By Coinweek ….
CoinWeek News Wire for May 19, 2017
Brain Food
1.) Defacing coins like a suffragette
Have you ever tried to get into the mind of a suffragette? British Museum curator Tom Hockenhull has… and not in the way you might expect from a numismatist…
The Future Is Now
2.) How the Royal Canadian Mint Is Giving Foreign Producers a Run for Their Money
It’s the first time the Mint has added fluorescence to a circulation coin – they estimate about one in 10 Canadians will hold one of these when they’re out in the wild – and, believe it or not, it’s the institution’s latest innovation in a global chase for security, durability and profit…
Current Events
3.) China and Taiwan’s monetary mix-up continues
China’s 2016 minted RMB¥5 commemorative coin continues to be mistaken as Taiwan’s NT$50 coin due to similar appearance.
Travelers continue to mix-up the RMB¥5 commemorative coin with a NT$50 coin when in Taiwan. Both coins have a similar gold color, composition, and portrait of Sun Yat-sen on one side…
4.) Italy mulls plan to scrap one- and two-cent coins
Italy’s ruling Democratic Party on Monday unveiled a proposal to get rid of one- and two-cent coins from 2018 onwards.
Scrapping the small change would amount to savings of €20,000 each year, said the party’s Head of Innovation Sergio Boccadutri, who proposed the measure as a budgetary amendment.
According to the MP, each one-cent coin costs 4.2 cents to manufacture, while a two-cent coin costs 5.2 cents…
5.) Bank of Jamaica Expects To Ease Coin Shortage Next Month
The Senior Deputy BOJ Governor explained that many Jamaicans have stopped visiting the central bank to convert coins to notes.
He admitted that BOJ will have to bear additional costs to ease the coin shortage.
PAAC member Fitz Jackson argued that the change in behaviour by Jamaicans may have been influenced by the imposition of limits and fees by banks and other financial institutions to exchange coins for notes…
Under the Radar
6.) Royal Mint restocks limited edition Peter Rabbit 50p coins
The Royal Mint has restocked its limited edition Peter Rabbit collectible 50p coin.
As it is special edition, stock is limited. Back in April 30,000 of the coins were released but they sold out within a day. The coin was so popular when it was first released in April, that the website crashed due to popular demand…
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency
7.) Bitcoin Is An Asset, Not A Currency
Is Bitcoin the currency of the future? No. There are two big problems with bitcoin as a currency: its value is unstable and its transaction processing is too slow…
8.) Bitcoin Grinds to a Halt as 200,000 Transactions Get Stuck
Bitcoin’s transaction space measured in bytes is limited for every ten minutes and can handle less than a floppy disk could 30 years ago. Demand, however, has clearly increased considerably as shown by a recent near doubling in price…
9.) Hardly Anyone Paying the Hackers? Because Using Bitcoin Is Hard
An unprecedented cyberattack swept across the globe over the weekend, but so far the majority of victims haven’t paid hackers a ransom.
After the ransomware began infecting users on Friday, they were given 72 hours to pay $300 in bitcoin — chosen by the hackers because the crypto currency is harder to track than conventional payments — or pay twice as much. If they refused to pay after seven days, their computer would be permanently locked — a serious problem for those who haven’t backed up their data.
As of early Monday, only about $50,000 had been paid in ransoms…
10.) What you need to know about bitcoin after the WannaCry ransomware attack
Bitcoin has certainly gained prominence in the news media as a technology that can facilitate crime. But even though the identities of people in a bitcoin transaction may be hidden, the public ledger has increasingly helped law enforcement trace the movement of bitcoins from place to place.
The Justice Department has successfully prosecuted online criminal operations that used bitcoin. In 2013, the government arrested Ross Ulbricht, the founder of a major underground drug market [Silk Road —CoinWeek], and seized more than $3.5 million worth of bitcoin. Two undercover FBI agents associated with the investigation were later accused of stealing some of that currency…
Crime & Punishment
11.) 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.
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].
USPS Loss
Registered Package stolen/lost from Baltimore PO Zip 21210 on or about 4/3/17.
The following coins were inside the package:
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].
* * *
The Numismatic Crime Information Center is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation. P.O. Box 14080 Arlington, Texas 76094.
12.) Turkish Police Finds 553 Byzantine Coins in a Taxi
Police officers arrested a suspicious taxi at Istanbul’s main bus terminal in the Bayrampasa district and after searching the vehicle they found the bag with Roman and Byzantine coins as well as four rosaries and three colored stones which belong to the same periods.
