On November 21, the United States Mint opened sales for the newest release of the First Spouse Gold Coin Program, which features Edith Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. The seventh year of this half-ounce gold coin series that highlights the spouses of the presidents began a week…

Gold prices are still near historic highs — and that’s why it’s a great time to sell your gold. But first you’ll have to figure out how much your gold is worth. West Seattle Coins and Bellevue Rare Coins help people with fair and accurate gold evaluations every day. Evaluating gold is a fairly simple…

People all over the world resolve arguments and make decisions using the time-honored tradition of flipping a coin, but did you ever wonder how the practice started? It turns out that there’s not a whole lot of information out there about the origins of the coin flip, but here’s what we know: Where it all…

Billy Baeder’s late father purchased a 1933 $10 silver certificate for about the price of a compact car when Baeder was still a teenager. As he grew up, Baeder became a collector himself — and today he owns the most valuable piece of currency printed since 1929. Back in the middle of the Great Depression,…

World War II changed everything in American society. From people moving from farms to cities and women assuming a greater role in the workplace to a shortage of cotton leading to shorter dresses, much of American life was disrupted from 1941–1945. Changes in coinage also led to errors by the United States Mint — and…

There’s a lot going on in the world of rare coins, gemstones and precious metals. Here’s a roundup of some of the biggest news that we’ve been following the past few months: Brazilian gold ingot sells for nearly $200,000 As we mentioned in a previous post, the 2013 Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Sports Collectibles…

Over the last few hundred years, the United States Mint has produced many coins with striking, unforgettable designs. Collectors the world over treasure these coins and swap stories about the rarest of them, including the 1804 Draped Bust Silver Dollar, the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, and the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel (perhaps the only coin…

Gold has been admired and desired by humankind since the dawn of recorded history — from gilded Egyptian funeral masks and golden scepters of forgotten empires to pieces of eight treasured by pirates and bricks of bullion stacked in Fort Knox. Have you ever held a gold coin or gold jewelry in your hand and…

There’s been a lot of talk about inflation recently, and what investors can do to protect themselves should the United States enter an inflationary period. Throughout history, investing in gold and precious metals has provided a great hedge against inflation, because when inflation pushes the dollar lower, gold typically increases in price. While inflation does…

Carson City is only one of seven cities in the past 200 years to be home to a United States Mint. Compared to metropolises such as Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver, Carson City, located in northern Nevada, seemed both tiny and in the middle of nowhere. But it had something that the other cities didn’t…

The word “bullion” may conjure up images of pirates pillaging treasure chests or the military patrolling the golden bunkers of Fort Knox — but bullion isn’t just for the criminal class and the government. In fact, buying bullion is a great way to diversify your portfolio and (often) realize a great rate of return. How…

If you want to see the treasures of the famed Ship of Gold, you’ll need to book your ticket for Southern California later this month. The 2013 Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Sports Collectibles Expo features a display of more than $10 million worth of gold that was recovered from the ship as well as…

Selling your gold, silver, jewelry or other valuables can be a nerve-racking process. How do you know what your valuables are really worth? How can you be sure that you’re not getting ripped off? And if you’re in the market to buy gold bullion, silver bullion or vintage jewelry, how can you know whether you’re…

If you’re in the market to purchase the largest round fancy vivid blue diamond in the world, you might want to book a ticket to Hong Kong for October. That’s when Sotheby’s Hong Kong has scheduled its Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Autumn Sale, which features the spectacular Premier Blue diamond. But if you go, be…

The American $100 bill is arguably the most important and most used bill on the planet. Hundreds make up about 75% of the value of all cash that’s currently in circulation, and they’re incredibly popular overseas as a hedge against fluctuating local currencies. This popularity has led to widespread efforts to counterfeit what has become…