Numismatic Blog and News Headlines for October 7, 2008

Four numismatic articles are referenced on CoinNews every Tuesday and Thursday. These articles are not authored by us, but we recommend collectors read them for their unusual or interesting content. Have you written or know of an article that should be highlighted on CoinNews? Please let us know! Here are today’s articles:

Royal Canadian Mint under ’strain’ to meet demand for gold
By Eric Lam, FP Posted

The plunging stock market in Canada has led to a spike in gold purchases, and gold brokers may soon have trouble keeping up with demand. A teller at Scotiabank’s precious metals exchange desk in the Scotia Plaza said Thursday that nervous investors had already purchased all of Scotia’s one-ounce gold bullion bars, which are slightly cheaper than the Scotia one-ounce gold coins.

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Where will coins head?
By Mark Ferguson, Coin Values

Don’t panic! Take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. Then you can think about the economic turmoil we’re all trying to find our way through. These are unprecedented times, and there are no rules as to what the values of coins are going to do during the near future. A case can be made for overall coin values to fall with the rest of the economy.

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More Countries Move to Eliminate Paper Currency
By Scott Barman, Coin Collector’s Blog

While the United States continues to be one of the few countries to circulate its unit currency in paper, two countries have recently announced that they are going to replace their lowest denomination notes with coin. The Czech Republic will begin to circulate their 50-koruna banknote with a coin…

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[Canadian] Penny costs more than a cent to make
By Jack Branswell and Ken Meaney, Canwest News Service

Canada’s venerable penny now costs more than a cent to make, according to secret documents obtained by Canwest News Service. The documents, obtained through the Access to Information Act from the Bank of Canada, say that "due to rising labour, metal and other manufacturing and distribution costs, each penny now costs more than one cent to produce."

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