 50,000 available worldwide.

The set offers the final opportunity to purchase an Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Proof Silver Dollar — the same dollar that sold out individually earlier in the year to the tune of 325,000 in under 6 weeks. As we discussed last week, there is excitement in the air for this set, with a few enterprising individuals already offering them for pre-sale on eBay at huge premiums. (See Lincoln Coin & Chronicles Sets on eBay.)

In addition to the silver dollar, the special set also includes:

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Read the rest of US Mint 2009 Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set Launches at Noon ET (118 words)

A month ago our US Mint sales report headline said "Presidential Dollar Sets Pass 600K." Today that picture reverses as the proof dollars withdraw to fall back below the milestone. Several other products fell as well in a week where demand for collector coins trended mostly lower.

There were several exceptions, especially for coins of yellow complexion. Bullion American Gold Eagles passed 1 million, Ultra High Relief’s picked up slightly and seven out of ten First Spouse Gold Coins improved over the prior week. These and other highlights follow:

• Whether it was a US Mint accounting correction or massive cancellation(s)/return(s), Presidential Dollar Proof Sets plummeted by 33,038 to fall to 576,211.

• Other proof sets also disappointed. 2009 Proof Set sales increased by 6,406 compared to the previous 27,856. 2009 Silver Proof Sets actually declined by 1,001.

• Braille products moved weakly. The newly released Braille Education set came in at 2,719 during the first four days of availability. The standalone uncirculated silver dollar picked up by just 343, and those within the easy-open capsule fell by 109.

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Read the rest of US Mint Sales: Gold Eagles Top 1M, Proof Presidential Dollars Plunge (1,247 words)

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The US Mint launched the Braille Education Set on Thursday, Oct. 8, at noon ET, and it has just released opening sales figures through to Sunday.

Collectors are not spurring after the offering with any degree of excitement, as is expected with the soon to be released Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set. A total of 2,719 Braille sets have been sold.

The set has a mintage of 25,000 and is priced at $44.95 with a one per household order limit. That leaves 22,281 more for the US Mint to sell.

The set includes an uncirculated Braille Silver Dollar with special packaging that has genuine Braille text — a first time event for the US Mint, much like the silver dollar is the first ever coin with readable Braille.

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Read the rest of Braille Education Set Opening Sales Figures (179 words)