CoinWeek

From Silver Center Cents to Ancient Mints: ANA Honors 2026’s Best Numismatic Writers

The American Numismatic Association (ANA) has announced its 2026 Literary Award winners, honoring some of the year’s strongest research and writing across the hobby.

The winning subjects span an extraordinary range. They include Silver Center cents, counterfeit coins, obsolete paper money, ancient mints, medieval tally sticks, hobo nickels, and one of America’s most famous coin hoards.

The ANA presented its adult literary honors during the Member Awards and Donor Celebration on August 27 at the 2026 Pittsburgh World’s Fair of Money.

Meanwhile, the organization announced its Young Numismatist Literary Award winners during the ANA’s annual Summer Seminar banquets.

Together, the awards highlight something that collectors sometimes overlook. Coins and currency preserve history. However, research and writing give that history context.

The Numismatist Continues a T…

Mike Fuljenz Wins 2026 NLG Award for Market Insight and Consumer Protection

Rare coin and precious metals markets reward knowledge. However, they can also punish mistakes. That makes reliable market information and consumer education increasingly important for collectors and investors.

The Numismatic Literary Guild has recognized that work in 2026.

Mike Fuljenz and Scott Travers at the NLG Awards

The NLG named veteran rare coin dealer and consumer advocate Dr. Michael Fuljenz a winner of its Best Investment Newsletter award. Fuljenz founded Universal Coin & Bullion in Beaumont, Texas.

The award honors his free weekly Metals Market Report. The newsletter covers rare coins, gold and silver markets, and consumer protection.

NLG presented the award during the recent American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh.

Fuljenz Adds Another Major NLG Honor

The 2026 award continues a decades-long record of recognition for Fulje…

The “King of Morgan Dollars” Just Sold for $1.18 Million

One of the great trophy coins of the Morgan dollar series has crossed the seven-figure mark.

GreatCollections sold the famous Clapp-Eliasberg 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar for $1,181,250 in its August 9, 2026 auction. PCGS grades the coin MS65, while CAC has awarded it a green approval sticker.

The result represents a new auction record for an 1893-S Morgan dollar at the MS65 grade level.

Just as importantly, the price reached more than 50% above the current $775,000 PCGS Price Guide level for the grade. In fact, the final price came in about 52% higher.

For Morgan dollar collectors, however, the number tells only part of the story. This particular 1893-S combines Gem Mint State preservation with one of the most important pedigrees attached to the key date.

It also carries a history that reaches back to the year the San Francisco Mint struck it.

Collectors Chase the “King…

The Netherlands has quietly redrawn the map of its national gold reserves.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) shifted approximately 86 metric tonnes of gold away from New York and Ottawa and toward London between March and August 2026. The central bank cited growing geopolitical instability and a need for stronger “crisis preparedness.”

The move represents more than a change of vaults. Instead, it highlights a larger question facing central banks today: Where should a nation keep its gold if it suddenly needs to use it?

CNBC reported the Dutch move as gold prices continued a powerful rally and geopolitical tensions remained high. However, DNB’s own announcement gives the story an even more revealing dimension.

The central bank wants gold that it can mobilize quickly.

Kilo Gold Bars in Vault 

Dutch Central Bank Shifts 86 Tonnes of Gold Toward London

Before the operation, DNB held roughly 313 tonnes of gold between the United States and Canada.…

1877-S Trade Dollar. Image: Stack’s Bowers / CoinWeek. A Coin Born of Global Trade Competition

The United States Trade Dollar stands as one of the most distinctive silver issues of the 19th century. Authorized under the Coinage Act of 1873, it was created to compete in Asian commerce, particularly with Mexico’s silver peso, which dominated regional trade. American merchants had long struggled abroad because earlier U.S. silver dollars, such as the Gobrecht (1836–1839) and Liberty Seated Dollars (1840–1873), were lighter and less trusted than their Mexican counterparts.

In response, the San Francisco Mint’s Treasurer and Assayer, Louis Garnett, observed the disadvantage firsthand and urged Congress to approve a heavier export coin. His recommendation helped inspire the Trade Dollar, a silver piece meant to restore confidence and strengthen U.S. influence in the markets of China and Japan.

