mlovmo

Love seeing these letters and documents. I like getting surprises in them, too. I was surprised to see a few things in the documents that I got from the Archives. One was a picture (an actual polaroid taped to the document!) of an original die the US Mint made for S. Korea, but the Koreans decided to go with a different design. I'm thinking that I was the only person to have seen that image since it was filed away back in the late 50s! I don't think anybody else had seen it since. Incredible...

Over the last year as I have been selling my South Korean Coins book, some people were telling me that they wanted a price guide with auction results for these same coins and the older Korean machine-struck coins. Well, here it is...... Landing Page: https://dokdo-research.com/Price Guide.html

Yeah, the "cabinet friction" one is quite rich. It's called "WEAR" last time I checked, and should relegate any "Uncirculated" coin in question with "cabinet friction" to About Uncirculated. Also, this "cabinet friction" thing seems to be only applied to big-money/"significant" coins, doesn't it? Graders have NO problem whacking me over the head with reality when I send in for grading those coins that I care about!

I prefer the second book cover design. I also agree that the font that the titles appear in are also important... Try to tweak that. I used something that I thought was simple: I wanted the large coin (500-Won) to look larger, but editor had other ideas.

Yes, Korean Mint designers had likely provided the designs, but all subsequent steps in the minting process took place in Philadelphia. Only secondary sources list the designers' names for these coins. The Korean Mint and its overseer, the Bank of Korea, refuse to provide the names, or reveal documents that show the names of the people who designed their coins from official or internal documents. It was only after former designers and engravers have revealed the names in books and articles that they've written did these names emerge, much against the wishes of the central bank (the Bank of Korea). The Koreans hold onto the idea that these works (designs, engravings) are "works of the state" and that no names be attached to them. That's why the only artist's initials you'll ever see on any South Korean coin, EVER, is "EvH" for US Mint engraver, Engelhardus von Hebel, found on the 100-Hwan coin. All of this is explained in my book.

I think I've found it!

Oh thanks! For the foreign coining contracts, would you know the name and number of the Record Group and more precise location at the archives? I've hired local researchers at College Park to retrieve documents for me before when I researched an unrelated topic years ago... Perhaps I can do that again.

In my research on South Korean coins, I found out what the coin bags looked like that the Philadelphia Mint sent to Korea in 1959. I found this video of the first shipments of the "Hwan" denominated coins (since demonetized) to South Korea in October/November 1959. The bags are quite simple and unadorned. They also contain a huge number of coins (10,000!) compared to later Korean Mint bags of coins, which normally carried a total of 2,500 coins in "large" bags which each contained five "small bags" of 500 coins each. I include an image of one of the first types of Korean Mint coin bags from 1966, the first year that the Korean mint struck their own coins. Here is what the Philadelphia mint sent to Korea. If you look carefully, the text on these bags reads: 10,000 10 HWAN KOREA ————— 4292 The "4292" is the Korean-era date for "1959." I always wondered what the U.S. Mint's bags and packaging looked like when they sent coins out in fulfillment of a contract. I also include an image of the future president of the country (then military junta leader) Park Chung-hee inspecting stacked boxes of Philadelphia-made 50-Hwan coins in vaults of the Bank of Korea building in Seoul sometime in late 1961 or early 1962, just before the currency reform which resulted in the nation switching from the "hwan" to the "won" denomination. I think the stenciled labels on these boxes read: 50 HWAN 12,000 PCS. GR. WT. 108 LBS.

Now there's GOT to be a US Large cent album that Dansco makes! Is yours customized somehow?

Yes, I've seen their order form for this service at a coin shop once. Perhaps they did that back when they were in Los Angeles. I doubt they do it now. (But I sure bet they're glad they've left LA~!)

I made these S. Korean albums out of Dansco's blank products. Hot-foil stamped covers, acrylic paint spines, and clear address labels for labeling the holes. Also, my albums are sort of unique in that they were assembled purposely to accommodate Airtite-brand coin capsules.

You guys are a great resource, and a big help. Thank you! The coins aren't mine. A friend in Korea who's really big into U.S. series (esp. Kennedy Halves) has these. Cheers.

