An award-winning columnist for a major daily newspaper recently lamented his Christmas visit to a local coffee shop. All was well until the bill came. For a $14 charge he gave the waitress a $20 bill. He wanted no change. It was Christmas. The waitress abruptly told him they no longer accepted cash. He was baffled. Again, he stressed she could keep it all. Nope. Now, it was charge only.
He succumbed and reluctantly paid with a credit card. That came with an additional three-percent charge to cover the cost paid to the credit card company. Aggravated, his tip was commensurately less.
Equally perplexing was a situation at a post office in St. Louis this holiday. According to reader letters in a local paper, several postal patrons had gone to a large branch of a local post office to purchase stamps for holiday mail. Each was curtly told there were no stamps. At a post office, no stamps.
I’ve written about coins, stamps and currency for over four decades. I know how many stamps are printed annually. Over 13 billion. Still, they had none. That’s akin to going to a bank only to be told they have no money. Or, a Baskin-Robbins having no ice cream. Either would result in being out-of-business in a matter of days. If this is the new norm, it’s not headed in a good direction. It may be time to climb into a real WayBack Machine to a time when things worked....
We’ve heard similar rumblings about newspapers. Some contend they are relics of a bygone era. In this case, the pendulum swing is positive, particularly for local papers. People have grown weary of unsubstantiated digital “reporting.” Whether online or on paper, people are realizing newspapers are far-and-away the best way to discover what we don’t know. Especially investigative reporting.
To that end, for stamps and coins/currency, the two publications that best deliver news for the hobbies are Linn’s Stamp News and Coin World.
Linn’s was first published in 1928. Coin World appeared in 1960. Since they first hit stands and/or mailboxes, each has become the bible for hobbyists and investors. In recent years, their page girth may have diminished. But, the content has not only maintained its relevance, it has become even more essential.
A good example was a story in Coin World a while back about a coin many people have given or gotten at Christmastime – the Kennedy half dollar. First minted in 1964, the 90 percent silver coin was embraced after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. During the ‘60s, children often found one of the coins in their Christmas stocking. Most people still own one or more to this day.
The 1964 Kennedy half dollar highlighted in the Coin World article was in “Mint State-66.” That is particularly nice. Price guides put its value at $65. Yet, the selling price featured in Coin World…$1,698. Another 1964 Kennedy half dollar in the article graded even higher – gleaming Mint State 68. It had sold for an unbelievable $22,325. Again, these are the same type of half dollars slipped into kid’s stockings not that many years ago.
The article also chronicled a half dollar issued from 1946. That type and date of the silver coin is also fairly common. Yet again, condition is key. In Mint State-68 grade, price guides say its value is $1,000 to $5,000. The selling price for the 1946 half dollar was an incredible $149,000.
Yes, these are exceptions to the norm but they are real. There are surely more similar examples waiting to be found.
On the philatelic front, Linn’s Stamp News regularly features articles about new issue stamps and rarities uncovered by eagle-eyed collectors. Other stories underscore how it’s not uncommon for new stamps to contain valuable misprints just waiting to be found at local post offices. (Assuming they have stamps to sell.)
Another aspect might be considered a disconnect – the ads. While ads on TV or radio may sometimes be intrusive or annoying, those in hobby publications can be the best indicators of what items are in demand and where to get top dollar for them. Such information is invaluable.
Both Coin World and Linn’s Stamp News have an affordable subscription model. For $44.95, subscribers receive weekly issues, either online, print or both.
For more information log onto www.Linns.com/subscribe or www.CoinWorld.com/subscribe. If it is a little late for Christmas, just print out the order page and stuff that in a stocking. The good news is that neither publication is slated to be out of stock anytime soon.
For more collecting information and advice, log on to: http://prexford.com/.