Numismatist; fine art & rare coin appraiser; fun USPAP instructor; happily inactive lawyer; museum enthusiast; @coinworld editor-at-large
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Articles by Steve Roach
Collecting Friends: Money in Books, Part 2
Money in Books, Part 2 Dennis:Steve, we recently talked about a Facebook group of collectors and dealers of rare and vintage books. One member posed a question that fired up a lot of conversation: “What is the most interesting thing anyone has found in an old book?” Some of the answers described interesting, but not unusual, finds, like old letters and clipped advertisements. Other things used as bookmarks offer a snapshot of contemporary pop culture.
Collecting Friends: Money in Books, Part 1
Money in Books, Part 1 Dennis:In a Facebook group for sellers and collectors of vintage books, member Barbara S. recently asked, “What is the most interesting thing anyone has found in an old book?” That question unearthed a treasure trove of fascinating finds! There were things that are neat, but not unexpected, like old movie tickets and pressed four-leaf clovers.
Collecting Friends: New Quarters in the Saturday Evening Post
New Quarters in the Saturday Evening Post Dennis:I imagine most of our readers—being history buffs but also hip to pop culture—know the Saturday Evening Post is still around. Some might even be members of the Saturday Evening Post Society (SEPS), the nonprofit that’s published the magazine since 1982. Those of us in the know saw that coin collecting got a shout-out in the venerable publication’s January/February 2025 issue. That put our hobby in front of hundreds of thousands of readers.
Collecting Friends: Red Coins
Red Coins Steve:A column or so ago, we discussed colorized coins and the distinction between coins that have color added to them as part of the minting process and those that acquire color naturally over time. U.S. copper coins are typically identified as having three colors: Red, Red and Brown, and Brown. I keep a clippings folder with ideas of things to write about (as one does) and an article from a Sotheby’s magazine from around a decade ago discussed the power of red.
Collecting Friends: This Deceptive Clickbait Headline Is Worth Millions!
This Deceptive Clickbait Headline Is Worth Millions! Dennis:Counterfeit coins have been a pox on the hobby for generations. Our grandparents had to look out for fake colonial coppers, fake key dates (like the 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cent and the 1916-D Mercury dime), and fake gold coins of every denomination and type. Over the past 25 years or so, counterfeiters, mostly in China, have grown more and more sophisticated in their devilish craft.
Collecting Friends: Scorned Columbus
Scorned Columbus Steve:A front-page story in the October 12, 2025, New York Times led with a startling statistic: more than 30 monuments to Christopher Columbus were taken down in 2020. Its author shared snippets of a Columbus statue in Richmond, Virginia, that is now in a Sons of Italy Lodge in New York, another marble statue in Boston that was beheaded in 2020 and now stands among religious statues at a nearby church, and in Baltimore another was dumped in the Inner Harbor.
Collecting Friends: Colorized Coins
Colorized Coins Steve:World mints and coin manufacturers are being increasingly innovative in trying to make exciting and “new” coins for buyers. One avenue pursued in the sake of novelty are “colorized” coins, where vivid colors are introduced on the surface of the coin during the production process. This is distinguished from a coin like a beautiful rainbow toned 1881-S Morgan dollar that acquires natural colors over time due to the oxidization of the planchet’s metal.
Collecting Friends: Grading Innovations
Grading Innovations Dennis:Dave Bowers and I used to talk quite a bit about coin grading. He felt that the Sheldon system—which turned 75 in 2023, if you can believe it!—is too complicated and cumbersome, especially for newcomers. And yet it’s the system adopted (and adapted) by the American Numismatic Association and used by most coin dealers and collectors. Dave points out that many collectibles hobbies have grading standards that don’t try so hard to be scientific.
Collecting Friends: Curating
| | 7 minute read Curating Steve:Within the art world, many people with nebulous jobs and vague sources of income are either advisors or curators. Advisors presumably help a collector buy, sell and manage a collection. Curators do the same thing, but there is an assumption that a curator provides more scholarly umph, I suppose.
Collecting Friends: Numismatic Autographs
| | 6 minute read Numismatic Autographs Dennis:I beheld an astounding coin the other day—a massive five-kilogram .999 fine silver coin from Great Britain, colorfully enameled in gem Proof finish. The Royal Mint made it to honor Paul McCartney. It’s one of only four available for private ownership. Eight were minted, of which three were examined and then melted in the annual Trial of the Pyx ceremony.
Collecting Friends: Strategy
Strategy Steve:Committing to a strategy is a key to success…until sometimes it isn’t. An article in the March 12, 2025, issue of the Wall St. Journal showcased a unique museum concept: The Museum of Failure, which focuses on strategies that did not bring the desired results. Among the exhibits: Crystal Pepsi, the soda maker’s clear, caffeine-free cola introduced in 1992 as a healthier alternative to traditionally brown colas.
Collecting Friends: Coins That Pop
Coins That Pop Dennis:It was the third day of the 2025 ANA National Money Show. I was strolling the bourse in Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria Centre. I’d given my “Money Talks” presentation on U.S./Philippine coins a couple days earlier, and attended a few other talks. I’d had meetings with authors and publishers and other friends. Now it was time to take in the exhibits and see what interesting collectibles I could find on the bourse.
Collecting Friends: An Unsung Coin Designer: Melecio Figueroa
An Unsung Coin Designer: Melecio Figueroa Dennis:Steve, at a recent ANA convention I stopped by the combined table of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club and the Barber Coin Collectors Society. Our mutual friend John Frost was there, representing both organizations and welcoming visitors to join them (which I also recommend!). In recent years John has done some amazing research into the lives of father-and-son U.S. Mint Chief Engravers William Barber and Charles E. Barber.
Collecting Friends: Regrets
Regrets Steve:I once worked with a person who, when making a mistake at work, would say in a casual way “oopsies.” The response was a casual recognition of a mistake, which could be used for either ordering the wrong size water bottle or leaving a door unlocked, resulting in a stolen laptop. Likely every collector has had a “what was I thinking” moment when buying something and then getting it home and wondering, why?!?
Collecting Friends: Spooky Coins
Spooky Coins Steve:A favorite painting of mine at the Detroit Institute of Arts is The Nightmare, a large 1781 oil on canvas work by Swiss artist Henry Fuseli.
Collecting Friends: Personal Connections to American Coins
Personal Connections to American Coins Dennis: In 2023 I visited the Starr Clark Tin Shop and the Underground Railroad Museum in Mexico, New York, sites expertly maintained by the Mexico Historical Society. Starr Clark was a tinsmith and businessman who bravely used his own resources and his personal influence in the region to support the Underground Railroad from the 1830s until the end of the Civil War.
Collecting Friends: Personal Connections to American Coins
Personal Connections to American Coins Dennis: In 2023 I visited the Starr Clark Tin Shop and Underground Railroad Museum in Mexico, New York, sites expertly maintained by the Mexico Historical Society. Starr Clark was a tinsmith and businessman who bravely used his own resources and his personal influence in the region to support the Underground Railroad from the 1830s until the end of the Civil War.
Collecting Friends: Coin Shows
Coin Shows Steve: Reading an obituary of Stanford L. Smith, who the New York Times called a “One-Man Institution” in art fairs made me think about coin shows. He ran over 150 art fairs in his career, and some dealers reported selling more art in a long weekend at one of Smith’s fairs than in nearly a year at their galleries. Smith saw a gap in the market by taking better care of his exhibitors, increasing staffing, and offering lots of free coffee.
Collecting Friends: Widgets Ahoy!
Widgets Ahoy! Dennis:I believe it was former ANA governor Laura Sperber, of Legend Numismatics, who popularized the term “widget” in relation to collectible coins. We won’t find this definition in Webster’s dictionary (or in the glossary of the Red Book), but in this context it basically means a run-of-the-mill coin with nothing extraordinary to recommend it to an advanced collector. Sperber has described a widget as a “nice (not wild) pleasing example of a common coin.” It’s not necessarily junk.