I thought the "Cameo" designation only applies to coins with PF grades? Here's an example of an MS graded coin with the Cameo designation. Is this a misprint, or is this possible? I think it might be possible, since I don't see NGC stating whether the coin needs to be proof to get this strike character designation: "NGC automatically applies the Cameo and Ultra Cameo designations to qualifying coins at no additional charge. To earn the Cameo or Ultra Cameo designation, the coin must show the contrast between the fields and devices on both sides."

It's embarrassing to go up to a table at a coin show and say, "I'd like a Kookaburra."In an effort to avoid having to say this, one time I "nonverbally" indicated to a female seller at a coin show that I wanted one from her glass case.She said to me, "You wanna Kookabura?"I replied, "Hey lady, I'm married. Let's keep this Rated-G, okay? Just sell me the coin!"

Red-crowned crane. South Korea 500-Won. It's the big coin that's displayed on the front cover of my book...

If one is into researching a non-U.S. series of coins, you may not be so lucky with the level of transparency that other nations provide from official sources. We're blessed that the United States government (mostly) follows its own laws (FOIA requests, Archives access, etc) and allows this amount of information to be available not only at the Archives in College Park, MD, but also at the NNP online. I am a researcher of South Korean coins. When I finally got a hold of someone from the Bank of Korea to answer my very specific research questions and questions about access to their archival holdings, they told me that they would only refer me to their latest publication issued in 2010! Needless to say, I relied on their older published, and unpublished studies and data. Older Korean central bank and Mint documents and publications have much more “juicy” information in them than the more recent ones. More recent publications are more like glossy pictorials and promotional literature. They are devoid of historical information. When I was gathering data for my book, the former Moon Jae-in administration touted a "transparency in government" policy, but it was just window dressing. The Korean government (via the Bank of Korea, the Korean Mint's overseer) has basically placed an embargo on revealing anything about the Korean Mint. In my opinion, this embargo on allowing researchers access to the archives seems to go along with the overall trend in governing in countries worldwide nowadays: Reveal as little as possible to researchers and journalists and keep everything under a tight lid to avoid any embarrassment and to control the narrative and the perception of “the brand.” Again, that’s just my opinion. Surprisingly, though the Koreans published a large amount of information on the subject of their nations coins and currency, and an equally surprising amount of unpublished material was available, too. This is why it was possible for me to write my book. However, the research phase of my Korean coin book would have been expedited considerably if only the government in Korea had a fraction of the transparency that we enjoy in the USA. That's why we should never take it for granted...

I am an ANA member. I don't plan on leaving it anytime soon. However, I've met more than a few members who are a little ambivalent about our hobby's main org. A decades-long member once wrote to me that he thought the ANA was, quote: "less than responsive to anyone who is not a youth, or who is not part of a clique which is known to the those in charge. I just use it for library purposes, usually. ...the ANA is mostly a vehicle for coin and currency dealers and major auction houses to further their private financial interests in this hobby."

I wonder if the "large political donations" this dingdong doled out will be recovered? Oh, and isn't this rich? "Bankman-Fried’s arrest came just a day before he was due to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chairwoman of the committee, said she was “disappointed” "

My presentation on South Korean coins, as well as many others from last month, are now available at the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP). https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/620279

Agreed. Also, it MIGHT BE a response to CAC's new grading service...

I wish...

Hey Mike! No problem, of course. I wonder when these NNP videos upload? We might have to wait a few months, right? Thanks so much for showing up, Mike.

I appreciate your kind assessment! And I finally realized who you are! I love your books, United States Pattern & Experimental Pieces of WW-II and From Mine to Mint, which I am currently reading along with Helen Wang et al's new book, Chinese Numismatics. I am grateful for your attendance at my presentation... Mark Lovmo

Thanks so much for the mention, and your kind words about the presentation. I was surprised there were as many attendees as there were! And I appreciated every one of them... Although maybe you all could see who was there, I couldn't see who was there at all. All I could see was myself and the announcer, and that's it. As I write this, I am waiting for the 4:30 presentations on "Early Numismatic Photography," or the "Panic of 1893". I don't know how to decide! I guess I can catch either one when they upload them later... Thanks again, Zebo. -Mark Lovmo

I'd really like to have you show up to mine, Mike!