Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange Cos. Inc., which wholesales, retails and auctions fine watches, jewelry, diamonds, precious metal and rare coin products via traditional and Internet channels, reported triple-digit growth for its first-quarter of 2008.

The Dallas-based company’s income rose 162% to $477,255 this quarter, which ended March 31, compared to $182,415 for the same period last year. Its revenue jumped 222% to $32.7 million versus $10.2 million in first-quarter 2007.

DGSE (AMEX: DGC) affiliates are purchasing scrap jewelry, rare coins and bullion products in record amounts. In the first quarter, DGSE operations purchased more than $17 million, compared to $4.8 million for the same period last year.

Its Euless/Fort Worth operation, which was acquired as Euless Gold & Silver Exchange in the first half of 2007, produced more than $4 million in revenue the first quarter – a 20-year record for DGSE.

The pawn business remains strong, increasing 130% this quarter to $258,242. DGSE has two pawn locations in Dallas.

By ALAN SAYRE

A steamship that sank off the Louisiana coast during an 1846 storm has produced a trove of rare gold coins, including some produced at two, mostly forgotten U.S. mints in the South, coin experts say.

Last year, four Louisiana residents salvaged hundreds of gold coins and thousands of silver coins from the wreckage of the SS New York in about 60 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, said David Bowers, co-chairman of Stack’s Rare Coins in New York.

“Some of these are in uncirculated or mint condition,” Bowers said, predicting the best could bring $50,000 to $100,000 each at auction.

Of particular interest to coin experts — numismatists — are gold pieces known as quarter eagles and half eagles, which carried face values of $2.50 and $5, respectively, in the days before the United States printed paper currency.

Those coins were struck at mints in New Orleans; Charlotte, N.C.; and Dahlonega, Ga. The Charlotte and Dahlonega mints operated from 1838, when the first significant U.S. gold deposits were found in those areas, until the start of the Civil War in 1861, said Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association’s Money Museum in Denver. Neither mint ever reopened.

The Dahlonega Mint produced 1.38 million gold coins, while 1.2 million were minted in Charlotte. Tens of millions of gold coins were minted in the United States before the federal government confiscated those held by individuals, banks and the U.S. Treasury in 1933 and melted them into gold bars as the country abandoned the gold standard.

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Editors Note: NGC has also posted an article entitled  “NCS Conserves Coins Recovered from the Steamship New York” with more details as to the type of coins found on the SS NewYork and the NSC conservation and NGC encapsulation.

By JOHN GROBLER – freelance journalist

The Namibian Government has taken over responsibility for the excavation of the 500-year old shipwreck found at Oranjemund last month after the Office of the President was approached in this regard by the Portuguese government, The Namibian has established.

Namdeb spokesman Hilifa Mbako confirmed that three Ministers – Errki Nghimtina of Mines and Energy, Dr Abraham Iyambo of Fisheries and Marine Resources and Willem Konjore of the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture – flew to Oranjemund on Thursday to inspect the site.

He declined to give any further information, referring all queries to the Office of the President instead.

This office could not be reached for comment over the weekend.

Another well-placed source indicated that the Portuguese government had contacted President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s office directly, which had led to him sending the ministerial delegation to Oranjemund.

“The Ministers have returned from their visit in Oranjemund with an order that nothing further should be said by anyone on the shipwreck until further notice,” the source said. Government has made it clear that it has now taken full charge of the matter, the source added.

In a written statement released to the media on Friday, Nghimtina confirmed the three Ministers’ visit to the site of the discovery. Nghimtina thanked Namdeb “for all the phenomenal work they have done in protecting the site where the wreck was found and providing security for the artefacts”.

He added that “appropriate officials” from relevant Government departments, being archaeologists, the National Heritage Council and the National Museum of Namibia, “now need space and time to carry out vital analytical work to provide answers to the many questions that we have”.

Because Government also needs to study all the information available at this stage to make an informed decision about the way forward, “there will be no further information or media comments on this matter – until further notice”, Nghimtina stated. (more…)