Coin

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. -- Taking his change -- $1.25 -- from the waitress, Thomas Rogers turned a quarter over in his fingertips and admired the sheen on its silvery copper-and-nickel facade."

Quote: "There's nothing we can do about it. We just got the bad sign of the coin." -- Giants manager Dusty Baker, whose team lost two coin flips for potential one-game playoffs.It's a fact: Expos reliever Steve Kline made his NL-leading 77th appearance.Who's hot: The Brewers have hit 16 homers in the first eight games of their 10-game road trip, and 28 in the past 16 games.Who's not: The crowd of 13,291 was the smallest of the season at Cincinnati's Cinergy Field.On deck: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Mark McGwire probably won't play in both games of today's doubleheader.

WASHINGTON -- The new round of controversy over President Clinton's trip to China later this month raises some basic questions about both the administration's policy and its political smarts.It doesn't take a political genius to know that the notion of a U.S. president taking part in a ceremony in Tiananmen Square was going to evoke just the kind of heated reaction that is coming now from both conservatives and liberals. It was, after all, only nine years ago that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Chinese dissidents were killed in Tiananmen Square by the same government that will be greeting Mr. Clinton there.

NEW YORK -- Twenty-one years after Northwest Baltimore resident Louis Eliasberg died, this quiet, conservative banker still attracts a crowd and a high price.More than 300 coin collectors and dealers from all over the globe gathered at Manhattan's St. Moritz Hotel last night to bid on the last section of the greatest collection of gold, silver and nickel U.S. coins.A 34-year-old coin dealer from Newport Beach, Calif., Greg Roberts, bid a record $1.815 million for Eliasberg's favorite piece -- an 1804 silver dollar of the type that President Andrew Jackson gave to the King of Siam.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Howard County.Ellicott City: 9200 block of U.S. 40: Someone tried to break into the Hair Cuttery on Saturday or Sunday by prying open a rear door. No entry was made.Ellicott City: 5800 block of Country Lane: Someone broke into an unlocked garage Friday or Saturday and stole a cellular phone and a coin case from a car. Elkridge: 5800 block of Blue Sky: A house under construction was broken into Friday. A dishwasher was taken.Long Reach: 8400 block of Greystone Lane: Someone attempted to steal a 1997 Jeep Cherokee on Monday.

Mr. Potato Head on the back of a quarter? Or the Nike swoosh? Or the Golden Gate Bridge?These are a few of the ideas -- silly and serious -- being batted around as Congress completes a proposal to let every state put its own artwork on the reverse side of America's most used coin.Starting in 1999, George Washington and his silver pigtail would head a series of redesigned tails. Five new coins would be minted each year for nationwide use, honoring states in the order they were admitted to the union.

WASHINGTON -- There's a new quarter in your future. Actually 50 new quarters honoring each state over the next decade.Under the plan, next year the Treasury Department will solicit the first major redesign of the quarter since the Depression, replacing the spread-winged eagle that, except for a bicentennial commemorative coin, has graced the coin continually since 1932.Five new coins will be minted each year for the next decade, carrying on the back of the coin a symbol of each state in the order they were admitted to the union.

THE LIKELIHOOD has increased that the European Union will have the mechanisms for a single currency -- the ''euro'' -- in place by Jan. 1, 1999, and will have coins and notes in circulation in two-thirds of its 15 member countries by mid-2002.A few months ago, this reach seemed beyond Europe's grasp. Germany's cost of unification and France's tenacious retention of the welfare state meant the necessary deficit reductions could not be achieved. It was fashionable to say that only Luxembourg met the hard-currency criteria and only Ireland came close.

As an ancient coin ritual was enacted on the deck of the dry-docked USS Constellation yesterday, the past and future suddenly became clearer.Now it's official: The wooden vessel in the Fort McHenry shipyard is indeed the one built in 1854 by the Navy as its last ship under sail.And it is definitely not the frigate Constellation built in Baltimore in 1797 as part of the original six-ship navy."There's no doubt about it, because we've surveyed the shape of the hull," said Peter Boudreau, restoration project manager for the Constellation Foundation.

THE LEGACY of the Gingrich Congress is not likely to include term limits, a flag-burning amendment, prayer in the schools or most of the original promises of the ''Contract With America.''The Departments of Commerce, Education and Energy, prime Republican candidates for extinction, are still standing. The ethical record of this Congress will forever wear a price tag of $300,000, the amount the House Ethics Committee decided was sufficient to wash Speaker Newt Gingrich clean of the sins he stood accused of.This latest agreement for a balanced budget by 2002, together with a cafeteria of tax cuts that will make the tax code even more unintelligible and less even-handed, will have to wait another five years for a final judgment.

