CoinWeek News Wire for May 12, 2017

May 12, 2017

While it doesn't affect hard assets such as gold, India and Prime Minister Modi have demonetized the 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes

By Coinweek ….

CoinWeek News Wire for May 12, 2017

Current Events

1.) Indian Demonetization did not impede future black money flows: UN report

The Indian government’s demonetisation measures did not impede future black money flows in new denominations, a UN report said on Monday.

According to UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017, complementary measures to demonetisation would be required to target all forms of undeclared wealth and assets.

As per the report, the disruption caused by demonetisation had “greater and longer-lasting” impacts for lower-income individuals, households and businesses that had difficulty insulating themselves against the shock…

Under the Radar

2.) China to issue commemorative coins for Belt and Road Forum

The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, will issue a set of gold and silver coins on Monday commemorating the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 14 and 15. Consisting of one gold coin and two silver, the set will be legal tender in China, the central bank said in a statement…

Meanwhile in India

3.) Meet the ‘King of Coins’ who has gathered a million of them

Meet ‘King of Coins’ Manish Dhameja, 30, whose huge collection of bi-metallic coins got him the Guinness certificate recently. Dhameja is pursuing PhD in coin and museum management and wants to set up a coin museum…

4.) Indian numismatist hopes to collect every coin minted by RBI

Singh wishes to collect every coin issued by Reserve Bank of India till date in his collection and with every new coin that gets added to his collection, his desire grows stronger. Numerous stories have surfaced recently from around the country related to the coin collection and an increased number of youth showing a special interest in carrying out researches and reading about the history of coins…

Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency

5.) The difference between Bitcoin and blockchain for business

Are Bitcoin and blockchain the same thing? No. However, they are closely related. When Bitcoin was released as open source code, blockchain was wrapped up together with it in the same solution. And since Bitcoin was the first application of blockchain, people often inadvertently used “Bitcoin” to mean blockchain. That’s how the misunderstanding started. Blockchain technology has since been extrapolated for use in other industries, but there is still some lingering confusion…

6.) Bitcoin To Become ‘Just Like Money’ In Australia July 1

Australia has officially confirmed it will treat Bitcoin “just like money” from this year and it will no longer be subject to double taxation.

In its budget summary for 2017-18, the government states that as part of its plan to “make it easier” for digital currency businesses to operate in the country. It will ensure that nowhere in the supply chain is general sales tax (GST) paid more than once…

7.) ISPs Could Damage Bitcoin Ecosystem If They Wanted To

They say this is possible because the Bitcoin network, despite counting thousands of nodes, is largely hosted on a small number of ISPs (networks, Autonomous Systems — AS). For example, 13 ISPs host 30% of the entire Bitcoin network, while 39 ISPs host 50% of the whole Bitcoin mining power…

8.) Japan’s Largest Bank Issues Digital Currency to Employees Ahead of Commercial Rollout

The benefits of a digital currency based on blockchain technology are clear to see. With no clearing agencies or a central authority in a blockchain transaction, banks will see significant cost reductions using the financial technology.

“If MUFG coin is used for overseas remittances, it is estimated that the commission will be cut to less than one-tenth of that of the current cost of several thousand yen per (international) transaction,” read an excerpt from the report….

Crime & Punishment

9.) NCIC Crime Bulletin

From the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC):

Masked Burglars Drive Car into Coin Shop

Springfield, Missouri police are investigating the early morning burglary of R&K Coins. Video shows a vehicle black or blue in color, similar to a Nissan Altima, plowing thru the front door of the shop. Two hooded suspects enter the store and remove thousands of dollars in coins and currency.

A second vehicle was seen at the rear of the shop and described possibly as a white Ford Focus.

The following is a partial list of stolen items:

Complete Short Set of Walkers UNC in Capital holder

Complete Set Franklin Half Dollars UNC in Capital holder

Complete Set Jefferson NIckels UNC in Capital holder

5-10 Gold Commems

10 Confederate Notes AU in Acrylic holders

19th Century Type Set UNC in Capital holder

Stolen/Missing

California

During the last 30 days multiple UPS packages shipped from Redding, California have either been tampered with or stolen.