Collecting Friends: Different Kinds of American Innovation
Different Kinds of American Innovation Dennis:Steve, our recent conversation about state-related coins makes me curious about your opinion on the American Innovation dollars—specifically, how to define “innovation.” These coins share a common obverse motif (a nice view of the Statue of Liberty, designed by Artistic Infusion Program artist Justin Kunz and sculpted by Mint engraver Phebe Hemphill; image courtesy U.S. Mint).
Collecting Friends: State Flags and Good Design
State Flags and Good Design Steve:I’ve never really questioned state flags. So, when Utah adopted a new flag in 2024, I was surprised that some Utahns wanted to make their flag more distinct and recognizable, and that this was even an option. Utah elected to create a new flag and make the old one the “Historic State Flag.” The “old” flag was blue with a state seal in the center that recalls other states like Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire.
Collecting Friends: Three-Word Hooks
Three-Word Hooks Steve:Netflix reels in its viewers with three-word hooks. The ANA does the same thing with its education program’s goals: explore, study, connect. For Netflix, the New York Times explained that shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” might be called soapy, emotional and drama, while another might be campy, witty, and quirky. Netflix has a team of 30 people devoted to these three magic words.
Collecting Friends: The Hobby is Changing
Published by Steve Roach & Dennis Tucker on The Hobby is Changing Dennis:I attended a bunch of interesting talks at the 2024 Central States Numismatic Society convention. In one, the topic of Young Numismatists came up. The speaker was Heritage Auctions president Greg Rohan. He remarked on a trend he’s seen, over the past five years or so, of more and more young coin dealers entering the market.
Collecting Friends: The Challenge of a Portrait
The Challenge of a Portrait Steve:Jonathan Yeo’s striking portrait of King Charles III, unveiled during the summer of 2024, has sparked ongoing discussion about the art of royal portraiture. Royal portraits are typically traditional, predictable and represent the power of the throne more than the personality of the sitter. The official portrait of King Charles III shows him standing in his Welsh Guards uniform, hands on a sword, with a bit of a grin. A butterfly hovers over his shoulder.
Collecting Friends: Wonder and Awe
Wonder and Awe Steve: The April 3, 2024, Wall Street Journal had a quick review on a book by Helen De Cruz titled Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think.
Collecting Friends: Small Sculptures
Small Sculptures Dennis:I was talking with some postcard-collector friends and they told me how their hobby puts a world of art at their fingertips. Deltiologists, as they’re called, can have an entire gallery of masterworks framed and hung in their hallway or den without spending a fortune. If you collect Western art, postcards featuring paintings of the prolific Charles M. Russell are easy to acquire.
Collecting Friends: An American Silver Half Dollar in Mexico
An American Silver Half Dollar in Mexico Dennis:November 2023 found me in upstate New York for the Thanksgiving holiday, visiting family and doing a little historical sightseeing. I was able to tour the Starr Clark Tin Shop and Underground Railroad Museum in the town of Mexico, New York, thanks to volunteers and officers of the Mexico Historical Society. President Allie Proud was on hand, along with volunteers Jim Hotchkiss and Barry Haynes.
Collecting Friends: The Secret Lives of Numismatists
The Secret Lives of Numismatists Dennis:It’s easy to think of coin collectors (or paper-money collectors, or medal and token collectors) as one-dimensional—“a numismatist is a numismatist is a numismatist.” Non-collectors certainly have their stereotypes about us: nerdy, awkward, boring, what-have-you. But anyone who’s been in the hobby long enough knows a collector or two with a surprising hidden life.
Market Analysis: Significant errors on Peace dollars
Two significant errors on Peace dollars were offered in sequence at Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Nov. 21 Showcase Auction. A 1921 Peace dollar struck in the first-year type’s distinctive high relief was graded Numismatic Guaranty Co. as About Uncirculated Details, Reverse Scratch. It featured a significant double strike: it was struck, then the struck coin rotated in the collar by about 10 degrees and was struck again. The doubling is evident at the peripheral lettering.
Market Analysis: Gold coins break million-dollar mark
Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Nov. 19 Rarities Night sale offered three gold lots that crossed the $1 million mark, led by an 1870-CC Coronet gold double eagle graded About Uncirculated 55 by Professional Coin Grading Service that brought $1,440,000. At $1,260,000, a privately issued 1850 Baldwin & Co. territorial gold $10 coin graded Mint State 63+ by PCGS with a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker impressed bidders.
