New features, including online streaming video commentary from Collectors Universe President and Co-Founder David Hall have been added to the Professional Coin Grading Service’s authoritative Rare Coin Price Guide at www.PCGS.com/prices.  All of the information is available free to the public.

The price guide includes the PCGS3000™ Coin Market Summary that tracks the values of over 3,000 different PCGS-certified coins in a wide range of grades. The new Price Changes feature lets collectors and dealers track the top ten "gainers and losers" for the previous day, as well as the previous two weeks, three months and the past year.  There also are market values for bullion coins, such as American Eagles.

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New York silver and platinum rallied sharply Thursday with each rising over 5%. Gold shined as well moving up 2.8%. A soft U.S. dollar that was tripped by financial worries and rebounding crude-oil prices were cited as precious metals catalyst shakers.

October crude-oil gained for the third consecutive session, rising an impressive $5.62 to close at $121.18 a barrel.

Silver for September gained 5.3%, rising 68.7 cents to close to $13.74 an ounce.

October platinum rose sharply by $89.90 to end at $1,458.80 an ounce — a 5.1% increase.

December gold gained a firm $22.70 to close at $839 an ounce.

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“Queen Mary” $500 1911 is One of Only Three Known to Exist

Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries will offer one of the rarest Canadian notes ever printed, the “Queen Mary” $500 1911, in their upcoming Long Beach Currency Signature Auction, to be held September 17-19, 2008.

DC-19 $500 1911

“This is an amazing note, one of the classic rarities in Canadian currency,” said Michael Moczalla, Consignment Director for Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries. “Until the discovery of this particular piece, there were only two examples known to exist in private hands. In fact, this type and denomination is so rare that it is even lacking in the official Bank of Canada collection!”

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The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) announced Monday the removal of a half dozen coin dies used to make counterfeit Chinese coins.

The company purchased the dies through an online auction with the purpose to stop their use in producing more counterfeit coins. They will also be used to help educate collectors, and will be displayed with fake coins at the Long Beach Coin, Stamp and Collectibles Expo held September 18 – 20, 2008.

In the announcement, PCGS indicated the dies and coins were purchased from a seller based in China. Ron Guth, President of PCGS, said:

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Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries will offer the very first $2 note ever printed by the U. S. Government in their upcoming Long Beach Currency Signature Auction, to be held September 17-19, 2008. 

Fr. 41a $2 1862 Legal Tender PCGS Very Good 8

The large-size 1862 Legal Tender note (Fr. 41a) is serial number one, and has had four different owners over the past 100 years. Two of the four collectors have owned the note for approximately 70 of those 100 years.

“Due to an inability to pay its debts in gold or silver during the Civil War, the U. S. Congress authorized the printing of a new series of paper notes, called Legal Tenders, in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1000″ said Jim Fitzgerald, Consignment Director for Heritage. 

“Initially resisted by the people, who were accustomed to the established gold and silver coinage, the Legal Tender Act of 1862 firmly established the paper money as a legitimate form of currency in the United States.”

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