LISBON, Portugal: Archeologists in Portugal have found more than 4,500 Roman coins bundled together inside the wall of a blacksmith’s house dating from the fourth century.

Antonio Sa Coixao, who is leading excavations in Coriscada in northeastern Portugal, said Wednesday by telephone the 4,526 copper and bronze coins were inside a hollow wall and covered by dirt and tools. The coins had apparently been put in a sack which had mostly disintegrated, he said.

“It looks like someone was trying to hide them, but they never went back to get them,” Sa Coixao said.

Archeologists excavating the site, which is believed to be a Roman village, came across the coins Friday, he said.

Sa Coixao said he expected to send the coins to the University of Lyon, France, to be cleaned and catalogued.

The fifth and final commemorative quarter-dollar coin released in 2007 honors Utah, and is the 45th coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program. Utah was admitted into the Union on January 4, 1896, becoming our Nation’s 45th state. The reverse of Utah’s quarter features two locomotives moving toward the golden spike that joined the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, linking East to West and transforming both the Utah Territory and the Nation with the inscription “Crossroads of the West.” The coin also bears the inscriptions “Utah” and “1896.”

A Denver Mint first-strike ceremony will be held Oct. 15 for dignitaries gathered to honor the state of Utah.

Collectors can purchase the coin through special Mint-created proof sets. In addition, he coin is also included in the uncirculated coin set, which went on sale Oct. 9 for $22.95.

For the second time this year the US Mint has halted the sale of Gold Coins offered on its web site as the result of increasing Gold Prices.

On Sept 13, the US Mint suspended sales of the “W” uncirculated gold American Eagles and bulk sales of four-coin gold American Eagle proof sets. These have yet to be re-offered, though new prices were supposed to be published in the Federal Register today, Oct. 11

The most recent suspension of sales came yesterday when all Platinum “W” uncirculated American Eagle coins sales stopped. A message on the US Mint website read: “Due to the increasing market value of platinum, the American Eagle Platinum Uncirculated Coins are temporarily unavailable while pricing for this option can be adjusted; therefore, no orders can be taken at this time.” The OLD Price was : $1,489.95

This came on the heels of the 2007 Proof Gold Buffalo Coins sale suspension on Oct 9th. A similar statement read: ” Due to the increasing market value of gold, the American Buffalo Gold Proof One Ounce Coin is temporarily unavailable while pricing for this option can be adjusted; therefore, no orders can be taken at this time.” The OLD price for the Proof Gold Buffalo’s was : $825.95. Gold bullion was trading in the $730s per ounce when Buffalo coin sales were suspended.

The price of gold is up 17 percent this year, heading for the seventh straight annual gain as the dollar dropped to the lowest ever against the euro.

Gold futures for December delivery rose $5.60, or 0.8 percent, to $748.70 an ounce at 11:33 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal reached $755.70 on Oct. 1, the highest for a most-active contract since Jan. 22, 1980, the day after the price reached a record $873.

ZURICH/FRANKFURT, Oct 10 - Central banks which signed the Central Bank Gold Agreement sold 475.75 tonnes of gold in the third year of the agreement ending September 26, said a statement released on Wednesday by the Bank for International Settlements on behalf of the signatories.

In March 2004, 15 European central banks renewed a 1999 pact to limit their sales over a five-year period to 2,500 tonnes — with annual sales limited to 500 tonnes — up from 2,000 tonnes in the first agreement.

Central banks and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) collectively hold 30,374 tonnes of gold in their reserves, but have been gradually reducing their holdings.

According to figures compiled by the World Gold Council, an industry-funded organisation, the signatories to the accord disposed of 497.2 tonnes during the first year and 395.8 tonnes in the second year. The Bundesbank, which is the second-largest hoarder of gold behind the U.S. Federal Reserve, said it would sell a maximum of 8 tonnes of its gold reserves to the German finance ministry for the latter’s gold coin programme.