Geologists hunting for diamonds instead recently discovered a 500-year old Portuguese shipwreck filled with silver and gold coins, copper ingots, cannons and other valuable artifacts off the Namibia, African coast.
“The vast amounts of gold coins would possibly make this discovery the largest one in Africa outside Egypt,” said Francisco Alves, a Lisbon-based maritime archaeologist.
There were fears high costs and weather conditions would force a halt to recovery efforts, but all the shipwreck contents are now expected to be retrieved by next week’s end, the ministry of culture in Lisbon said Wednesday.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a 2006 district court ruling that could result in new banknote designs that are more distinguishable for the blind and visually impaired.
The appeals court ruled today by a 2-1 vote. It upholds the 2006 ruling by U.S. District Judge James Robertson in a lawsuit filed by the American Council of the Blind that claims the U.S. Department of Treasury is violating the Rehabilitation Act with its paper money.
The Rehabilitation Act was created to extend rights to disabled individuals so they can fully participate in society, and it includes a variety of provisions focused on rights, advocacy and protections.
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A steamship that sank off the Louisiana coast during an 1846 storm has produced a trove of rare gold coins, including some produced at two largely forgotten U.S. Mints in the South, coin experts say.
Last year, four Louisiana residents salvaged hundreds of gold coins and thousands of silver coins from the wreckage of the SS New York in about 60 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, said David Bowers, co-chairman of New York-based Stack’s Rare Coins.
“Some of these are in uncirculated or mint condition,” Bowers said, predicting the best could bring $50,000 to $100,000 apiece at auction.
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Is the demise of the Lincoln penny approaching? Public sentiments appears slightly shifted toward its continual survival and the penny is guaranteed to be around for the next several years. The newly designed pennies for 2009 celebrating the bicentennial birth of Lincoln will see to that by itself.
But is sentiment for the penny changing and moving toward its elimination?
While the House is debating changes to the composition of coinage in order to make coins like the penny and nickel once again profitable to mint, more focus is placed on whether the penny should be produced at all. Even the latest House hearing had congressman pondering the pennies’ continuation.
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U.S. Judge Mark Pizzo ruled Wednesday that the location of the shipwreck site where 17-tons of Colonial-era gold and silver coins were hauled up from the ocean floor must be kept a secret.
The legal dispute started back in May of 2007 when Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered a 17th-century shipwreck, they code-named the “Black Swan”. Spain filed legal claims contending the treasure is a part of their country’s cultural heritage and should be returned. Odyssey said the treasure was found in international waters and was legally retrieved.
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Dallas, Texas. DGSE Companies, Inc. (AMEX:DGC), which buys and sells and auctions fine watches, jewelry, diamonds, precious metal and rare coin products, has announced the completion of its move to a new 20,000 square foot facilities in Dallas, Texas.
Regarding the move, William Oyster, President of DGSE, said,
“The move to the new facilities allows us to consolidate our activities in a much larger site with state-of-the-art technology infrastructure… providing opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness for our customers. We are very excited about this facility and our customers have responded with equal enthusiasm.
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Young collectors of today have a unique perspective in collecting coins compared to what many of us experienced while growing up. Think of the Internet. How easy is it to take for granted the huge resources the Internet has provided in researching coins, buying and selling them and simply keeping in touch with events and "real time" collector stories from around the world?
Collecting coins is no longer localized to such a large degree as it was for us older collectors growing up. While there are few things more enjoyable and knowledge gaining than visiting the local coin shop or making it to a coin show that is within traveling distance, those opportunities are scheduled and infrequent. With a few mouse clicks in a web browser, a young collector can learn about nearly any coin at any time.
Then there are the newer coins of today …
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The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has an aggressive lineup of coins this year with a schedule of releasing 44 commemorative coins.
The central bank plans call for:
- 23 gold coins
- 21 silver coins
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Coin collectors are experienced in placing and arranging coins within albums, folders, holders and the like. Many collectors also enjoy showing their collection to family, friends and other collectors. However, the thought of taking collected coins, artistically arranging them into a portrait and sharing the results with the public is something, likely, most numismatists would never contemplate.
One father and son team did just that. Read the rest of this entry »
A rare collection of medals valued in the millions but considered priceless national treasures were recovered after they were stolen from New Zealand’s Waiouru Army Museum on December 2, 2007.
96 medals that were awarded to 12 of New Zealand’s most decorated war heroes were stolen, including:
- Nine Victoria Crosses
- Two George Medals
- One Albert Medal
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valour to members of the armed forces of several Commonwealth countries and previous British territories.
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