Guam Gov. Felix P. Camacho yesterday released two designs for the Guam quarter prepared by artists of the U.S. Mint as part of the District of Columbia and United States Territories Circulating Quarter Dollar Program.

Each design can be voted on and the design with the highest amount of votes will be recommended to the U.S. Mint. Votes will be collected until June 14, 2008.

“I encourage all residents to take part in the selection process,” Camacho said. “The Guam quarter will be a lasting symbol of our heritage and our people.”

Camacho submitted the two design narratives selected from 59 submissions from the people of Guam.

The U.S. Mint has spent the past two months working closely with the Guam Quarter Dollar Program Design Evaluation and Selection Process Task Force in developing the designs that are emblematic of Guam. Final designs for the Guam quarter are expected to be completed by July.

A provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (Section 622 Section 5112 of Title 31 United States Code), signed by President Bush on Dec. 26, 2007, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a series of circulating commemorative quarter-dollar coins in 2009 with reverse designs emblematic of the U.S. Territories.

The image of George Washington as seen on the obverse of the 50 State Quarters coins will remain unchanged. The reverse of each quarter will be distinctly different with images emblematic of the District of Columbia and each of the U.S. territories. (PR)

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ON THE NET: http://guamgovernor.net/content/view/118/1/

Dallas, TX. More than 350 rare coins from the inventory of noted Dallas firm Anaconda Rare Coins will be offered by Heritage Auction Galleries in their Summer FUN Signature® Auction catalog. The auction will be held June 25-28, 2008 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The catalog will be posted by Heritage on their HA.com website.

“Heritage thanks our friends Adrian Crane and Brandon Kelley for entrusting us to auction the inventory of Anaconda Rare Coins at the Summer FUN without reserve,” commented Heritage President Greg Rohan. “Most of
the remaining assets of Anaconda Rare Coins, established in 1999, are expected to be sold on eBay in a ten-day, unreserved auction beginning on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 and ending Sunday, July 6th, 2008. For details visit www.AnacondaRareCoins.com.”

Highlights from the Anaconda Rare Coin Inventory, Summer FUN Signature® Auction:

• 1803 1C Small Date, Small Fraction, S-254, B-13, R.1, MS63 Brown PCGS. CAC.
• 1856 1C PR63 PCGS. CAC. Snow-9.
• 1918-S 5C MS65 PCGS.
• 1898 25C PR69 Ultra Cameo NGC.
  An amazing Barber quarter, a coin that the connoisseur will appreciate, with exceptional contrast between the lustrous design elements and deeply mirrored fields; none certified finer.
• 1794 50C O-101, High R.3, Fine 12 PCGS. CAC.
• 1796 50C 15 Stars, O-101, R.5 VF25 NGC.
  The two-year (1796 & 1797) type Draped Bust Small Eagle half dollars come in four varieties; the 1796 O-101 displays 15 obverse stars, while the O-102 has 16 stars.
• 1836 50C Reeded Edge PR64 NGC.
  There is currently no accurate Census of proof 1836 Reeded Edge half dollars in existence, but a reasonable estimate is that fewer than 20 such coins exist at all grade levels, with only two or three Gem quality pieces known. (more…)

Egypt’s massive storage of artifacts still buried underneath of a pellicle of sand and soil is daily investigated by archaeologists. Indefatigable researches are conducted to extract history from beneath, to find clues on a nation’s past and to restore World history.

And thanks to its immense archaeological materials, scientists regularly unearth new items who change more or less our understanding of this great ancient civilization.

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced an interesting discovery. Gold coins forged by Roman Emperor Valens were unearthed at the astonishment of archaeologists; these findings represent the first of this kind in the Land of the Pyramids.

The two coins were found during excavations in the west part of St. Catherine’s monastery in Sinai. The image represented on the front side of the coins is very similar to that of Valens’ and specialists agreed that he is indeed.

Valens ruled the Eastern Roman Empire between 364  and 378 AD; his reign was nothing close to peaceful. He had to black-out the revolt by Procopius, and then fight the Sassanids, but the war with the Goths meant his end.

In 378 AD a battle was to be fought which will decisively change roman history. Near the town of Adrianople, now Edirne, Valens organized his forces in battle formations. He wanted a quick victory against the unprepared Goths. He had received word of a huge gothic army walking the fields of his Empire, but when scouts returned they reported a far smaller number, thus giving the Romans numerical superiority. Valens couldn’t wait, he wanted a victory, a quick success would give him eternal glory. Following his probably egoistic reason he ignored messages from the Western Emperor Gratian, who urged him not to attack but wait for his reinforcements. All in vain, he saw an opportunity and was keen to use it. (more…)

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

Gold tumbled the most in almost six weeks as the dollar rallied, reducing the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver plunged more than 5 percent.

The dollar climbed as much as 0.8 percent against a weighted basket of the euro, yen and four other major currencies on speculation that the Federal Reserve may begin to raise U.S. borrowing costs this year to curb inflation. Crude oil dropped below $128 a barrel after reaching a record $135.09 on May 22.

“With the dollar stabilizing, gold could fall quite a bit,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “There’s a lot of talk about inflation, which works both ways for gold. If the Fed does start tightening, that will strengthen the dollar and could really pop the commodity bubble.”

Gold futures for August delivery dropped $23.30, or 2.6 percent, to $881.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The percentage drop was the biggest for a most-active contract since April 18. The metal fell for the third straight day. The price reached a record $1,033.90 on March 17.

Silver futures for July delivery plummeted 90 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $16.515 an ounce, the biggest drop since March 20.

Read Full Bloomberg Article Here