Later, another search was carried out in a shop belonging to the passenger where two ceramic plates were seized, 50 cylindrical seals of different sizes and colors, five metal rings, two metal seals, five coins, five metal objects and a cross.
The arrested shopkeeper was released pending an investigation, charged of ‘violating the law on the protection of cultural and natural properties.’
13.) Allentown man steals $11,500 bag of gold from North Whitehall shop, police say
An Allentown man stole a pound of 14-karat gold worth $11,500 Wednesday afternoon from a North Whitehall Township coin shop, police said.
Miguel A. Velez, 36, was arrested in Allentown and charged with the crime less than two hours later and then re-arrested after he escaped … with his arms handcuffed behind him, police said…
14.) 2 travelers held with 784 grams gold at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
Customs officials at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport nabbed two air passengers and seized 784 grams of gold worth Rs 22.50 lakh from their possession in two different cases. The passengers were smuggling gold in the form of kadas (bangles)…
According to authorities, based on a tip off, officials from the Air Intelligence Unit at Shamshabad intercepted the flyers.
15.) The Downfall of an Ancient Coin Dealer Who Defrauded Customers of Millions and Lost a Bronze Head
Most of Freeman’s peers and customers felt this way, which is why they were so surprised when rumors about him began to circulate, citing missing coins, bounced checks, cheated customers, some sort of Ponzi scheme. Then there’s the mystery of what happened to the head of the Roman Lucius Aelius Verus, a larger-than-life bronze head depicting the adopted son of Emperor Hadrian and the father of Co-Emperor Lucius Verus…
They found the chunk of gold at the bottom of the pit after stopping for a barbecue near the site following an unsuccessful prospecting trip.
Police discovered the theft after the men subsequently attempted to sell the gold on Facebook and posted a photograph of themselves posing with their find…
Banknote News
17.) UAE dirham to celebrate 44 years
Prior to the introduction of UAE dirham, the region used several currencies including the Indian rupee, the Gulf rupee, the Qatari riyal, Dubai riyal and Bahraini dinar (used in Abu Dhabi) during different phases.
The 1973 born banknotes began their journey in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100, displaying the watermark of an Arabian horse – which was later changed to falcon, the national bird of UAE.
In December 1980, when the UAE Currency Board was replaced by UAE Central Bank, the notes issued by Currency Board were slowly withdrawn from circulation. At the back of all the denominations, the names of the seven emirates were also removed and new notes with different designs and colours were introduced…
18.) ‘Sharing Details of Paper Import for Rs 500, 2000 Notes to Affect India’s Sovereignty’
Sharing particulars about the import of paper for printing of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes would affect India’s sovereignty and may lead to incitement of an offense, a RBI-owned bank note printing company has said.
The refusal of information assumes importance as a media report has alleged that the paper for printing the newly introduced currency papers was imported from a blacklisted firm…
Gold, Precious Metals & Bullion
19.) Gold Pool at the BIS Basle, Switzerland: Part 1
The discussions and meetings about a new Gold Pool in 1979 and 1980 and beyond which are detailed below, occurred at the highest levels in the central banking world and involved the world’s most powerful central bankers, some of whose names will be familiar to readers. The aim of these central bank discussions and meetings was to reach agreement on joint central bank action to subdue and manipulate the free market gold price in the early 1980s. Many of these collusive meetings were private meetings between a handful of Group of 10 (G10) central bank governors, and took place in the actual office of the president of the Bank of International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland…
20.) Royal Mint launches first ever platinum products
In what is potentially a powerful measure to boost platinum demand, the 1,000-year-old organization has launched 500 g and kilo platinum bars as investment-grade precious metal…
21.) Commerzbank to close physical precious metals business
Commerzbank is to close its physical precious metals business in the next year, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
The businesses that will be discontinued by Germany’s second-biggest listed bank include physical precious metals trading and related services, the source said…
22.) PAPER vs. PHYSICAL: The Amazing Amount Of Leverage In The Silver Market
[A]n amazing $9.8 trillion of notional gold paper trading took place on the world’s exchanges in 2016 versus $42 billion in actual physical gold investment. This was a paper to physical ratio of 233 to 1.
