Introduced following the end of the Civil War, the eponymously named Shield "nickel" was the nation's first five cent piece with nickel metal content. The coin was proposed at least partly in response to the public's (and Mint Director James Pollock's) growing dislike of fractional currency. Even though there were already more than a half-dozen small denomination coins in circulation, most were actually not circulating due to coin hoarding that continued to occur after war's end.

By Pinnacle-Rarities - These strategies were composed upon considering the true case of two collectors, who in 1996, two collectors decided to assemble a million dollar collection of high grade United States coinage. Seven years later, both decided to sell. One now has a collection that is worth upwards of $2 million while the other individual's coins are worth $600,000. What did collector #1 do that was so much smarter than the other? In the end, the difference was the way that they bought coins; there were a number of important purchasing strategies employed by the first collector that were ignored by the other.

By Numismatic News - An example of the first variety of the first U.S. gold $10 coin sold for $402,500 in Stack's May 21-22 auction of the Minot collection, a sale that totaled about $5,939,000. The 1795 $10, classified as Bass-Dannreuther 1 and Taraszka 1, with small eagle reverse and 13 leaves below the eagle, was graded MS-63 by Professional Coin Grading Service with Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker.

By: Deepcaster - www.deepcaster.com That there is a Crisis in the Silver Market is clear. Deepcaster recommends that all those who do not believe there is such a Crisis try to take delivery of Physical Silver. Attempting to take delivery of Physical Silver will likely provide a dose of Reality Therapy. Delivery delays are common, with delays for delivery of 100 oz. Bars running 6 to 8 weeks, for example.

Escala Group (ESCL.PK), a global collectibles company in stamps, coins, precious metals trading, and art and antiques, today announced that it has entered into agreements to settle the securities class action lawsuit and shareholder derivative action commenced against the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors in May 2006.

Egypt's massive storage of artifacts still buried underneath of a pellicle of sand and soil is daily investigated by archaeologists. Indefatigable researches are conducted to extract history from beneath, to find clues on a nation's past and to restore World history. And thanks to its immense archaeological materials, scientists regularly unearth new items who change more or less our understanding of this great ancient civilization.

Record gas prices and climbing food costs combined with the eroding the value of the dollar, have pushed the American Silver Eagle $1 bullion coin to more than $20. Demand for the Silver Eagle, which is one ounce of 99 percent-pure silver, has become such a popular option for investors that the U.S. Mint can't keep up with demand and has limited sales. The mint has already sold about 7.6 million of the ASE coins in the first quarter of 2008 alone. Typically the annual mintage is between 8 million and 9 million coins per year.

By Doug Winter - www.raregoldcoins.com When the Immovable Object met the Irrestible Force in the Battle of the 1878-CC Half Eagle who won? Read today's blog to see what happened when two won't-be-denied collectors jousted over a rare coin and (maybe) failed to do their due diligence.

In a sale totalling £176,000, lot 190, a unique and unrecorded 1863 English Penny with a die number 5 below the date, was sold in Tennants Auctioneers specialist Coin Sale in Leyburn, North Yorkshire on Wednesday, 21st May 2008 for a record £17,500 plus buyers premium. It was sold to a private collector from Scotland.

The Millennia Sale presented by Ira and larry Goldberg got underway yesterday in California and the preliminary results are starting to flow in. This sale will result in an series of reports due to both its importance and breadth. In addition CoinLink will be posting a detailed auction analysis by Greg Reynolds latter this week.