Coin trader and auctioneer NOBLE INVESTMENTS (UK) PLC is eyeing further expansion after lifting annual profits 80 per cent to £1.8 million.

The company comprises a group of Professional Numismatists of long standing with some 100 years of combined experience. They are the only Numismatic trading and investment company listed in the stock market in the UK.

The Manchester-based company, which became a leading coin dealer by buying the 135 year-old Baldwin group nearly two years ago, increased turnover 42 per cent to £10.6 million in the year to August.

Steered by managing director and ex-stockbroker Ian Goldbart, the AIM-quoted company, which is debt-free and has more than £5 million in the bank, says it is contemplating moving into new areas, such as banknotes. The decision comes after Noble won backing in August from property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz for a £2.8 million placing at 185p to expand into stamp trading. (more…)

A small southern Ohio company and a freshman congressman say the lowly penny, ignored by many or simply tossed into drawers and jars, could mean big bucks and good jobs for a struggling region.

So when Rep. Zack Space amended a coin-composition bill to allow Jackson Metals of Jackson to melt down pre-1982 pennies, which contain more valuable copper than the current copper-plated zinc cents, the Dover Democrat proclaimed a major victory. He said it could create more than 30 jobs and save taxpayers money.

But victory is still a ways away. Opponents of the idea say that although the company might profit by selling the copper, taxpayers would be big losers.

The bill, which would authorize the U.S. Mint to change the metal composition of coins to make them cheaper to produce, is no longer on a fast track. It was to have been approved Wednesday in the House Financial Services Committee, with the blessing of bill co-author and committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass. Read Full Story

The American Numismatic Association is accepting applications for two summer internships at ANA headquarters in Colorado Springs. Experienced young collectors, college or graduate students and numismatic professionals are encouraged to apply.

One individual selected for The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Numismatic Internship will conduct original numismatic research using ANA resources in conjunction with the renowned Harry W. Bass, Jr. numismatic collection and related resources.

Another individual will be selected for the ANA Numismatic Internship, and will work with the professional staff of the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum and Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library, the Publication and Education departments, and help with Summer Seminar and the World’s Fair of Money. (more…)

(Littleton, NH) – Frederick Maynard Sundman, who transformed his boyhood love of stamp collecting and his goodwill faith in customers into creation of two of the world’s largest stamp and coin companies, died Wednesday, October 31, 2007, peacefully at Littleton Regional Hospital, of natural causes. He was 92 years old and had resided with his wife Dorothy in Littleton.

Maynard Sundman was born in New Britain, Connecticut on October 17, 1915, only child of Frederick William Sundman and Floy Rae Maynard. He graduated from Bristol (CT) High School, class of 1935. He started his first postage stamps for collector business in Bristol, Connecticut the same year, working from his parent’s home with a staff of six. He married Fannie Kasper of Terryville, Connecticut in April of 1941.

Following service in the Fifth Army in North Africa and Italy, he returned to Connecticut in the fall of 1945, when he and Fannie moved to Littleton. Together they founded Littleton Stamp Company and its successor Littleton Coin Company. Their marriage endured for 52 years, until Fannie’s death in 1993. Maynard and Fannie Sundman raised three sons, David M. Sundman, Frederick W. Sundman and Donald J. Sundman. On October 15, 1994 Maynard married Dorothy Joslin of Littleton and they enjoyed 13 years of marriage together. (more…)

After a 27-year hiatus, gold returned to the lofty price of $800 an ounce yesterday. But that number was unlikely to shock anyone — investors or even consumers hankering for a 14-karat necklace.

Gold has surged more than $100 an ounce in two months as a weak dollar, high oil prices and concerns about world tensions have increased the allure of precious metals as a safe investment. The Federal Reserve’s decision to lower its benchmark interest rate for the second time in as many months helped vault gold futures yesterday.

The sharp rise in prices hasn’t scared off investors — quite the opposite, according to George Milling-Stanley, spokesman for the World Gold Council. (more…)