"What’s In the News" with Bob Van Ryzin leads off the May 28th edition of Coin Chat Radio with news of the formal release ceremony of the John Tyler Presidential Coin at the Sherwood Forest Plantation once owned President Tyler.
Ryzin also reminds listeners that the Smithsonian is premiering a numismatics exhibition called "Stories on Money." Among other displays, it showcases samples of money from colonial times in America to the present.
Numismatic News editor Dave Harper interviews Diane Piret, Industry Affairs Director of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets.
"ICTA was formed to represent anyone who has an interest in rare coins, currency and precious metals with government," Piret replied when asked what the Council was. "We had no voice, especially in Washington, before that, and laws were passed without input from us which were detrimental to our hobby and industry."
The ICTA has had a pivotal impact on Broker Reporting Regulations. According to Piret, the legislation was intended for commodity brokers, but the coin industry was sucked in as well, mainly due to large transactions like bullion sales. Read the rest of this entry »
Markets were on fire this week and month. In terms of monthly heights, silver streaked ahead in New York to post its biggest monthly gain since April 1987, rising 27 percent. Gold rallied as well, advancing 9.8 percent. In black gold, crude-oil recorded its best monthly gain in 10 years. U.S. stocks made noise too, rising for three straight months.
For the week in London, gold rose 1.6 percent, silver soared 5.9 percent, and platinum jumped 2.3 percent. Precious metal spot figures follow:
London silver closed Friday to $15.52 an ounce, soaring 86 cents this week and an impressive $2.89 for the month.
London gold was fixed at $975.50 an ounce, rising $15.75 for the week while gaining $92.25 in May.
London platinum advanced to $1,175.00 an ounce, rising $26.00 on the week and increasing $82.00 for the month. Read the rest of this entry »
Silver continued its spectacular rise Friday, soaring another 45 cents in New York and scoring the best monthly increase in 22 years.
Silver futures for July closed to $15.61 an ounce, jumping 27 percent on the month for the biggest gain since April 1987. London spot silver ended at $15.52 an ounce earlier in the day, surging 64 cents.
"Extreme dollar weakness is adding to the momentum," Pradeep Unni, an analyst at Richcomm Global Services in Dubai, was quoted on Bloomberg. "Ascending oil prices, concerns of inflation and fears of massive U.S. debt have certainly been supporting" both gold and silver.
American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins experienced movement as well. Reports were abound earlier in the week on how authorized dealers for the U.S. Mint trimmed orders and left an inventory of bullion coins behind — a situation that had been unheard of since the Mint started rationing the coins and suspended production of the 2009 collector proof and uncirculated versions. Read the rest of this entry »
The US Mint this week revived their Last Chance Sale, a practice which began last year to alleviate the Mint’s inventory of old coin products. The sale will last until June 30.
This year the Mint has re-branded the sale, calling it the "Last Opportunity." A red button with the same name will now greet visitors of their online store. Clicking the button launches a listing of nearly 20 products from 2008 — mostly 25c First Day Coin Covers, $1 Coin Covers and Denver or Philadelphia Coin and Die Sets.
Although the products are being liquidated, expect no special savings. The prices are identical to when they were first introduced in 2008. Any price reduction would have elicited a barrage of complaints from collectors who spent money on the coin products last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Gold moved above $960 on Thursday, but the daily precious metals news focused on silver as the metal jumped above $15 an ounce for the first time since August. Platinum turned south. In other markets, crude-oil marched past the $65 barrier to reach a high last seen in November while energy stocks were a rallying cry for U.S. stock advances.
In New York trading futures for bullion:
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Silver for July delivery soared 29.5 cents, or 2.0 percent, to $15.16 an ounce.
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Gold for June rose $8.20, or 0.9 percent, to $961.50 an ounce.
- July platinum fell $8.70, or 0.8 percent, to $1,149.80 an ounce.
Read the rest of this entry »
May 28: Four numismatic news or coin blog articles are referenced on CoinNews every Tuesday and Thursday. These articles are not authored by us, but we recommend coin collectors read them for their unusual or interesting content. Here are today’s coin articles:
Morton & Eden | News-Antique.com
A hoard of 400-year-old coins discovered in the wall of a long-forgotten cellar is expected to sell for £50,000 in a sale at London specialist coins and medals auctioneers Morton & Eden. The 57 gold "Unites" date from the reign of James I (1603-1625) and were probably hidden at the beginning of the English Civil War…
Go to story »
Read the rest of this entry »
VILLE DE SAGUENAY, QC — In the long-standing tradition of celebrating Canada’s natural and historical landmarks, the Royal Canadian Mint today unveiled a new collector coin featuring Quebec’s Notre-Dame-du-Saguenay.
The coin combines a painted illustration of Quebec’s world-famous Saguenay Fjord with an engraved cameo of the 10.5-metre statue of Notre-Dame-du-Saguenay, which has watched over sailors and passengers navigating the fjord’s waters for over 125 years. As the 2009 tourist season gets under way, visitors from Canada and around the world can now purchase this unique coin throughout the Saguenay region. This coin is available for $14.95 CDN, while supplies last. Read the rest of this entry »
Lincoln Rail Splitter cents are still in demand, Braille Silver Dollar sales surge, Puerto Rico quarters are expired and UHR $20 gold coins continue mostly at their regular pace.
Repeating what most coin collectors already know, the Lincoln Rail Splitter cent went on sale Thursday, May 14. By Sunday, 200,055 of the two-roll sets were sold, equating to more than 20 million pennies. Flash forward more than a week to the latest US Mint sales data… 22,771 more sets have sold for a total of 222,826. For background, read the CoinNews article from earlier this week entitled Lincoln Rail Splitter Sales “Normalizing”.
Two Braille Silver Dollars returned from their flight aboard space shuttle Atlantis on Sunday. During their orbital trip, sales of the coins experienced their own mini launch here on earth –although not to the 50,000 level the NFB wanted from the public. Still, 10,000 more Braille dollars were sold, which pushed the gas pedal down some. The proof jumped the most, rising a healthy 8.0 percent over the prior numbers. To date, 165,741 of the allotted 400,000 silver coins have been purchased Read the rest of this entry »
A collectable pure silver coin set launched by The Perth Mint has revived all but forgotten decimal designs produced more than 40 years ago. The coins portray the captivating artistry of Andor Mészáros (1900-1972), a leading contender in the Federal Government’s decimal coin design competition held in 1966.
The Melbourne-based sculptor and medallist proposed a thematically-linked series of wildlife designs portraying the black swan (20c), kookaburra (10c), platypus (5c), wattle (2c) and waratah (1c).
Competing against several artists, including Stuart Devlin, Andor’s artistry was ultimately unsuccessful in winning the competition. Yet, the Mint believed that many of its collectors would be fascinated by the tribute set, which provided a unique opportunity to admire and appreciate his significant contribution to Australian numismatics. Read the rest of this entry »
An acquisition fund managed by a committee of the ACCG will help small museums in England and Wales to retain local finds under the Treasure Act.
A newly formed Ancient Coin Collectors Guild Museum Fund has been established to help provide funding to small museums in England and Wales that wish to purchase local finds of ancient coins offered to them in accordance with provisions of the Treasure Act.
Many small museums have inadequate find purchasing budgets and although there are schemes such the Headley Trust which might award a portion of the price for purchases of ₤500 or more, amounts lower than this must be entirely raised by the local museum. If the museum fails to raise the money, the coins might be purchased by a larger museum and leave the area where they were found. Local museums will place such finds on display to be enjoyed by the local population. Read the rest of this entry »
