Canadians are taking pen to paper and altering, some would say defacing, their $5 notes as a tribute to Star Trek actor and acclaimed director, poet, and singer Leonard Nimoy, who passed away on February 27 at the age of 83.

Do you collect Washington quarters? Perhaps you’ll want to spend a little time (and a few bucks) on buying some of the more recent issues from the popular eight-decade-old series.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is receiving a new portrait on British coinage by the end of this year. The Queen, who has appeared on coins of the British realm since 1953, has aged gracefully over her 60-plus years on the royal throne. The Royal Mint has kept her likeness on coinage relevant to the Queen’s maturing appearance by updating her image on British coins every 15 to 20 years.

The United States Mint has announced it will release coins honoring Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in 2016 as part of the Presidential $1 coin series. Ronald Reagan, who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 through 1989, was not originally slated to make an appearance among the Presidential $1 coin series.

Have you seen the new design proposals for the $75 high-relief gold coin the U.S. Mint is planning to launch soon? The design proposals are certainly creating excitement and drawing criticism.

For the third time, a bill to end the U.S. Mint's Presidential $1 coin program, has been introduced in the Senate. The last two times the bill has been brought to the floor, it died from inaction. Will the third version, called S. 95 and introduced on January 7, bring the dollar program to its knees? 

Larry King recently recorded a 25-minute interview with Ian Russell, who is the founder and president of GreatCollections Coin Auctions. The interview was taped at King’s Los Angeles studio for his television program, Larry King Now.

You don’t hear much about the market for cull American silver eagles. This could be because many coin collectors and investors are focused on obtaining the whitest, highest-grading silver eagles they can find – and afford. But, if you think about, many bullion investors should also be looking at cull silver eagles with interest. That’s because these lower-end coins represent an affordable means of purchasing silver bullion that’s guaranteed by the U.S. government.

I think a lot of people believe all the valuable and rare coins have been removed from circulation and that there are few, if any, really good pocket change finds left to be made. While the old days of regularly spotting Barber coinage, Mercury dimes, Walking Liberty half dollars, Standing Liberty quarters, and Buffalo nickels may be over, that doesn't mean valuable and rare coins are absent from circulation. 

The U.S. Mint has just announced its 2015 coins and products release schedule, giving coin collectors and bullion investors a heads up as to when they can start making their 2015 coin orders. It looks like the U.S. Mint will be kicking off its first 2015 coin releases very early in the month of January, with a slew of 2015 coin sets and other merchandise to follow. 

December 1 marks Cyber Monday in 2014, and perhaps you're wondering if you should buy silver and gold bullion coins while you're shopping for your family and friends. While silver and gold decorations may be on every Christmas tree, silver and gold bullion coins are stacking up in coin dealers' and bullion brokers' cases as they stock up on inventory to meet increasing demands over the holidays.

In 1892, the United States first minted Columbian Exposition silver half dollars to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas. The Columbian half dollar was struck in 1892 and 1893 and was sold for $1 as a souvenir at the World’s Fair in Chicago. Over the course of two years, some 5 million pieces were struck, with 950,000 dated 1892 and the remainder made in 1893.

Dropping silver prices may be driving unprecedented levels of buying activity from bullion coin speculators. Just last week, the United States Mint sold more than 2,740,000 American silver eagles. In fact, on one day alone, the U.S. Mint took orders for some 1,150,000 silver eagles. That figure could very well be a U.S. Mint record for one day sales of American silver eagles.

Stack’s Bowers Galleries has announced they will hold a series of auctions starting on May 14, 2015 and lasting through September 21, 2017 and will offer the “most valuable rare coin collection" ever to cross the auction block.