Jim Bisognani: The Coin Connection

Posted on 4/17/2025

If gold is a bit out of reach, try revisiting a coin or series that spurred you to begin collecting in the first place.

Although there have been a few skirmishes with Old Man Winter since my last report, I think that the old boy has finally gotten the message and packed it in. Spring weather has arrived and so have the wonderful songbirds. It is a joy to hear their collective calls instead of the snowplows rumbling through the streets.

My fellow coindexters, this is truly a great time to kick the collecting juices into gear! Gold, although still on a rampage — powering to over $3,300 an ounce and making headlines — has also awakened many collectors who had been on the sidelines and somewhat adrift as to what to collect. Let's face it, an outlay of nearly a month's pay or more for an average individual, just to corral a single US Double Eagle, is not in the cards. Yet fear not, for I am here with some exciting options! It's time to make the Coin Connection!

Remember when you first started collecting? That first coin or series that ignited a spark? Well, it's high time to revisit that type of coin or series.

When I was a youth, my first hands-on experience with finances came when I was covering a paper route for one of my school friends. Paper routes were hard to come by in my hometown, and I was glad to be subbing for my friend, who was on summer vacation with his family to Europe for about a month and a half (the lucky stiff!). That venture in July and August of 1966 gave me an opportunity to acquire some nifty silver coins! Just two years since the end of production of 90% silver coins in the US, Walkers, Franklin Halves, Standing Liberty Quarters and Mercury Dimes were often included in payments and tips. Ah, to return to those days with a larger capital.

My brother-in-law, Bruce, did have a regular paper route in his youth. He happily parlayed this early business model to squirrel away some nifty silver coins, too. I recall having a conversation with him a few years back; he said that in the early 1970s, it was still relatively easy to pull the 90% US silver from his pay and tips. Bruce fondly recalled, "I could hear that unmistakable "ring" when I dropped change from the paper route in my pocket. I didn't even need to look at it. I could tell by the sound that it was silver!"

I, too, at an early age, would marvel at the "silver serenade." That grand melody of a 90% silver US coin made as it would drop on our red Formica-topped kitchen table.

The Silver Serenade

I fondly recall my dad's weekly ritual — or perhaps, more aptly put, a recital. This was generally performed after work on Friday. Usually, one of my brothers and I would be seated at the kitchen table to watch with building anticipation as Dad would pull a gleaming Franklin Half Dollar from his pocket, prepping to give old Ben a good spin and fling between his fingers. The goal was to eclipse the time from the previous week that the coin would spin before falling over.

Dad would take off his Timex watch and ask for one of us spectators to note the time on the sweep hand when the coin took flight.

Dad certainly had a knack and mastered that twist and fling action! I would watch the coin spin and spin and spin in hypnotic fashion on the kitchen table. Then, as the momentum slowed, the coin would rock back and forth, "singing" loudly before falling over on the Formica table. Well, my fellow coindexters, you knew it was silver! Then, it was time for me and my brothers to take a "spin" and see how we fared. Dad would award the best spinner with the Franklin Half Dollar! It was simple and fun.

My dear brother-in-law Bruce has been an avid numismatist for nearly all his life, and he, too, enjoys the simpler times of coin collecting activities, such as going to a local bank or credit union and purchasing a few rolls of half dollars to search for the "rare" 90% silver coin that may have still remained tucked between the base metal halves. Bruce had some luck, occasionally pulling a 40% silver Kennedy Half Dollar or two. But the best was yet to come.

A silver lining

It was a few weeks back that Bruce informed me that he was able to get his hands on a $500 face-value box of half dollars from a local bank in Maine. He was definitely excited, thinking of the possibilities in such numbers. This time, Bruce made out fairly well! His "haul" includes a 1981-S Proof Kennedy, a pair of 1967 40% Silver Kennedy Halves, a XF 1958-D Franklin Half, a VF 1935 Walker and a VG+ 1909-0 Barber Half! Not a bad return for a few hours of searching, I'd say!

Bruce's 1981-S Proof Kennedy (top left), 1935 Walking Liberty (top right) and 1909-0 Barber Half Dollar (bottom)
Click images to enlarge.

Oh Canada, at melt

Another favorite of mine has always been the $5 and $10 gold coinage of our neighbor to the north, Canada. This short-lived series (1912-1914) were produced to virtually the same specifications as our US Gold Half Eagle and Eagle. I was fascinated with them because these purely Canadian coins were minted in the Ottawa Mint alongside the British Sovereigns. While the $5 and $10 bore no mintmark, the Sovereigns were produced bearing the "C" mintmark below the base of St. George and the Dragon.

Aside from Great Britain, Gold Sovereigns were produced in Australia, Canada, India and South Africa. Yet, this is the only occasion that a coin of the British Commonwealth — the Gold Sovereign, in this instance, bearing the effigy of King George V — was being minted simultaneously with the $5 and $10 gold coins (1912-1914), technically competing with issues from the native country!

The majority of these coins obviously had little time to circulate, and the NGC Census portrays this. At present, as a series, there are only 401 circulated examples of the $5 coin and only 214 circulated examples of the $10. Then, with the outbreak of WWI in 1914, the Canadian government decided to put a hold on their gold reserves. Most of these coins remained in the royal vaults without much fanfare for a little over a century. Then, between 2000-2005, Canada began divesting its gold bullion reserves, leaving only the nearly quarter-of-a-million $5 and $10 coins of 1912-1914 in the royal vaults, which had been all but forgotten.

Then, about four years ago in 2021, the Bank of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mint formally announced the release of upwards of 30,000 of the $5 and $10 coins to the public. This was great news for fans of the coins, such as yours truly.

The bad news is that approximately 30% of the combined series mintage of 659,653 would meet their demise in the melting pot — that's around 200,000 gold coins!

This data would mean that, as a series, the remaining population would amount to a maximum of 459,693 coins. This figure divided amongst the series' six issues would then average, at most, 76,500 or so coins for each date within the series.

Of course, the fate of the already-low mintage 1912 $10 Canadian reported at 74,759, and the 1914 $5 Canadian reporting in at 31,122, would have different metrics.

As the math would indicate, if a like amount of each issue had remained in the royal vaults, each issue would have seen its remaining numbers reduced by some 33,333 examples, which would mean that all but a handful of the 1912 $5 would remain! Of course, this isn't a fact but a bit of an educated conjecture as to just how many of each date were melted. Anyway, at present — according to the NGC Census — the total population of the Canadian $5 coins is 2,319. Of that total, 429 coins are dated 1914, and 248 of those are housed in regular NGC holders while 181 are designated with the Bank of America Hoard pedigree and label.

The $10 Canadians reveal a total census number of 5,221 coins. The 1912 reflects a total of 440 coins, with 259 in standard NGC holders and 181 bearing the Bank of America Hoard pedigree and label. For me, it is truly amazing that these historic coins (with gold escalating) are trading at mere fractions above melt value. At the time of writing this article, the Canadian $5 is trading at $800, and the $10 is at $1,600.

Here is a picture of my 1914 Canadian $10!


Click images to enlarge.

Most importantly, my fellow coindexters, have fun collecting; it is a hobby, after all! If your travels should find you attending a local or major coin show, be sure to rummage through the various dealer world "junk" boxes. Who knows what old world silver coins from Great Britain, Germany and France you may find!

Until next time, be safe and happy collecting!

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