However, the amount of paper trading leverage in the silver market is much higher than that…
The schemes were launched in November 2015 to capture that part of gold bought for investment purposes, and thereby cause a reduction in demand for physical holdings. But after poor response, the government significantly scaled back its target for gold bonds this year. The IIM-A centre surveyed 1,000 individuals and found that just five knew about the government-sponsored gold schemes…
Treasure & Archaeology
24.) 435 ancient coins found in Malavalli taluk
A total of 435 ancient coins were found during excavation works under way for the construction of a house in Banasamudra of Malavalli taluk in the district on Wednesday…
25.) New convention targets illegal antiquities dealers
[Cyprus] Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said the Council of Europe’s Nicosia Convention is the first to criminalize the theft and destruction of cultural property. A key clause of the convention puts the burden of proof on buyers to demonstrate that a purchased item wasn’t illicitly obtained…
26.) Metal detector fans help solve riddle of Wally’s badge find
Mr Harvey said he runs detecting events for a group called the ’Metal Detectives’ and in a subsequent email he wrote:
“The unit would have been active around the c1800 period. There is a mention of them in a book, ’The Local Militia Paymaster; Or Military Friend’, written by Capt George Thomas in 1812 and also in a newspaper article of 1809. Regarding its use, I believe it was more likely used as a shoulder belt plate than [a badge on] a hat.”
27.) Meet Digger Dan – The Man Metal-Detecting His Way Across the U.K.
Yorkshire-bred YouTuber Deep Digger Dan has been making metal-detecting videos since 2012. He’s part metal detectorist, part tour guide, part comedian. Right now, he’s in the midst of an ambitious challenge: metal-detecting his way through the entire coastline of Britain. He’s dubbed the journey Digging the Coast and his goal is to metal detect 365 beaches in 365 days. And he’s raising money for charity…
Upcoming Auctions & Events
- MDC Numismatic Auctions Napoleon III Auction – May 20
- InAsta Auction 68 – May 23
- Numismatik Lanz Auction 164 – May 23
- Numismatica Ars Classica Auctions 99 & 100 – May 29-30
- FINA (Fontes Inediti Numismaticae Antiquae) Conference, Rome – May 31-June 1
- Karamitsos International Live Auction 588 – June 4
- V.L. Nummus Auction 6 – June 11
Museums & Exhibits
28.) Lymington’s St Barbe Museum wins national award after success of campaign launched by Dan Snow
As reported in the Daily Echo, the coins were found buried in a field at Warborne Farm, Boldre, in 2014. The coins are worth about £7,500. The oldest is thought to have been struck as far back as AD 249 under the emperor Trebonianus Gallus.
They were taken to the British Museum and declared archaeological treasure by a coroner. The museum wanted to retain some of the rarer artefacts but St Barbe was determined to keep the collection intact and put it on display.
However, St Barbe needed to raise tens of thousands of pounds to buy the hoard, carry out vital restoration work and build a secure display area…
World of the Weird
29.) 6 of the craziest things the filthy rich have covered in gold
Brian Williams, better known as the rapper Birdman, has embellished even the most mundane of spaces with the precious metal: In his bathroom sits a solid gold toilet worth $1 million…
Ms Mesic, a Croatian artist now based in the Netherlands, had the coins leftover from an art installation and was struggling to find a way to transport them back to the Netherlands.
“I suggested putting them by the river as a joke one night over a drink and she genuinely started contemplating it,” explained Mr McMurran.
“It was completely spontaneous and we had no idea what would happen. Some of the footage is absolute hilarious, that one guy who stood in the coins is magical.”
“Good News, Everyone…”
31.) So how did they move more than 6 million coins from Connie’s Big Heart Project?
…[T]here were more than six million five cent pieces to pick up. Just on 6,034,160 coins, to be exact. A bit tougher than scrambling for the shrapnel that’s fallen behind the couch.
Industrial vacuum cleaners, shovels and good, old-fashioned brooms were used by the LYS volunteers as well as police, fire brigade, State Emergency Service, ACT ambulance service, and rural fire brigade personnel to collect and load the coins into drums.
The security firm Prosegur is counting the coins with help from as many as 15 volunteers from Bendigo Bank. It’s expected to take a couple of weeks…
Just for Fun
32.) British TV Show Detectorists reviewed by an actual metal detectorist
For the first time ever a TV show has captured the true UK detecting experience – good and bad. What does it get right about the hobby? Everything, it’s just like being there in person. Talking rubbish and finding rubbish while enjoying the great outdoors is a part of the detectorist’s everyday life.
The Danebury metal detecting club is truly cringe-worthy and makes me smile every time I see the ‘finds’ table…
* * *
Follow CoinWeek on 
and 
— Subscribe to CoinWeek’s YouTube channel.
America the Beautiful Quarters 5 oz Silver Coins Currently Available on eBay
[wpebayads]
