Visitors to the February Greater Atlanta Coin Show enjoyed a bourse full of numismatics and collectibles.
They also enjoyed a gorgeous spring-like day with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. Even for metro Atlanta, the day was oddly warm for this time of the year.
This month the coin show shared the hotel's facilities with the people attending the downstairs church, the golfers taking advantage of the beautiful day on the golf course out back and the young people trying out to become a modeling star.
Plus, adjacent to the coin show, the sports memorabilia show set up their displays and had Hutson Mason signing autographs at mid-day.
There was talk at the show about the new gold bullion coins, 1/10th ounce, that have a different reeded edge from previous production runs.
Though the US Mint has not explained the difference, people speculated that the US Mint re-used collars from other coins, either intentionally or unintentionally, that made these different.
Some collectors could be interested in the difference as a variety or an error.
Of course, many people just buy the gold bullion for its gold value and don't care about the size of the reeding on the edge.
Now, let's look at a small sampling of the coins on the bourse this month, and we'll start with another coin with a reeded edge.
This first example was a capped bust, reeded edge half dollar coin from 1836.
The Red Book lists the coin's mintage at just 1200+. That's a low mintage.
A capped bust, reeded edge half dollar ranges in value from $50 for good condition to over $15,000 for MS-65 condition.
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Coin Show - Monthly Notes from February 2015
This method was first employed by the Paris Mint and was later adopted for a limited time during the years 1908 through 1916 for certain (but not all) issues by the Philadelphia Mint.
The surface is prepared by a special die-etching or pickling process that gives a grainy appearance to the coins struck from such dies."
A Gem Matte Proof coin is generally graded as a Proof-65 or higher.
For this particular coin, the Red Book shows the mintage for the Philadelphia proof coins at 1164 as reportedly struck by the mint, yet they note that only an estimated 400 to 600 were distributed.
The ANA Grading Standards defines the grades:
Mint State (MS) - Absolutely no trace of wear
About Uncirculated (AU) - Small traces of wear on highest points
Extremely Fine (EF) - Very light wear on only the highest points
Very Fine (VF) - Light to moderate even wear. All major features are sharp.
Fine (F) - Moderate to heavy even wear. Entire design is clear and bold
Very Good (VG) - Well worn. Design is clear but flat and lacking details
Good (G) - Heavily worn. Design and legend are visible, but faint in spots.
About Good (AG) - Outlined design. Parts of date and legend are worn smooth.
This particular coin's grade was in the eyes of the beholder as it had not been certified by any of the grading services yet.
The next coin was a gold quarter eagle minted in Dahlonega in 1841.
For this year, the Dahlonega mint produced just over 4000 of the quarter eagles with a face value of $2.50.
Today, the Red Book shows the value for the 1841 Dahlonega quarter eagle as a range from $2000 for to over $46,000 depending on the grade and desirability of the coin.
The example on the February bourse was an NGC graded MS-61 coin.
The ANA Grading Guide defines MS-61 as "Mint luster may be diminished or noticeably impaired, and the surface may have clusters of large and small contact marks throughout."
Keeping in the gold family, the next coin was a proof $20 Liberty Head.
The US Mint produced the Liberty Head double eagle coins from 1850 to 1907 at the Philadelphia, Carson City, Denver, New Orleans and San Francisco locations.
Proof grades of the coin start in 1859. Depending on the year and the mint location, the proof coins range from the mid-four-digits to the low-six-digits in value.
The last coin in this month's tour was a 1909 VDB Gem Matte Proof cent coin.
Per the ANA Grading Standards, a matte proof is "a special type of proof finish used at the Philadelphia Mint prior to America's entrance into World War I.
In other words, the 1909 VDB proof on the bourse was a very nice coin with a low mintage.
Next month, the Greater Atlanta Coin Show will be filled with dealers and their displays of numismatics including coins, currency and bullion-domestic to foreign; ancient to modern; historic to legal tender; silver to gold to platinum.
Mark your calendars for the next Greater Atlanta Coin Show on Sunday, March 15, 2015 in the Joe Mack Wilson ballroom.