The U.S. Mint has issued the country's first coin with readable Braille text, to honor Louis Braille. Part of the proceeds from sales of the commemorative bicentennial silver dollar, which will not be in general circulation, will support literacy efforts of the National Federation of the Blind, based in Baltimore, where the coin was unveiled Thursday. The coin features a portrait of Louis Braille on the heads side. On the tails side, a child is shown reading, with the abbreviation for Braille, "BRL," in Braille text above his head.

A one-of-a-kind California Gold Rush coin, preserved for years by one of Baltimore's most prominent families, will return here next month for the first time in nearly 30 years. The 154-year-old $20 gold piece known as the Kellogg Twenty - now worth $3 million - will be displayed during the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money in the Baltimore Convention Center from July 30 to Aug. 2. Once owned by Baltimore resident and diplomat John Work Garrett, the coin is considered by collectors to be one of the finest American coins from the mid-19th century.

A coin commemorating Maryland's role in the War of 1812 and Baltimore as the birthplace of "The Star-Spangled Banner" could soon be minted, officials announced yesterday. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, sponsor of the Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentenntial Commemorative Coin Act, said the coin would be minted in 2012 to mark the 200th anniversary of the war with the British. "This coin is for all of our veterans. It is a wonderful way to honor the dedication of our military personnel of today and yesterday," Ruppersberger said during a news conference at the Maryland Historical Society.

Good morning -- Brian Billick -- You need to borrow a coin to flip?

The great thing about superstition is that all kinds work equally well. If your lucky socks don't perform today, you can call on your lucky hat tomorrow. There's no sectarianism about it. Best of all, though, is that if you actually do well, you're entirely free to attribute your success to extreme cleverness. This was the appeal of the great bull market that only began to stumble this month. For years, it gave people the impression that their portfolios had grown thanks to their particular investment savvy.

Here's a thought worth a penny: It's time to rethink the penny. Thanks to rising metal prices, a penny now costs more than a penny to make. According to government estimates, the U.S. Mint produces 3 1/2 pennies for the price of a nickel. And since the penny remains America's most widely circulated coin (more than 7.7 billion were produced last year), that's $100 million worth of nickels. Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona has introduced legislation to abolish the penny. And while previous attempts by Congress to phase out the 1-cent coin have failed, rising prices make such a move appear to be inevitable.

Paul Edward Finck, a collector of rare coins and an avid golfer, died in an accident on the Eastern Shore on Sept. 19. He was 68. Mr. Finck and a helper were trying to move the family's two-bedroom trailer at Eagle's Nest Campground on Sinepuxent Bay when it fell on him. Mr. Finck had retired from his coin-collecting business this month, closing his small office in Timonium. "We buried him with a putter, four golf balls for each of his children, and seashells," said his wife, the former Paulette Hergenroeder, adding that the family loved spending time on the Sinepuxent.

THE SEASON is young, but not for Larry Bigbie. The Orioles left fielder has a problem. He's not embarrassed to admit it. In fact, Bigbie was eager to seek outside counsel for help with this problem. "I need a good luck charm," Bigbie said. "I always have some kind of good luck charm, but I need a new one. I want to have a good season. I thought maybe you could help me think of something." Imagine my surprise, honor and delight when Bigbie singled me out to help him yesterday and not Page 2 columnist Peter Schmuck.

It's just a tiny sliver of silver. Its face value wouldn't buy you a candy bar or a phone call. So what makes this one thin, tarnished Liberty Head dime, minted in San Francisco in 1894 and sold at auction in Baltimore on Monday, worth $1,322,500? Well, only 24 were minted, only nine are known to still exist - and collectors love it. "It's one of the most important coins in all of United States' numismatics," says John Feigenbaum, using the high-priced term for coin collecting. "The date itself is one of the three greatest dates of coins to buy, and this one is the finest of that date.

The Babe's 110th Celebrate the 110th birthday of hometown legend Babe Ruth on Sunday at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. Visitors will be the first to view a bat handled by Ruth in one of his last appearances. Expect to toast the occasion with champagne and cake, along with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" led by WBAL Radio's Doug Roberts, all followed by an update of the museum's new site at Camden Yards. Also, Sun columnist Michael Olesker will appear at noon to talk about Ruth. The Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum is at 216 Emory St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This Sunday, admission is free all day. Call 410-727-1539, ext. 3011, or visit www.baberuth museum.