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 Friday, August 24, 2007
Great Italian Coins in UBS Sale
Posted by tom
Italian, Russian & French Coins Stand Out in UBS Sale
Spent more time looking through the upcoming UBS Auction 73 catalog and discover several additional delights. There was an impressive run of French material, and more importantly in todays market, there was also a fair sized run of Russian coins.
Most impressive h owever was the very large selection of Italian numismatic items. In addition to coins from unified Italy, this sale offers substantial groups of many Italian States issues including Medieval silver issues from Savoy and early gold coins from the Vatican and Venice, Colonial Italian coins from Somalia and Eritrea, a nice Tuscan medal, a scarce Mezzo Scudo of 70 Soldi from Venice and many other interesting items such as this sharply detailed 2 Doppie of Genoa stuck under the rule of the Biennial Doges in the name of Conrad II.  These coins are distiguished by their date, 1616 for this coin, and the mint masters or magistrates initials, which in this case are IZ for Joseph Zinus. A similar example grading gVF and with some heavy doubling sold in January 2007 for $2,400, but I would expect this example to sell closer toit's estimate of about $3300.
Auction Lot of the Week | Lots You'll Like
8/24/2007 5:24:18 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Friday Fix
Posted by tom
 Friday Fix
London pm fixes for 8-24-07
Gold $660.85
Silver $11.70
Platinum $1,240.00
Palladium $323.00
Friday Fix
8/24/2007 10:58:01 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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The Queen
Posted by tom
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
The Queen
HRM Queen Elizabeth II is the fifth longest reigning monarch of Great Britain and the UK, at present, and one of the more prominent world Royal figures of my lifetime. This stature, coupled with the fact that Helen Mirren won a Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Elizabeth II in The Queen, drove me to watch this film. I must admit, I was none too excited coming in, as Royal films are not particularly my favorites and I am not an aficionado or follower of Royal Family news.
That being said, I do heartily recommend The Queen. Stephen Frears put a fine group together for this film and did a great job of directing their efforts. The disc even offers an audio commentary from Robert Lacey, British historian and Royal expert.
After viewing The Queen one can see that the highly nuanced screenplay by Peter Morgan sets up both compelling and vulnerable figures in Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair. There is no bashing here, no easy one-dimensional figures. All the main characters, with speaking parts, are well developed and imbibed with spirit. Morgan establishes a counter point between commitment to State and responsibility to Family which relates to most all of us in one way or another. This is what drives the film and keeps our interest, and I was pleased to see that Morgan won awards for Best Screenplay from both the Golden Globes and Venice Film Festival in 2006.
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
8/24/2007 10:44:48 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Another Fabulous India Piece
Posted by tom
 Rare Jubilee silver medal from Gwalior at UBS
Another eye catching item in the UBS auction 73 set to close the first week in September is this Jubilee sliver medal from Gwalior. At almost 77g. this is a large and impressive item, with bust of Madhav Rao Scindia at the top of the obverse and a sharp centered Arms on the reverse.  Madhav Rao Scindia ruled from 1886 to 1925 and the design of this medal obviously shows him great respect. For the first eight years of his rule, Gwalior was run by regents, but after turning 18 Madhav Rao became a very active Maharaja.
His 39 year's as Maharaja began when he was 10 years old and when he died Gwalior was left to his 9 year old son George Jiyajirao Scindia. Both were major figures in Gwalior's progressive era before joining the Union of India in 1948. After joining the Union, George Jiyajirao served as regional Governor for eight years until 1956.
The lot description of this great historical item notes some minor scratches and grades the medal good extremely fine, with an estimate of 3500 CHF or about $2900 USD.
Focus Country | Lots You'll Like
8/23/2007 12:34:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Book Printing Medals offered in UBS sale 73
Posted by tom
Gutenberg From Every View Point!
In the upcoming UBS Auction 73 set to close September 5-7, 2007 there is a great run of Book and Printing related medals. Most of the over 60 medals in this group commemorate Gutenberg, but there are few relating to other events. Estimates are reasonable, ranging mostly between 100 to 800 CHF, or about $85 to $665 US dollars each. 
There are ornate designs like this large silver medal from Haarlem dated 1740 and simple designs like this modern silver medal from  Wiesbaden. You can see many busts of Gutenberg in this group as well as several medals with flatbed letterpresses and even some with modern printing presses like this fabulous printing technology medal from R. Hoe and Company.