Designing a Coin for Commerce

The Trade Dollar weighed 27.22 grams, …

Only 5,000: U.S. Mint’s 2026 Palladium Eagle Marks America’s 250th

The United States Mint will open sales for one of its lowest-mintage 2026 American Eagle collector coins on Thursday, September 3.

At noon EDT, collectors can order the 2026 American Eagle One Ounce Palladium Uncirculated Coin. The West Point Mint will produce no more than 5,000 coins. In addition, the Mint will limit orders to one coin per household during the first 24 hours.

However, the small mintage tells only part of the story.

American Eagle 2026 One Ounce Palladium Uncirculated Coin

This special one-year issue celebrates the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. It carries the dual dates “1776 ~ 2026” and a new Liberty Bell privy mark containing the numeral “250.”

For collectors of the American Eagle series, that combination gives the 2026 Palladium Eagle an identity unlike any earlier coin in the series.

A One-Year Palladium Eagle for America’s 250th <…

Why Are 2026-P Dimes Developing Strange Waves, Spalls and Die Breaks?

The 2026 Emerging Liberty Dime already stands apart in modern U.S. coinage. For the first time since 1945, Liberty appears on the obverse of the dime. However, the new design may also offer collectors something much less obvious.

Philadelphia Mint examples have revealed several unusual die events [1]. Most appear in one remarkably small area: between the base of Lady Liberty’s neck and the date.

So far, these events fall into three basic groups. They include wave-like formations, surfaces that resemble incipient spalling, and larger interior die breaks. (Fig. 1)

Why These Die Events Appear in One Small Zone

The location matters.

Lady Liberty sits off center on the Emerging Liberty Dime. In addition, the base of her neck forms the highest peripheral relief along this part of the design.

Together, those features require an exponential die-face curvature [2]…

Gold’s Quiet Buyers Are Coming Back and the Risks Are Growing

Gold and silver have recovered sharply from their summer lows. Yet the most interesting development may not appear on a price chart.

Investors still look cautious.

Gold and silver exchange-traded fund holdings have started to rise again. However, those inflows remain modest compared with the metals’ recent price gains. At the same time, central banks continue to accumulate gold.

That divide matters.

It suggests that precious metals have rallied without the kind of speculative enthusiasm that marked the market earlier this year. Moreover, several forces that drove gold higher in the first place have not disappeared.

Inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s target. U.S. federal debt has crossed $40 trillion. Meanwhile, the Iran conflict continues to threaten global energy flows.

For bullion investors, that combination deserves attention.

Gold’s Massive Rally Finally…

Who Struck This Rare 1861-O Half Dollar? A Civil War Mint Mystery Deepens

In 1861, the New Orleans Mint changed hands as the United States fractured into civil war. Yet its coin presses kept running.

First, the United States controlled the facility. Then Louisiana took possession. Finally, the Confederate States of America assumed control.

Through all three periods, Mint workers continued striking 1861-O Liberty Seated Half Dollars from dies that carried the familiar United States design.

That alone makes the issue one of the great tangible artifacts of the Civil War.

However, one extraordinary 1861-O half dollar takes the story much further.

1861-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar. State of Louisiana Issue. JD-1, W-01. Rarity-8. Specimen-63 (PCGS).

Stack’s Bowers Galleries will offer an 1861-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar, JD-1, W-01, graded Specimen-63 by PCGS, as Lot 2094 in its Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction Rarities Night session. The fir…

Meet the 37 Artists Who Could Design America’s Next Coins

Every new U.S. coin starts long before metal meets a press. First comes an idea. Then an artist must turn that idea into an image that can survive on a canvas measured in inches.

Now, the United States Mint has named 37 American artists who will help create that next generation of coin and medal designs.

On August 31, 2026, the Mint announced its latest roster for the Artistic Infusion Program (AIP). The group includes veteran designers whose work already appears on American coins and medals. It also includes four artists who will join the program for the first time.

US Mint AIP Inspired Design

Those four newcomers are Kristine Campbell, Donovan Corcoran, Gian Galang, and James Martin.

The Mint chose the new artists based on the artistic merit of applications submitted during its nationwide 2026 Call for Artists. The Mint opened that competition on January 8 and set a February 9 application…