Ponterio & Associates, Inc., the world and ancients auction division of Bowers and Merena Auctions, will conduct its Baltimore Auction of World and Ancient Coins and Paper Money as part of Bowers and Merena’s Official Auction of the June 2010 Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo.

The two-session sale will be conducted June 18 and 19 at the Baltimore Convention Center. More than 2,300 lots will be offered, including approximately 1,500 lots of Ancient and foreign coins and 825 lots of world paper money.

Executive vice president, Rick Ponterio states, “Our June 2010 Baltimore Auction is sure to see strong bidder participation—and competition—among specialists in many areas of foreign coins and paper money. Featured among the coin offerings in this sale are important rarities from many periods of history, ranging from Ancient Greece to the modern era.”

Continued Ponterio: “An example of the diversity in this sale can be found in two of the more important highlights. The first is a very rare Zeugitana, Carthage AV Trihemistater, or 1 ½ Shekel, that dates to the early period of the First Punic War (ca. 264-260 BC). The coin is attributed alternatively as Jenkins & Lewis Group IX Pl.18#392 (same dies) and Muller-Pg.86#66, and has been certified by NGC as AU, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5.”

“We will also present a Yuan Dynasty Zhi Yuan 50 Tael Sycee Ingot that is extremely rare and historically significant,” Ponterio added. “It is dated the 14th year of the Zhìyuán era (1273 A.D.), inscribed with the denomination at upper left and the ruler’s name and date at lower center, Khubilai Khan, the fifth Great Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan (1260-94). It is among the earliest known Chinese 50 Tael Sycee ingot.”

MORE THAN 825 LOTS OF WORLD PAPER MONEY TO BE OFFERED

“We have received a wide array of important world paper money consignments for this sale,” stated Bowers and Merena’s director of currency auctions, Matthew Quinn. “A splendid selection of Iranian notes from the 1920s and 1930s figure prominently among the highlights in this auction, and they include a stunning Choice Uncirculated 1 Toman note dated 1.6.1920 and attributed as P-1b. Also of note is a China, Republic, 5 Yuan dated 4.10.1914 and attributed as P-34. The note grades Very Fine and is significant because examples of this type are usually seen only in remainder form without signatures and perforated ‘canceled,’ which is a fate this note escaped. We anticipate strong bidder competition for these and other important world paper money lots in this sale.” (more…)

By Laura Sperber – Legend Numismatics

Well its not really the summer just yet, but by the way this show was you’d think it was the middle of July!

As always, we have nothing but great things to say about Mary Counts and David Chrenshaw (of Whitman Publishing) and staff for unquestionably putting together a great show. They have everything well organized for both dealers and the collecting public. They have made the Baltimore Show a “must attend” event for everyone.

WAS THE BALTIMORE SHOW HOT?

Sadly, this show was not to be one of their best. We do NOT hold Whitman at fault. It was more market factors and timing (Long Beach was less than 2 weeks ago). Not very many national level dealers attended (many West Coast dealers stayed home). We did not hear of many dealers having even good shows. Our show overall ended up better than we thought-but we were very disappointed in our retail sales. Better gold coins in MS63 and higher made up over 75% of our sales.

Not many dealers had expected this to be a good show. Typically when that happens, the show usually turns out ok. This time, it did not. The strongest activity occurred BEFORE the show with dealer to dealer WHOLESALE. Once the show opened for set up-things immediately died down. It seemed many of the dealers in the room simply did not want to buy and were more intent of selling and raising cash. However, they seemed to be “stuck in mud” because they refused to face reality and sell their coins at the new market levels. Thus activity stalled out. We had never heard so many dealers moaning that they had sold NOTHING as of Saturday morning. (more…)

Bowers and Merena’s Official Auction of the Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention in March Includes Choice AU 1870-CC Double Eagle as Part of the Southerly Collection

IRVINE, Calif. – Bowers and Merena Auctions, America’s leading rare coin and currency auction house, makes its first trip to Baltimore in 2009 for the Official Auction of the Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention set for March 24-28. The auction will take place at the Baltimore Convention Center and begins with lot viewing Tuesday, March 24, to Friday, March 27, followed by the three-session auction on Thursday, March 26, at 6 p.m. EDT, and Friday, March 27, at noon and again at 6 p.m. EDT.

The auction is highlighted by two standout, multi-million-dollar collections. The Southerly Collection offers a variety of distinguished coins including a top-notch Choice AU 1870-CC Double Eagle as lot 3909. This 1870-CC Winter 1-A is graded AU-55 by NGC and is the single highest-graded example of this famous frontier-era rarity known to PCGS and NGC. Also raising the bar in the Southerly Collection is a highly elusive 1797 Small Eagle Ten. At lot 3786, this 1797 Capped Bust Right Eagle, Small Eagle, BD-1, HBCC-3175, Taraszka-7, Rarity-5, is graded MS-61 by NGC and represents the rarest of only three issues in the Small Eagle Capped Bust Right Ten-Dollar gold series. NGC Census reports just six, with a mere four finer through MS-63. Lot 3785 is a very rare 1796 Capped Bust Right Eagle, BD-1, HBCC-3174, Taraszka-6, the only known dies, Rarity-4, in NGC MS-61, boasting a population of just nine with just six finer through MS-63.

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