Shipped to Westmont, IL 4/19/17 Tampered Package Missing (75) British Old King Sovereign

Shipped to Addison, TX 3/6/17 Missing Package

Missing (5) 10 oz Credit Suisse Gold Bars and (20) Platinum Canadian Maple Leaf

Shipped to Addison, TX 3/31/17 Missing Package Missing (3) 100 oz Misc. Silver Bars, (1) 100 oz Royal Canadian Mint Silver Bar and (1) 100 oz Engelhard Silver Bar

Shipped to Decatur, IL 3/27/17 Tampered Package Missing (20) 1 oz Silver Round Saint-Gaudens design

Shipped to Willow Street, PA 4/6/17 Tampered Package Missing (25) 1 oz Canadian Silver Lynx, (100) 1 oz Donald Trump Silver Rounds

Shipped from Redding then went to the UPS hands in Anderson (Redding UPS hub) then to Mather Air (Sacramento) or West Sacramento hub.

California

Two FEDEX packages were stolen/missing two days apart in Southern California. One package contained two coins an 1825 Bust half in AU and an 1885 3 cent nickel business strike with a corrosion spot on the reverse. The second package contained three Johnson Matthey gold kilo bars. The packages may have been stolen/missing in the Pacomia FEDEX facility in the San Fernando Valley.

Any help is appreciated.

Vehicle Burglary

Dealer Gene Dixon was the victim of a vehicle burglary after attending the recent Santa Clara Coin Show. Mr. Dixon left the show and traveled approximately ten miles and stopped at a Denny’s where the incident occurred.The MIlpitas police department is investigating the offense.

Below is a partial list of stolen coins:

2 – $20 St. Gaudens gold coins, PCGS MS64 , 1-1908 No Motto & 1924,26 or28

1 – 1873-S $20 Liberty gold coin, closed 3 UNC, Raw

3 – English Gold sovereigns , 2 – 1887-1893 , 1 – 1893-1901 or vice versa

3 or 4 – 1/10th oz gold eagle , 1 – 1991 & 1 other better date

1 – $20 liberty gold (I think) unknown date

2 -jewelry grade $5 Indian gold coin

1 – 1853 $1 gold – Fake

Several small US gold & $2 1/2

Misc gold bezels

1 – 1862 US note VG-F $1 or 2 or 5, not sure

2 – U.S. trade dollars , proof like dates??

2 – partial Standing Liberty Quarter sets

1918 Lincoln 50c silver commem AU-whizzed

1 – 1921 Alabama 2×2 silver commem XF clean

9 – 1952 Washington Carver silver commems UNC or better

1 – 1835 25c

1 – 2c piece common vf

Box 50 – 100 pieces type coins and silver dollars, misc denomination most bid $40 – $100

Approx. +/- 100 Bulk silver dollars

1 – USS constitution silver medal in bloe box w/COA 4-5oz .999 silver

1 – lewis and clark .925 medal

1 – Kennedy medal .925

1 – Seattle 1962 medal .925

1 – 1897 elongated barber quarter w/solder on back

1 – 1943 elongated mercury dime w/king tut reverse & 2-holes

minor quantity of 90% silver coin, halves

Vehicle Burglary

Detectives with the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a vehicle burglary that occurred immediately after the Georgia Numismatic Association (GNA) show. Two collectors who were attendees at the GNA show left and stopped at a restaurant where their vehicle was burglarized.

Detectives believe the suspects, two black males, may have been in the parking lot of the show and waiting for the victims to leave.

The following is a list of stolen items:

Currency $ 4,200

1913-S Saint Gaudens $20 MS63

Beretta with grimison trace red lazer

Glock

$10 Liberty Coin 1893 MS63

$10 Liberty Coin 1901-S MS63

Morgan Dollars (Value $1,540)

Currency $5,000

2 roller travel bags

Anyone with information contact Detective Jeff Wells with the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, 805 Professional Blvd, P.O. Box 652, Dalton, GA, 30722. Phone: (706) 278-3029. Fax: (706) 226-2757. Email: [email protected].

You may also contact the NCIC’s Doug Davis if you have any questions or information about this or any of the cases above. Call him at (817) 723-7231 or email him at [email protected].

