The Krugerrand

Enjoy this Wikipedia article about Krugerrands. 

The Krugerrand is a South African gold coin, first minted in 1967 to help market South African gold. It is produced by the South African Mint Company.

History
The Krugerrand was introduced in 1967, as a vehicle for private ownership of gold. It was actually intended to circulate as currency. Therefore it was minted in a more durable gold alloy, unlike most other bullion coins.

Despite the coin's legal tender status, economic sanctions against South Africa for its policy of apartheid made the Krugerrand an illegal import in many Western countries during the 1970s and 1980s. These sanctions ended when South Africa abandoned apartheid in 1994.^{[citation needed]}

By 1980 the Krugerrand accounted for 90% of the gold coin market.^[1] The success of the Krugerrand led to many other gold-producing nations minting their own bullion coins, such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf in 1979, the Australian Nugget in 1981, the American Gold Eagle in 1986 and the British Britannia coin.

In 1980, three smaller coins were introduced, with a half ounce, quarter ounce, and tenth ounce of gold.^{[citation needed]}

Through 2008, Krugerrand coins containing 46 million ounces of gold have been sold.

Properties

The Krugerrand is 32.6 mm in diameter and 2.74 mm thick. The Krugerrand's actual weight is 1.0909 troy ounces (33.93 g). It is minted from gold alloy that is 91.67% pure (22 karats), so the coin contains one troy ounce (31.1035 g) of gold. The remaining 8.33% of the coin's weight (2.826 g) is copper (an alloy known historically as crown gold which has long been used for English gold sovereigns), which gives the Krugerrand a more orange appearance than silver-alloyed gold coins. Copper alloy coins are harder and more durable, so they can resist scratches and dents.
The Krugerrand is so named because the obverse bears the face of Boer statesman Paul Kruger, four-term president of the old South African Republic. The reverse depicts a springbok, one of the national symbols of South Africa. The image was designed by Coert Steynberg, and was previously used on the reverse of the earlier South African five shilling coin. The name "South Africa" and the gold content are inscribed in both Afrikaans and English (as can be seen on the pictures of the coin).
The word "Krugerrand" is a registered trade mark owned by Rand Refinery Limited, of Germiston, South Africa.

Proof Krugerrands
The South African Mint Company produces limited edition proof Krugerrands intended as collector's items. These coins are priced above bullion value, although non-proof Krugerrands also have a premium above gold bullion value. They can be distinguished from the bullion Krugerrands by the number of serrations on the edge of the coin. Proof coins have 220 while bullion coins have 160.

Silver "Krugerrand"
The Krugerrand is minted in gold for historical reasons. There are some websites offering to sell silver Krugerrands, but, according to the "Tax Free Gold" website, there is no such thing as a silver Krugerrand. Such coins "are not produced or sanctioned by the South Africa Mint or Government, not Krugerrands, and not even coins."  They may not be legal tender but they are commemorative coins made of .999 silver, and would be worth the going price of silver.

Civil War Letter

We have a Civil War letter in the store today.  We are trying to research the family of this man, Jay Talbott.  He enlisted in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry and went to battles at Jackson and Champion Hill.  The letter is written to his brother from outside Vicksburg on May 23, 1863 (right after these battles). 

Here is a transcript of the letter:

May the 23 /63  (1863)

Camp 4 miles below Vicksb  (Vicksburg)

Dear brother,

take this present opportunity to let you no that we ar well and hope these feew

lines will find you all well well all we have had Some hard times Since i last Saw you

we have had some hard fiting to do(?) not ar the boys that took the Capitol of Mississippi

and we done it in twoo hours from the time we commenced till we were in the city

well we have ben clean around this great plase we ar guarding prisoners that we took at Jackson

and at Champion hill we have 35 hunderd of the darnd cuses we have been fiting hear for 9 days soe havedriv them out of 3 lines of there breast ranks and we are shelling them like thunder for my part it has all most mad me deef

well all am tird and doneout and dont feel like writing So good by i could
give you a big letter

if i felt like writing

Jay Talbott

(?) 6 Talbott

i have not got any letters from you since i was at your haus

Direct to:

Co D 80 Reigt OVi

(Company D,  80 Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry)

Via memphis, Ten

7 Division

17 army Corpse

Two Examples of Art Deco Medals

This article is taken from the February 2011 issue of The Numismatist by Larry Johnson & Barbara Gregory

Two medals struck in the 1930's are like day and night.

