By Nicole Garrison-Sprenger
It could double as a shot put, but it’s worth a little too much to chuck in the dirt.

A 22-pound gold coin commemorating the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing is waiting in Burnsville for someone to plunk down $1 million for a piece of history. Now, if you’re a big fan of the Olympics, you could fly to Beijing, stay for a week, watch the Games live and buy a T-shirt for considerably less. But a million dollars for a coin that isn’t even old?

It turns out, a solid-gold coin that weighs as much as a 1-year-old child doesn’t come along every day.

The coin released by the China Mint is the biggest Olympic coin made to date, said Douglas Mudd, a curator at the American Numismatic Association money museum. “Twenty-two pounds — that’s a lot of gold,” he said. At present, Mudd said, “The coin market is very hot. We’re seeing record prices at practically every auction.”

Gold is selling for about $928 an ounce, which would make the jumbo coin that Burnsville-based GovMint.com is selling worth roughly $245,000 melted down. (Precious metals are measured in troy pounds, which contain 12 troy ounces.) Plus, the coin — with the Beijing 2008 Games logo on one side and an image of a Chinese temple towering above Olympic athletes on the other — is one of only 29 issued, and the only one released for sale in the United States. Seven inches in diameter, it comes in an ornate carved box of African Blackwood with a 35-pound carved stone dragon perched on top.

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FIRST AUSTRALIAN KOALA GOLD PROOF COIN SERIES
The Perth Mint is proud to announce an iconic new series of proof quality 99.99% pure gold coins.

Introduced in response to collector desire for an Australian gold coin series depicting the Mint’s popular koala design theme, these stunning numismatic releases are meticulously struck in proof quality.

Available in three denominations, the Australian Gold Proof Koala is the first Perth Mint series to include a 1oz ‘high relief’ coin. The spectacular release is struck on a significantly thicker blank to accommodate the greater design depth on its specially prepared die.

A mother and baby koala sitting on a tree branch are depicted on the reverse of each coin. The design, which also incorporates The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark, is struck in ‘high relief’ on the 1oz coin.

Issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965, proof quality Australian Koala gold coins are set to delight the most fastidious collectors into the future with appealing new designs each year.

2008 GOOD FORTUNE GOLD PROOF COIN
Chinese culture is steeped in lucky symbols. This stunning coin, which portrays several symbols of fortune and wealth, also reflects the auspiciousness of the number eight in traditional beliefs.

The centre of the octagonal coin’s reverse design portrays a stylised combination of Chinese characters with the literal meaning ‘bringing money and treasures’. Other design elements portray:

- a peony, the ‘flower of riches’, in colour
- eight yuan bao, small ingots used in ancient China as money
- a string of eight lucky coins with square holes

In ancient times, the circular shape of such coins was said to represent Heaven, while their square hole symbolised Earth.

Struck by The Perth Mint from 8.88g of 99.99% pure gold in proof quality, the eight-sided coin is issued as legal tender under the authority of the Government of Tuvalu. Housed in attractive presentation packaging, the coin is limited to an extremely limited mintage of just 2,008. (more…)

The third installment in the United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin Historical Signature Series is scheduled for release today, June 10th. This new Historical Signature Series collection of products began on April 8th with the introduction of the George Washington folder. The Series highlights the 2007 Presidential $1 Coins honoring the Presidents of the United States. The Set features a proof version of the Presidential $1 Coin and a Presidential intaglio print from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The product is presented in a textured, leather-like folder which opens to reveal the intaglio print and the official Presidential signature. A Certificate of Authenticity accompanies each United States Mint Historical Signature Set.

The most current United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin Historical Signature Set – features Thomas Jefferson, and is the third in this new collection. The proof coin which is extraordinarily brilliant, has a sharp relief and a mirror-like background. The frosted, sculpted foreground gives a special cameo effect. The image of President Thomas Jefferson appears on the obverse of the coin and the reverse features a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty. The Presidential $1 Coins also feature edge-incused inscriptions of the year, “E Pluribus Unum,” “In God We Trust,” and the mint mark. The size, weight and metal composition of the new Presidential $1 Coins are identical to that of the Sacagawea Golden Dollar. Each coin is mounted in a removable capsule.

Visible from the cover of the United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin Historical Signature Set is the Presidential intaglio print of Thomas Jefferson printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Opening the cover reveals the official Thomas Jefferson Presidential signature, courtesy of the White House Historical Association.

The two previous Presidential “Signature Sets” of George Washington and John Adams are still both available from the US Mint Store. Each Set, including the new Jefferson Folder costs $19.95 each.