Breaking Coin News from Oklahoma City!
The 2025 World’s Fair of Money opens today in Oklahoma City! If you’re holding down the fort like some of us are and can’t attend, we’ve assembled some fair-related coins that could strike your fancy.
Auction News
According to CoinWorld, the first in a series of auctions to liquidate a more than 600-piece original hobo nickel collection is scheduled for the World’s Fair of Money. Our Heads & Tails blog recently explored this coin art phenomenon. It’s enjoying a renaissance among new artists who carve nickels as well as collectors attracted to these curious conversation starters. We have four individually chiseled 1913-1938 Buffalos nickels. It’s not too soon to think “stocking stuffers” for Christmas!
Not up for auction, but with a presence at this year’s World’s Fair of Money are members of the Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America, or CONECA for short. World’s Fair of Money participants have been invited to bring in coins to learn if they have any specific errors.
Littleton Coin can attest to the popularity of error coins. Collectors snap them up as they become available. We have these Andrew Jackson Presidential Dollar Error coins – for now!
COTY Candidates
More than 7,000 coins were released in 2024. That’s a whopping number by any standards. Enthusiastic numismatists nominated nearly 550 for consideration as Coin of the Year (COTY) in a wide range of categories. While we wait for winners to be chosen during the World’s Fair of Money, here are three that were recommended:
- In the category for most historically significant coin, this Harriet Tubman silver dollar commemorative ranked as one of the choices. Discover more about the U.S. Mint’s Tubman releases in this Heads & Tails blog.
- Best contemporary event celebrates the Greatest Generation! Naturally, we’ve got an informative Heads & Tails blog on the dollar designs that honor what Boomer broadcaster Tom Brokaw famously dubbed the Greatest Generation.
- Best circulating coin candidates included the highly detailed U.S. Women quarter on the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, who shattered all kinds of cultural ceilings with her impressive roster of achievements.
Oklahoma Collectibles
The U.S. Mint has issued three different coins celebrating the Sooner State. One was a statehood quarter, seen here as a gold-plated issue. Another was the Chickasaw National Park quarter. And the third honored five ballerinas, fronted by prima ballerina Maria Tallchief on this Native American dollar, who all hailed from Oklahoma. Discover the other four in this Heads & Tails blog.
Finally, there’s this Oklahoma 5 Mill Fiber token that returns us to the 1930s and how programs for the elderly were funded during the Great Depression. Sales tax tokens for Old Age Assistance (as it was called at the time) were a unique form of surcharge. Each “mill” on this 5 Mill fiber token was equal to 1/10 cent, and was used to pay supplemental taxes charged on small purchases. Tokens, like this one, could be made of fiber, metal, cardboard or even plastic.
If you’re wondering about Oklahoma City as the 2025 site for the World’s Fair of Money, consider one of its nicknames, “The Big Friendly.” It hosts the World Championship American Quarter Horse Show each November. And, in three years, it will be the host site for the international championship softball matches for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics! Who wants to bet there’ll be a coin for that?!
SOURCES
“CONECA: Representatives will be available for on-site error-coin examinations.” CoinWorld. Page 13. May 12, 2025.
Gilkes, Paul. “Kagin is Selling her hobo nickel collection: Stack’s Bowers to host sales in 2025 and 2026 of more than 600 pieces from a 20-year collection.” CoinWorld page 8. May 12, 2025.
