Sherri L. Shaulis, editor at The Press Tribune, wrote the following about the commercialization of ⁹⁄₁₁.

Update: Another article at News.com wrote about their distaste for the National Collectors Mint’s coin.

[Today marks] five years since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. Not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it can feel like another lifetime ago.

Most people can recall exactly where they were when they got the news that a second plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. It was at that moment Americans realized it was no coincidence. Then a third plane skimmed over Arlington Cemetery and slammed into the Pentagon. A fourth plane, which we later learned had been hijacked and headed for Washington, D.C., crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pa., about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

As quickly as Americans realized we were under attack, it was over. The days, weeks and months that followed were a time for grieving and rebuilding. Slowly but surely, we learned it was OK to laugh again, to enjoy things like sporting events and concerts, to be ourselves.

But for as much as things seem to have gotten back to normal, ⁹⁄₁₁ is still a touchy subject. Much like the last time American soil was dramatically attacked - Dec. 7, 1941 - it will takes years, if not decades, for us to fully recover, if we ever do.

Which is why I found it so disturbing while I watched TV a few nights ago. A commercial came on to hawk a product that made me physically ill. According to the 60-second spot, the National Collector’s Mint has produced a “World Trade Center Gold and Silver Clad Commemorative Coin.”

I still can’t believe what I saw. The announcer described the coin as “truly unique, created using two distinct struck pieces. First, the base is struck with gleaming buildings on a frosted background. Then the inset of the Twin Towers is magnificently engraved and fitted into the skyline on the face of the commemorative with jeweler precision, able to rise up into a breathtaking standing sculpture. The effect is dazzling - it is literally transformed into a standing sculpture of the Twin Towers!”

But wait, there’s more.

The “collector’s item” features “.999 pure silver recovered from Ground Zero!” There’s also an eagle on the back of the coin, surrounded by five stars: one to mark every year since ⁹⁄₁₁.

And for only $29.95, you too can own the coin that features the “luminous New York City skyline featuring the magnificent Twin Towers (gleaming) against a frosted background, much as they shimmered in the sunlight that fateful September morning.”

Oh, but the best part is that $5 of every coin sold will be donated to “official” ⁹⁄₁₁ charities and memorials. Conveniently, the announcer never mentions what “official” organizations those might be.

In the past several months, I’ve gotten used to the idea that individuals and organizations would be capitalizing on the five-year anniversary. It just amazes me how much we as Americans are willing to let slide by.

After Pearl Harbor, it took Hollywood almost 30 years to make a feature film about the attack - “Tora! Tora! Tora!” wasn’t released until 1970. These days, Hollywood can’t seem to crank out enough movies about the events and people of ⁹⁄₁₁. “World Trade Center,” “United 93” and “Flight 93” have all been released in recent months. You can bet if they are all a commercial success, there will be plenty more to come.

I remember in the days after ⁹⁄₁₁ thinking it would only be a matter of time until people really started trying to make a buck or two off the tragedy. I wondered how long it would take until Americans collectively accepted it was OK for that to happen, and give it the old, “Eh, what are you going to do about it?” response.

I guess five years is the magic number.

(via The Press Tribune)

I’ve received several e-mails asking for the value of a Lincoln cent with an image of John F. Kennedy on it. I’ve also received questions about an imprint of a map of a state along with the 2 letter abbreviation.

The short answer is that these are all novelty coins. They left the mint as a normal coin without any additional images. After they left, someone added the extra images, then declared them “unusual commemoratives and collectors items.”

Here’s an example of the Lincoln Kennedy Cent that was selling on eBay for $0.99. They can be fun conversation items, but calling them commemoratives and collectors items is stretching the truth in my opinion.

The latest newsletter from Numismatic News had this editorial.

Sold: all 10,000 three-coin gold American Eagle 20th anniversary sets. They were all ordered from the U.S. Mint within two days after going on sale Aug. 30. Unless you acted fast, gone is your chance to get the “reverse proof” 2006 gold Eagle that’s part of this three-coin gold set.

Nearly gone: a related two-coin anniversary set with brilliant uncirculated one-ounce silver and gold Eagles. It looks to be on the verge of selling out, 14,783 sold as of Sept. 4 out of a maximum of 20,000 sets. These two BU coins each bear the West Point “W” mintmark. BU Eagles normally have no mintmark. If you’re interested in this set, priced at $850 from the Mint, head to the Mint’s Web site now because you may not get another chance.