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The Numismatic Crime Information Center is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation. P.O. Box 14080 Arlington, Texas 76094.

www.numismaticcrimes.org

10.) Counterfeit coin minting factory busted in Udaipur, India

In the basement of a house at Ghanerao-ki-Ghati inside the walled city area, a coin minting factory was busted here on Friday. Police has arrested one person Lalit so Gopal Soni who was part of the group which was counterfeiting since July last and had floated coins worth more than 5 lakh rupees in the market.

The accused used steel and mixed metal to mint coins. Most of the coins were supplied to toll booths, grocery stores, petrol pumps, vegetable vendors who always need small change…

11.) Rare coins from China’s Qing dynasty stolen from Rowville home

Knox crime investigation unit Constable Renae Birchall said there were 31 coins in the couple’s collection worth $800 AUD each, a total of $24,800.

But Ms Qian said did not care about the value of the coins as they were sentimental family possessions which she had never thought of selling…

12.) Fake coin racket: 2 cops booked on charges of extortion, corruption

A police inspector, whose team busted a fake coin manufacturing unit in Outer Delhi’s Bawana Industrial Area last year, and his sub-inspector, have been booked on charges of extortion and under the Prevention of Corruption (POC) Act…

13.) Huge haul of historic coins seized during Manchester, England police raid

One of the precious coins dates from 1911 and commemorates the coronation of King George V and H.M. Queen Mary. Another bronze coin marks the construction of RMS Mauretania, built on Merseyside between 1937 and 1939.

The owners can contact DC Stuart Brown on 0161 856 7858 to claim the coins.

Banknote News

14.) Australia’s half-a-million-dollar note

Such a note, dating back to January 1, 1824, will be appearing at the Brisbane Money Expo this weekend, and is expected to go under the hammer for upwards of $495 000 AUD.

It’s only one of two notes still existing, with the other held in Westpac’s archives.

Belinda Downie, the managing director of organisers Coinworks, says she expects ‘bumper crowds’ for the sale of the note.

“It’s a national treasure – a banknote of major historical significance,” she said…

Gold, Bullion & Precious Metals

15.) Osmiridium Coins

“…[T]he only precious metal currency ever made that is protected from counterfeits and fakes by the laws of physics.”

[Extraordinary claim, that. Watch below and decide for yourself. Otherwise, the video is actually entertaining and fairly informative if you’re into the chemical properties of precious metals. —CoinWeek]

16.) The glittering history of Saudi gold

Translated as the Cradle of Gold, Mahd Al-Dhahab was the first gold mine in the modern Saudi Arabia. In 2007, Mahd Al-Dhahab mined and processed approximately 183,425 tons of ore at a grade of 11.1 grams per ton of gold from underground operations, resulting in gold production of approximately 58,256 ounces…

Medals, Tokens & Exonumia

17.) Why this Italian island has revived its ancient currency

On the volcanic island of Ischia, south-west of Naples, an ancient currency is being brought back to life.

“The ‘Pontese’ will be the first real currency of the village itself,” explained Giuseppe Lanfreschi, the president of Ischia’s consortium, as the new coin was unveiled on Saturday.

The coins, which feature designs inspired by the village’s Roman history as a metalworks centre, have a value of 12 euros, but won’t quite be replacing the euro. Instead, thanks to a cultural initiative, residents and visitors will be able to use them as payment for entry at certain historical sights – or they can simply keep them as a souvenir…

Treasure & Archaeology

18.) Unusual Burial Unearthed in Transylvania

City News reports that students from Australian National University unearthed a total of 49 graves dating from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries in a cemetery belonging to Transylvania’s Székely people, who migrated to Transylvania from Hungary in the eleventh or twelfth century. Most of the graves contained one or two small coins with the human remains, but one grave in particular yielded five large coins, which had been placed in the man’s hands…

19.) Secrets of Roman coin hoard to be revealed

A SELECTION of Roman coins from the Bredon Hoard is being displayed at the Broadway Museum and Art Gallery until the end of May.

The hoard was discovered on Bredon Hill, near Pershore, in June 2011 and is the largest ever collection of Roman coins ever discovered in Worcestershire. It dates back to the 3rd century and includes coins from the reigns of 16 different Roman emperors…

20.) Leominster coins hoard returns home to Mr. Treasure

A hoard of 518 Roman coins has been returned to the Treasure family who own the site where it was discovered. The 518 mixed copper coins have gone on display in Herefordshire, where they were found in 2013.

