NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Collectors Universe, Inc. , a leading provider of value-added authentication and grading services to dealers and collectors of high-value collectibles, and dealers of diamonds and colored gemstones, reported that the Appellate Court has issued its decision in the William Miller case, ruling that, contrary to Miller’s assertions, he is not entitled to statutory damages of $10.5 million.

As previously reported, Miller argued that he was entitled, under California law, to statutorily prescribed damages of $750 for each alleged use of his name made by Collectors Universe without his consent and that, since Miller claims that his name appeared on 14,060 authentication certificates issued by Collectors Universe, he was entitled to statutory damages of $750.00 times 14,060, or approximately $10.5 million in total.

Pittsburgh Post Gazzette By Scott Shalaway

Polls remind us repeatedly that a majority of Americans favors policies that protect the environment. To see evidence of this concern, look no further than your pocket change.

Since 1999, the U.S. Mint has issued billions of new quarters that honor the 50 states. They have been released in the order that states entered the Union. To date, 43 state quarters have been issued. Wyoming’s quarter will be released in September. Utah follows later this year, and the last five quarters (Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii) will be minted in 2008.

Each state was responsible for developing its own design. Most states (30 of 50) chose a theme that highlighted their natural heritage. Given the opportunity to design a coin that would promote the state to hundreds of millions of Americans and foreign tourists, 60 percent of the states chose a design that featured wildlife or scenic vistas. The rest selected designs that highlighted historical or cultural themes.

Telegraph.co.uk By Nick Squires in Sydney

An archeologist claims to have found a 16th century European coin in a swamp on Australia’s east coast, raising new questions about whether Captain James Cook was beaten to the continent by the Spanish or Portuguese.

The silver coin, which is inscribed with the date 1597, was discovered by a group led by amateur archeologist Greg Jefferys.

A colleague was digging in the sand with a machete when he found the badly corroded coin on Sunday.

It was buried a few inches below the ground in the middle of snake-infested Eighteen Mile Swamp on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland.

If proved to be authentic it will lend weight to the theory that Spanish or Portuguese navigators ‘discovered’ Australia’s eastern seaboard centuries before Capt Cook claimed it for Britain when he landed at Botany Bay in 1770.

Collect.com By Numismatic News

Collectors know the difference between proof and uncirculated coins. Now investors in numismatic Individual Retirement Accounts have to take that distinction seriously. According to the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, proof Buffalo gold coins should not be be included in IRAs. This advice is based on an ICTA conversation with someone in the Employee Plans Technical Group of the Internal Revenue Service.

Both the proof and uncirculated Buffalo gold pieces meet the fineness and metal content requirements of the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act, but the act refers to allowable coins as being “bullion.” The U.S. Mint Web site refers to the uncirculated version as a bullion coin but the proof version as a collector coin.

On such seemingly minor distinctions huge tax implications apparently hinge. Because ICTA did not seek a private letter ruling, the question is still open, but ICTA believes its interpretation is a word to the wise.