Category Archives: News

Current events

NGC Has Dropped Its Sweetheart Deal With ANA

Posted on December 8, 2022 by John M

Back in 2017 the fee for an NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Company) Associate membership was $39 per year. At that time an ANA (American Numismatic Association) membership ($28) included a free NGC Associate membership, so it made sense to join ANA … Continue reading →

Posted in Coins, News | Tagged ANA, NGC, NGC Registry | 5 Comments

Splashin’ around in Old Town

Posted on January 11, 2016 by John M

Over the past couple of months I’ve been sadly negligent in writing posts about our walking and hiking outings — the last post was last September, about plans for a hike to a pair of historic plantations in Maryland. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, History, News, Uncategorized | Tagged archeology, Hotel Indigo, old town alexandria, outdoors, Potomac River, ship | 7 Comments

Numismatics in a 3D future

Posted on November 17, 2015 by John M

A recent article appearing in Coin World alerted readers to the appearance of a counterfeit 2005 Proof gold ¼ Krugerrand (KM# 160). A genuine 2005 Proof gold ¼ Kruggerand has a retail value of about $475,1 so the potential to … Continue reading →

Posted in Coins, News | Tagged 3D printing, counterfeit, fake, krugerrand | 2 Comments

A ship, an adventure, and a treasure

Posted on May 29, 2015 by John M

Recently Kitco News published an interesting article about a hoard of sunken gold coins to be recovered from a shipwreck later this summer. What follows is the story of a ship, an adventure, and a treasure. Let’s start with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Coins, History, News | Tagged Bertie, Endurance Exploration Group, King Edward VII, Kitco, Prince Albert Edward, Prince Consort Albert, Queen Victoria, S.S. Connaught, shield sovereign, sovereign, sovereigns, Victoria | 2 Comments

Not this again!

Posted on November 23, 2013 by John M

The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. I can’t believe we’re falling for this nonsense again. GENEVA — Iran and six major powers agreed early Sunday on an historic deal that freezes key parts of … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged David Zucker, foreign policy, historic nuclear deal, Iran, Iraq Study Group, Israel, lift sanctions, nuclear weapons, uranium enrichment | 2 Comments

Toasted cloves

Posted on October 16, 2013 by John M

The other day I was browsing through lots in a coin auction and spotted a very interesting silver restrike 1780 Maria Theresa Taler with clove countermarks from Pemba Island, off the coast of modern-day Tanzania. The coin Maria Theresa talers (or thalers) feature … Continue reading →

Posted in Coins, History, News | Tagged cloves, countermarks, Julius Nyerere, Maria Theresa, Maria Theresa Taler, Pemba Island, President Nyerere, Taler, Tanzania, Thaler, ujamaa, Zanzibar | 1 Comment

Commemorative medal

Posted on September 19, 2013 by John M

I think this is what an old-fashioned commemorative medal would look like if something like the Nine Years’ War took place today, with Barack Obama as William of Orange. They seem to share a similar self-perception: “IOVI TONANTI” (Jupiter the Thunderous). We’re in for trouble if there … Continue reading →

Posted in Coins, History, News | Tagged barack obama, humor, Obama, Politics, satire, Syria | Comments Off

Resistance to Change

Posted on August 5, 2013 by John M

Here’s a timely article from the August edition of Token Publishing’s Coin News about the seeming inability of the US to migrate from the dollar bill to the dollar coin: US CONGRESS has reopened the debate yet again on the future of the much-loved one … Continue reading →

Posted in Coins, News | Tagged coin news, crane paper company, dollar bills, dollar coins, Politics, token publishing | 2 Comments

Crossing the Styx

Posted on June 9, 2013 by John M

I was driving around in northern Virginia last week and heard this news story on the radio: 11-Yr-Old Suspended From School For Merely TALKING About Guns Martin Di Caro, WMAL.com, June 3, 2013 OWINGS, MD — The father of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Guns, News | Tagged calvert county md, fort belvoir virginia, free speech, Maryland, tax, tobacco, Virginia | Comments Off

Going out on a limb

Posted on April 10, 2013 by John M

Just the other day I was reading a story in which the housing market has apparently rebounded so well that the administration is going out on a limb, pushing banks to overlook weaker credit ratings in granting mortgages to prospective homebuyers: The … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged economy, fairfax county virginia, home prices, mortgages, national debt, Washington DC, washington dc area | 3 Comments