Dallas, TX. Prices realized of $7,058,735 were posted by Heritage Auction Galleries for their early November Signature Auction in Dallas; a second Signature event will be held at the end of the month at the Money Show of the Southwest, taking place in Houston on November 29-30. Descriptions and images of all sold lots from the Dallas event are currently posted at www.HA.com, as are the upcoming lots for the Houston event (now available for bidding). When proceeds from Final Session Auction are concluded, plus Post Auction Buys from both events are combined, the total prices realized are expected to exceed $8 million.

According to Heritage President Greg Rohan, “We continue to be pleased with outstanding collector participation in our auctions; after the Final Session is concluded, we will have had some four thousand bidders participating. It is no surprise to us that Internet bidders once again won the lion’s share of coins in this auction, and Heritage Live Bidders are growing stronger with every event. Registry-level coins from all series continue to be strong, as collectors are willing to pay handsomely for the finest pieces known. Our year-end events continue to be extremely successful, and we are looking forward to our Houston Signature Auction later this month.”

A collection of more than 30 gold dollars assembled by the late Pearl E. Pemberton that includes an MS-67 1855 will highlight Heritage Auction Galleries’ Nov. 29-30 sale in Houston, Texas.

The 1855 Type 2 gold dollar is rare in superb gem condition, sale catalogers said. Numismatic Guaranty Corp. has graded five examples MS-67 and Professional Coin Grading Service four, including the offered piece, with none certified in finer grade at either service.

Heritage’s Houston auction is the firm’s inaugural Signature Auction in conjunction with the Money Show of the Southwest. Nearly 4,000 lots of coinage will be auctioned via floor auction and Internet. Read Full Story

Washington- An Ohio metal company is banking on a change in federal law to make a pretty penny off the lowly 1-cent piece.

Jackson Metals believes it can make a profit and save the U.S. Mint more than $18 million annually through a plan to sift through roughly 5 billion pennies a year and cull high-copper-content coins made before 1982 whose components are worth 1.7 cents.

The firm in Jackson County, south of Columbus, would like to melt those older pennies and sell the metal to companies that make brass products like doorknobs and plumbing fixtures. Read Full Story

Bull markets are supposed to make investors feel good. But the hot market in gold this year has an aura of dread about it.

The yellow metal is nearing a lofty $850 an ounce, a height not seen for almost 28 years.

That has triggered primal fears on Wall Street. If investors are turning back to this ancient form of money, one implication is that they’re losing faith in the modern financial system.

Indeed, the higher gold goes, Bill Roberts of Westchester says he can’t help but see a deepening message of doom.

The dollar is sinking, banks are reeling from soaring mortgage defaults and the stock market is tumbling anew. With that backdrop, Roberts says he’s happy that he has most of his investment portfolio in shares of gold-mining firms. Read Full Story

Three weeks after the board of the American Numismatic Association dismissed its executive director, Christopher Cipoletti, the federally chartered group for 32,000 collectors of coins and paper money still is stinging from the aftermath of concentrated executive power.

Before being terminated, Cipoletti, an employment attorney, had two jobs at the Colorado Springs-based nonprofit organization. He was executive director since 2003 and had served as general counsel since 1998, advising the board and the organization on legal matters. He also retained outside clients. Until Dec. 31, 2006, he was general counsel for the Pikes Peak Library District, spokeswoman Danielle Oller said.

More than two years ago, he persuaded the board to join him in filing a lawsuit in 4th Judicial District Court against three former employees and a computer consultant and his company. Among the complaints are civil theft of business property, breach of loyalty to the association, conspiracy and “intentional infliction of emotional distress by outrageous conduct.” The association hired a Denver law firm, Davis Graham & Stubbs, to represent the co-plaintiffs Read Full Story