Liberty Coins was a typical small time coin dealer operations located not far from the F train on Kings Highway, in Brooklyn, NY. The surrounding community is largely Jewish with transient communities of Latin Americans and Eastern Europeans surround the 2nd floor store front that could only be accessed by appointment. It was run by a reputable dealer with decades of experience, in Steve Halfon, who, as many other coin dealers, dealt in a lot of cash, and tried to keep client transactions anonymous, while dealing with many gold and silver coins. Much of his client base consisted of communities that have experienced tragic repression by government, and is inherently secretive and private, in both the Orthodox Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, Sephardic Jews from repressive middle eastern regimes, and Russian Jewish Emigres of the former Soviet Union. In addition, the area has deep links to New York's diamond and jewelry traded. Steve was a beloved family man, married to Terri Ballenberg Halfon, whose heart was all but broken by the murder. He also had a daughter, and was known as a strong family man by his entire extended family. He had tied to Rabbi Mordechai German of the Beer Hagadol Yeshiva, a Yeshiva founded in 1979 by some of the most prominent rabbis of the generation. to meet the educational, social, and spiritual needs of the flood of Jewish children from the former Soviet Union. In regard all these wonderful connections, he was blessed more than most. On August 23rd, 2011, more than 10 years ago, he was kidnapped outside his coin shop after work by an organized mob and beaten to death. He was stuffed into a blue/black Volvo which was later abandoned. He died because he was a coin dealer, and he was targeted.�At 5:10PM on that Tuesday evening, Halfon was dragged out of his car by the mob, and threw him in a black Volvo where they beat him to death and then dropped his body less than mile away on East 7th Street and Avenue N. The New York Daily News reported: “One guy gets out, covered in blood, and walks down the street like nothing happened," said a witness. The suspect threw his bloody T-shirt, a Yankees hat and a gray hoodie in a sewer before running away with the two others, the witness said.” A driver then noticed the beaten body and rushed him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses reported that on a block away on Avenue O, the three men dumped a blue/black Volvo, ditched their bloody clothes and fled. In the end, it has been reported that, three suspects, including a Mr Andrew Jackson of Staten Island, were arrested for the murder. I am not certain if there was a trail or what the outcomes were, and I will investigate this further.�When this happened, it was reported about the news, and discussed, here, on cointalk, with much banter back and forth blaming the victim, and speculating if he was armed it would have had a better chance. That is not entirely surprising. Every coin related crime is excused away by some portion of the community. The proposition that this problem can be brought under control with more and bigger guns and bigger dogs is laughable, if not just sad. What really fuels this kind of crime is the ease in which stolen property can be fenced and resold throughout the numismatics community, and the deep reluctance that police departments country wide, but especially in urban centers, have in pursuing these crimes aggressively. Not enough people take this seriously and that is why these things happen. Steve Halfon and his wife deserve better. Steve’s family survived and escaped the brutality of Soviet Union antisemitism and repression, only for Steve to be brutally beaten to death not more than a few blocks from his home for the crime of being a coin dealer. And that is the uncomfortable truth. (Cited from:�https://www.cointalk.com/threads/remembering-stevie-halfon-loved-by-all.387483/)