Quality gold double eagles in December Heritage auctions
Some terrific $20 gold double eagles are standout lots in Heritage Auctions’ Dec. 12 to 15 U.S. Coins Signature auction. Most exciting to many is one of around 50 to 60 known 1870-CC gold $20 double eagles. This one is graded Extremely Fine 45 by Numismatic Guaranty Co. and is among the nicer survivors from a mintage of just 3,789. It represents the first year of operation for the Carson City Mint in Nevada, established to strike silver and gold coins in response to the Comstock Lode discovery.
Market Analysis: U.S. Assay Office 400+ ounce gold ingot
Visually the most impressive lot in a recent Stack's Bowers sale had to be a large-sized 1935 U.S. Assay Office at New York gold ingot containing 400.875608 troy ounces of .9969 fine gold.
Market Analysis: 1946 Walking Liberty half dollar in MS-68
The market for top-graded examples of otherwise common coins remains electric, as seen in the $57,600 that a 1946 Walking Liberty half dollar graded Mint State 68 by PCGS and given a green CAC sticker brought at the Nov. 19 Stack’s Bowers Rarities Night session. It combines near-flawless surface preservation with bold colors: vivid neon green, yellow, orange and pink.
Market Analysis: High-grade AU-58 NE shilling
Making its first auction appearance since 1978, a Noe 3-B, Salmon 3-C undated (1652) NE shilling graded About Uncirculated 58 by Numismatic Guaranty Co. sold for $192,000 at the November 18 session. It is among the finest of the approximately 70 known NE shillings made with simple device punches that were similar to a silversmith’s hallmark.
Coins displayed in Virginia’s Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond features an encyclopedic collection. Opened by the state in 1936, its collections include more than 500 coins. Many are on display in the galleries devoted to Greek and Roman art, providing viewers with a broader context of coins as they relate to art, culture and commerce in the ancient world. Coins often prove challenging for general museums since many coins often lack specific provenance, or ownership history. Indeed, on Dec.
Market Analysis: Even vintage NE counterfeits have value
Bringing $60,000 at Stack’s Bowers was a PCGS Very Fine 30 (1652) NE shilling from the Noe 1-A, Salmon 1-B dies. The cataloger noted the bold detail in the design elements of the punches, though recognizing, “some of the finer elements of both punches are obscured by this coin’s interesting texture, which is rough and somewhat uneven overall.” For collectors looking for a much more affordable option, a NE sixpence struck copy graded Very Fine by the auction house sold for $1,440.
Market Analysis: 1652 New England threepence
A newly discovered undated (1652) New England threepence graded Extremely Fine 45 by Professional Coin Grading Service brought a robust $2,520,000 at Stack’s Bowers Galleries on November 18.
Collecting Friends: How Many Coin Collectors Are There?
How Many Coin Collectors Are There? Dennis:How many coin collectors are there in the United States? This numismatic puzzle is like Thomas Aquinas’s philosophical rumination, “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” Estimates range from thousands to millions. I think the answer boils down to how you define “collector.” On the high end is an estimate from twenty-plus years ago. The State quarters program that started in 1999 brought a new boom to coin collecting.
Quality gold half eagles at Scotsman Auction Co. sale
A duo of gold $5 half eagles graded Mint State 64+ were standouts at Scotsman Auction Co.’s Nov. 1 Collectors’ Auction in Saint Charles, Missouri. In March 2010 at the American Numismatic Association National Money Show in Fort Worth, Texas, Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Co. announced their addition of plus grades to numerical grades.
Market Analysis: LaVere Redfield’s silver Morgan dollars
Some of the first “slabbed” coins were the primarily Carson City Mint Morgan dollars from the GSA hoard and the coins housed and marketed in the mid-1970s by Paramount in black plastic holders as part of the LaVere Redfield Collection. PCGS and Numismatic Guaranty Co. grade both GSA and Redfield Hoard dollars in their original holders, as seen with an 1891-S Morgan dollar graded NGC Mint State 64 in its Paramount black holder that sold for $778.36 at a May 24 GreatCollections session.
