Golino on the 2019-W Quarters

But this month, in conjunction with the U.S. Mint's 227th anniversary and this year's celebration of the American Numismatic Association's(ANA) 96th annual National Coin Week, the Mint is for the first-time issuing quarters struck at the West Point Mint that carry a "W" mintmark.Quarters were issued by this mint from 1977 to 1979 but with no mintmarks.

What's more, the coins are only available in circulation and the mintage of each 2019 quarter design with a "W" mintmark is limited to two millioncoins-about 1% of the anticipated total mintage of all 2019 quarters. While that might not seem rare or even scarce, in the context of moderncirculation coins it is a low mintage and one that is comparable to some of the better-date Washington quarters.

The Mint undertook this initiative to stimulate greater interest in numismatics by encouraging people to look for "W" quarters in change. WestPoint mint-marked quarters were randomly mixed in at the Mint to bags of quarters from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints and then sent to the FederalReserve, where they are being distributed to banks located in or near major cities around the country. This plan fulfills a promise made last Octoberby Mint Director David Ryder at the Third Annual United States Mint Forum to put some rare coins into circulation.

To read the complete article, see:
The Coin Analyst: 2019-WQuarters Boost Modern Coin Collecting, But Will It Last?(https://coinweek.com/modern-coins/the-coin-analyst-2019-w-quarters-boost-modern-coin-collecting-but-will-it-last/)

The Mint's Legal Authorities

In 2020, the U.S. Mint will issue a $10 gold coin and accompanying silver medal to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing in1620. This program was not authorized by congressional legislation and is being issued using the Mint's existing legal authority to strike bulliongold coins and silver medals at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. It should prove to be a popular program if buyers embrace thedesigns, especially since over 10 million Americans can trace their heritage to the Mayflower.

In recent years, sales of U.S. Mint commemorative coins slumped sharply, except primarily for the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame 75th anniversaryprogram, and to a lesser degree, this year's Apollo 11 50th anniversary coins. With only two programs allowed by law per year, most collectors wantto see coins about topics of broader, national interest such as major historic events and anniversaries rather than service groups the Lions Club orBoys Town.

In 2016 and 2017 - during the 114th and 115th Congresses - bills were introduced to issue a commemorative coin program for the Mayfloweranniversary, but those bills failed to garner enough support to move forward and died at the end of their respective Congresses.

To read the complete article, see:
MayflowerQuadricentenary Numismatic Program: Does it matter that it is not a congressionally mandated commemorative?(http://news.coinupdate.com/mayflower-quadricentenary-numismatic-program-does-it-matter-that-it-is-not-a-congressionally-mandated-commemorative/)

Stolen Carnegie Library Book Recovered From Netherlands

The recovered book is a variation of the Geneva Bible and is commonly called a "Breeches Bible." That's because this edition's Genesischapter says that when Adam and Eve realized they were naked, they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves in breeches. Pilgrims who sailedaboard the Mayflower carried a Geneva Bible during their voyage to Massachusetts in 1620.

The director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum in Leiden, Netherlands, assisted FBI agents who are part of an art crime team and based inPhiladelphia, the FBI said in a news release Wednesday.

To read the complete articles, see:
Geneva Bible stolen from Carnegie Library traced to pilgrim museum in Netherlands(https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2019/04/24/Geneva-Bible-stolen-from-Carnegie-Library-traced-to-pilgrim-museum-in-Netherlands/stories/201904240143)
400-Year-Old Bible Stolen From Pittsburgh Library Is Recovered in theNetherlands (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/us/geneva-bible.html)

To read an earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CARNEGIE LIBRARY RARE BOOK THEFT DEVELOPMENTS(https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n26a24.html)