I had a chance to acquire an signed copy of David Hendin's latest edition of Guild to Biblical�Coins 6th Ed�at the New York show.� The text was not particularly cheap but I was happy to buy it from the vendor I enjoy� supporting.�� Although the text is published by a rival Numismatic group, I hope I am not disturbing any� primordial forces mentioning it here and doing a bit of analysis.The text itself is an substantial compendium of� ancient coins, a lifetime worth of work. � It is filled with detailed historical and even theological information which forms the background� necessary for one to gain real appreciation of the ancient coins associated with the Hebrew Bible.�� Hendin's text has biographies of the despots and rulers, Jewish or not, that impact the times of this coinage.�� It is hard to comprehend, being that our lives are so short and our civilization is still so young,� how many eras of civilization that Hendin's� text� covers.� We start with the beginning of money itself, when the Shequal mentioned in the Torah was not even a coin, but a measure of weight.� When my father Abraham brought the Cave and the fields of Machpeleh (מערת המכפלה) for 400 shequals of silver� Avraham Avinu weighed the silver. � It says so in the text.��Recent discoveries reported in The Biblical Archaeological Society prove that weights were used during the first temple period establishing that coinage had not yet taken hold. � The discovery of a two sheckel� weight weighed about 23 grams was reported.� This weight is consistant with other sources and artificats [1]. �� Weights slowly evolved into shequal coinage, but the bible,� Mishna and Talmud uses a dizzying array of ancient coinage types and drops terms for money without definition all about the oral and written traditions.� �There is even a whole tractate in the Talmud dedicated to the Sheckel as it was used, not just as general purpose coinage, but also for the annual tax used for the funding the Temple (Beit haMikdash)�itself, and for taking a necessary census of the population without counting the people themselves (which was prohibited).� �Within it there is discourse and disagreement as to weights and even the nature of financial transactions.� Hendin dives into this material with reasonable expertise which is complimented by his unparalleled knowledge in ancient Judean coinage.� �As is common in a text such as this, some of the most important chapters come right at the beginning, before the specifics of endless numbers of coins.� This is less true in the Guild than in many other such texts as Hendin subterfuges the entire text with important information, but it still holds that the introduction contains vital research on the methods of David Hendin's education in the field, and the basics of what these coins mean to us today and to the peoples of the epochs being discussed.� ��The hardest part, I found, was trying to understand the relationships between different coins and I had to fill in some outside information in order to really understand what the Guide was trying to say.� In some cases, though, I have to conclude that there are editing errors in the text, or perhaps noted inconsistencies in the source material which should had been better annotated.� I am used to scientific and medical journals where material is deeply and mathematically analyzed before publication.� �Numismatics, while interesting and worthwhile, doesn't really hold up to this kind of rigor.� The focus is in on coins, their histories and values.� �Fewer scholarly journals are produced on these subjects than auction catalogs and auction catalogs are often the primary source for information on coinage in scholarly journals.� In some ways, this is similar to early paleontology, or art history, and reflects both the collectors focus within the study of Numismatics,� and its historical place as a separate area of study in the humanities.�

These big Pennies, based on the British Style of Coinage are BIG BRASH COPPER and RARE in high mint state with RB.� The New Zealand environment doesn't encourage copper to remain in decent shape.� But look at these coins!� In the hand they are so impressive in their color and the engraving and strike.� It is hard to imagine why they didn't abandon the large copper early, as they are hardly convenient.� The bird Tui Bird in the branches is a daring design that impresses.� Tuis are nectar eaters and native to the Islands an not extinct.� https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/tui/They are about the size of a raven, 11-12 inches.�� In life their feathering sparkles, and they have this touch of white under the chin.� ANd they are decent songstershttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Prosthemadera_novaeseelandiae_vocalizations.ogvAside from that, this particular specimen is special.� You have to enjoy the great depth of field in the engraving of the dies and balanced composition which is enhanced by the partial toning.� Enjoy!

Of the New Zealand Coins I sent out to ANACS, I had hopes for this one because it not only had great details in the strike, but it also had a lovely die crack.� Somehow I missed the surface troubles with the coin and it came back details AU58 - Wire Brushing.� I looked at it under the loop and failed to catch the problem.It does seem that� Anacs is getting annoyed with me sending in cheap NZ coins.� A few came back upside down in the plastic.� Other than send tham back, there is not much I could do about it.� How hard can it be to put the coin rightside up in the holder?

I got a wonderful Morgan 1883P VAM 20 that graded out at AU58.� These are often a mystery to me.� Reviewing the ANA guild for coins and grading, I really don't see any wear spots on this coin.� I thought it should be Ms.� It is certainly cleaner than many MS63s so I was hoping for a grade even higher than that.� But it came back an AU58.� I see no wear on the wing tips of the hair highlights of the portrait, or the breast.� How would you grade this coin?