LOOSE CHANGE: NOVEMBER 3, 2019

As Pat Stovall, a longtime dealer in Mexican coins and the stepson of the late "Dean of American Experts on Mexican Numismatics" Don Bailey, noted recently: "The never-ending story of Mexican coins is that something new comes to light almost every day.

In an interview for CoinWeek, Pat explained that while attending a coin show in Arizona during the previous week, a collector showed him a coin he had never seen and that he told the individual he would need to check into it before he could offer his opinion. The coin in question was a 2014-dated, 100-Peso reproduction of a famous classic Mexican coin that was part of the Numismatic Heritage Series the Casa de Moneda (the Mexican Mint) issued for several years starting in 2011. The unusual thing is that the coin was one that was part of the 2013 set (Series III), and the collector said he was told that 100 of them were made (whereas 8,000 are in the 2013 sets).

This is just one example of how fascinating collecting modern Mexican coins can be.

Little Leather Pouch Coin Find
In his David Kahn Rare Coins November 2019 News and Newps newsletter David Kahn writes:

One of the coolest deals we've run into lately was the small group of gold dollars we bought from our buddy Les Stevenson in Asheville, NC. Perhaps you read the cover story in Coin World about the incredible hoard of gold coins he bought a while back...if not, check it out here.

The story is amazing (and 100% true...I saw the entire package with my own eyes in the shop), but any doubts you may have about this sort of thing will be instantly put to rest when you see the coins. There is simply no way to fake the skin that these coins exhibit. They all look the same, they display the same utter originality, the luster is completely undisturbed (save for the couple that saw some actual circulation) and the eye appeal is stunning. They are not the highest graded coins available...the few larger denomination coins in the hoard get that honor - my supposition is that those were obtained at a bank when new while the gold dollars were saved from what came their way - but they make up for that with breathtaking originality. They were all put away c.1859, and simply left alone until sold to Les in 2019.

A few of these gold dollars have already been sold (I sneaked 2 of them onto the website a couple weeks back with little fanfare...they lasted mere hours), a few are being offered in our unreserved ebay auctions

The pouch held 16 gold dollars, mostly from the 1850s and from the Philadelphia Mint except for one AU-55 1851-C Coronet gold dollar struck at the Charlotte Mint; four gold $2.50 quarter eagles; one Indian Head gold $3 coin; one gold $5 half eagle; the lone $10 eagle; a single gold $20 double eagle; and a 1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary silver half dollar.

The 1854 Indian Head $3 coin was graded and encapsulated NGC MS-65; and the 1851 Coronet double eagle was graded NGC MS-62+.

Stevenson said the sibling owners of the coins have currently retained the $3 coin and are not selling it at this time.

Trump Tweets Faked Photo of Hero Dog Getting a Medal

President Trump on Wednesday shared an altered photograph of himself placing a medal around the neck of the dog injured in the raid last weekend that led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State's leader.

Mr. Trump has spoken of the dog, whose name Newsweek reported is Conan, in glowing terms in the days since the raid, which culminated with Mr. al-Baghdadi detonating a suicide bomb, killing himself and several children and injuring the dog.