There seems to be more time with the third Eagle anniversary set, a three-coin set of silver Eagles, which as of Sept. 4 toted 103,205 sold of a possible 250,000. Included here is a reverse proof silver Eagle with “P” mintmark, packaged with a silver proof and a BU example both with “W” mintmarks. At $100, this is the more affordable option for the silver Eagle collector seeking the 2006-W.

Critical content of the two of these sets are the “reverse proof” coins, which have frosty fields and mirror-like design elements, the opposite of traditional proof coins. A reverse proof gold one-ounce coin is in the first set and a reverse proof one-ounce silver coin is in the third set. Presumably there will be only these 10,000 reverse proof gold Eagles this year, and these 250,000 2006-P reverse proof silver Eagles.

In the two-coin set, the unusual aspect is the “W” mintmark, as noted above. Collectors of BU gold Eagles better think fast whether they need the 2006-W gold Eagle. Collectors of silver Eagles appear to have time to consider whether they need the 2006-W, which can be had in the three-coin silver set for less money.

These special coins become key issues of this year. The only way to get these them is in these sets.

I just ran across a web site called answer bag that allows people to submit coin collecting questions for people to answer. That’s just one of the categories they have, but since this is a coin collecting blog, I didn’t think you’d want to hear about bizarre question topics.

The idea of answering questions online is certainly not new, but sites like Experts Exchange don’t have coin collecting as one of their topics. Google Answers occasionally has coin collecting questions but if your question hasn’t been asked you need to pay for an answer. Yahoo Answers also has some questions related to coin collecting, but there isn’t a category devoted to the topic. About has a coin collecting category and they have experts that are willing to answer coin collecting questions, so that is another good source of answers.

In short, there are lots of ways to find answers to your coin collecting questions online. If you want to find questions offline, I’d suggest finding a coin dealer in your area or finding a coin club where you can meet other collectors on a regular basis.

Best of luck!

MEQUON - Spend some time with rare coin dealer Andrew Kimmel, and you will quickly get the impression that all work and no play does not apply to his choice of career. Actually, bring along a couple of children when you go to meet him and it might appear to be playtime for Kimmel. It’s hard to tell who is having more fun, the kids who leave his office with a bag full of coins or Kimmel.

“I like to give the kids coins because it gets them excited about numismatics,” Kimmel said of the study of rare coins. Kimmel decided at age 9 that he wanted to be a coin dealer. “When I was growing up, there were one or two dealers who always found time to talk to me one-on-one.”

Kimmel’s business, Paragon Numismatics, is located in Mequon. He started the business in 1987 when he was a junior at UW-Madison. He has now been in the coin business for 20 years and can often be found scouring national auctions and trade conventions for rare finds.

“It’s great fun, (but) the challenge is to find enough material to make a living,” Kimmel said. “The fun part is not knowing what is going to walk in the door.”

Though people may have valuable coins at home, Kimmel cautions against those who think a coin is valuable just because it is old.

“What determines the value of a coin is not the age,” he said. “If age determined value, rocks would be valuable. What determines value is the condition and the rarity of the coin.”

According to Kimmel, there are three different kinds of coin rarity: Absolute rarity, low survival and condition rarity. While people with quality collections represent less than 1 percent of collectors, occasionally Kimmel will have someone come in with a highly valuable coin they stumbled across while doing some cleaning around the house.

“The main thing that drives my business is that I have to be honest with my customers,” he said. “People come in with no conception of the value of their coins. There is no substitute for integrity.”

One of the things that Kimmel likes to do is educate his customers on better coin collecting. For children or adults who want to get started on a coin collection, Kimmel said all you really need is a high-quality magnifying glass, a copy of “A Guide Book of United States Coins” by R.S. Yeoman and a good lamplight complete with a 100-watt bulb.

“If you get these three things, you are ahead of 95 percent or more of the collectors,” he said.

Kimmel said one common misconception about coin collecting is the notion that proof sets are valuable. Though some of the early proof sets can be worth thousands of dollars, most of the sets produced after 1960 are worth less than their original base price. As for state quarters, Kimmel feels kids should go ahead and collect them, because finding these collections 20 years from now could get them back into the hobby.

(via GM Today)