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Collecting Paper: Where’s the Notre Dame Cathedral?

For a building as famous and historic as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, it is surprisingly largely absent  from France’s bank notes. In his “Collecting Paper” column in the May 27 issue of Coin World, writer Wendall Wolka explores the building’s few appearances.

Wendell writes that the building is depicted on just two different notes, both showing it as a minor design element that could easily be overlooked unless one peers carefully at the designs. He found that surprising, given the importance of the cathedral to French history.

To learn which two notes depict the cathedral, be sure to read Wendell’s column, found exclusively in the print and digital editions of Coin World.

Coin Values Spotlight: 1931-S Lincoln cent

The 1931-S Lincoln cent has the second smallest mintage of any regular-issue coin in the series, with even fewer pieces struck than for the 1914-D Lincoln cent. However, as I write  in my “Coin Values Spotlight” column in the May 27 issue of Coin World, the “rarer” 1931-S cent is much less expensive than the 1914-D cent.

The two coins were released in different collector eras; changes in how collectors and others collected coins in the 1930s are still felt today.

One curious point about the 1931-S Lincoln cent is that examples in circulated condition are actually rarer than pieces in Mint State.

To learn more about the key-date 1931-S Lincoln cent, see the column, available only to subscribers.

About VAMs: VAM-33A 1880 Morgan dollar

Morgan dollars are avidly collected, including by specialists in die varieties and marriages. While some collectors focus on dates, others focus on a particular kind of error, including those with a clash-marked E from the obverse inscription LIBERTY appearing on the reverse.

In his “About VAMs” column, expert John Roberts discusses the VAM-33A 1880 Morgan dollar, which has a clash-marked E that is so faint that it could be easily overlooked. John argues that the die variety warrants more attention than it currently gets from collectors.

To learn what to look for and how to identify this die marriage, read John’s column in the May 27 issue of Coin World.