(Irvine, California) — A wide selection of rare ancient and world coins will be offered in Bowers and Merena’s Official Auction of the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money® at the Los Angeles Convention Center and online, August 2-8, 2009. Ponterio & Associates, Inc., a division of Bowers and Merena, will present the world sessions on Saturday, August 8.

One of the many highlights among the over 1,300 lots of desirable and appealing world coins is a Japanese undated (1860-1862) Manen oban (10 Ryo, 112.26 gms) with security edge (Fr. 7; JNDA-09-11; C24a2) in Extremely Fine condition. Read the rest of this entry »

News of an error in UK’s Royal Mint 20 pence coin (20p) blasted through the media this week, creating an intensified fervor in collectors trying to find and buy the coins.

Prices for the coin, which have a face value of about 33 cents US, have shot up with auction bidding reaching as high as several hundred dollars. (See current eBay auctions.)

According to reports, the Mint issued tens of thousands "year-less" 20p coins toward the end of 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

The Perth Mint has released the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games Coin in anticipation of a sporting event that has grown to involve more competitors than the Olympics.

The World Masters Games began in Toronto in 1985. They have occurred on approximately 4 year intervals ever since. The games have been held in Aalborg, Aarhus and Herning, Denmark (1989), Brisbane, Australia (1994), Portland, Oregon, United States (1998), Melbourne, Australia (2002) and Edmonton, Canada (2005).

Almost 25,000 competitors are estimated to have participated in the Melbourne 2002 World Masters Games, which is more than double the number of athletes that were in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. This huge difference is mainly attributed to the World Masters acceptance of people with varying abilities and ages. Read the rest of this entry »

(Irvine, California) — More than 500 U.S. and world bank notes will be offered in the Official Auction of the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money® conducted by Bowers and Merena Auctions at the Los Angeles Convention Center and online, August 2 – 8, 2009. 

One of the many highlights is an 1870 $100 Gold National Bank Note, San Francisco Charter #1741, The First National Gold Bank (Fr. 1162), graded PMG Fine 12 Net (restorations).

"This classic rarity is one of only eight notes of this type in private hands, and one of three of this Friedberg number.  Those others are in strong hands and not likely to become available in the foreseeable future. 

In fact, only three examples have been offered for public sale in the last decade and the latest example, nearly identical to this one, sold for $258,700 in 2007," said Steve Deeds, President of Bowers and Merena (www.BowersandMerena.com).

"With collectors holding tightly to the others, we’re not sure when there will be another opportunity to acquire such a rare and elusive note."

Read the rest of this entry »

Some 70 million visitors are expected to visit Shanghai in 2010 for the World Expo where China hopes to "bring the world at home, and for the world to feel at home." To celebrate the occasion, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is issuing silver and gold proof World Expo Shanghai 2010 commemorative coins.

Three coins have been struck in the first series release: a 1/3 oz, 23 mm, .999 fine gold piece denominated in 150-yuan, and two 1 oz, 40 mm, .999 silver coins with a face value of 10-yuan.

Each bears the same obverse World Expo logo, which depicts the image of three people — you, me, him/her — holding hands to symbolize the big family of mankind. (The logo was is inspired by the shape of the Chinese character "世", meaning the world.) Behind the logo is a centered earth with surrounding inscriptions of the "People’s Republic of China" in Chinese and the year "2009". Read the rest of this entry »

CALGARY, ALBERTA – Although snow isn’t readily available in most parts of Canada at this time of year, the Royal Canadian Mint is inviting Canadians to celebrate an exciting winter sport with the latest circulation coin in its Vancouver 2010 collection — the 25-cent coin featuring bobsleigh.

To celebrate the launch of the coin, a special coin exchange will be held today in Calgary at the RBC Branch on Stephen Avenue Mall with special guest, Canadian bobsleigh athlete and RBC Olympian, Shelley-Ann Brown.

"Today marks only 234 days until Vancouver hosts the biggest sporting event in the world," said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "Through our innovative circulation coin program, the Mint is providing Canadians from coast to coast to coast with a unique way to collect a piece of the Games, which will serve as a lasting reminder of this extraordinary moment in our country’s history." Read the rest of this entry »

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced Monday that it would launch gold and silver Panda themed coins on June 30 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the issuance of its first precious metal commemoratives.

Each new coin’s reverse bears the same Panda design as depicted on the 2009 Gold Panda and 2009 Silver Panda bullion coins. The new commemoratives, however, feature a ring surrounding the pandas with the inscription "30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ISSUANCE OF THE CHINESE MODERN PRECIOUS METAL COMMEMORATIVE COINS." Read the rest of this entry »

San Antonio, TX — Mike Unser, founder and president of CoinNews Media Group LLC, announced today the introduction of World Mint Coins, a public resource of modern U.S. and World coins located at www.WorldMintCoins.com.

World Mint Coins offers free information, specifications and high resolution images of modern coinage struck throughout the world.

Currently featured coins include those produced from the U.S., Australia, Austria as well as popular government silver, gold and platinum bullion coins minted from Canada, Mexico, China and more. Read the rest of this entry »

The Royal Mint has today reported another profitable and successful year, demonstrating the commitment to long-term sustainable growth.

An operating profit before exceptional items and interest of £8.2 million (2007-08: £9.6m) was realised in spite of the challenging global economic environment, meaning the Royal Mint will pay a dividend of £4.0 million (2007-08: £3.9m) into the public purse. Sales increased to £159 million, an increase of 17% compared to last year, and this strong demand reflects the high quality of Royal Mint products.

The Circulating Coin business delivered its third consecutive year of increased profitability and an 8.8% growth in turnover to £93.2 million (2007-08: £85.0 million), which represents an outstanding achievement given the international recession. Read the rest of this entry »

Pobjoy Mint is thrilled to announce a fabulous new issue on behalf of the Falkland Islands to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Charles Darwin.

Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in February 1809, Charles Darwin was born into a wealthy and well-connected family. Darwin had initially planned to study medicine at Edinburgh University but later switched to studying Divinity at Cambridge.

Best known for his theory on evolution, Charles Darwin was fundamental in discovering how all species of life developed from a central ancestor, changing the way we think about how we came to be as humans. He was a naturalist who searched the globe for new species of flora and fauna and he worked on his theory for 20 years, publishing the famous, ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’. Read the rest of this entry »