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…)

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

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The Royal Canadian Mint received a welcome accolade from its peers when the Mint Directors Conference, holding its 25 th annual meeting in Busan, Korea, presented it with the Most Technologically Advanced Circulation Coin Award for its 25-cent breast cancer coloured circulation coin. This is the second honour earned by this inspirational and innovative circulation coin, which was previously recognized in May 2007 as the “Best New Coin” by the International Association of Currency Affairs.

“The Royal Canadian Mint makes a great effort to be the best Mint in the world and it is immensely rewarding when our efforts are validated by our peers” said Ian E. Bennett, RCM President and CEO. “I welcome this award as the Mint marks its centennial year, and as my fellow employees and I proudly celebrate a century of innovation and achievement.”

The 25-cent breast cancer circulation coin features the iconic pink ribbon, the symbol of hope and awareness in the effort to create a future without breast cancer. Thirty million breast cancer coins entered into circulation beginning on April 1, 2006. These were the second coloured circulation coins to be produced by the Royal Canadian Mint’s Winnipeg facility, following the popular 25-cent poppy coin in the fall of 2004. Considered one of the most innovative mints in the world, the Mint has pioneered and perfected the technology process to apply colour to circulation coins.

About the Mint Directors Conference

The Mint Directors Conference (MDC) was organized for the purpose of exchanging information on all monetary matters and related legal, economic, technical, administrative and numismatic questions of interest to the minting industry. The MDC provides a forum for co-operating on the study of current issues and mutually agreeable solutions. The MDC also promotes study and research into all coin-related matters, including the implications of new means of payment

IRVINE, Calif. – Teletrade, America’s largest fully automated Internet auction company for certified coins and currency, will auction “The Kovach Collection of Period One & Two California Fractional Gold” on Sunday, June 22, 2008, in online Auction 2546. The auction will be live at www.teletrade.com from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. eastern time and will include more than 1,500 certified coin lots. The complete auction catalog will be viewable on the Teletrade website beginning Friday, June 13.

California Fractional Gold has a storied history complete with touches of controversy that only adds to the mystique. The tiny small denomination gold pieces were privately issued during the California Gold Rush economy, hand-struck mostly by entrepreneurial San Francisco jewelers, as a result of the Federal government’s unwillingness to issue sufficient small denomination coinage.

“The Kovach Collection” is listed as the “3rd Finest Set of All Time” on the PCGS Set Registry, retired in June 2007, and Teletrade will auction more than 75 coins from the set in individual lots. The collection represents Period One, struck 1852-1856, and Period Two, struck 1859-1882.

“These tiny coins tell such an intriguing story of California and the Gold Rush, it’s easy to see why collectors of Fractional Gold find them so fascinating,” said Ian Russell, president of Teletrade. “This Registry Set is a tremendous accomplishment, and Teletrade is thrilled to be able to offer these coins to our customers. This collection is truly a part of numismatic history and California history, as well.”

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