Coins and Currency Weekly(c) is Published by Alan Cohen
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July 4, 1999
Issue #20
Change of Mint Policy
The Delaware quarter cover issued by the Mint earlier this year was a first in that only internet orders were accepted. Additionally, a production limit of 200,000 was set, with one order per household. Apparently, not many were sold, because when the Pennsylvania cover was issued, the one per household limit was removed for that issue, and the Delaware issue. Buyer beware when purchasing anything from the US Mint. Seems they have a history of changing their mind, this is no exception.
PRESS RELEASES
Famous shipwreck gold coins to be displayed at Treasures of Mandalay Bay Museum
(Las Vegas, NV) Nine historic gold coins recovered from a famous 19th century shipwreck will go on public display beginning Tuesday, June 15, 1999, at the Treasures of Mandalay Bay Museum, located in the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South. The rare $5, $10 and $20 denomination gold pieces were made at the San Francisco Mint in 1865 and are valued today
at more than a quarter-million dollars.
"Each of these coins, literally, is history in your hands. The gold was mined during the California Gold Rush, and the coins were salvaged from the Brother Jonathan, a sidewheel steamer that sank with the loss of more than 200 lives in July 1865 off the Northern California coast," explained Ronald
J. Gillio, President of Casino Treasures LLC, operator of the Museum. Gillio purchased the gold pieces at a public auction, May 29, in Los Angeles. He paid a record $115,000 for one of them, a $10 gold piece with the date originally made upside down, then corrected by Mint engravers. "These are beautiful, historic coins, and I’m glad the public now will be able to see them at the Museum," he said. "Even though they were in the ocean for more than 130 years, they are in glittering mint condition. It’s as if you could turn back the clock to 1865 and walk into the San Francisco Mint."
The nine coins going on display are all dated 1865 and all carry the "S" mint mark for San Francisco. There are seven $20 denomination ("Double Eagle") coins, one $10 ("Eagle") and one $5 ("Half Eagle") gold piece. The Brother Jonathan sank near Crescent City, California after hitting a rock during rough weather. It was on a voyage from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon. The wreckage was discovered in 1993, and 1,207 gold coins were brought to the surface. Two hundred of them were given earlier
this year to the State of California to settle ownership claims, one coin was donated to a California museum, and the remaining 1,006 were sold at the May 29 auction.
That sale, conducted in Los Angeles by Bowers and Merena, an auction firm based in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, produced nationwide news coverage. It was the world’s first major public auction of salvaged U.S. gold coins. The Treasures of Mandalay Bay Museum opened March 1st and features a
$40 million permanent collection of rare gold and silver coins, colorful and unique Old West bank notes, and historic Nevada mining town memorabilia. The 1,100 square foot Museum is open seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to Midnight. Admission is $6 per person (children under 12 are free) and
includes a complimentary brochure describing the historical significance of exhibit items.
An adjoining coin store provides visitors an opportunity to start their own collections with an assortment of coins and currency for sale.For additional information, call the Treasures of Mandalay Bay Museum at (702) 798-1933.
Gillio certified coin "table auction" brings $887,063 during Long Beach Expo
Winning bids totaled $887,063 for the 200 lots of certified coins sold at a "table auction" by Ronald J. Gillio, Inc., of Santa Barbara, California during the recent Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Expo. Many of the coins came from the Parthenia de Muralt Collection, and three items in the sale were "population 1" coins with no other known examples in the top tier of preservation.
Twenty coins sold for prices in the five-figures range. Prices realized ranged from $52 each for two 1892 Columbian Exposition half-dollars graded NGC MS-64 to $61,250 for a 1904 $20 graded PCGS MS-65. The auction was conducted at Gillio’s bourse table at the Long Beach show. Other auction highlights with prices realized (there was no buyer’s fee) included:
· 1776 EG Fecit pewter Continental Dollar PCGS MS-65, $53,500
· 1799 $10 gold NGC MS-64, $36,250
· 1907 Liberty $10 gold PCGS MS-65, $34,501
· 1887 gold $3 pop 1 NGC PF-66, $31,500
· 1892 $5 ex Pittman PCGS PR-65, $28,250
· 1897-O $10 pop 1 NGC MS-66, $26,501
· 1881 $1 condition census pop 1 PCGS MS-68, $9,300
· 1879 50c PCGS MS-67, $8,350
· 1874l-CC 50c Arrows ex Reed Hawn (1973) NGC AU058, $5,600
· 1879 silver $1 J-1626 ex Eliasberg PCGS PR-55, $1,250
The Gillio sale also included one uncertified lot, a 1937 U.S. proof set, that sold for $1,480. For additional information, contact Ronald J. Gillio, Inc., 1103 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Phone (805) 963-1345.
Princess Diana Coin To Go On Sale
LONDON (AP) - A special 5-pound coin honoring Princess Diana goes on sale July 1, her birthday.
The coin, worth about $8, features a portrait of her in profile. A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is on the reverse side.
Limited editions in gold and silver were sold earlier this year. All proceeds go to charities recommended by the fund set up after Diana's death in a Paris car crash in 1997.
Law Covers Mark's Disappearance
BONN, Germany (AP) -- A draft law covering the disappearance of the German mark and introduction of euro bills and coins in 2002 will be presented soon to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Cabinet, a Finance Ministry spokeswoman said Sunday.
The law codifies an agreement reached last October between the Finance Ministry and banks, retailers, the service industry and vending machine companies for a two-month ``buffer period,'' the spokeswoman said.
Although technically the mark, symbol of postwar Germany's economic might, will stop being legal tender on Jan. 1, 2002, stores and businesses will continue to accept it until Feb. 28 that year, along with the single European currency.
Only private individuals will be able to demand payment in euros from Jan. 1.
The decision affects only Germany, one of 11 European nations that launched the single currency this year -- but only in an abstract form used mainly by central banks, currency markets and multinational corporations for bookkeeping purposes.
The actual introduction of bills and coins in 2002 is the last phase of the union. Initial plans called for a six-month transition period, but banks and retailers wanted a shorter period to curb the costs of dealing in two currencies.
Until Next Time,
Alan Cohen
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