Legendary 1876-CC Twenty-Cent Piece with Five-Generation History Realizes $207,000

IRVINE, Calif. — Bowers and Merena Auctions, America’s leading rare coin and currency auction house, returned to Baltimore for the second time in 2009 to present the Official Auction of the Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center June 10-13.

The auction of the nearly 2,500 lots realized a total of $4,225,995 over three live sessions, plus the inaugural online session of the official Baltimore auction.

The standout highlight of the auction was lot 757, an 1876-CC Twenty-Cent Piece in PCGS AU-58 with a fascinating history, which realized $207,000. Believed to be one of perhaps just 12 to 20 examples known, this specimen was acquired in Virginia City, Nev., by Gold Rush "Forty-Niner" John Seagraves Pick and has been kept in the Pick/Jurgensen family for the last 133 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Gold futures broke a two-day loosing streak on Tuesday, rising modestly, while platinum and silver continued to decline for a third straight session. In other markets, oil fell below $63 a barrel and U.S. stocks plunged.

In New York trading futures for bullion:

• Silver for September delivery fell 1.8 cents, or 0.1 percent, to 13.220 an ounce.

• Gold for August delivery gained $4.80, or 0.5 percent, to $929.10 an ounce.

• October platinum declined $11.20, or 1.0 percent, to $1,135.80 an ounce.

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(Los Angeles, California) — Award-winning numismatic author, acclaimed researcher, well-known dealer, Q. David Bowers, chairman of Stack’s and numismatic director of Whitman Publishing LLC, will be the featured speaker at the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) Share the Knowledge seminar during the American Numismatic Association (ANA) World’s Fair of Money convention in Los Angeles.

"An Hour with Dave Bowers" is the latest in the continuing series of free PNG educational seminars for collectors and dealers being conducted at shows around the country. The program featuring Bowers will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, August 7, 2009, in room 511-B of the Los Angeles Convention Center West Hall, site of the ANA convention. A complimentary light lunch will be available for audience members.

Bowers will take questions from the audience and discuss his involvement with the hobby starting in 1953 as a teenaged coin dealer, a role that landed him as a young guest on the NBC-TV Today Show in 1957 as well as subsequent appearances years later. Read the rest of this entry »

OTTAWA — Coin collectors and astronomy fans alike will be impressed by the Royal Canadian Mint’s $30 Sterling Silver International Year of Astronomy collector coin, as well as several new products which are sure to attract the gaze of those looking to expand their collections or acquire finely crafted keepsakes of innovative design and composition.

Other entries in the Mint’s third product release of 2009 include the final issue of the Playing Card Money series, a new Blessings of Wealth 99.999% pure gold coin, an "Autumn Jewel" crystal raindrop coin and the newest issue of the $20 Fine Silver Great Canadian Locomotive Series featuring the Jubilee. These products will be available for purchase as of July 22, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

July 7: 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:

10 Picks for Those Who Like Large Silver Coins
Mark Benvenuto | Coins Magazine

Let’s be frank with one another - one of the plain, old-fashioned fun parts of coin collecting is getting your hands on really big coins. Yes, yes, there’s a certain joy when you acquire a beautiful Indian Head cent with traces of mint luster. There’s that pride of ownership when you add a gorgeous little item, like a pristine three-cent silver piece, to your growing collection. And who wouldn’t be overjoyed to put a certified specimen of a 1916-D Mercury dime in his or her collection, in any grade? But all those coins are missing one thing. They don’t have the heft of a big silver dollar…

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The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (Bureau/BEP) will exhibit at the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) World’s Fair of Money, August 5 – 9, 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (West Hall A), 1201 S. Figueroa Street – Los Angeles, CA.

The Bureau will proudly showcase its "Billion Dollar Exhibit" which features more than one billion dollars of rare and antique currency including sheets of $100,000 currency notes, Treasury Bonds, and Gold and Silver certificates. Also, the Bureau will have on display an exhibit featuring two currency face plates from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a Series 1934-C 12-Subject $1,000 plate and a Series 1934-C 12-Subject $10,000 plate.

Additionally, the Bureau will have an antique (19th Century) Spider Press at this convention. A technical expert on currency production will conduct printing demonstrations on this Abraham Lincoln-era press and answer questions. There will also be live demonstrations by a member of the Bureau’s Office of Engraving and a member of the Mutilated Currency Division.
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