Saturday afternoon the History Channel put together a series of Pawn Star episodes, hours long, in which proprietor Rick Harrison paid big bucks for items folks wanted to sell, many of them numismatic. One man brought in two slabbed coins: A half disme and a Libertas Americana minted in France in 1783. Beautiful coins. The customer was asking $800,000 for both of them. Harrison admired them, then brought in an expert who agreed $800,000 was a fair price. But Harrison said that amount of money would deplete his buying account to a dangerous low, and bought only the half disme, for $200,000. There was a lot of talk on the history of the coins, interesting to hear.

The Minnesota State Fair is accepting entries under the "Collections" category for coin collections.  Ron Schmidt has been lobbying with the Board for many years to have our hobby represented.  They have finally accepted and created a this category.  There is entry information found here.

assets.mnstatefair.org/pdf/competition/18-creative-acts-collect-pb.pdf

The entry deadline is August 7th at 4:30pm.  The delivery of the exhibit is between August 11th and August 13th.  Information is on the link above.

Ron Schmidt is available for questions that you may have.  He is also willing to help provide support for your exhibit if you need a little bit of encouragement.  His phone number is (763) 561-2648 and email [email protected].  

This year, one of our long time members, Ron Schmidt, has finally won his lobbying of the Minnesota State Fair to have Numismatics as a separate entry to the Creative Activities.  Under the rules of Creative Activities, our coin collections can be added as exhibits to be judged.  There are some rules that are set forth by the Minnesota State Fair found here

assets.mnstatefair.org/pdf/competition/18-creative-acts-collect-pb.pdf

​The Northwest Coin Club is deeply saddened by the recent passing of long time member and friend Everett Levens. Everett was the Editor of the Club Newsletter for the past 23 years as well as “Head Table Chair” at our annual Money Show for the past 25 years before stepping down from these duties in 2015. He did an outstanding job at both and he will be deeply missed by all members who came to know him. Some club members may remember him as the “go-to guy” for the State Quarter and National Park Quarter series as he made a routine of picking up rolls of the newest releases and then reselling them to club members at cost for their own collections. 

For those wishing to pay tribute to Everett, we encourage you to send memorials to Wounded Warrior Project, Disabled American Vets, or Pulmonary Fibrosis org. The club wishes to extend our sincerest condolences to the Levens family, many of whom are also NWCC members. Rest in peace Ev.

Our club promoted National Coin Week on Saturday April 19th at a local public Library. This was our first attempt in many years and it proved to be fun and successful! Click here for more.

The NWCC has a limited number of Anniversary Medals still available for purchase by the public! This medal celebrates 80 years since the Northwest Coin Club was first established back in 1934. The obverse features a pictorial of the iconic spoon and cherry sculpture in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden –the land on which it sits having been donated to the city also in 1934. The reverse features our club logo. This unique medal is minted in "Nicodium" a material developed by Wendell’s custom minting out of Ramsey, Minnesota. NiCodium has the look of pewter and can be furnished in bright, satin and antiqued finish.

To purchase a medal, please mail a check for $4.00 to Northwest Coin Club PO Box 18053 Minneapolis, MN 55418-0053. If you attend one of our monthly meetings, you may also purchase one in person for $3.00. The cost to club members is $2.00 each.

Every year the NWCC holds a special dinner which is open to all members plus a guest of their choice. With all the food and drinks (non-alcoholic) included, this treat alone is worth the price of membership! The dinner is typically in October and has been held at various restaurants in the Twin Cities area. Click here to read more.

Click here to visit calendar.Coin Shows

Our monthly meetings continue to provide members with a treasure trove of information and education in the hobby of numismatics. Recent presentations have included topics such as; Silver Commemorative Coins, The basics of coin photography, The Worlds Fair of Money, Toned Coins, The 1804 Silver Dollar, Counterfeit Detection, Fractional Currency, World Currency, Tokens and Medals, Behind the scenes at a Coin Show, The ANA Summer Seminar, The history of 2 and 3 cent pieces, The history of Mexican coinage, The history of British coinage, FUGIO Cents, Greysheet Pricing vs Market Values, The top 10 rules for successful coin collecting, The history of Grading Services, The Central States Numismatic Society Convention experience, US Large Size Paper Money, Civil War Tokens, The Legendary 1933 Double Eagles, Slabbed Coins and Grading Companies, A Seminar on US Coin Grading, History of Canadian Coinage, Gold-backed Currency, Collecting Weird Stuff, and Readying Your Collection for Your Heirs. Our club also holds periodic show-and-tell and special “Auction Nights.”

Our club has been busy this year and created two different numismatic related displays around town. Check them out here!