Coin Mall Newsletter

June 2000

http://www.coinmall.com

Greetings from the Coin Mall. This is the first issue from three merged lists: Coin Mall, Coin & Currency Weekly and Paper Money Net. Coin & Currency Weekly has ceased publication, and coin news and opinions will be published in this newsletter. The Coin Mall News will be published on a monthly basis, often the first week of every month.

Collecting News

State Quarters

Last year, the state quarters got a lot of attention in my newsletters. For those who weren't reading, my position was that with so many coins being produced, and so many people hoarding them (and thus not circulating them) they would never really be worth more than face value. Boy, was I wrong. Well, perhaps time will tell, but at least for the short term I am. The average selling price for an uncirculated Delaware or Pennsylvania coin is about $2.00, with the price of the New Jersey coin just below that. Dealers still charge a premium for the rest, but not unlike the first coins that came out. Why are these going for so much? Because people apparently are paying that much. I still believe that there will always be a huge number of these coins in uncirculated condition, perhaps a higher percentage than later coins, which will no doubt be issued in larger numbers. I think that eventually the market will straighten itself out. For now if you missed to original buying period, you will be paying rather high prices.

Hot Market

The coin market so far this year has been very hot. A lot of new people are joining the hobby because of the state quarters and the new dollar coins, and are looking for inexpensive things to collect. One item that has seen higher demand is proof and mint sets for various years. Often an unloved segment of collecting, people are taking a closer look at these sets. Shows are seeing larger crowds because of the new coins. If you are in the Southern California area in a couple of weeks, the Long Beach show is one to check out. Unfortunately, I will be in New York that weekend, but have attended many of these shows. Lots of information on this great show is available at: http://www.longbeachshow.com/

Where are the dollar coins??

At Wal-Mart, and apparently nowhere else. Getting these coins to circulate at Wal-Mart was a great marketing idea by the U.S. Mint. However, I have yet to see one in circulation outside of Wal-Mart, as have many others. Have you encountered one of these coins in normal circulation? If so, e-mail me and I will publish reports in the next issue.

A look at collecting: World Paper Money

I am going to try to look at a different area of collecting in each issue. This month: World paper money. This is a popular field in collecting, because there is such variety by the paper money issuing countries of the world. Look for a surge when the Euro becomes a circulating note in about a year and a half. Many European countries will retire their circulating notes, to switch to a common design. Unlike the coins, which will have one common side for all countries, and one national side, the bank notes will be the same in all countries. Collectors will start putting away the retired notes, hopefully starting many paper money collections.

There are many ways to collect. One is by nationality or region. Another is by topic, i.e. notes featuring animals, buildings, etc. I personally collect notes issued by British Commonwealth countries that picture King George VI on them (1936-1952). The best way to start is to pick up an assortment of inexpensive world notes, and just decide where to go from there.

Reference material is available from most dealers or on-line. Here are a couple of links:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0873414691/thecoinmallA/104-5463291-6221510 - Standard Catalog of World Paper Money : General Issues to 1960

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0873417461/thecoinmallA/104-5463291-6221510 - Modern World Paper Money There are several dealers at The Coin Mall who specialize in world paper money, including: