Dallas, TX: During World War II, copper was in short supply. Vital to the war effort for everything from ammunition to military equipment, the US Mint researched alternative metals from which one-cent coins could be made, thus increasing the supply of copper for military purposes. Various metals were explored, as well as plastics, but eventually zinc-coated steel was decided upon. All three mints - Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco - produced these coins in 1943, but problems with the new metal were soon discovered, including a tendency to rust and their confusion with dimes, and the zinc-coated steel production was abandoned the following year in favor of salvaged brass shell casings augmented with pure copper. (more…)

By Doug Winter - Raregoldcoins.com

In the last five years, early United States gold has been one of the most active areas in the coin market. In this article, we will examine each of the major types of pre-1834 gold coinage and see how the market has performed. In addition, we will look at some future trends and make some predictions which may be of interest to the specialist.

Early coinage has always been a popular area with collectors but all pre-1834 gold types have been just about the most avidly collected area of the coin market since the beginning of the current bull market. I think this is attributable to a number of factors including the following:

In 2000, the oldest early gold coins became three centuries old which added a sense of age that was very impressive in comparison to more modern issues….

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SINGAPORE: Coin collectors can look forward to a new set of coins - this time to commemorate Singapore’s 42 years of independence. An unusual setting was chosen for the launch - a tour of the Marina Bay aboard a traditional bumboat along the Singapore River. $2 coins were launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in conjunction with this year’s National Day.

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GIBRALTAR (Reuters) - Spanish police forcefully boarded a boat operated by a U.S. treasure hunting company on Thursday after it left the British possession of Gibraltar, a witness aboard the boat said.

Spain says the company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, has treasure that Madrid believes could have been retrieved from Spanish waters or from a Spanish galleon which sank in the Atlantic during the colonial period.

The Ocean Alert sailed from Gibraltar, on Spain’s southern tip, on Thursday morning and was shadowed by a Spanish Guardia Civil patrol boat for five km (three miles) before it left Gibraltar waters and was forcefully boarded by four officers.

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