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The second redesigned Lincoln 1c coin from the United States for 2009 is being released today, May 14 2009, by the U.S. Mint. The second coin in a series of four circulating commemoratives celebrating the live of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, scheduled for release this year represents Lincoln’s “formative years” spent largely in Indiana.

The coin has been dubbed as the “Rail Splitter penny” by the collecting community at large due to it’s design that depicts a young Lincoln reading a book while taking a break from working as a rail splitter in Indiana.

In the Fall of 1816 a young Lincoln(now 7 years old) moved from his native Kentucky to Perry County, Indiana along with his parents, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. Although the demands of frontier life left little time for formal education, of which Lincoln only ever gained about 18 month worth, his parents instilled in him a love for books and reading which Abraham embraced to educated himself through reading such works as “Life of Washington,” “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,” “Robinson Crusoe and The Arabian Nights” all by the age of 11. It is said that he could often be seen carrying a book along with his axe.

In 1830 the Lincoln family relocated to Illinois, first to in Macon County and a year later to Coles County. It is here that Abraham, now 22 struck out on his own. He was a impressive figure at 6′ 4″ (app. 1.93 m) and soon garnered a reputation as a skilled local wrestler as well as being very handy with an axe.

The new coin is set to be officially released at a launch ceremony at Lincoln Amphitheatre situated at the Lincoln State Park within Lincoln City, Indiana after which bills may be exchanged for rolls of the coin at a special coin exchange. The coins will also be available at selected U.S. Mint centers in Washington D.C and (according to some sources)New York City throughout the day. A Minimum of two rolls will be made available per person and a reported maximum of 12 rolls could be obtained per person. This limit was instituted following the overwhelming response that was received for the first coin in the series.  The coins are also being made available for purchase through the U.S. Mint website.

The coins are available in a two roll set comprising of two 50 coin rolls, one each from the Denver and Philadelphia minting facilities. The set is priced at $8.95 and are presented in a special U.S. Mint wrapper depicting the coin. Sales via the website will be strictly limited to 5 sets per household and are handled in a first-come first-serve basis. Sales open at 12 noon(E.T.) on 14 May 2009. Only a limited number of these sets will be released, and if sales of the first coin are anything to go by then it is set to sell out fairly quickly.

The coins can be viewed on the U.S. Mint’ product page

High resolution images of the coin may be viewed at the World Numismatic News Media Library

The newest coin in the Polar Series has been released by the Royal Australian Mint. The holographic coin was developed with the Royal Society of Victoria, and commemorates Australia’s involvement in the Antarctic region

The $5 silver proof hologram coin shows a silhouette of a sailing ship surrounded by the amazing colours of the Aurora Australis. The colour of the hologram changes to represent this celestial phenomenon. Depending on the angle of the coin, you will experience an array of vibrant colours which illustrate charged particles streaming from the sun towards the South Pole.

The location details of several key scientific base camps, the Antarctic Skua in flight and the first Australians to reach the South Magnetic Pole from the Ernest Shackleton expedition have all been included in the design details. Intricate laser frosting revealing concentric patterns on the land mass map.

The coin is minted from 99.9 pure silver, measures 38.74mm and has a mintage limit of only 12 500 coins.

* - information and images courtasy of the Royal Australin Mint.

Bank Negara Malaysia(The Central Bank of Malaysia) has announced the issuance of three special commemorative coins to mark the 50th anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia.

The commemorative coins were launched by The Honorable Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. The legal tender coins are minted from Gold, Silver and Nordic Gold with face values of 50, 10 and 1 Malaysian Ringit respectively.

The obverse of the coin depicts the silhouette of the skyline of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya reflecting the progress and economic development of Malaysia since its independence.The logo of the Bank appears in the center, within the outline of the star anise (bunga lawang). The star anise represents the significance of the spice trade which brought economic growth and prosperity to this region during the period of the Malay Sultanate. This star anise was depicted on the Dinar Matahari coin that was used during the Malay Sultanate. The words “Ulang Tahun ke-50 Bank Negara Malaysia” and the years “1959 - 2009″ appear as the rim text.

The reverse has the words “Bank Negara Malaysia” written in Jawi. A “14 pointed star” representing the 14 states in Malaysia including the Federal Territory, is depicted in the centre within the outline of the star anise. The denomination is reflected at the lower circumference of the coin.

