Precious metals declined Thursday as the U.S. dollar gained against other world currencies after the Bank of England and the European Central Bank cut interest rates in an attempt to stimulate their economies. New York silver, gold and platinum futures lost 3.8 percent, 1.4 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.

December crude-oil fell for the second straight session, dropping $4.53, or 6.9 percent, to close to $60.77 a barrel. An intraday low of $60.16 marked a new level not seen since March 2007.

December silver lost 40 cents to end at $10.055 an ounce.

January platinum plunged $41.70 to settle at $838.30 an ounce.

Gold for December fell $10.20 to close to $732.20 an ounce.

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Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) announced on Wednesday the creation of a new division and a series of services for attributing and grading ancient coins that will kick-off on January 1, 2009.

David Vagi, author of Coinage and History of the Roman Empire, will lead the division entitled NGC Ancients, which NGC says will certify "most coins struck in the Western World through circa A.D. 500, as well as coins of the Byzantine Empire."

"I’m thrilled to join NGC at a critical moment in the growth of the ancient coin market. The marketplace and third-party grading have both matured in such a way to make an ancients program not only possible, but necessary," said Vagi, Grading Finalizer and Director of NGC Ancients.

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Four numismatic articles are referenced on CoinNews every Tuesday and Thursday. These articles are not authored by us, but we recommend collectors read them for their unusual or interesting content. Here are today’s articles:

Dollar Coins Costly for Banks to Inventory
By Jarrett Briscoe, Numismatic News

I think I can offer a perspective not commonly voiced. I would be considered a young collector, not to read uneducated collector. I’m 20. I am also a part-time employee at a local Pittsburgh-based bank. I think both of these factors place me in an interesting position on two topics I’d like to target, the issue of the dollar coin and the ongoing debate about "imperfect" coins.

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Chinese coin from Ch’ing Dynasty found in Darwin dig
From The West Australian

A historic Chinese coin from the Ch’ing Dynasty has been discovered in an archeological dig in the heart of Darwin. The excavation began in a vacant lot behind the Sue Wah Chin building in the city centre on September 22, ahead of the lot’s redevelopment. Constructed in the 1880s, the building is testament to the establishment and expansion of the Chinese community in the Northern Territory.

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On 5th November, 2008, the Austrian Mint in Vienna launched its new gold commemorative series “Crowns of the House of Habsburg.”  The five coin series begins this year with the 1,000 year old crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

When the empire of the Caesars in the west sunk beneath the waves of barbarian invasions, it left a ghostly memory of unity and peace among the peoples of Europe and even among the rulers who had replaced it. On Christmas Day in the year 800 Pope Leo III, seeking a powerful protector from his enemies, crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne in St. Peter’s in Rome, thus reviving the imperial title that had vanished three centuries before.

Charlemagne’s empire, however, declined amidst the squabbles of his heirs, and it was not until the reign of Otto I (936-973) that a territorial empire comparable with that of Rome and Charlemagne existed once more. In 962 Pope John XII, also in search of a protector, crowned Otto I as emperor in Rome.

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