Queen Elizabeth II led the Royal Maundy Service on Thursday in Northern Ireland. In keeping with the yearly tradition to mark Holy Thursday before Easter, The Queen handed out rare and specially minted coins along with regular circulation coins within small stringed red and white purses.
82 men and 82 women were selected from four main churches in Northern Ireland in recognition of their individual contributions and service. Each of the citizens received the purses and newly minted silver coins with a face value of 82 pence.
82 is the age of The Queen. Tradition dictates the monarch’s age is to be used in the each yearly service to determine how many individuals are selected and how many coins are handed out.
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A silver coin that was used to pay the half shekel head-tax to the Temple was found in the main drainage channel of Jerusalem from the Second Temple Period.
This coming Thursday, before reading the Scroll of Esther, all devote Jews will contribute a sum of money – “a reminder of the half shekel” – which is a tradition that took root in the wake of the ancient virtuous deed of paying a tax of one half shekel to the Temple. This sum, which was used in the past for the purpose of establishing and maintaining the temple, is translated into a contemporary amount and donated to the needy.
In an archaeological excavation that is being conducted in the main drainage channel of Jerusalem from the time of the Second Temple, in the City of David, in the Walls around Jerusalem National Park, an ancient rare silver coin was recently discovered. This coin is a shekel denomination that was customarily used to pay a half shekel head-tax in the Second Temple period.
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The Austrian Mint in Vienna has released its silver and niobium coin for 2008, which is dedicated to the “Fascination of Light”. Together with water, light is one of the most important factors of life. Without the light of the sun our planet would be cold and dead.
The historical occasion for the new coin is the 150 anniversary of the birth of the great Austrian chemist and entrepreneur, Dr. Carl Baron Auer von Welsbach (1858-1929). Among other discoveries Welsbach is remembered for the development of the gas mantle which improved gas lighting in the streets and homes. The gas mantle of 1890 was more robust than earlier methods and produced a “whiter” light.
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Gold plummeted to a three week low on Wednesday with investors selling following Tuesday’s less than expected U.S. interest rate cuts and the dollar’s gaining strength.
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates Tuesday by three-quarters of a percentage point, instead of the full percentage point many were expecting.
The dollar generally declines with interest rates cuts, but the less than expected reduction served to pull the greenback up. Gold and the dollar typically move in the opposite direction, and that trend continued.
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The United States Mint has announced the pricing for 2008 American Eagle Gold Uncirculated collector coins and their release date of April 1st.
These uncirculated coins are available in four sizes – one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce, as well as a four-coin set containing one of each coin. (The proof versions of these gold coins went on sale March 5, 2008.)
The U.S. Mint began production of the American Eagle Gold coins in 1986. However, these uncirculated coins are the newer collectible versions of the popular American Eagle bullion coins. They were first offered in 2006 and bear the “W” mint mark to indicate they were minted at the Mint’s West Point facility.
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The new Financial News & Resources section has been added to CoinNews to better keep collectors in touch with the always changing financial landscape – the inflationary tugs, bullion price movements, their effects on coins, and more.
This section on CoinNews contains leading world Market and Business headlines along with nearly 50 news videos solely dedicated to the latest financial news. These videos are updated daily and from resources, like:
- Reuters
- The Wall Street Journal
- Associated Press
- CBS News
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Is the demise of the Lincoln penny approaching? Public sentiments appears slightly shifted toward its continual survival and the penny is guaranteed to be around for the next several years. The newly designed pennies for 2009 celebrating the bicentennial birth of Lincoln will see to that by itself.
But is sentiment for the penny changing and moving toward its elimination?
While the House is debating changes to the composition of coinage in order to make coins like the penny and nickel once again profitable to mint, more focus is placed on whether the penny should be produced at all. Even the latest House hearing had congressman pondering the pennies’ continuation.
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The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) officially launched the 2008 issue of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Gold and Silver Maple Leaf bullion coins. These unique RCM bullion products are the world’s first bullion coins promoting the spirit of the Olympic Games.
The RCM’s Ottawa facility will produce up to 50,000 coins in gold for the 2008 issue and the silver version will be produced on demand. Two more annual issues (2009 and 2010) will follow.
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CoinNews has added a Canadian Silver Coin Calculator, a collector tool that determines the value of silver within Canadian coins.
The calculator is very similar to the U.S. Silver Coin Calculator and the Australian Silver Coin Calculator. Some of the features include:
- Calculation in Canadian or U.S. dollars
- Listing of the total silver weight of coins in troy ounces and grams
- A user controlled bid/ask spread
- A Silver Chart that reflects the silver value of coins over time (in Canadian or U.S. dollars)
The collector tool provides calculations for silver coinage that circulated since 1920 to include:
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An image of the finest known 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar, owned and frequently exhibited by Steven L. Contursi, President of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, California, may appear on wine bottles.
Contursi recently purchased the “Little Creek” estate vineyard in Napa Valley, California, and wants to use a photo of the Neil/Carter/Contursi dollar on the wine labels.
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