U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday ended a Florida man’s lawsuit to require Treasury Secretary Paulson to issue Presidential $1 coins with images of the 10 men he says were president before George Washington.

Stanley L. Klos of Palm Beach, Florida wanted Paulson to use his authority over the U.S. Mint to issue coins for the men who were Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled under the Constitution of 1777, also known as the Articles of Confederation as adopted in March of 1781.

The suit was filed in the Middle District of Florida on May 1, 2008. On June 19, the government filed a motion to dismiss the case, pleading it lacked merit since the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 dictates the coin images — not Paulson.

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New York gold showed spark early, but gains were dampened by oil’s largest daily drop in more than 17 years.

Concerns over a beleaguered financial sector and the U.S. credit crisis weakened the U.S. dollar against the euro, helping gold early.

Then Fed chairman Ben Bernanke testified before the Senate Banking committee. Much larger concerns followed that a slowing U.S. economy would reduce oil demand.

Oil tumbled by more than $10 a barrel from an intraday high and gold followed.

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The Perth Mint of Australia has launched an innovative rotating coin commemorating the first man in space. The legal-tender, 1 oz silver coin celebrates the journey of Yuri Gagarin, who became the first person to enter space and orbit Earth for 1 hour 48 minutes aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961.

The limited minted coin marks the second release in the Perth Mint’s successful Orbit and Beyond Coin Series.

Gagarin’s flight ushered in a new era of manned space exploration that the 2008 Yuri Gagarin silver proof coin memorializes in a most unique way.

The .999 fine silver coin is constructed to rotate or "orbit" around a central brass representation of a colorful earth.

Equally colorful is the outer reverse or tails design bearing a "montage of images" symbolizing Gagarin’s journey and the border inscriptions "1961 FIRST MAN IN SPACE – YURI GAGARIN."

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