Numismatic News and Blog Headlines - Dec 30, 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. Here are today’s articles:

Designer’s initials trigger debate over signing 1909 cents
By Paul Gilkes, COIN WORLD

Two of the four Lincoln cents issued for circulation during the 1909 inaugural year of the small cent series bear the v.d.b. initials of the coin’s designer, sculptor Victor David Brenner, on the bottom border of the reverse. Brenner had initially hoped to have his entire surname spelled out in the reverse location.

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Woes on Wall Street coincide with gold coin rush
By Sandy Shore, The Associated Press

Investors who have forsaken shaky financial markets for the safety of gold must feel a little bit like prospectors. As the worst recession in at least a generation spreads, so too does the clamor for gold bars and coins, assets less likely to go up on smoke like so many derivatives and asset-backed securities.

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Park Quarter Program Includes 5-Ounce Silver Coins
By Mike Unser, Silver Coins Today

President Bush on Tuesday signed into law H.R.6184, America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008. The law mandates a new quarter series and, interestingly, 5-ounce silver coins.

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What’s Hot/What’s Not: End of 2008 and Beginning of 2009
By Doug Winter, RareGoldCoins.com

What a difference a year makes. I can remember sitting down in December 2007 to compile my annual What’s Hot/What’s Not list for 2008 and thinking "every area in the market is so strong right now, what am I going to force myself to list as ‘not hot?" Fast forward to December 2008 and now it seems like I have to pull ideas out of the hat like Numismatic Rabbits to come up with areas that are hot while the "not so hot" areas seems a lot easier to ponder.

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