Quite honestly, the silver-plated medal issued to commemorate the 25th anniversary of General Motors in 1933 is one of the most beautiful examples of the Art Deco style I have seen.  Springing from the imagination of Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958), the design features an abstract vehicle in motion, with a tall, winglike element lending a feeling of speed and movement.  The reverse shows a stylized piston.  Bel Geddes was trained as a theatrical set designer, but is best known for another General Motors project- the "Futurama" exhibition at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

In stark contrast is the medal struck to celebrate the 10th anniversary of National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1936.  The Art Deco flavor is apparent, and the style of the lettering along the reverse perimeter is very similar, but the piece is as heavy and drab as the General Motors specimen is ethereal.  Nevertheless, the NBC medal exudes a sense of strength and is not without its charm.  In some respects, it serves as a bridge between the Art Deco and Modernist movements.  Together, they make a powerful statement.

Money and the Civil War

This was an article from The American Numismatic Associacion website, www.money.org

The Civil War was a pivotal period in American history. Politics, society, economics and the military were all changed in drastic ways as the nation was locked in an epic struggle never seen in North America, before or since. The war ended slavery in the United States, but not before countless battles led to the deaths of more than 600,000 men. Amid brilliant and incompetent generals, vast military campaigns and political turmoil, the impact of money on the war often gets overlooked.

The numismatic history of the era is as dramatic as the war itself. The nation moved from a laissez-faire monetary system based on bullion coinage andprivately-issued paper currency to a centrally controlled system based on paper money issued by National Banks and supplemented by Federal paper currency and coinage.

Both South and North were forced to issue huge amounts of paper money to pay for the war – the first mass issues of government-backed currency in the U.S. since the war of 1812. This paper money was not backed by gold or silver – a fragile concept in the 1860s. Union “greenbacks” (Legal Tender notes and Demand notes, printed with green ink on one side) were instead backed by bonds; an investor could purchase bonds with greenbacks, and then redeem the bonds for gold. The emergence of “war bonds” helped create a more solid economy for the Union; similar bonds were used by the U.S. to control inflation again during both world wars.

For the Confederate States, the problem was more acute than it was in the North – none of the States rich in gold or silver had joined the Confederacy, and the banking system in the South was underdeveloped. The South’s economy was almost exclusively based on agriculture, leaving the Confederacy dependent on trade to obtain the goods it needed to fight. As the conflict progressed, inflation ran rampant in the South and made it all but impossible to continue the war effort.

Civil War soldiers were supposed to be paid every two months, but were fortunate if they got their pay at four-month intervals. Payment in the Confederate Army was even slower and less regular. Union privates were paid $13 per month at the start of the war.

The North and South addressed financial difficulties to fight a war that would turn out to be longer and bloodier than anyone could have imagined. New technologies had changed the face of war, not only with deadlier weapons, but with improved communications, supply, and transport.

The North had industry and railroads. The South had great generals. So what decided the Civil War? MONEY.

Trade Dollars

Collectors are warned that recently a large number of US trade dollars, of various quality have been made in China. Purchasing from known dealers or buying sealed and certified coins may be necessary to avoid these fakes.  Read below to get the history on Trade Dollars.  This will also help you know what to look for when you are adding to your collection.

Trade Dollars

Federal officials faced a dilemma in the years after the Civil War. The Comstock Lode and other Western mines were producing large quantities of silver, but the government could use only limited amounts of it in coinage. This seems puzzling in retrospect, for silver coins were few and far between in circulation (a lingering legacy of wartime hoarding), and Americans presumably would have welcomed major infusions of silver coins. But Mint officials feared that new silver coins would be subject to hoarding as well, since the marketplace was awash with paper money, including fractional currency born of wartime need. People would have been only too happy to exchange these notes, which brought less than full face value, for precious-metal coinage.

For a time, the miners found outlets for their silver, often in coinage form, in foreign markets. Canada, Latin America and Europe all absorbed significant quantities during the 1860s. But then, for various reasons these markets became glutted. In Europe, for example, Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck established a gold standard for Germany after unifying the country in 1871 and promptly dumped huge amounts of silver on the international market.

For the miners and their powerful allies in Washington these developments were doubly disturbing: Not only was it hard to sell their silver, but the market price was steadily declining. Initially, coinage did offer one escape valve: Under a long- standing law, silver could be deposited with the Mint for conversion into silver coins, for which it could then be exchanged. Having no other ready outlet, miners took advantage of this one. Invariably, they chose silver dollars, the one denomination that hadn't been changed when silver coins were reduced in weight (and precious-metal content) in 1853. As a direct result, silver dollar mintages soared above one million in both 1871 and 1872.

But with the Coinage Act of 1873, Congress closed this loophole by suspending further production of silver dollars. And that's where the trade dollar came in: Flexing their muscle, the mining interests won approval for this new silver coin-one that would, in theory at least, not only provide an outlet for the metal, but also open a whole new market for it in an area that was already receiving Congressional attention.



Mexican Trade Dollar

 The market in question was Asia, particularly China. Some U.S. silver had found its way to that region previously, but now a full-fledged offensive was planned. The Chinese had shown a decided preference for silver coins, and up to then the bulk of American trade with China had been carried out with Spanish and Mexican dollars. The trade dollar's architects set out to supplant those rivals by giving the new coin a higher silver content. They even had it inscribed on the coin: "420 GRAINS, 900 FINE."

At first glance, the trade dollar looks much like a regular silver dollar. It's the same diameter and about the same weight as its predecessor, the Seated Liberty dollar, and its portraiture is similar: a seated female figure representing Liberty on the obverse and a naturalistic eagle on the reverse-designs prepared by Mint Chief Engraver William Barber.


Mexican Trade Dollar



 In contrast to the new trade dollar, the regular U.S. silver dollar weighed just 412.5 grains, and the Mexican dollar weighed only 416. But the architects had miscalculated; though it weighed slightly less, the Mexican coin had a higher fineness and therefore contained slightly more pure silver. The astute Chinese recognized this and, in many provinces, gave the U.S. coin short shrift, favoring the Mexican coin.

That's not to say the trade dollar wasn't used. On the contrary, over 27 million went overseas and found their way into Asian commerce, many later being sent on to India in trade for opium. Numerous pieces show chop marks-distinctive Chinese symbols-placed on them by merchants to attest to their authenticity. But usage of the coins never approached Americans' expectations.

The trade dollar's biggest problems occurred not in China but at home. In a last-minute deal, Congress had made the coin a legal tender for domestic payments up to five dollars. In 1876, millions were dumped into circulation in the United States when silver prices plummeted, making them worth substantially more as money than as metal.

Congress quickly revoked their legal-tender status (the only time this has been done with any U.S. coin), but the seeds of serious trouble had been sown. In the late 1870s, employers bought up huge numbers of the coins at slightly more than bullion value (80 to 83 cents apiece) and then put them in pay envelopes at face value. Merchants and banks accepted them only at bullion value or rejected them altogether, so the workers effectively lost one-sixth to one-fifth of their pay at a time when that pay often amounted to less than $10 a week.

Spurned abroad and despised by many at home, the trade dollar soon faded into oblivion. After 1878, production was suspended except for proofs-and even those dwindled to just ten in 1884 and five in 1885.

Like many other "fantasy" coins before them, the 1884 and 1885 pieces were clandestinely struck for Mint crony William Idler and were unknown to the numismatic community until six pieces from Idler's estate were sold by dealer John Haseltine in 1908. Notwithstanding their questionable origin, these two dates are viewed as great rarities today.

In all, fewer than 36 million trade dollars were struck during the coin's 13-year lifespan, including about 11,000 proofs. Production took place at Philadelphia, Carson City and San Francisco. The rarest business strike is the 1878-CC with a mintage of 97,000, many of which appear to have been melted. All high-grade business strikes of the trade dollar are rare to non-existent, leaving proofs to fill most of the demand from type collectors.

The extraordinary beauty of originally-toned proofs entices many collectors to attempt complete proof runs (excluding the virtually unavailable 1884 and 1885, of course). Indeed, any trade dollar is highly prized and sought in pristine condition. Points to check for wear include Liberty's ear, left knee and breast and the eagle's head and left wing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bowers, Q. David, Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States, A Complete Encyclopedia, Bowers and Merena, Wolfeboro, NH, 1993. Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Willem, John M., The United States Trade Dollar, Whitman Publishing Co., Racine, WI, 1965. Yeoman, R.S., A Guide Book of United States Coins, 48th Edition, Western Publishing Co., Racine, WI, 1994.  Taken from the article on the website http://www.coinresource.com/guide/photograde/pg_$1Trade.htm

So Called Dollars

This article is taken from the book So-Called Dollars by Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen.

For the last 85 years or more, coin collectors and dealers alike have used the term "so-called dollars" to designate metals of near-dollar size; at first of a commemorative or exposition nature, later of a monetary kind.  Extension of the term now includes certain kindred pieces not otherwise classified specifically.  Perhaps the first written use of the label was by Thomas Elder, New York coin dealer in his sale of Sept 27-28, 1912, in describing Lot 395, the Theodore Roosevelt medal of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis.  Such items long since have grown in popularity and importance to the extent that they have achieved an independent status and represent a separate and distinct series of their own.

Since the days of the Roman Empire, medals have been prized for their aesthetic value and for centuries artists have found an eternal challenge in this medium of expression.  Certainly in our country there have been numerous outstanding sculptors, known as such to connoisseurs of American art but identified by numismatists largely as coin designers or medalists.  The very freedom of thought and expression provided these artists has produced many so-called dollars of diverse and rare beauty.  Pursuit of such a collection, while sometimes difficult is most rewarding.