The Spanish navy yesterday seized an American treasure-hunting ship which is suspected of stealing £250 million worth of gold and silver from a sunken Spanish galleon.

A navy corvette blocked the path of the Odyssey Explorer after it left the safety of Gibraltar and threatened to open fire when the captain refused to let them board.

The warship, flanked by vessels from the Spanish Civil Guard, escorted the boat to the Spanish port of Algeciras so police could search it.

Speaking on the bridge of the 250ft Odyssey Explorer as the corvette loomed off the starboard bow, Captain Sterling Vorus told The Daily Telegraph: “I have no choice but to comply with the Spanish who have said I must turn around or face the threat of deadly force.”

After a four-hour stand off in port in which the captain refused to allow Civil Guards aboard, a dozen officers erected a gangplank and boarded the ship. (more…)

(Colorado Springs, Colorado) – The American Numismatic Association (ANA) and Steven L. Contursi, President of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, California, have reached a cordial agreement to withdraw from the earlier announced $1 million funding for three ANA museum projects. The termination of Contursi’s financial pledge follows decisions by the ANA Board to cancel or delay the projects for which the funding was earmarked.

“Based on the ANA’s inability to commit $40 million right now for these museums, we have reached an amicable, mutual agreement to cancel any arrangements made by the ANA and Steve Contursi in conjunction with these projects. We sincerely appreciate Steve’s commitments to the ANA,” said Barry Stuppler, ANA President.

“I believe in the ANA and its education mission. Perhaps there will be another major ANA project in the future that deserves the strong support of contributors, including me,” said Contursi. (more…)

By Doug Winter (republished with permission) www.raregoldcoins.com

Editors Note: The original article was published in 2000, so obviously the prices quotes are no longer accurate. However the concept and application of incremental grading is important especially in todays market.

Old time collectors often bemoan the fact that there are “too many grades.” In their opinion, there is no need for a ten point Mint State/Proof scale (i.e., Mint State-60 to Mint State-70 and Proof-60 to Proof-70) and even less of a need for multiple numerical levels in the circulated grades.

I strongly disagree with the theory that there are too many grades. In fact, I can let you in on a secret that would make many of these old collector’s eyes roll if they were aware of it. Expert graders, such as myself, actually use a whole series of “secret grades” (which I refer to as “incremental grades”) when examining coins.

Before I explain what incremental grades are, it is important to understand why they exist. Back in the “old days,” coins weren’t very expensive and there were not very large spreads between nice coins and not-so-nice coins. A really superb 1927 $20 might sell for $55-60 while an average quality example was readily available for $50-55. This all changed when coins became more popular and a greater emphasis was placed on owning “the best.” Today, a superb quality 1927 $20 might sell for $4000-5000 (or more) while an average quality Uncirculated example is worth just $400-500.

The most important thing to remember about grading is that it is subjective. While most experts can reach an impressive degree of consistency when grading a group of coins, there is always some room for disagreement. The reason this exists is due to the fact that a grade actually represents a shorthand for a range of grades. This is where the aforementioned “incremental grades” come into play. (more…)

Gold hit a 28-year high on Tuesday, helped by record-high oil prices and geo-political tension. Prices later slowed gains as profit-taking set in, with the dollar’s slight gains versus the euro .

Having surged past $760 an ounce, some dealers say the market was well positioned in coming sessions to close in on the $800 mark. This has range has not been seen since 1980 when bullion hit a record $850.

Support was  coming from further dollar weakness and strength in crude oil that makes gold a hedge against oil-led inflation.

“Anything is possible. We’ve certainly broken out and we’re sort of in uncharted waters as we haven’t been here in so long,” said David Holmes, director of precious metals at Dresdner Kleinwort.

“The big theme of the market is that it’s been very difficult to predict the high and everybody is being cautious as they know the market is long, but the momentum is still upwards,” he added.

London Spot gold was trading at $760.00/760.70 per troy ounce up from $758.20/759.00 late in New York on Monday, having hit a 28-year peak at $766.60 earlier.