CoinNews

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) on Monday released the second of three intaglio print cards celebrating the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin.

The BEP's 2011 Intaglio Print Program is entitled the "Franklin Commemorative Series." The series, according to the bureau, features "exquisite compilation of unique engraved vignettes focusing on the age-old art of intaglio printing." [...]

U.S. gold prices retreated nearly 1 percent and to a three-week low Monday, pressured by falling oil prices and technically related selling.

August gold prices declined $13.60 to $1,515.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The level was gold's lowest since May 23. Gold prices ranged from an intraday low of $1,511.40 to a high of $1,533.90. They are up 6.6 percent this year [...]

The United States Mint began selling bags and rolls of the 2011 Olympic National Park Quarter at noon Eastern Time today, June 13, 2011. The reverse design on the quarters honor the national park located in the state of Washington.

The Olympic park quarter is the third of five releases this year, bringing the total of coins issued within the America the Beautiful Quarters Program to eight since it kicked-off last year. A total of fifty-six quarters at a rate of five per year will launch until the last one is made available in 2021 [...]

A further decline in crude oil prices conspired to drag most of the commodities' complex to lower value ground as the new trading week commenced. Thus, precious metals lost chart altitude levels as well, despite the minor, 0.15 loss recorded in the US dollar index this morning.

Part of the early selling pressure was related to investors' raising cash to cover margin calls incurred in the wake of the sixth consecutive losing session in the equity markets on Friday. However, at the end of the day (or, shall we say, the beginning thereof) reports that China's economy is slowing (and perhaps more than just a tad) coupled with [...]

U.S. gold prices moved lower Friday, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and weaker crude-oil prices. A 0.9 percent loss on the day pushed the yellow metal down by the same amount for the week, its first weekly loss in four.

While other precious metals ended lower Friday as well, they maintained gains on the week with silver up 0.4 percent, platinum up 0.5 percent and palladium up 4.1 percent [...]

PCGS Currency has announced the winners of the 2011 PCGS Currency Set Registry Awards, and announced the first entry into the PCGS Currency Hall of Fame. The award-winning collections were honored at the annual PCGS Currency Set Registry awards dinner at the International Paper Money Show in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 9, 2011.

"The interest and participation in the PCGS Currency Set Registry has exploded in the last year," stated Laura A. Kessler, Vice President of PCGS Currency and head of the Set Registry marketing efforts. "Participation has doubled in terms of both the number of participants and individual collections. There are some mind-blowing sets listed in the Registry, which makes selecting winners in each category extremely challenging." [...]

Chinese May import-export volumes exhibited patterns that were regarded as indicative of weakness and of slowing domestic demand. As well, there seemed to be a softening of demand for Chinese-made goods in overseas markets on the back of the apparent rough patch that the global economy is hitting mid-cycle at this time.

Aside from the Chinese news, there was not much to report in the markets other than on-going wrangling regarding the restructuring of Greek debt (Germany insists that the private sector play a role in same) and the fact that South Korea unexpectedly raised interest rates overnight [...]

The amount of coins coming out of the United States Mint surged in May 2011, according to the latest coin production figures from the bureau.

The totals were the highest of the year, the second best over the past twelve months, and revealed the final mintages for the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential $1 which launched into circulation May 19 [...]

Michael Fuljenz President of Universal Coin & Bullion in Beaumont, Texas, has been honored with prestigious excellence-in-journalism awards from the Press Club of Southeast Texas in connection with his consumer protection work about traveling gold buyers.

He has been assisting with news media investigations of gold-buying companies that move from community to community across the United States. Subsequent news stories reported that some of the itinerant buyers offered only pennies on the dollar for rare gold coins [...]

The United States Mint on Thursday released the 2010 Yosemite National Park 5 Oz Silver Uncirculated Coin at 12 noon Eastern Time. The Yosemite coin is struck in collector quality and has an introductory price of $279.95, plus $4.95 for shipping and handling.

As mentioned in an earlier article, only 27,000 were produced, and there is a one coin per household order limit. The uncirculated coins are three-inches in diameter, contain five ounces of .999 fine silver, and sport special [...]