All the coins are available on their own as well as in a Set of 3 and a Set of 2. The Set of 3 consists of the gold, silver and Nordic gold proof coins. It will be sold at RM1,500 per set with only 200 sets available. The Set of 2 consists of the silver and Nordic gold proof coins. This set will be sold at RM200 per set.

It has actually happened - the first Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coins are starting to arrive.

The Box

We received the first confirmed reports on Monday, February 9,  that the coin was delivered to a California based collector. The Lucky numismatist, who goes by the name of Lureuin, posted the good news on the Coin Network Forums along with a few select photo’s to celebrate the occasion. The posts can be viewed HERE.

The Book

In the days following this, while most are still receiving fluctuating delivery notifications,  numerous collectors have reported that their credit cards have been charged - a sure indication that their orders are being processed and that shipment is now imminent.

This means that the mint’s original delivery estimates were mot off by much, about a week. Most orders placed on the first few days of availability were marked for delivery around the January 28 to February 13 mark, and then subsequently adjusted to later dates.

In the meanwhile World Numismatic News would like to congratulate Lureuin to be the first confirmed collector to receive this sought after coin!

The Coin in the Display Case

For more information on the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin see our article published on January  27, 2009.

All Images curtasy of Lureuin via the CoinNetwork

The reserve bank of Zimbabwe has announced the release of yet another new series of banknotes,this after slashing 12 zeros from the currency. This came after releasing no less than seven new notes in January alone - namely a 20 and 50 billion as well as 1, 10, 20, 50 and finally 100 Trillion Dollar notes in late January.

This would make the third time in around six months that the ailing Zimbabwean currency has been devalued, only to soar to unimaginable highs again in a matter of months.

Zimbabwe might be a political, humanitarian and economical minefield but numismatists are having a field day as we are seeing the release of new banknotes on virtually a fortnightly basis at this stage. The new notes consist of a 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 Zimbabwean Dollars. The latest 100 Trillion note being equal to the new 100 dollar under the new plan as central bank governor Gideon Gono slashed another 12 zeros from the unit. The ‘old’ notes will circulate alongside the new revalued ones until 30 June 2009.

The move came as a bit of a surprise to most as the southern African country announced just a week prior that foreign currencies including the South African Rand, U.S. Dollar, Euro, Pound and most SADC currencies were to be accepted as legal tender in the country. Gono is considered to be the worlds worst central banker and was recently quoted as saying that he was vindicated by God, viz a vie the world economic slowdown, and that the rest of the world should merely follow his example and print more money.

The Zimbabwean collapse has been laid at the feet of that country’s president, Robert Mugabe, whose disasterous land reform policies saw the country turn from a major exporter of food stuffs to a failed state in the midsts of an epic humanitarian crisis.

The cause of the flood of banknote issues is the hyperinflation that the country experiences. The last official data released by the Zimbabwean reserve bank put the inflation rate at just under 250 million percent in July last year. However Steve H. Hanke, a Professor of Applied Economics with The Johns Hopkins University and Senior Fellow at The Cato Institute, has calculated that the number is set at 89.7 Sextillion percent as of 14 November 2008. In case you were wondering sextillion is written with 21 zeros(10²¹ ) or as 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000% annualized inflation.

The new notes all share security features including a color-shift stripe with the letters RBZ, a color-shift Zimbabwe bird on the left side as well as see through chevrons on either side that are in perfect register.

Tomorrow sees the release of the 2009 Presidential dollar proof set from the United States Mint. This is the third set in of it’s kind to be released in as many years.

The 2009 Presidential Dollar coins will be honoring William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor. The circulating Presidential Dollar coin program will see the release of four coins each year, depicting the next four presidents in the chronological order that they served. Interestingly Grover Cleveland, who is the only president to have served two non-consecutive terms(1885 - 1889 and 1893 - 1897), will have the sole honor of being depicted on two coins due for release in 2012. The program began in 2007 with the release of the George Washington Presidential Dollar.

The coins contained in the proof set all bear the “S” mint mark denoting that they hail from the San Fransisco minting facility. There is no order limit or mintage limit placed on this set by the U.S. Mint. All the coins in the series feature a shared reverse design in the majestic depiction of the Statue of Liberty. Starting this year the motto IN GOD WE TRUST will be moved from the edge inscription to the face of the coin.

