Former banking and investment executive and life-long coin collector Larry Shepherd has been named the new executive director of the American Numismatic Association, President Barry Stuppler announced today.

Shepherd, whose appointment was announced during opening ceremonies of the Phoenix National Money Show at 9:45 a.m., is an ANA Life Member (#5036) and owner and president of Simco Numismatics in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to founding Simco in 1989, he spent 17 years in the banking and investment community, including 14 years in executive management.

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Dallas, TX. The entire, renowned Thomas M. Flynn Collection of U.S. and Canadian Currency, including more than 1,000 large size notes encompassing nearly every Friedberg number from one through 1225, will be offered with no reserves by Heritage Auction Galleries.

The collection will be offered as part of the official auction of the Central States Numismatic Society convention April 16 through April 18 in Rosemont, Illinois at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 555 North River Road, a stone’s throw from O’Hare International Airport.

Tom Flynn has been a familiar face to nearly everyone in the currency field for more than four decades. He started collecting United States currency in the mid-1960’s and expanded his collecting focus to include Canadian currency a few years later.

Unlike most collectors of his day, who were content to collect by seal type or signature combination, Tom’s horizons were much wider, as he soon decided his goal would be to own an example of every United States note issued by Friedberg number and every Canadian note issued by Charlton number. While no collection can ever be complete, Tom pursued his dream with passion for more than four decades, with truly marvelous results.

Comprising over one thousand notes encompassing nearly every Friedberg number from 1 through 1225, Tom’s large size note holdings include a plethora of rarities. A listing of highlights would be far too numerous to mention, however, the range of notes is spectacular, from a high grade $100 Watermelon pedigreed to the collection of Amon Carter, Jr., to a $50 National Gold Bank Note, which, by coincidence, was obtained directly from Amon over thirty years ago.

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There are thousands and thousands of coin sites on the Internet. Many of them are outstanding while others have been dead for months and years. It’s the sheer quantity and their varying degrees of completion - or, incompleteness to be more exact - that make it more difficult to find some of the gems out there.

It’s my hope you’ll discover at least one or two new sites or "gems" to frequent after reading this.

The criteria for coin sites listed

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Special commemorative products to be issued

OTTAWA, ONTARIO / WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - January 2, 2008  – One hundred years ago today, Governor General Earl Grey activated the press to strike a fifty-cent piece, Canada’s first domestically produced coin. What would become known as the Royal Canadian Mint was officially open for business.

“To celebrate the centennial of the Mint is to celebrate the history of Canada,” said Mr. Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. “Over the past century, the Mint has played an important role in the economic and social fabric of our nation, by creating circulation and commemorative collector coins which are a true testament to Canada’s rich heritage and values.”

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2007 had its share of coin news with headlines from the traditional numismatic magazines, newspapers and online sites that were also talked about, discussed and picked up by general media sources, like the New York Times and USA Today’s of the world.

While coin hobbyist hear frequently from their daily coin news sources, it’s worthwhile to take a look at several coin stories for 2007 covered by journalists who write for the mainstream press.

These provide a glimpse into what most of the world hears about U.S. coins and collecting, and insights into what "they" think were the most important or news worthy coin stories for the year. For this introspective look, sample articles are provided that are interesting reads and come solely from main stream media sources.

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We’ve made the decision to test the addition of content by offering aggregated articles from world-wide news organizations. These are unlike the RSS feeds found in our News Extra section that offer headlines and a sentence or two of information. These are more like the embedded video articles you’ve become used to - the articles will load and display within CoinNews.

There are several advantages:

• CoinNews can provide you relevant coin stories from news organizations across the globe
• You won’t have to jump around and leave the CoinNews website to read each article (like you do when you read an RSS feed)
• CoinNews can help protect the copyright and licensing of the news sources, writers and their articles.

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(San Antonio, Texas) — CoinNews, an online source for numismatic news, information and coin collector services, has announced the launch of a new beta site that is geared solely for mobile users.

The site provides numismatic headlines with the latest snapshots of daily news, articles and industry events accessible directly from mobile phones. While the beta of the mobility site has just begun, it is expected to be freely available to all CoinNews users by early January.

"Our mobility site is simply an extension of the industry news and information we offer every single day," said CoinNews editor Mike Unser. "The difference is you don’t have to be at your computer to find out what’s happening in the numismatic world. You can be anywhere."

New subscribers interested in helping test the beta mobile site should inquire through the CoinNews.net contact page, beginning Monday, Dec. 17.

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(Colorado Springs, Colorado) — A rare, 490-year old original copy of the first illustrated, printed numismatic book, Illustrium Imagines (”Images of the Illustrious”), has been donated to the American Numismatic Association by well-known collector, sports agent and real estate developer, Dwight N. Manley, of Newport Beach, California. The book was printed in 1517 in Rome, Italy, and contains 204 ornate woodcut illustrations from ancient Roman coins and medallions.

Manley purchased it for $8,050 in the November 1, 2007, rare book auction conducted by George Frederick Kolbe of Crestline, California. In the catalog, Kolbe described the book as “… of unparalleled importance, being only the second numismatic book ever published, and the first printed book substantially illustrating coins and medals … A handsome publication, truly one of the greatest landmarks in the history of numismatic literature.”

“This generous gift is unquestionably one of the most treasured volumes in any numismatic library collection,” said ANA Acting Executive Director Ken Hallenbeck. “This becomes the oldest numismatic book in the world’s largest numismatic lending library. It is a terrific addition to the ANA’s Dwight N. Manley Library.”

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CoinNews.net is happy to announce the addition of a new service to its website. As requested by many CoinNews.net readers, an eNewsletter has been added.

The eNewsletter is FREE and only requires an e-mail address to subscribe. Here are a few things to expect with a subscription:

• Coin and numismatic news snapshots, articles and occasional news alerts
• CoinNews.net will not sell or share your email address. Please read our privacy policy.
• This is a Double Opt-In eNewsletter (when you enter your information, you’ll receive a confirmation email asking to verify your sign up)

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