The following was written by Frank.
My journey with Northeast Numismatics began in the Spring of 2019. I had recently turned 16 and wanted a part time job to keep me busy after school and during the summer. At 16, I had been passionate about collecting coins for quite some time, so I figured I’d try to land a job at a local coin shop. I Googled “coin shops near me” and Northeast Numismatics was the first result. I gave them a cold call, introduced myself, and explained my interest in working for them. Before I knew it, I had an interview with Tom and Chris.
We had arranged a “trial week” in April during school vacation, which went quite well. From there, I worked anytime I could after school and during the summers throughout high school. I was accepted into Bentley University, a business school here in Massachusetts and pursued a degree in business management along with a law minor. Throughout college, I spent much of my free time during the school week and summer at Northeast. During my last semester of college, I spent more time in the office than in the classroom.
I have also taken part in a few educational events about grading and the coin business. I was fortunate enough to earn a scholarship to the ANA Summer Seminar twice, where I took grading courses. (From Chris: Frank humbly did not mention the fact that he scored the highest in the class on the grading test!) I also attended Witter Coin U in San Francisco twice, which is similar to Summer Seminar, but geared towards young numismatists. We learned more about grading and the coin business, which I really enjoyed.
Stacks Bowers in Costa Mesa, California also had a similar educational event a couple summers ago. This seemed to be more of an advanced class about grading and conducting business properly. I gained new friends and business relationships with many people from these events, of which I am very grateful for.
I officially started here at Northeast on June 2nd, a couple weeks after graduation. I have enjoyed my 6 years at Northeast and look forward to many more!
We are excited to announce that Frank Sawin, who has been with Northeast on a part-time basis for the last six years, has taken on a full-time position with us as a numismatist. He just graduated with a degree in business from Bentley University here in Massachusetts. Many of you know Frank from his Frankly Speaking blog posts, his social media presence, seeing him at local and major shows, or doing business with him here in our office in Concord.
Frank has become quite the seasoned numismatist in his years with Northeast, and is now one of our principal buyers. He will be attending all coin shows with us, and most likely will be traveling to some by himself to represent Northeast. We are thrilled to have him on board.
The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) held a dinner and awards banquet at the CSNS coin show this past April. Several awards are given out, including the Abe Kosoff Founders Award and the Harvey G. Stack Lifetime Achievement Award. As part of PNG’s mission to cultivate and expand the next generation of the numismatic industry, they give out a NexGen Future Star Numismatist Award. This is given to a young numismatist who evokes the most promise as a strong performer as a professional numismatist in the future. We are very proud to say that Frank was the recipient of that award this year. Congratulations, Frank! It is well-deserved.
We encourage you to welcome Frank on board as our newest full-time team member. He can be reached at frank@northeastcoin.com.
Congratulations!
The following was written by Chris.
In September of 2023, I posted a Long Beach Expo show report on our blog. If interested, you can read it here. My comments regarding the lack of dealer attendance were somewhat prophetic, I suppose. In January, we received the following email regarding the show.
Dear Long Beach Expo Community,
For over 60 years, the Long Beach Expo has been more than just a marketplace — it has been a gathering place for the numismatic and collectibles community. Together, we've celebrated our shared passions, made lasting connections, and enjoyed the thrill of discovery on the beautiful California coast.
As we all experienced, the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped how events are organized and attended. While our community rebounded with enthusiasm, the rising costs of hosting these events have created challenges. We've worked tirelessly to balance those costs without compromising your experience or passing along undue expenses. We deeply value the vibrant, loyal community that makes the Long Beach Expo so special.
After careful consideration, we have decided to pause the June and September shows for 2025 and focus our efforts on delivering an exceptional experience at the February event. This adjustment allows us to better support our community and realign with our parent company, PCGS, and its core mission: providing industry-leading grading and authentication services that advance the hobby we all love.
We are fortunate to have such a vibrant and loyal community, and we are excited about the opportunity to reassess how we can best serve you. We want to thank our dedicated community of dealers, vendors, sponsors, attendees, and friends who make this show such an amazing event. We also want to extend our gratitude to our long-standing official auctioneer of the Long Beach Expo - Heritage Auctions. Your world-renowned auctions are a staple of the numismatic auction calendar and we are fortunate to be able to host both your live auctions and lot viewings over the years.
We are grateful for your continued support and excited about the opportunities ahead. Thank you for being such an integral part of this journey.
We look forward to welcoming you next month for an unforgettable February Long Beach Expo!
It was a disappointing email to receive. I have been attending that show for close to 30 years, and it was always one of my favorites. Even as the show declined, I still enjoyed attending it. My experience there this past February was very similar to my experience I posted about previously, perhaps with even fewer dealers this time. I flew in Tuesday around noon and left Wednesday night, with maybe 2 1/2 boxes of new purchases. Tom attended this one also, and bought a box or two himself. It was still worth my time and the expense of going there.
Many folks are speculating, myself included, that this past show might be the last one ever. You'll note in the email above that they are pausing the June and September shows this year. I think canceling would have been the more appropriate word. I do hope that they are able to revive the Long Beach show to some extent. Maybe just host it two times a year? Anyway, we very well may be looking at the end of an era. : (
The following was written by Chris.
