Coin Collecting News

A chest of antique coins worth up to £300,000 was stolen by a gang in a sting on two auctioneers as they drove away from a exhibition centre.

Experts fear that the collection, which featured two gold coins of priceless historical value, could have been melted down. One of the coins can be dated back to 1826 and was worth up to £35,000.

The gang of about six men and two women targeted two men from Dix Noonan Webb, the auctioneer, in South Kensington, London, when the coins had been displayed at Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre. It is believed that the gang sabotaged the men’s car and followed them from the centre. Continued

By Doug Winter - www.Raregoldcoins.com CoinLink Content Partner

I was recently having a conversation with a long-time client about coin investing and our discussion turned to one of Winter Laws of Numismatics. Which basically says that the typical coin investor almost never makes money while the typical collector, often in spite of himself, tends to do just fine from a financial standpoint.

At DWN, I tend to regard “investing” with a raised eyebrow. If someone who I do not know calls me up out of the blue and starts talking about coin investment, I give him a lecture which basically states that coins are not good investments and that if he insists on looking at coins strictly as investments, he probably should be dealing with XYZ Coins instead of my firm.

But this isn’t totally true. Coins CAN be a good investment. Let’s say that as a knowledgeable collector you went to the Pittman sale in 1997 and spent $50,000 on some nice lots. The chances are pretty good that you would have done just fine from a financial standpoint. Continued

For the last several days there have been a plethora of comments posted on the numismatic forums concerning ANACS, the oldest third party coin grading service, having shut down its offices in Austin, Texas. As information trickled in from various sources we are just starting to get a clearer picture of the events that transpired.

The following notice has been posted on the ANACS Website:

“ANACS has recently been sold by Anderson Press Incorporated to Driving Force, LLC, of Colorado, owned by James Taylor. The purchase was effective December 21, 2007, and the company is being relocated to suburban Denver, Colorado.

The office is currently closed for the holidays to allow time for the move. The order tracking system along with the population report are currently down for the holidays and should be available again January 4, 2008. “

The notice goes on to state:

“Business will resume and submissions will begin to ship out January 2, 2008. If there are any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Mr. Taylor at: James.Taylor@anacs.com The new ANACS office will be located at: 6555 S. Kenton St, Suite 303 Englewood, CO 80112 1-800-888-1861 “

However the story is a bit more interesting than the rather benign announcement posted.

There was a posting on the PCGS forum attributed to Mike Ellis, a now former authenticator and grader at ANACS. He is quoted as saying: Continued

Laura Sperber of Legend Numismatics, a Monmouth County coin dealer, sells some of the rarest — and most expensive — coins ever to hit the market. How about $5 million for a nickel?

In 1976, Laura Sperber’s eyes were drawn to a 1913 “Liberty Head” nickel, one of the rarest of coins, at a New York City coin show.

“To me, that was, wow, the Holy Grail,” said Sperber, now 48. “They let me hold it, and right then and there that forever changed me. It was the coolest thing and I just knew I had to be a coin dealer.”

Years later, in 2003, Sperber, a partner in Legend Numismatics Inc., would buy that same coin for about $1.8 million and sell it it a year later for $2.5 million. “At that point, my dreams were fulfilled. I did it.”

It was just the start. Sperber bought a second 1913 Liberty Head (there are only five in existence and two are in museums) in 2005 for $4.15 million and sold it earlier this year for $5 million. At the time, it was the second-highest price ever paid for a coin, she said. Read Full Article