It's an impressive collection and well worth a look. Check it out at the online catalog section of the UBS numismatic site.
Lots You'll Like
8/23/2007 11:06:55 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, August 17, 2007
Friday Fix
Posted by tom
Friday Fix
London pm fixes for 8-17-07
Gold $657.50
Silver $11.69
Platinum $1,245.00
Palladium $334.00
Friday Fix
8/17/2007 1:08:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Prisoner of the Mountains
Posted by tom
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
Prisoner of the Mountains
Even though it bears some earmarks of a lower budget production, this Russian film directed by Sergei Bodrov laid claim to the 1996 Audience Award at Cannes, most likely because of it's ironic look at humanity. Set within the Chechen-Russian uprising Prisoner of the Mountains tells a tale of two Russian soldiers captured and offered in trade for an imprisoned Chechen. The story advances it's complexity by introducing family dynamics and personal character, both of captives and masters. This is a work that adds a few new layers to the Stockholm Syndrome.
The acting is vibrant, with offhand humor to shake things up throughout. The mountain scenery is vast and imposing, as it should be and the story never takes on a preachy aspect. With enough twists to keep the viewer interested and an unexpected zinger thown in to top it off, I think most will find this film a good piece of entertainment.
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
8/17/2007 12:41:04 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 16, 2007
Standard Catalog of World Coins Releases DVD
Posted by tom
 DVD Puts 5 1/2 Inches of Catalog in 1/2 Inch Case
At theANA this year Krause Publications released a special three volume set of the 19th, 20th and 21st Century volumes of the Standard Catalog of World Coins as a three disc DVD set. This caused a good deal of excitement, as one might have expected.
There have been plenty of people asking for the Standard Catalog on Disc over the years, but it was some recent developments regarding database development which finally led us to be able to provide this long awaited product.
 The set features the most recent editions of the three catalogs, each of which was produced within the past eight months or less. The book covers can be seen on the right front of the DVD case shown here. Each disc presents one volume in it's original page format, so it's just like scanning the pages of the catalog, but without the girth of a heavy book in your lap or on your desk.
Total page count is about 3,760 and total images are roughly 82,750. You can enlarge the images pretty well also, as these are direct from our files, without any second generation degrading. Navigation works through Adobe Acrobat, which is the software which reads the discs. You can do country name or key word searches to find the sections you seek.
The cover prices on the three catalogs totals to $150, but the cost of this three disc DVD set is only $100. At the KP booth at the ANA show last week this new disc set was a featured item, being sold for the special show discount price of $80. At that price I saw many smiling faces, so when I got back here to Iola, I started thinking that maybe I could get fellow Blogger and editorial director Debbie Bradley to extend this discount to my readers for a while. I do so like smiling faces! Anyway, just this afternoon she agreed to allow me to offer that same show special price of $80 to all my Blog readers from now until October 1st.
So if you would like a set of Standard Catalogs on DVD, just email me at tom.michael@fwpubs.com and ask for my special ANA show - Blog extension discount of $80 for the three disc set. You'll have to pay shipping, which is $3.95, so the total will be $83.95, but still, what a deal! Consider it my little way of saying "Thank's" for stopping by to read my postings.
KP Update
8/16/2007 6:11:06 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Pick Up a Climpson Sale Catalog if You Can
Posted by tom
More on British Commonwealth reference library
Back in May I posted an Old to New - Book Review or two dealing with establishing a working reference library for collecting British Commonwealth coinage. In that posting I recommended acquiring the two R.J. Ford collection auction catalogs from the Spink 1990 and 1991 sales.
Well, as time does march on, I thought I'd bring to your attention another auction catalog from Noble Numismatics, which would make a wonderful addition to any British Commonwealth library. The sale is of The Robert A. Climpson Collection of British Colonial Coins & Tokens and it just closed last month on July 25th. Some of you may have gotten a catalog and participated in the sale, others will want to contact Noble Numismatics quickly to see if any more copies are available.
Climpson has been the director of Noble's Sydney office for nearly 20 years and is recongnized for his knowledge of British Colonial coinage. His collection offered some of the finest examples likely to be see on the market for some time and his catalog should remain a useful reference tool for many years to come.
Check out Noble's website to see listings and closing prices for sale 85, with the Climpson Collection running from lot number 1404 to 2381. They maintain an easy to navigate archive of their past sales, which makes and excellent research tool.
In going over the auction you will note that there were coins offered from most every area of the empire, including: Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Cyprus, Ionian Islands, Gibraltar, Canada, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, St. Helena, Mombasa, British West Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Seychelles, East Africa, Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, British Guiana, British Honduras, Jamaica, Trinidad, Turks and Caicos, St. Lucia, Australia, India, Ceylon, Sarawak, British North Borneo, Straight Settlements and more.
Old to New - Book Review
8/16/2007 12:54:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Saturday, August 11, 2007
World Mints make an impact at the ANA
Posted by tom
 Good Morning From the ANA show in Milwaukee!
This is my last day here in Milwaukee at the annual ANA convention, so I thought I would toss out a few impressions I have had about the world mints who have represented themselves at this show.
First, I should mention, as an adjunct to an earlier posting in my film recommednation catagory, that a representative of the Chinese Mint has a nice booth display here at the ANA. The emphasis of course, is on new issues related to the 2008 Olympics being held in Beijing. Many of the logos and symbols, which I linked to for my film recommendation for The Concrete Revolution are vibrantly represented on the mints colorful display here at the show. Coincidences like this just keep reminding me how little the world has actually become.
On a broader scale, I should mention that there are at least eight or ten mints set up with displays and coins for sale at this show, plus there are a few central banks as well. I find it facinating to compare the approaches of these different businesses. Some have very stable, fixed programs of coinage issue, while others are producing coins at record pace. Some have excellent marketing programs, while others seem to be in need of some assistance. Most all are producing some really nice products that have appeal to various segments within our traditional hobby field and a few are producing coins that reach out to tangential folks looking for an entrance to collecting.
One such person is Sara Wait, a designer with KP. Sara works on the numismatic publications for our firm and does a great job of keeping them classic, yet very lively. Sara is the person I went to when I wanted some special design work done for my Blog. The blue icons you see at the start of each of my postings are Sara's work, as is the top banner with the avatar of me in the corner. So that is Sara's involvement with our hobby, up until yesterday, when she became a coin collector.
While walking the bourse and taking everything in, Sara noticed a Niue coin commemorating Vincent Van Gogh, struck by the Polish Mint, at the Talisman Coin - Polish Mint display. Talisman is a new issues dealer, with an excellent website from which this image was obtained. They work with several mints to bring new new issues to U.S. collectors. In Sara's case they also helped to bring a new collector into the hobby, as she bought the coin that caught her eye and I am guessing that Sara is typical of how many people enter numismatics. They may have some light tie, perhaps a working association, or maybe a friend or relative who collects or used to collect, and then comes some eye catching item that compells them to begin a collection for themselves. Congratulations Sara, and welcome to the hobby! And kudos to Talisman for their friendly personal approach to marketing coins! And of course, compliments to the Polish Mint for continuing to create beautiful coins for our hobby and beyond!
News You Can Use
8/11/2007 11:37:41 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, August 10, 2007
Price Updates to Rare Czechoslovakian Dates
Posted by tom
Rare late Date Czechoslovakian Gold Brings High Prices
I arrived at the ANA convention yesterday afternoon with the help of fellow KP workers David Kranz and Katy Gertz, to find a completely new and exciting booth set up for our products and web services. Specially for this major show our staff had set up a wondeful open booth which allowed collectors and dealers to float right in and engage us in conversation, with no table barriers at all. This new set-up coupled with the ready availability of lap-top computers to access NumisMaster for demonstrations lead to some great exchanges of vital information on new issues and coin values.
The great aspect of all this was that I was able examine coins, verify information and immediately enter the new data into NumisMaster, live to all our subscribers, on the spot. What a wonderful world!
Specifically I had an unuexpected visitor from Czechoslovakia, who assisted us in updating values for some of the extremely rare and desirebale late dates in the Czechoslovakian gold Dukat Trade Coinage series. Using notes on auction records and information on private offerings we updated values, sometimes in multiples of two or three times, for the 1936-39 dates and also the tough 1951 dates in the Dukat series. All of this was entered directly into NumisMaster and became available to all subscribers immediately after I verified and entered the data. We were also able to enter a new listing for an interesting coin, struck but never released for circulation, which I was lucky enough to be able to examine at the show.
Price Change of the Week
8/10/2007 10:51:27 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday Fix
Posted by tom
Friday Fix
London pm fixes for 8-10-07
Gold $668.50
Silver $12.69
Platinum $1,269.00
Palladium $349.00
Friday Fix
8/10/2007 10:36:23 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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