The new third edition of Doug Murray’s large-size star note reference debuted at the Memphis paper money show. About 95 million large-size star notes were printed. Only .007 percent of that total are known today. Murray has recorded 6,296 large-size star note serial numbers, all listed with the date that they were made known to the author. All 29 different types of star notes are illustrated, listed by class and then by denomination. Friedberg reference numbers accompany the listings, and Murray has also devised a numbering system specifically for this book.

A class of coins known as pieforts offers a different kind of collecting option for the world coin collector. These coins carry designs found on their lighter, thinner counterparts, but in thick versions. Pieforts, simply, are twice the coin. They have a long and dual history, and remain popular today. What are they? A piefort (French spelling: piedfort) is a coin that is struck “with ordinary dies on an unusually thick planchet. It is not intended for circulation and is therefore distinct from the dump, a thick coin struck for commercial use,” according to The Macmillan Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatics by Richard Doty.

Included in the Collection of Russian Imperial Gold Medals consigned to Spink’s 27 September auction is one of the most spectacular gold medals of the entire series, the rectangular gold medal commemorating the opening of the Moscow Triumphal Arch in St. Petersburg.The Moscow Triumphal Arch was erected to commemorate the Russian military victories won during the wars with Persia, Turkey and Poland, 1826-1828. The massive cast iron gateway, situated on the Moscow Highway (today called Avenue Moscow) was designed by the Russian classical architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov (1769-1848).

Gold and silver rebounded in New York after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly reduced its discount rate, sending the dollar lower and increasing the investment allure of precious metals. The Fed said it is prepared to take further action to “mitigate” damage from the rout in credit markets. Commodities yesterday plunged the most in at least five decades as crashing equities led investors to sell metals, energy and grains to raise cash. Gold often moves in the opposite direction of the dollar, which fell as much as 0.9 percent versus the euro today.