The December 3rd Coins and Banknotes sale, presented by Bonhams New York, was the first of its kind to be held at the auctioneers’ New York showrooms, numismatics from across the globe eagerly awaited the opportunity to bid on over 400 exceptional lots.

“I am delighted to have been able to organize and hold our inaugural auction at Bonhams New York,” commented Director of Coins and Banknotes, Paul Song. “Although some parts of the rare coin and banknote market were selective, we had areas of incredible strength, most notably in the US gold, where we realized prices never seen before for US regular issue gold coinage of the 19th and 20th century. We look forward to our next auction in the spring of 2010”.

Clearly one of the most coveted lots in the sale was a 1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific Round (pictured, above). Considered one of the most desirable of Classic Era commemorative coins, this is the largest official coin produced by the United States Mint and features the helmeted head of Minerva on the obverse and an owl on the reverse. With an amazingly limited number of defects, both sides are bathed in a shimmering velvet bloom. The rarity and importance of this issue, as well as the beautiful quality, resulted in a final price of $54,990.

Also drawing collectors was an 1851-O $20. Although coined in a large mintage of 315,000 pieces, the vast majority of these disappeared long ago. Only a mere handful exist in high grades, and perhaps just 100 or so are of as fine a quality of the present example. Touching off a round of intense bidding, this fine and seldom found piece drew the impressive price of $12, 285. (more…)

By Doug Winter – RareGoldCoins.com

The 1873 and 1875 gold issues from this mint have received considerable fanfare over the years but I think the Philadelphia gold coinage from 1870 is pretty interesting as well.

Having recently sold a number of high quality 1870 Philadelphia gold pieces, I thought it would be interesting to present an in-depth study of these, going from the dollar all the way up to the double eagle.

Gold Dollars: A total of 6,300 business strikes were produced along with 35 Proofs. This is a reasonably common date in most grades with an estimated 250-300 known. Probably half of (if not more) are in Uncirculated grades and the 1870 gold dollar is almost never seen below About Uncirculated grades, indicating that it did not circulate widely. There are at least two dozen Gems known and a few incredible Superb Gems including a PCGS MS68 and a group of four to six MS67’s. The finest known is Heritage 3/06: 1714 ($18,400), ex Superior 2/05: 3424 ($14,375), Superior 11/03: 1166 ($15,525). Some of the PCGS MS67 pieces include Bass II: 175 and Childs: 567.

The 1870 gold dollar is typically a well produced issue with attractive color and rich soft frosty luster. The natural coloration tends to a medium to deep golden hue. Many are a bit softly struck at the centers and the 87 in the date may not be fully formed.

This is an affordable issue that is good value with decent quality Uncirculated pieces still available for around $1,000. Gems trade in the $4,000-5,000 range and seem like good value. (more…)

This morning Gold has surged again to a record high of over $1130 per oz as safe haven buying and a continuing weak dollar fuel continued demand. But where is gold heading?

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph during a London gold conference, Barrick President Aaron Regent said that one could argue that Earth has reached “peak gold,” as new supplies of the ore are increasingly difficult to find.

“The supply crunch has helped push gold to an all-time high, reaching $1,118 an ounce at one stage yesterday,” the paper noted. “The key driver over recent days has been the move by India’s central bank to soak up half of the gold being sold by the International Monetary Fund. It is the latest sign that the rising powers of Asia and the commodity bloc are growing wary of Western paper money and debt.”

Bloomberg reported that  “The metal seems set to extend higher as record low interest rates, inflation concerns, central-bank purchases and falling mine output draws a broad spectrum of investment demand,” said James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, in a note to clients.

“We are looking to see if the dollar index breaks lower, which could push gold above $1,150 and on towards $1,180,” he said.

Another analyst stared that “This is a different type of gold rally, with support coming from both sides of the market — investment [and] fundamental,” said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at Telvent DTN. “A certain portion of the buying interest has come from the continued weakness of the dollar, but there is more to it than that, there is some ’safe haven’ buying as well, but with copper holding firm and the Baltic Dry Index rallying, the Chinese economy seems to be gaining strength,” boosting investor confidence, he said.

And further confirmation of the  retail demand for gold comes from Laura Sperber in her Baltimore Coin Show Market Report. Sperber observered that”if you had gold, you sold”. ALL gold, was selling briskly. The demand reminded us of 1980″.

Also, news from last week that India had purchased 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF was solid confirmation that demand may be here to stay. The view that central banks will continue to be net buyers of gold rather than net sellers (as has been the case for about the last twenty years) has many calling the Indian purchase at $1,045 an ounce the “new floor” for the gold price.

China has already doubled its gold reserves over the last six years, but the Indian move underscored how even the most traditional investors are shifting a portion of their assets into bullion.

So at this juncture, all indicators seem to point to the continued rise in gold prices, at least for the near term.