LOOSE CHANGE: AUGUST 4, 2024

The first-ever artwork secured with NFP.io's revolutionary technology featuring built-in self-authenticating anti-duplication features will be seen in the work of artist Laura Verschoore, who has chosen the iconic 1804 coin as her painting's subject.

The groundbreaking piece goes to auction during the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money at the ANA banquet on August 9. Proceeds will benefit the Robert Lecce Advanced Adult Scholarship Program for 2025.

Secret security features. Hidden within the canvas of the painting are three-dimensional non-replicable markers, invisible to the naked eye, that can be checked for authenticity using a quick and easy verification method. Think of it like a super high-tech fingerprint for your art, but even easier to confirm!

To read the complete article, see:
Art of 1804 dollar offers security for collector (https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/art-of-1804-dollar-offers-security-for-collector)

 

I had a client ask me earlier today "You must meet a lot of cranks in your business - how many people have the wrong idea about the rarity of the coins they have?"

When answering about the general population and coin values, I figured that 27 out of 30 people contacted us after seeing something online about a coin or note they have.

The reality is my estimated ratio was a little harsh - our CRM shows that of the 780 questions we've received via our website over the past year from people looking to sell something, "only" 77% of them were from people who were acting based on what is effectively misinformation - I know this because I track it as part of our records. 77% isn't 90%, but it is still a majority.

This number confirmed my hunch that most people only ever contact us because they've seen something on the internet. They're not sure if what they've seen is true, so they decide to get the lowdown from someone who knows what they're talking about. They'll often ring us, contact us via our website or visit our office because they "know" their coin is rare and valuable.

To read the complete article, see:
Specialized Knowledge Beats General Knowledge Every Time (https://www.sterlingcurrency.com.au/blog/news-research/the-humanity-of-it-all/specialized-knowledge-beats-general-knowledge-ever/)

Probably by intention, Friss's book is organized like the best of such literary emporiums: a little higgledy-piggledy, with surprise diversions here and there. He approvingly considers the Instagram wall at Books Are Magic, the novelist Emma Straub's shop in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, and less so the eponymous bibliosmia fragrance bottled by Powell's, the Portland, Ore., landmark.

There are short sections on attractions like WonTon, the tuxedo cat who presided over a store in Richmond, Va., that was featured in Gary Shteyngart's novel "Lake Success." Cats in bookstores could be, in these days of their sudden political surge, a whole other book; "The Bookshop" is necessarily selective, and I looked without success for Bartleby, Mr. Eliot and Skimbleshanks, the lazy employees of E. Shaver in Savannah, Ga.

Disappointment at not finding your own fave in his copious index, Friss writes, speaks to how important these institutions are: "That so many people feel differently about their bookstore than they do about their grocery store or electronics store or any other store is part of the point."

One of the many functions of a bookstore Amazon cannot fulfill, since the closure of its brick-and-mortar stores, is hosting a function. Friss tells the story behind the famous group photograph of mostly poets during a party at the much-missed Gotham Book Mart, with Gore Vidal jostling in and William Carlos Williams excluded. (W.H. Auden, climbing to the top, "was one of the few who seemed to be enjoying himself.")

To read the complete article, see:
Browsing Is a Pleasure in This History of the Bookstore (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/04/books/review/the-bookshop-evan-friss.html)

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