Peale’s Philadelphia museum medalet collection
Stack’s Bowers Galleries offered what it called the finest group of medalets related to Charles Willson Peale’s museums ever assembled at its Aug. 15 session. Peale was part of a family of artists, and his museums — which eventually included locations in New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore — combined art, natural history and fossils. The Peale collection would eventually be sold to promoter P.T. Barnum in the 1840s.
Market Analysis: Gold double eagle in old holder
Published: Nov 11, 2024, 12 PM This PCGS Extremely Fine 40 1927-S Saint-Gaudens gold $20 double eagle is the lowest-graded survivor at PCGS and sold for $21,375 on Oct. 13. It is housed in an old green-label PCGS “rattler” from the first few years of grading at that service. The smaller-sized “rattler” holders — named because the coins often rattled a bit in the holders — were used in the first years of PCGS.
Market Analysis: 1909-S Lincoln cent
Old holders from third-party grading services remain really popular with collectors. Among the biggest and most impressive are the Professional Coin Grading Service Regency Holders. They were offered as a premium holder from 1992 to 1996 and feature an oversized format with a dark green surround and gold trim. Around 700 were produced, with more than half housing largely Israeli coins from the Danny Kaye collection.
Market Analysis: Rare early Assay Commission medal
United States Assay Commission medals are a popular specialized field within token and medals collecting. Members of the U.S. Assay Commission tested coins from the U.S. Mint to assure proper weight and fineness. Medals for commissioners started in 1860 and Stack’s Bowers Galleries offered a significant group of these at an Aug 15 session.
Market Analysis: 1958 Atoms for Peace medal
The designs of the Assay Commission medals often reflect the times when they were designed, like the 1958 medal with Gilroy Roberts’ portrait of Dwight Eisenhower on one side and a multi-figure “Atoms for Peace” design by Engelhardus von Hebel on the other side.
Market Analysis: Rare 1915 and 1916 Commission medals
The 1915 and 1916 U.S. Assay Commission medals are both rare. Stack’s Bowers offered a 1915-dated medal issued to John Skelton Williams graded Specimen 65 by PCGS that sold for $28,800. The year was the first when commissioners’ names were engraved on the edge, and only 21 were struck in silver. The next year’s medal, for 1916, presented to Williams, graded Specimen 63 by PCGS, sold for $18,000 and is one of just 25 silver examples struck.
Finest 1870-CC gold $20 double eagle at PCGS ready to be sold
Stack’s Bowers Galleries will present an About Uncirculated 55 1870-CC Coronet $20 gold double eagle that is the finest certified at Professional Coin Grading Service at its November 2024 Showcase Auctions Rarities Night session on Nov. 19. It is from The Bernard Richards Collection of Liberty Head and Saint-Gaudens double eagles, which includes many coins purchased in the 1980s from Stack’s auctions.
Collecting Friends: Authentication
Authentication Steve:One of the key components of art authentication considers materials: if an artwork was painted with a paint that wasn’t invented when an artist painted, it’s probably not authentic. Or, it might just be restored with modern materials. Either way, materials are important in considering the authenticity of an object.
Collecting Friends: Coin Revivals
Coin Revivals Dennis:A seed was planted in American numismatics in the 1980s, and, to paraphrase the old saying, “from that little acorn a mighty oak has grown.” The seed was Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s “Striding Liberty” design from the old 1907–1933 $20 gold coin, updated slightly and put into use on the American Gold Eagle bullion coin launched in October 1986.
Market Analysis: Major error on Type I 1917-S quarter
Any major error on a Standing Liberty quarter dollar is a delicacy. On August 17, Stack’s Bowers Galleries presented a 1917-S Standing Liberty, Type I, Bare Breast quarter dollar struck 15% off-center that sold for a reasonable $7,200. It was graded Uncirculated Details, Gouged by Professional Coin Grading Service, with the unusual modifier recognizing some heavy marks in the left reverse field.
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