The Central Bank of Malta has issued limited minted €10 silver and €50 gold proof coins that portray the theme of "Auberge de Castille," and are the first coins for collectors to be denominated in euro.

The reverse or tails side of the coins portrays the porch of the Auberge de Castille, a 1574 landmark building that currently houses the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta.

The reverse also bears the "Europa Star," the official logo of the Europa Programme 2008 for which the coins are issued under, and within the program’s "Cultural Heritage" theme.

Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint pulled out all the stops in the final week of August with the launch of several new coin products and the resumption of American Eagle gold coin sales to authorized dealers. The active week concludes with the Mint’s ceremonial release of the newest state quarter at the Alaska State Fair on Friday.

The scope of the Mint’s releases are best seen through a summarization of published articles that were released toward the end of August.

2008 U.S. Mint Silver Proof Sets Arrive August 26

The 2008 United States Silver Proof Set™ will be offered by the U.S. Mint Tuesday, August 26 at noon (ET). The 14 coin proof set carries the same $44.95 price tag as the 2007 sets, and no order limits are in place.

Each coin in the set bears the “S” mint mark, denoting they were manufactured at the United States Mint at San Francisco.

This year’s set includes the final five commemorative quarters to be issued in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program…

Read full article…

Alaska State Quarters in Bags and Rolls

The newest state quarters honor Alaska with bags and rolls of the coins available Monday from the United States Mint.

Collectors can order 100- and 1,000-coin quarter bags or two-roll sets with 40 coins each from the U.S. Mint facility at Denver and Philadelphia.

The Alaska state quarter is the 49th, and second to last coin released in the United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program. The popular program began in 1999…

Read full article…

Andrew Jackson Individual Proof $1 Coins

The Andrew Jackson Individual Proof $1 Coin will be available through the United States Mint Thursday, August 28, at 12 noon (ET).

Andrew Jackson was was the seventh President of the United States and the special individual proof coins honoring his presidency are priced at $5.95 each.

There is a $4.95 standard shipping and handling charge, which makes the total cost…

Read full article…

US Mint Resumes Limited American Eagle Gold Coin Sales

Overwhelming demand forced the United States Mint to suspend one-ounce American Eagle gold coin sales to their network of Authorized Purchasers on August 17.

The suspension of the investment gold coins has been lifted — at least on a limited basis, according to a U.S. Mint memo to its authorized dealers on August 22.

Read full article…

Alaska State Quarter to Roll Out at State Fair, Public Coin Forum

The ceremonial launch of the commemorative Alaska state quarter will occur at the Alaska State Fair, the United States Mint announced Thursday.

The Alaska state quarter is the 49th coin in the popular United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program.

The reverse or tails side of the coin features a grizzly bear emerging from the water clutching a salmon in its jaws.  The North Star is depicted above the inscription “The Great Land.” 

Read full article..

Jackson Liberty First Spouse Gold Coins Arrive Aug. 28

Jackson Liberty First Spouse gold coins will be available from the United States Mint on Thursday, August 28.

The 1/2-ounce proof and uncirculated versions are priced at $619.95 and $599.95, respectively. Both versions have a face value of $10, are composed of 24-karat gold, and have a total mintage of 40,000.

The current prices are the same as the Louisa Adams and Elizabeth Monroe spouse gold coins, even though gold has come down in price recently.

Read full article…

Read the rest of this entry »

The Perth Mint revealed their stunning and newly designed 2009 silver bullion coins this week that include the series of Australian Koala Silver Coins and Australian Kookaburra Silver Coins. Both coin series are legal tender, struck in 99.9% pure silver, include guarantees in weight and purity, and offer intriguing designs with differing sizes.

Other common elements include the obverse or heads side design depicting Ian Rank-Broadley’s effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In addition, both series have The Perth Mint’s traditional “P” mint mark, a 109 year-old symbol “embodying its commitment to minting excellence.”

Collectors will not have to wait until 2009 to purchase these investor and collector bullion coins. October 1, 2008 is the worldwide release date.

Read the rest of this entry »

The 2008 United States Silver Proof Set™ will be offered by the U.S. Mint Tuesday, August 26 at noon (ET). The 14 coin proof set carries the same $44.95 price tag as the 2007 sets, and no order limits are in place.

Each coin in the set bears the “S” mint mark, denoting they were manufactured at the United States Mint at San Francisco.

This year’s set includes the final five commemorative quarters to be issued in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program:

• 2008-S Silver Oklahoma Quarter
• 2008-S Silver New Mexico Quarter
• 2008-S Silver Arizona Quarter
• 2008-S Silver Alaska Quarter
• 2008-S Silver Hawaii Quarter

In addition, the proof set contains the following five $1 dollar coins:

Read the rest of this entry »

The Republic of Peru on Tuesday entered the legal fray between Odyssey Marine Exploration and Spain over a 17-ton booty of Colonial-era silver and gold coins discovered at a shipwreck site Odyssey code-named the "Black Swan."

