NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.,  — Collectors Universe, Inc. , a leading provider of value-added authentication and grading services to dealers and collectors of high-value collectibles diamonds and colored gemstones, today announced that, pursuant to its previously adopted dividend policy, the Board of Directors has declared the Company’s quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share of common stock for the third quarter of fiscal 2008. The cash dividend will be paid on March 3, 2008 to stockholders of record on February 18, 2008. (more…)

(Santa Ana, California) – Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is advising its authorized dealers of the existing terms and policies regarding submission of so-called “doctored” coins, and is reinforcing the application of those policies.

“We’re seeing more and more coin doctoring than we’ve ever seen, and the methods used to alter the coins are more and more sophisticated,” said Ron Guth, President of PCGS, a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT).

“We are constantly trying to keep up with new and sophisticated techniques, such as micro surgery with lasers and various chemical treatments to alter the surfaces of coins. You name it, and the coin doctors are trying it. We’re giving public notice to those who alter coins that we’re clamping down on them.”

Guth said PCGS graders are frequently updated on what to watch for when analyzing coins submitted for certification. He compares the continuing education to combat coin doctoring and counterfeiting to anti-virus software makers who are on constant vigil against computer hackers and new viruses. (more…)

By JOHN STEELE GORDON for Barron’s

BECAUSE GOLD IS CHEMICALLY INERT, it doesn’t tarnish and it has few industrial uses. Because it has been a prime store of value for millennia, it has always been very carefully guarded. Because it is so extraordinarily valuable (a cubic inch of pure gold is currently worth more than $9,000), even long-lost gold is searched for diligently.

A hundred and sixty years ago this month, for instance, James Marshall was inspecting a new millrace in Northern California that he had just constructed for his employer, John Sutter. A pebble about half the size of a pea caught his eye. “It made my heart thump,” he later remembered, “for I was certain it was gold.”

In 1847, the United States had produced a mere 43,000 ounces of gold, mostly as a byproduct of base-metal mining. In 1853, California alone would produce more than three million ounces, then worth some $65 million. The total revenue of the federal government in 1853 was $61.5 million. Read Full Article

Representatives from the U.S. Mint spoke with Oklahoma coin collectors in an open forum on the eve of the Oklahoma state quarter launch.

The collectors gathered Sunday afternoon at the Oklahoma History Center to discuss the new quarter and ask questions relating to the minting of American coinage with Daniel P. Shaver, acting deputy director of the mint.

What did hobbyists learn?
Shaver said that there will be between 500 and 550 million Oklahoma quarters made and that the popularity of the state quarters series has made thousands of new coin collectors.

Shaver fielded questions and dispelled rumors about the proposed Ronald Reagan dime and the reasons behind the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin issued in 1979. Read Full Story