According to the U.S. Mint :” The Presidential $1 Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) seeks to revitalize the design of United States coins and return circulating coinage to its position as an object of aesthetic beauty in its own right.”

The sets will go on sale on Tuesday February 10 at 12:00 noon(ET) and is prised at $14.95 excluding shipping charges.

For images of the Presidential Dollar Coins reseased to date go to the WNN Image Library

The Royal Mint, London, has made available a special commemorative coin set comprising of all the special issue design coins of 2009.

The 2009 Family Silver Collection contains all six UK silver Proof coins struck specially for 2009. The coins comprising the set are the magnificent 1 ounce silver Britannia £2 coin, a crown celebrating the 500th anniversary of the accession of King Henry VIII, two bi-metallic £2 coins celebrating the births of Charles Darwin and Robert Burns, a 50 pence coin marking the anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the new distinctive £1 coin featuring the Royal Shield of Arms. For a more complete description of the individual coins see our article on the 2009 UK coinage(published 2009/01/09).

Unlike the circulation or normal proof versions of the two bi-metallics 2 pounds,  the new 1 Pound and 50 pence coins which are stuck from non precious metals, all the coins contained in the 2009 UK Family Silver Proof Collection are struck from .925 silver. The coins are all minted to a high proof finish.

A total of only 1 500 sets will be made available. The coins are presented in a stylish black case with a numbered certificate of authenticity and an informative booklet. The set is priced at £195.00

For more Images of the 2009 British Commemorative Coins go to the WNN Image Library.

Earlier this week I reported on the status of the Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold coin from the U.S. Mint, well this coin is so hot that an update is in order. A lot has happened in the last week, and this coin is causing quite a stir amongst collectors.

The most notable development will surely have to be the fact that, as expected by most, in accordance with the mint’s new pricing strategy for bullion coins the price of the UHR Double Eagle has increased. Sales were suspended on Wednesday 28 January and then re-opened on Thursday 29 January at 8:00 am(ET). The Price of the coin was increased from the original $1 189 to $1 239 - an increase of $50. There was some speculation that the price would have increased by between $40 and $100. This is all naturally due to the fact that the gold price rallied last week, and the average of London fix for the preceding week now lies within the $850 - $899 level.

It seems that shipping delays are also the order of the day, as collectors who already placed their orders received a message early on Tuesday morning notifying them that the expected shipping date has been pushed back. The average time delay seems to be around ten days, with some being pushed back by 4 days and other reports of a delay of as much as 14 to 20 days. I expect we will likely see more of these delays, but time will tell. At the time of writing this article the expected shipping date on the product order page is stated as 13 February 2009.

Another area of concern that seems to have been cleared up is the fact that billing only takes place at the time of shipment and not when the order is placed. According to Susan Headley of http://coins.about.com she contacted the Mint and they informed her that the price is locked in when the order is accepted. This certainly allays the fears of many that they might be receiving a shock on their credit card statement a few months down the line in the event that the gold price should rise any further.

Finally we have some sales figures for this bountiful coin, interesting numbers too. The weakened economy doesn’t appear to have too strong an affect on the finally realize vision of  Augustus Saint- Gaudens as the first week of sales revealed an astounding 41,664 coins sold as of Tuesday 27 January 2009. That comes to $ 49 538 496 or almost fifty million dollars for the U.S. Mint from the double eagle in it’s first week. Of those orders 28,173 (or almost $33 Million)were placed on the first day alone. Is it any wonder that the shipping dates were pushed back?

On January 15 2009 at 12 :00 Noon(ET) the U.S. Mint will make available the 2009 Native American Dollar rolls.

The theme for the 2009 Native American Dollar is agriculture, the coins celebrate the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States. The design features a Native American woman planting seeds in a field of corn, beans and squash. The obverse design remains the same as the Sacagawea dollars, used since 2000.

The coin acknowledges the contribution made by native Americans in the field of agriculture in the early history of the United States. It is widely accepted that without the sharing of this knowledge many of the early settlers would not have survived the untamed wilds of the American frontier. The agricultural techniques practiced by the Native American tribes included crop rotation, round cropping, hybridizations, seed development, advanced irrigation and the so called “three sisters” technique whereby corn, climbing beans and squash are planted together in the same plot.

