DANIEL WEBSTER | Coins Austria remembers the Marshall Plan

Austria revives memories with a coin honoring the Marshall Plan. The last of an eight-coin series, "Austria Through the Ages," the 20-euro silver piece marks postwar Austria's emergence from four-power governance from 1945 to 1955.
The coin shows soldiers from the four nations riding in a jeep. Banners depicting agriculture and reconstruction hang below the letters ERP (for European Recovery Program) and "Marshall-Plan." Austria's eagle is on the reverse, along with the 2003 date.
The .900 fine silver proof will cost $42.50. Queries go to Euro Collections International at (888) 904-5544 or at www.eurocollections.com.
Jeff Davis lives on
When Stack's holds its 68th anniversary sale Tuesday to Thursday at Le Parker Meridien Hotel in Manhattan, it will offer a Confederate 50-cent piece believed to have been owned by the Civil War's rebel president, Jefferson Davis.
The Confederate States of America, or CSA, struck coins using available U.S. pieces. The coin being auctioned keeps the U.S. eagle obverse, but has a new reverse showing a shield with seven stars and stripes and topped by a Liberty cap.
Countering counterfeiters
Despite the safeguards printed and embedded in the new U.S. currency, counterfeiters continue to produce copies that can fool experts. Next step in the battle, new $20 bills are running on the presses now and may already be in your wallet. They were released Thursday and will be delivered this month to any bank ordering new $20 bills.
The new bills have brought color to Andrew Jackson's cheeks but also to backgrounds and other areas of the bill. The earlier version will continue to circulate until worn out. Other bills will also be altered later.
The state quarter program reaches its halfway point this month when the Arkansas quarter appears. Oct. 20 is the release date for the 25th coin in the series.
The new year will see coins symbolizing Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin.