Tom Cederlind Sale 151 Closes at 5PM Today

Tom Cederlind's buy or bid sale No. 151, offering 274 lots of ancient and medieval coins is set to close in afew hours at 5pm west coast time tonight. The sale features a great array of Roman and Greek coins along with Byzantine, Dark Ages, English hammered, Scottish and Medieval coins.

Among the many interesting highlights of this sale rests an aEF silver Denier of Lothaire I, grandson of Charlemagne. Lothaire's struggle with his brothers for territory ended in the establishment of what evolved into the modern nations of France and Germany. Lothaire was the looser in this conflict, but the territory he was left with became something those two larger nations have fought over for years, Alsace-Lorraine.

Check out this sale and bid today at Tom's website: www.tomcederlind.com 

Thursday, June 18, 2009 10:06:07 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Treasure Coins - Some Thoughts on Ownership

The case of the Odyssey Marine Exploration crew vs the Spanish government over legal possesion of coins and artifacts from the sunken treasure ship Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes has received it's first written judicial recommendations recently and the word is the coins should be returned to Spain. Considered in the ruling was an acceptence of the notition that Spain never expressly surrendered ownership, which got me to thinking.

If I were to leave something laying around in harsh conditions, left to the elements with no regard for the items security - have I not, in essense, relinquished ownership through abandonment? This is how I see a sunken ship. If the owner of the ship, or owners of cargo which was aboard that ship have made no efforts to find or reclaim their property in over 200 years, I should think they have expressed an abandonment or dereliction of their former property.

Once a company has made an investment in time and effort to reclaim this abandoned property, they have expressed an interest in ownership through their actions. I don't consider this to be theft and I don't think a former owner can step up once the items have reached the surface and say "Give me my stuff!" without even paying for the extensive cost incurred in raising the material.

All theory aside, the reality is that treasure hunting has come to a fork in the road. If a treasure hunter cannot obtain rights to property before the exploration begins, then they will not be financially able to explore profitably. These government claims may end in a result that no one wants, an end to treasure hunting and reclamation of coin hoards and sunken treasure. Firms like Odyssey Marine Exploration, if denied their finds, will soon cease to exist or change their business plan to being exploration for hire, with payment in advance.

It's an interesting dilema and one which various courts will be considering for a long time to come. In the meantime, Check out the article on the cover of this months World Coin News and express your opinion on the subject with a comment to this posting or by voting in our NumisMaster poll.

Thursday, June 18, 2009 5:08:26 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Friday Fix

London pm fixes for 6-12-09

Gold $937.25

Silver $15.07

Platinum $1241.00

Palladium $252.50

Friday, June 12, 2009 3:13:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

Doubt and Changeling

It's been quite a while since I made a film recommendation, but this week one of my readers commented that he missed the weekly variety these brought to my blog, so, drum roll if you please, Tom's Recommended Film of the Week is back! And it's a double header!

The two films I'm recommending this week really have very little in common. The tie comes in how I approached them. I picked up Doubt thinking I would be watching a period piece from the 1880's and found an excellent film of morally complicated twists and turns set in the 1960's. I sought out Changeling as a singular mystery film and found a meticulous period piece from depression era Los Angeles. Who knew?

Both films offer outstanding acting and direction, along with superior set design, costuming and props. But the real treats here are the moral wranglings of the story lines and the sly way each character represents themselves within the web each film weaves.

Interestingly the actors that drew me to each film, were not the actors from whom I drew most in watching the film. I came to Doubt for Philip Seymour Hoffman and left impressed with Meryl Streep and Viola Davis. Changeling was of interest to me for Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan and director Clint Eastwood, but I left the film very impressed by Angelina Jolie!

Friday, June 12, 2009 2:51:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [2]

Maison Palombo Offers Nice Run of Montenegro

Montenegro has always been a favorite location for coin collectors. They produced a limited number of coins, making it a very achieveable series to complete. Often you will see runs of two, four or more Montenegro coins at auction, but this Saturdays Maison Palombo Auction offers collectors the chance to purchase seven Montenegro types, plus one rare pattern.

All six gold type coins of classic early 20th Century Montenegro are represented in Maison Palombo's June 13th auction, plus the bust right 5 Perpera of 1914. The 1915 2 Perpera, KM-Pn6, not PN5 as described in the catalog, was struck in Paris in advance of a circulation mintage that was never produced. It bears the word ESSAI on the reverse to the right of the date.

Other gems of particular interest floating about the Maison Palombo sale include a scarce proof 5 Dinara of Serbia dated 1879, KM#12, grading Proof-63. The proof is not often found for sale, so don't miss this one.

Also striking in it's high grade and wonderful eye appeal is lot 741, an MS-62 graded FDC looking KM#1 copper 1828 Lepton of Greece. While it is the more common date of this two date type, it is unusual to see 19th Century copper coins of Greece in such an excellent state of preservation.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 9:00:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Belgian Patterns on Sale through Maison Palombo

The Belgian coin collection of Chanoine Leon Matagne is scheduled to be sold through Maison Palombo Marseille on June 13th. It consists of just about 70 pieces and contains many rare patterns and essais along with some very high grade examples of regular issue coins. A number of the patterns and off metal strikes are not even listed in the Standard Catalog of World Coins, making this a grand opportunity for the specialist to acquire some excellent rarities.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 6:16:26 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Vault of Ancient Chinese Coins Discovered

A large vault filled with ancient Chinese coins has been unearthed in Shaanxi Province in northwest China. Archeologists are examining the coins at a local museum and the vault on the site. The coins found weigh in at more than two tonnes and contain examples from at least three dynasties; Tang, Song and Yuan, covering from 618 to 1368.

Shaanxi Province also is the location of an earlier coin find, which may have been an actual coin collection, as it held individual examples of many different types of coins. Acheological exploration in Shaanxi Province has turned up many coin finds over the years and will surely be the source of much numismatic discovery in the furture.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:13:17 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Numismatique Collection A.M.

Today and tomorrow Binoche Renaud Giquello and Vinchon will be offering a large collection of gold coins of the world for public sale. Most all European and many other countries are represented, though there is a heavy emphasis on french gold coins.

A good selection of Ancient gold coins is here, along with nice groups of German States, Swiss Cantons and Italian States. Some very special Spanish and Latin American coins are also scattered throughout this sale, as evidenced by the Tierra del Fuego coin of Julius Popper, so look carefully and bid wisely.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009 11:51:30 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [1]

Friday Fix

London pm fixes for 6-5-09

Gold $962.00

Silver $15.65

Platinum $1275.00

Palladium $257.00

Friday, June 05, 2009 4:26:35 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Bernard vn Nothaus Under Federal Indictment

In November 2007 I wrote a posting about the government confiscation of approximately two tons of copper, silver and gold Liberty Dollar coins from Berbard von Nothaus's facilities in Evansville, Indiana. At the time I wondered how long it would take for charges to follow and today I got my answer. The Department of Justice under acting United States Attorney Edward R. Ryan brought a Federal Indictment in the Western District of North Carolina charging Bernard von Nothaus, along with Sara Jane Bledsoe, William Kevin Innes and one additional defendant.

The charges include - conspiracy and uttering and passing coin of silver in resemblance of genuine coins of the United States in the denominations of five dollars and greater and intended for use as current money, plus one count of mail fraud. So now, after a year and a half of the government confiscation of all those assets and materials, Bernie will get his day in court. I wonder if the Feds are giving back all the denominations under $5 and all the copper and gold coinage, since those don't seem to appear in the charges? I am also wondering how a pure silver coin of denominations $5 and high could possibly be mistaken for our copper-nickel plated circulating coins of denomination under $1? But that is the type of evidence I suppose will be presented in court...

Personaly I have seen both the notes of deposit and silver coins of the Liberty Dollar series and NORFED and I couldn't ever imagine anyone mistaking these items for U.S. currency. On the other hand, I know that people have chosen to accept Liberty Dollars in transactions and that is of course what is upsetting to our government. Liberty Dollars have intrinsic value, while U.S. coinage is backed mostly by faith in the government alone.

As a sidebar, I should note a few additional developments in the Bernard von Nothaus story. First, in the year and half since the initial confiscation of coins, computers and records of Bernie's Liberty Dollar business, their website has continued to keep people informed of the growth of their coinage. In particular, I found the Arrest Dollars quite interesting. Some of these new types are pictured in this posting. They feature a set of handcuffs privy mark - so we can assume that Bernie is maintaining his ever bouyant attitude!

Even further afield, Bernie has begun a second front in his testing of government and laws with the establishment of the Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu. With this new endeavor, von Nothaus combines his religious bent and search for enlightenment along with a third push for tax revolt and a new Tea Party Dollar issue which has been selling like crazy according to the website. This all harkens back to that 1968-1978 period of free thinking in American history and in Bernie's case, aslo back to the days of his Royal Hawaiian Mint, when fanciful coin products were produced for happy Hawaiian visitors. For more about that series of coins and medals check out Hawaiian Money Standard Catalog 2nd edition by Donald Medcalf and Ronald Russell.

For additional perspectives on the Liberty Dollar story - read friend and fellow blogger Dave Harpers posting on Buzz with Dave Harper.

Thursday, June 04, 2009 3:31:44 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [3]