That legal dispute started back in May of 2007 after Odyssey — a Florida based treasure hunting, and deep-sea exploration firm — hauled up over 500,000 silver and gold coins from a 17th-century shipwreck site found on the Atlantic sea floor.

Spain contends the treasure is a part of their country’s cultural heritage and should be returned. Odyssey has said the treasure was found in international waters, and legally retrieved.

The legal battle over the treasure is now pending in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo in Tampa, Florida.

Although not proven, the coin treasure may have come from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish 34-gun frigate that left Peru and was close to home before it was sunk by the British fleet in 1804.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tampa treasure hunting firm Odyssey Marine Exploration filed their second 2008 results with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Odyssey reported a decrease of $.6 million in revenue for 2008 that was mostly due to fewer coins sold.

The company provided updates on shipwreck projects, including the 17-ton gold and silver coin find from "Black Swan," the HMS Sussex with a potential cargo of coins, and the high value targets in their "Atlas" Search Project.

Odyssey indicated taping has already begun for the 11-episode primetime TV series for Discovery Channel scheduled to air in early 2009.

Financially, Odyssey’s second quarter revenue fell to $1.1 million compared to $1.7 million in the same period of 2007. The company also reported a net loss of $5.4 million in the second quarter compared with a $6.3 million loss in Q2 of 2007.

Read the rest of this entry »

2008 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Sets will be available for purchase on Thursday, August 7 at 12:00 noon ET.

The United States Mint today announced that each set is priced at $37.95, and will include this year’s four Presidential $1 Coins minted in Philadelphia with the "P" mint mark.

• James Monroe $1 coin,
• John Quincy Adams $1 coin,
• Andrew Jackson $1 coin, and the
• Martin Van Buren $1 coin

Plus, the two remaining 2008 denominated dollar coins:

• Sacagawea Golden Dollar, and an
• American Eagle uncirculated silver dollar

The Sacagawea $1 is minted in Denver with a "D" mint mark while the American Eagle Silver dollar bears the mint mark "W" indicating it was minted at West Point.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Perth Mint has released commemorative gold, silver and bronze coins celebrating the Australian Olympic Team’s participation at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Authorised by the Australian Olympic Committee, the suite includes a prestigious 10g coin struck from 99.99% pure gold in proof quality. The coin’s reverse depicts the Australian ‘Flags and Rings’ Olympic logo in colour surrounded by stylised representations of the Sydney Opera House and the Beijing Olympic Stadium.

The suite also includes an impressive 1oz coin struck from 99.9% pure silver in proof quality, which features the coloured ‘Flags and Rings’ logo and a stylised athlete intertwined with an image of a traditional Chinese dragon.

Housed in red presentation display cases, the coins are restricted to limited mintages reflecting the auspiciousness of the number ‘8′ in Chinese culture. No more than 2,008 pure gold coins and a maximum of 8,808 pure silver coins will be released.

Read the rest of this entry »

The latest congressional National Parks Quarter proposal calls for a massive three-inch, eight ounce silver collector coin.

An amazing size that would quite easily dwarf current US bullion coinage — as a comparison, the popular American Eagle silver coin is an already large 1.598 inches with a single ounce of silver.

The House of Representatives introduced the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act, which proposes a minimum 11 year series of circulating quarter dollar coins to feature one national park or site in each state, the District of Columbia, and each U.S. Territory starting in 2010. It would also mandate silver coins for collectors.

The House-introduced legislation passed easily on July 9, 2008. That bill, however, had provisions only for a three-inch, five ounce silver collector coin. "Only" is perhaps the wrong word to use. A coin that size and issued by the US Mint would be history making.

Read the rest of this entry »

A new elegant Britannia design adorns freshly minted 2008 United Kingdom silver and gold collector coins launched by The Royal Mint. The bullion proof coins bear a standing portrait of Britannia, incorporating the motifs of the lighthouse, the trident, the shield and the helmet, as waves crash in the background.

"She [Britannia] almost appears to form part of the sea that surrounds and protects the British Isles."

The new design rendered by John Bergdahl is the latest depiction of Britannia, and the seventh in the series since it was introduced in 1987. It’s featured on the reverse or tails side of the silver proof £2, £1, 50p and 20p coins as well as the gold proof £100, £50, £25 and £10 coins.

The obverse or heads side of each bullion coin bears the portrait of Her Majesty The Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS.

Read the rest of this entry »