Monthly Archives: June 2010

The 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollars were released by the U.S. Mint on the bicentennial of the birth of the 16th President of the United States, February 12, 2009.

They were hot. The Mint's entire mintage of 450,000 single coins sold out in six weeks. Broken out between the two options issued, 325,000 proof and 125,000 uncirculated coins were scooped up by collectors.

50,000 proof dollars were kept in reserve for the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set, which was attractively packaged to also include proofs of the four redesigned 2009 Lincoln cents with their special 95% copper compositions. The sets debuted on October 15, 2009 and sold out in 30 hours, adding up to the 500,000 authorized Lincoln commemorative coin limit.

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During the last week, there were two more stories of dealers being robbed. One occurred in Wichita Falls, Texas and the other in Parisippany, New Jersey. In both cases, the dealers stopped at a restaurant after the show ended, and had their windows broken to take what was in the car. The incident in Wichita Falls also involved an assault on the dealer and his wife.

Earlier this year, a coin dealer was robbed in Acton, Massachusetts after leaving a coin show in Westford. Also, a coin dealer from Jacksonville, North Carolina was robbed in Wilmington when he went to visit someone's home he thought was interested in purchasing coins.

These incidents show that it is time for dealers to step up their security awareness and learn to protect themselves from the risks of robberies. Dealers with store fronts have a lot of options to protect their assets, although some have fatal ramifications. For the dealer who travels to and from shows, the security of their vehicle is very important.

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