Raymond Treasure said staff initially protected the site by parking a tractor over it and telling people there was “probably an unexploded bomb” there…

21.) Coins from 1066 found in Abergavenny are among UK’s top treasures

A UNIQUE hoard of 199 silver coins found in Abergavenny and dating from 1066-87 have been included in a list of top treasures. The coins had been lost or hidden in a cloth bag and would have represented several months’ pay for most people. Members of the public can vote for their top 20 list of treasures which the public are invited to vote on at telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/mood-and-mind/treasure-20-vote-favourite/…

22.) Jewish refugees’ gold coins dug up in Hackney garden named one of Britain’s best treasure finds

Martin Sulzbacher and his family brought the gold – their life savings – when they settled in Hackney in 1938. Meanwhile, Nazi soldiers were raiding bank vaults in Amsterdam and other invaded cities – so, back in Hackney, Martin’s siblings and parents decided to bury the 160 gold coins in two jars in the garden for safe keeping.

But the house was bombed in 1940 and all five family members died – taking knowledge of the secret location with them…

23.) Rare Anglo Saxon coin found in a farmer’s field at Sheldwich near Faversham could be worth £12,000

The Anglo-Saxon penny, which is more than 1,200-year-old, was found by a car salesman searching for artefacts and treasures in a farmer’s field in Sheldwich.

It bears the name of an early Archbishop of Canterbury and is only the second of its kind known to be in existence…

Upcoming Auctions & Events

24.) Coinage in Imperial Space

On 28th June to 2nd July 2017 the Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University in Cracow, the National Museum in Cracow and the University of Oxford are organizing a conference entitled “Coinage in Imperial Space: Continuity or change from the Acheamenid to Hellenistic kingdoms?”

International experts will investigate and discuss the transition from the monetary practices of the Persian Empire to those of the Macedonian Successor Kingdoms. The point of departure is the second book of the pseudo-Aristotelian Oikonomika, which famously divides economies into four types: Royal (βασιλική), Satrapal (σατραπική), Civic (πολιτική) and Personal (ἰδιωτική). As a theoretical examination of the nature of economies in the ancient Greek world it is all but unique. The administration of coinage, for the author of this treatise, belongs solely in the realm of the King – this presupposition raises a number of questions which scholars specializing in the coinage of particular regions of Greece, Egypt, Near East and beyond as well as economic history will seek to tackle.

World of the Weird

25.) Zoo visitors throw coins, spit on animals for ‘luck’

Many visitors throw one rupee coins on the python housed in the zoo, in the belief that if the coin touches the reptile, it will bring good luck, prosperity and increase in personal wealth. Some others have been seen spitting on crocodiles, gharials and alligators despite instructions on hoardings put up at the enclosures that such conduct would result in fines. The zoo authorities collect coins worth over Rs 100 on a daily basis thrown by visitors into the python’s enclosure…

26.) Don’t Use the New British Fivers to Snort Drugs, Unless You Want to Get ‘Winstoned’

In case you’re not up to date with drug-related slang, getting Winstoned is the hip and happening term for people who snort some cocaine with the plastic fivers and end up cutting their nose in the process.

One anonymous cocaine aficionado told the Metro that the new fivers originally felt like a godsend, because they rolled up a lot better than their paper predecessors. And if you’re sharing with a bunch of people it’s not as big a deal if someone pinches it. But ending up with a cut nose isn’t uncommon, and basically turns the new fiver into something akin to a dirty heroin needle….

[Never thought we’d write the words “cocaine aficionado” in a news item having anything to do with numismatics… —CW]

“Good News, Everyone…”

27.) Love Your Sister: Millions of five-cent coins make big silver heart for Connie Johnson’s ‘final hurrah’

Australia has shown just how big its heart is with thousands of people donating millions of five-cent coins to form a record-breaking silver heart for Connie Johnson’s final cancer fundraiser.

The Big Heart Project is the Canberra mum’s final public event for the charity Love Your Sister, an organisation set up by her gold Logie award-winning brother Samuel Johnson, when Connie was diagnosed with breast cancer…

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