NNP Blog
Oct
27
2025
Numismatic Trick-or-Treat for Halloween
As the annual festival of sugar approaches, we review numismatic approaches to dealing with dressed up candy collectors. The November 8, 2015 E-Sylum reported “John Nebel of Colorado collects ancient coins, and on Halloween he offers trick-or-treaters a choice of candy or an ancient coin. Cruel choice, but a fun exercise.” Nebel said that many selected “treats” in favor of more valuable coins.
David Gladfelter noted in the October 22, 2017 E-Sylum “A trick-or-treat idea that has worked well for us for a number of years is to put fright stickers on half dollars and hand them out. Many of the kids have never seen a half dollar before, and ask what they are. The kids are always happy, and so are we. No thrown-out fruit or candy littering our lawn, no parents disapproving of what the kids bring home, and best of all, no left over bags of candy growing stale for us to use up and gag on.”
Steve Roach wrote in the October 27, 2008 issue of Coin World “My friend and world coin aficionado Bob Skye used to give out modern, shiny world coins in 2-inch by 2-inch holders, labeled with descriptive information as to their country, date and denomination.”
The Chicago Coin Club Chatter, January 1983, included a satirical piece on the chocolate coin market, which noted market peaks coinciding with Halloween. The article described a 1968 debacle known as Brown Friday: “Texas billionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt had been stockpiling chocolate coins since early 1963 and the value of chocolate coins grew steadily until it hit an all-time high of $55 per ounce on November 2, 1968. But the very next day, Bunker Hunt, in a fit of depression, walked into his vault and ate two-thirds of his chocolate coin portfolio. The effects were catastrophic and sent shock waves across the country.” In a similar vein, David Pickup reported in the April 1, 2014 E-Sylum on a fictitious reference work, A Guide to Chocolate Coins, said to be built on earlier studies such as the German work Ein Yarbuch die Chockiekoiningmitderwrappenon.
Link to the Chicago Coin Club Chatter on NNP: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/525556
David Gladfelter noted in the October 22, 2017 E-Sylum “A trick-or-treat idea that has worked well for us for a number of years is to put fright stickers on half dollars and hand them out. Many of the kids have never seen a half dollar before, and ask what they are. The kids are always happy, and so are we. No thrown-out fruit or candy littering our lawn, no parents disapproving of what the kids bring home, and best of all, no left over bags of candy growing stale for us to use up and gag on.”
Steve Roach wrote in the October 27, 2008 issue of Coin World “My friend and world coin aficionado Bob Skye used to give out modern, shiny world coins in 2-inch by 2-inch holders, labeled with descriptive information as to their country, date and denomination.”
The Chicago Coin Club Chatter, January 1983, included a satirical piece on the chocolate coin market, which noted market peaks coinciding with Halloween. The article described a 1968 debacle known as Brown Friday: “Texas billionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt had been stockpiling chocolate coins since early 1963 and the value of chocolate coins grew steadily until it hit an all-time high of $55 per ounce on November 2, 1968. But the very next day, Bunker Hunt, in a fit of depression, walked into his vault and ate two-thirds of his chocolate coin portfolio. The effects were catastrophic and sent shock waves across the country.” In a similar vein, David Pickup reported in the April 1, 2014 E-Sylum on a fictitious reference work, A Guide to Chocolate Coins, said to be built on earlier studies such as the German work Ein Yarbuch die Chockiekoiningmitderwrappenon.
Link to the Chicago Coin Club Chatter on NNP: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/525556
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