LOOSE CHANGE: JUNE 8, 2025

The fact that coins topped the collecting charts didn't surprise me. That was the case back in 2023 and much earlier when AC Nielsen conducted similar research for eBay in 2004.

1. Universal Recognition and Accessibility: Everyone understands and handles money. You don't need to explain why a coin from 1910 is significant the way you might with a vintage toy.
2. Built-in Rarity Metrics:: Mintage figures provide objective scarcity measures. When only 1,500 1930 Pennies were minted, that's not opinion - that's math.
3. Historical Significance:: Every coin tells the story of its time. A 1942 Threepence carries the weight of wartime Australia in ways that transcend mere metal content.
4. Size and Storage:: Try storing 50 vintage cars against 50 rare coins. Coins win on logistics alone.

To read the complete article, see:
The 2025 "State of Collectables" Report by eBay and Deloitte Access Economics (https://www.sterlingcurrency.com.au/blog/news-research/the-fine-art-of-numismatics/the-2025-state-of-collectables-report-by-ebay-and/)

It is sad that a regular date, which is not characterized by repunching in the die or by very apparently unusual numerals, is typically called a normal date! The use of the term normal for regular numerals incorrectly implies that overdates and pertinent anomalies, like a small numeral, are abnormal. Almost all such varieties stem from standard practices and procedures of the first U.S. Mint, and are factors in the personalities of coins. They are not abnormal. Readily apparent minting anomalies are often seen on U.S. coins dating before 1836.

As a result of varieties relating to numerals receiving so much attention, early Capped Bust halves with a regular date are often overlooked. A Capped Bust half with regular numerals and no very noticeable anomalies is less likely to be accompanied by commentary than a Capped Bust half from the same year that is an overdate or features noticeable peculiarities.

Reportedly, more than one million 1814 halves were minted. This total includes 1814/3 halves. It is likely that fewer than ten thousand survive, including both 1814 regular date and 1814/3 overdate half dollars.

To read the complete article, see:
The Capped Bust Half Dollar of 1814: An Analysis (https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/the-capped-bust-half-dollar-of-1814-an-analysis)

Among the marquee highlights are three extraordinary interest-bearing notes from the Civil War era, each representing a crucial financial innovation during one of America's most challenging times:

• A $50 Compound Interest Treasury Note (1864, Fr. #192b), one of just 14 known, featuring an allegorical vignette of "Loyalty" and bold bronze overprint.
• A $100 Compound Interest Treasury Note (1865, Fr. #193b), one of only 12 recorded, and last sold publicly in 2021 for $78,000.
• A $50 Interest Bearing Note (1864, Fr. #212), paying 7.3% annually and one of only seven examples known, with one held in the Smithsonian's collection.

Each of these notes is a rare survivor of a period when the U.S. government used interest-bearing currency to fund the war effort—most were redeemed and destroyed, making surviving examples highly desirable.

Equally significant is a newly surfaced pair of ca. 1836–1839 Citizens' Bank of Louisiana interest-bearing proof notes—a $100 and $500 post note—both believed to be unique discovery pieces. Printed on india paper with engraved interest coupons and designed to pay 5½% interest annually, these historic notes reflect the financial ingenuity of antebellum Louisiana and predate federal interest-bearing currency by decades. Never before seen at auction, they offer a rare glimpse into early American fiscal policy and banking.

To read the complete article, see:
Landmark Auction to Feature Some of the Rarest Interest-Bearing and Error U.S. Banknotes Ever Offered by Archives International Auctions LLC on June 11th, 2025 (greysheet.com/news/story/landmark-auction-to-feature-some-of-the-rarest-interest-bearing-and-error-us-banknotes-ever-offered-by-archives-international-auctions-llc-on-june-11th-2025)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ARCHIVES INTERNATIONAL SALE 103 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n22a15.html)

It is unfathomable (and yet, somehow, true) that Tiffany Studios' glass creations were ignored and regarded as decidedly out of style beginning around the time of Louis Comfort Tiffany's death in 1933 and over the next 25 years.

Revered in their time, the studio's beautiful creations gestated and languished until near the dawn of the age of Aquarius. Then, in 1958, Tiffany's first major retrospective, at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York, saw his and his studio's work reappreciated. Only then were the lamps, vases, windows and other objects of design able to be fully recognized as works of unparalleled art, not just innovative and expensive tabletop and cabinet curiosities for the wealthy, as they were originally marketed.

There have always been cognoscenti who loved Tiffany. The great "for instance" is Andy Warhol, who kept a Tiffany lamp next to his Federal-style four-poster bed. The association between Tiffany lamps and Pop Art and hippiedom is no surprise; I am repeatedly amazed when I look at some of those early Favrile vases and their swirling, dizzying psychedelia. The thread from those to a Fillmore-era Grateful Dead poster or an Exploding Plastic Inevitable happening is easily connected.

To read the complete article, see:
Tiffany's Eternal Glow: How Tiffany Became the Ultimate Design Trophy (https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/louis-comfort-tiffany-eternal-glow-brad-dunning)

To read the complete lot description, see:
The Stillman Memorial Window (https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2025/masterpieces-by-louis-comfort-tiffany-featuring-the-ann-and-robert-fromer-collection/the-stillman-memorial-window)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JUNE 1, 2025, PART ONE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n22a17.html)
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JUNE 1, 2025, PART TWO (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n22a18.html)

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