I thought I would do a blog on one of the most infamous coins, the 1933 double eagle. I’m sure most of you have heard of this coin, how it is illegal to own, save 3 examples. I will be going over the history of the coin, enjoy!

Illegal Tender was written by David Tripp, and is one of the best coin books I've read. It might not be considered a coin book, more of a mystery the way it was written. The book is all about the story of the 1933 double eagle. If you plan on reading this, and don't want to story spoiled, then don't read any further!�The story starts when President Roosevelt asks Augustus St. Guandens to design the new double eagle, to modern day. (2004 was when the book was written) With the gold recall, everyone was required to bring their gold to the government, with the exclusion of collectible coins. The mint was ordered to stop production, and melted the '33s they had already produced. However, some got out of the mint, smuggled or stolen by someone! The secret service gets on the trail of the coins in 1944, and seizes many of the coins. One, however, is out of their reach. It is in King Farouk's� collection in Egypt. The coin eventually goes up for sale when the king dies, but it is withdrawn from the sale at the last minute. The coins whereabouts are unknown until it surfaces in England. The coin is then purchased and the dealer arranges to sell the coin to a collector in the US. The coin is then seized by the secret service, and the owner and the government battle in court for years. The coin is finally made legal, and sells for $7.6 million in� 2002! There have been many sightings of different examples since, but none have been confirmed. One was reported to be, "Thrown into the ocean to avoid it being seized!" I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend that you try and read it yourself!

This coins in your pocket blog will be about more errors and varieties that I look for. Let me know if you are enjoying this series, because I enjoy writing them! Pre YN Auction frenzy is settling in, and I'm trying to get as many YN dollars as possible before the auction! I will still try to keep the blogs enjoyable though, not cranking out low quality work (I hope you think my work isn't low quality!) Anyways, lets start!

Coin Collecting for Dummies was written by Neil Berman and Ron Guth. It is probably meant as a reference to newer collectors, but it has some useful tips that I still remember and follow. I first read this book about 2 years ago, when I first started collecting. I checked it out again for some new reading material. It has 26 chapters, each about things from Understanding Numismatics to Coin Investments, Taxes, and the Law. The book starts out basic, with advice such as never clean your coins! Buy the book before the coin! They cover stuff like how to store your collection, how to carefully handle coins. I think this was from this book, but I remember a book saying, “Make sure to cover your nose/mouth when you sneeze, because sneezing on a coin does as much damage as gouging it with a knife! I don’t know anyone who would want to gouge a coin with a knife, so heed the advice of covering your mouth around coins! The book covers coins from ancient coins to commemorative coins, and has a chapter about “Oddball coins” as they call them. They have a chapter about counterfeit coins as well, and that section was where I first learned about artificially toning coins. The book also has a story that I still remember. One of the author's friends showed him a well struck, full details buffalo nickel, and asked him if he thought it was a proof or a circulation strike coin. He flipped the coin over and it slipped from his fingers and fell around 5 feet onto the stone hotel floor. The coin was suddenly a proof in his friend's eyes, and he was shamed� into buying the coin for a lot more than it was worth with the dent in it! Moral of the story? Always be careful with coins! Keep them under a soft surface so if you accidentally drop them, no harm will befall them! In all, I enjoyed this book, and it definitely has advice to offer all collectors!

I went to my regular coin shop yesterday, and picked up a 2 cent piece. I wanted to get one because I've always liked coins that nobody really knows about, like 3 cent pieces, half cents, and 20 cent pieces. I got it for $10, there was a cheaper one, but it was in AG condition. I also got monument quarter books for my great grandma, she has a bag of quarters that she wanted me to sort, and she gave me some money to buy coin albums to put them in. Sorry I haven't been blogging much recently, I've kinda hit a collecting hiatus, but going to the shop helped a little bit!