While I sometimes bet (and usually lose) on the New England Patriots, I’m not a big gambler. I suppose that changed a bit while I was at the most recent coin show. I was negotiating on a coin that a dealer had for sale. He wanted $4600, and I wanted to pay $4400. His response? “I’ll sell it for $4500, or we can flip for it.” If I win, I get the coin at $4400. If he wins, I have to pay $4600. So, I put $200 of my boss’ money on the line and shook his hand.
He came out from behind his table to flip the coin in the aisle. I was to call it while the coin was in the air, then let it hit the concrete bourse floor. I called heads, the coin hits the floor and bounces and rolls around and…HEADS! But here’s the kicker. It was an 1893-S Morgan! I kid you not. Fortunately, it was already damaged and scratched before the toss, but it was pretty wild to see an 1893-S intentionally bouncing around on the hard ground.
Here's the $4400 “prize.”
I just saw this and I believe I bought this coin and decided to keep it in my now tiny collection. It wasn’t always tiny and over the years Northeast has helped me divest myself of the majority of my coins. Even as recent as last week, being fortunate in many ways, I even purchased a pattern FE cent from NE while I was getting my last group of coins together to ship out. I think NE has taken as many as 600+ slabs from me to date. But I still purchased from them ongoing. A majority of the coins I am keeping came from NE. Buying or selling, I don’t gamble either. That’s why I have stuck with Chris and NE knowing I wouldn’t lose. Throw a Morgan King coin in the air, to have it fall on the floor, maybe not. Watch out as I still have a 2- headed Kennedy half I found in a box of error coins I bought for $20 when I was 10. Took all of my snow shoveling money for a whole winter on that deal. I may bring it to a negotiation with Chris, and call heads 1st. Problem is, I don’t cheat either.
Thank you for the post, Andrew!
The following was written by Frank.
The United States has a long history of striking coins for other nations across the world. In fact, the U.S. has struck coins for over 40 different countries and over 1,000 different types! The total amount of coins amasses to an impressive 11 billion coins across six different U.S. Mints - Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, New Orleans, West Point, and the Manila Mint located in the Philippines.
Congress first granted permission to the U.S. Mint to strike coins for foreign countries in 1874: “It shall be lawful for coinage to be executed at the mints of the United States for any foreign country… provided, that the manufacture of such coin shall not interfere with the required coinage of the United States" (Jan. 29, 1874, Ch. 19, 18 Stat. 6.). The very first coin struck for foreign commerce was the Venezuelan 2 ½ Centavos coin in 1876, of which 2 million coins were struck. The Mint struck coins for Venezuela up until 1959, an 83-year long stretch.
Image courtesy of PCGS.
One of the most interesting coins struck for another nation is the 1944 Belgian 2 Francs. These coins were struck by the Philadelphia Mint on surplus 1943 steel cent blank planchets. 25 million of these coins were struck during the Allied Occupation of Belgium, and are very affordable to obtain; raw coins are readily available for as little as $1. These 2 Francs are to blame for the U.S. 1944 Steel Cent mint errors, as some of these planchets were accidentally fed into machinery which were producing cents instead of 2 Francs.
Image courtesy of PCGS.
One of the most well-known countries which the United States produced coins for is the Philippines. The United States gained control of the Philippines because of the Spanish American war in 1898. Coins were struck by the Philadelphia, Denver, Manila, and San Francisco Mints from 1903 through 1965. The Manila Mint was in operation from 1920-1922 and 1925-1941. The Manila Mint remains as the only U.S. Mint located outside of the continental United States.
Image courtesy of PCGS.
Another popular series which was struck by the U.S. Mint is the 1883 Hawaiian Coinage series. The San Francisco Mint struck dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars for the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1883 and 1884, but all coins bear the 1883 date.
When most people think of the smallest coin struck by the U.S. Mint, they often think of the Type 1 gold dollar, which has a diameter of 12.7mm. But, the smallest coin which the U.S. Mint struck was the 1904 Panama 2 ½ Centesimos which has a diameter of just 10mm. This coin is properly nicknamed the “pill” because of its small size.
Image courtesy of PCGS.
The sole coin struck by the New Orleans Mint for a foreign nation was the Mexican 1907 20 Centavos. Only the coins with the Curved 7 variety were struck at the New Orleans Mint. Although they bear the Mexico City mint mark on the obverse, they were indeed struck in New Orleans. Once again, these coins are relatively affordable with certified pieces in low mint state grades available for $50-$100.
Image courtesy of PCGS.
The last coins struck for foreign nations by the U.S. Mint are 1983 Panamanian One Centesimo through the Half Balboa, struck in both 1983 and 1984. Both the Philadelphia and West Point Mints struck these issues. The Mint has not struck any coins for any foreign countries since 1984 and it doesn’t look like they will do so anytime soon.
Many collectors are unaware of just how many different types of coins the U.S. struck for other nations, which offers a unique collecting opportunity that fits in the budgets of all collectors. Many of the modern issues can be obtained for under $1, while many of the earlier coins fetch hundreds or thousands of dollars in high grades.
Sources:
https://www.pcgs.com/news/mexico-coin-made-in-the-new-orleans-mint
https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=13492
