LOOSE CHANGE: MAY 31, 2020

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V23 2020 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 22, May 31, 2020, Article 33

Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor

This article provides some background on the Tuvalu arrangements with the Perth Mint. -Editor

As the coronavirus pandemic hits economies around the world, the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu has carved out a lucrative niche — producing designer coins featuring the likes of Star Trek, John Wayne and even Duff Beer.

Tuvalu's coins are designed, crafted and marketed in Australia as part of a decades-old agreement between The Perth Mint — a company owned by the Western Australian Government — and Tuvalu.

As part of the deal, Tuvalu receives a minimum of about $200,000 per year in royalties.

Adelaide coin and collectables trader Mark Nemtsas has sold dozens of Tuvalu coins from his Purple Penny coin store over the years.

"The most popular one is probably the 2006 redback spider one ounce silver coin, which I think was released for about $80, but these days trades for over $1,000," Mr Nemtsas said.

Tuvalu is not the only Pacific country that sells collectable coins — the Cook Islands and Fiji have similar deals with The Perth Mint.

But according to traders, Tuvalu is one of the most successful and well-known around the world for its unusual coins.

"People are quite taken by the designs and quite taken by the quality of the product, not just the coin, but the packaging and all the material that comes along with them," collectables trader Mr Nemtsas said.

David T. Alexander published an article on CoinWeek about author William Sheldon. See the complete article online. -Editor

Dr. William Herbert Sheldon, born on November 19, 1898 and dying on September 17, 1977, was venerated for decades as one of the historical giants of American numismatics.

During his later life he took the stage as the godfather or even the resident deity of the highly specialized field of early American copper cents. These were the large cents first struck in 1793 that were among the earliest U.S. coin denominations collected and intensely studied by American numismatists after these coins were discontinued by the Philadelphia Mint in 1857.

Though gone now for almost half a century, Sheldon's spirit will undoubtedly remain at the heart of that collecting specialty for a long time despite scandal and disillusionment among large cent devotees. Adding to Sheldon's unique status is the enveloping cloud of dark memory surrounding his chief disciple, the late Walter H. Breen. In death as in life, the two remain inseparable and their intertwined careers still challenge their surviving friends and enemies.

To read the complete article, see:
Confronting Sheldon (https://coinweek.com/us-coins/confronting-sheldon/)

Numismatists and bibliophiles are always on the lookout for bargains. It's a year old story now, but this non-numismatic article shows that thrift shop and flea market finds can still be had. -Editor

An eagle-eyed thrift store visitor made the discovery of a lifetime last summer when he was browsing through discarded objects and ephemera at a Queens-based Habitat for Humanity store and stumbled upon an elegant line drawing. It turned out the work was by none other than Austrian artist Egon Schiele.

Jane Kallir, the director of Manhattan's Galerie St. Etienne and the author of Schiele's catalogue raisonné, told The Art Newspaper that the buyer, who prefers to remain anonymous, is a part-time art handler who has "got some art background—an eye." Kallir, who has been authenticating Schiele works for decades, was initially skeptical of the find. She estimates that claimants who think they have a legitimate work by the artist are wrong "90 percent of the time."

The drawing is now on view through October 11 as part of Galerie St. Etienne's show "The Art Dealer as Scholar" alongside works by Käthe Kollwitz and Alfred Kubin. It is on sale at the gallery for a price between $100,000 and $200,000. If it sells, a portion of the proceeds will be donated back to Habitat for Humanity as a kind of karmic thanks.