Teletrade, America’s largest fully automated Internet auction company for certified coins and currency, will host a very special Friday online auction on June 27, 2008, in addition to their regularly scheduled three weekly auctions on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. This is Teletrade Auction 2549 consisting of more than 200 exclusive certified coin lots, and will be live at www.teletrade.com from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. eastern time. Bidding is open now and the complete catalog is viewable on the Teletrade website. Highlights will be on display this Thursday and Friday at the Summer FUN 2008 Convention in Palm Beach, Fla., Table 411.

This special Friday auction features an amazing selection of certified coins highlighted by another original hoard of PCGS Green Holders, including many Wells Fargo $20 pieces. These will be auctioned alongside a variety of other extraordinary U.S. rarities certified by PCGS and NGC.

“Every once in a while Teletrade is just inundated with an exceptional selection of lots, and we are thrilled to be able to offer this special Friday auction to bring them to our customers,” said Ian Russell, president of Teletrade. “This is an exciting follow-up to our auction of ‘The Green Holder Collection’ on June 1, which was incredibly successful with 100 percent sell-through, and pushed the prices realized for the total auction over $1.1 million. Response to that auction was so overwhelming and it is a special treat to be able to offer even more of these popular Green Holder coins to our collectors.” (more…)

Treasure Fever has struck again! Expert numismatist and auctioneer of shipwreck coins and artifacts Daniel Frank Sedwick has released the results of his Treasure Auction #3. This mail-bid auction surpassed predictions by grossing over $800,000 ($700,000 + 15%), with an unprecedented 92%+ of the lots sold.

Consignments for Sedwick’s next auction (Treasure Auction #4) in the fall of 2008 are already pouring in. One of the top highlights of the sale was a rare mariner’s astrolabe that sold for $28,750.00 (with buyer’s premium). Other major highlights include a Lima, Peru, cob 8 escudos of 1703 that sold for $17,250 and a Cartagena, Colombia, cob 2 escudos of 1622 (the first gold coin struck in the New World) that sold for $23,000 (both prices with buyer’s premium).

The entire offering of Spanish colonial gold cobs in this auction (mainly from the 1715 Fleet) hit close to a quarter million dollars, one of the biggest auction sales of treasure gold cobs offered in the last several decades. This marks a trend in gold-cob prices.

“The market had a very positive reaction… collectors are increasingly eager for choice gold cobs and we can provide the best selection at competitive prices,” says Sedwick, who also pointed out that a similar offering will appear in his next auction in the fall.

A big surprise for collectors was an offering of ca.-1528 shipwreck silver “tumbaga” bars, which before this auction had an average price among collectors of about $3,000 each, yet the 14 bars on offer averaged over $7,000 each (including commission), with one specimen exceeding $10,000. This reflects a new appreciation for these artifacts. (more…)

By Doug Winter - www.raregoldcoins.com

I recently learned that the coins from the shipwreck S.S. New York will be sold by Stack’s in July at this firm’s pre-ANA auction. Unlike some of the other shipwrecks that have been uncovered in recent years, the coins found on the S.S. New York will have an impact on the branch mint gold market.

According to information gleaned from the NGC website, the S.S. New York was a light cargo and passenger ship vessel that operated between New Orleans and Galveston. It was destroyed during a hurricane on September 7, 1846. Seventeen crew members were killed and “thirty to forty thousand dollars in gold, silver and bank notes” were lost according to contemporary reports.

What is especially interesting about these coins is that they represent one of the most eclectic, diverse cross-sections of coins in circulation during the first part of the 19th century that has ever been found. Unlike the S.S. Republic and S.S. Central America, the coins in this group tend to be smaller denomination and much of the gold was produced in Dahlonega and the local New Orleans mint.(Even more interesting is the fact that only two Charlotte issues were included. This should tell us something about the geographic distribution of Charlotte coins).

The coins have been curated by NCS and, according to the reports that I’ve read, numismatists such as John Albanese, David Bowers and Mark Salzburg have commented on how exceptional they are from the standpoint of quality. In fact, Albanese was quoted as saying “…many of them look like they were just minted yesterday.”

NGC just published the first census of these S.S. New York coins and, from the look of it, there are some extremely interesting pieces that will be available. (more…)

In the upcoming West Palm Beach, FL (Summer FUN) Signature Coin Auction, taking place in West Palm Beach, FL on June 26-29, Heritage will be offering Registry collections from a consignor who specialized in the finest Jefferson nickels. Eight different Jefferson Nickel Registry sets rated #1 All-Time and #1 Current Finest are included under the Compradore name:

1. Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1938-1964)
2. Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1965-present)
3. Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1938-present)
4. With Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1938-1964)
5. With Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1938-present)
6. War Set with Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1942-1945)
7. Full Steps with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1938-1964)
8. Full Steps with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1938-present)

Compradore also includes additional Registry sets:

1. #2 All-Time and #2 Current Finest: Jefferson Nickels Full Steps Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1938-1964)
2. #2 All-Time and #2 Current Finest: Jefferson Nickels Date Set, Circulation Strikes (1938-present)
3. #1 All-Time and #1 Current Finest: The Five Cent Type Set (1866-present).

The consignor is a retired stockbroker, with an MBA from the University of Southern California. During the 1990s, he decided to move some assets into coins and succeeded in assembling the #5 PCGS Registry Set of Morgan Dollars (Krispy’s Morgans). After that, he decided to complete the #1 set in Jefferson Nickels.

In the consignor’s words: “I’ve always liked Jefferson nickels. While I was a cashier at the university cafeteria in 1969, I managed to build a complete set (date and mint mark) of Jeffersons from the change in the cash tray. The only coin I couldn’t find was the 1950-D which is really hard to find in circulation. Undaunted, I purchased a nice one from a coin shop for the princely sum of $10 and then turned around and sold the entire set back to the coin shop for $50. My first experience collecting Jeffersons was (to my recollection) immensely rewarding!” (more…)

Morphy/Legend is proud to have been selected to sell the following collections:

• The 3 Aces Collection
• The NYS Collection
• The Norwood Collection
• The CA $2.5 Gold Collection

Each of these sets was assembled by long time collectors. Their goals were to blend the finest quality with terrific eye appeal. Of course rarities abound.

“With each sale now, we are seeing more interest both in terms of consignments and bidders. We knew it would take a while for us to break in and be a truely respected auction house, however that movement is going much faster than we anticipated” said Laura Sperber CO-partner.

Many exciting coins are included in this sale. Highlights are:

• H.01 1795 NGC MS62BN NYS
• H.10 1833 NGC MS67* NYS
• 10C 1859 NGC PR67 ULTRA CAMEO NORWOOD
• 10C 1895O NGC MS64 3 ACES
• 25C 1818/5 NGC MS65
• 50C 1822/1 NGC MS65 NYS
• 50C 1836 50/00 NGC MS66PL NYS
• 50C 1952 PCGS PR67 CAMEO
• $1 1795 FLOWINGHAIR NGC XF40
• $1 1878 7TF REV 78 PCGS MS65 DMPL
• $2.5 1839C NGC MS60
• $2.5 1908-1929 PCGS 63/63 SET CA INDIAN COLLECTION
• $5 1909 PCGS MS66
• $20 1857S PCGS MS65

(more…)