This is the first coin in the series, that is set to run until 2016. The series will chronicle a time line of events and important contributions made by Native American tribes and individuals.

Each roll contain 25 identical coins wrapped in distinctive yellow paper with black trim and lettering. Coins are business strike(circulation quality) uncirculated and are minted at the Denver and Philadelphia mints - thus featuring the ‘D’ and ‘P’ mintmarks. The United States Mint will accept and fulfill orders beginning January 15, 2009.

The United States Mint published a notification in the Federal Register on Tuesday that sets out the details of a new pricing methodology for all Bullion, gold and platinum, numismatic products for sale to collectors.  The new approach to pricing the gold and platinum coins comes as a much needed response to the wildly fluctuating precious metal prices of the last year.

According to the notification the Mint will now be able to change the price of these items as often as once a week, in response to fluctuating market prices of the underlying materials. Previously the prices were fixed regardless of the bullion values. This led to the mint suspending sales several times last year as a result of the prices being too far out of touch with the rest of the market.

The method works simply on a sliding scale with the prices of the numismatic items being fixed in relation to the current bullion price. The average London Fix price of gold and platinum for that week will be used to calculate the price, and when the London Fix breaches a predetermined threshold the price of the coins will increase or decrease accordingly. The notification also included the relevant pricing tables detailing the prices for all affected coins.

The new model will be implemented on Monday the 12th of January 2009, and prices will apparently be adjusted(if needed) every Thursday thereafter. Some of the coins affected by the new strategy are American Eagle Gold and Platinum Coins, American Buffalo Gold Coins, First Spouse Gold Coins, and the much anticipated 2009 United States Mint Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin.

To see the full pricing tables click here

The new pricing methodology will give a greater appearance of transparency the the prices of these products and will also attempt to restore some confidence and predictability to the U.S. Mints bullion coins, as the interruption to sales we saw in the last year will now be done away with.

Here follows a summary of the notification as taken from the Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2009 :

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
United States Mint
Notification of New Pricing Methodology for Numismatic Products Containing Platinum and Gold Coins
SUMMARY:

The United States Mint is implementing a new pricing methodology for its numismatic products containing platinum and gold coins to mitigate the effect that fluctuating gold and platinum commodity costs has on the pricing of these products. The new pricing methodology is based primarily on the London Fix weekly average (average of the London Fix prices covering the previous Thursday a.m. Fix through the Wednesday a.m. Fix) platinum and gold prices, which reflect the market value of the platinum and gold bullion that these products contain. As required by law, the prices of these products also must be sufficient to recover all other costs incurred by the United States Mint, such as the cost of minting, marketing, and distributing such products (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and promotional and overhead expenses). This pricing methodology will allow the United States Mint to change the prices of these products as often as weekly so they better reflect the costs of platinum and gold on the open markets.

DATES: The new pricing methodology, as further explained in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, will go into effect on January 12,
2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: B.B. Craig, Associate Director for Sales and Marketing; United States Mint; 801 Ninth Street, NW.;
Washington , DC 20220; or call 202-354-7500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the authority that 31 U.S.C. 5111(a)(3), 5112(i), 5112(k), 5112(o), and 5112(q) grant the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue gold and platinum coins and to prepare and distribute numismatic items, the United States Mint sells to the public numismatic products containing American Eagle Gold and Platinum Coins, American Buffalo Gold Coins, First Spouse Gold Coins, and the 2009 United States Mint Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin. In accordance with 31 U.S.C. 9701(b)(2)(B), the United States Mint is changing the prices of these coins to reflect a new methodology in pricing.

Effective January 12, 2009, the United States Mint will commence selling numismatic products containing American Eagle Gold and Platinum Coins, American Buffalo Gold Coins, First Spouse Gold Coins, and the 2009 United States Mint Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin at prices established by using the new pricing methodology. Specifically, each Wednesday, the United States Mint will apply the average London Fix for platinum and gold (average of the London Fix prices covering the previous Thursday A.M. Fix through the Wednesday A.M. Fix) to the below pricing schedules. Price adjustments as a result of this process, if any, will be effective at 10 a.m. E.S.T. on the immediately following Thursday.