By Coinweek ….
CoinWeek News Wire for November 23, 2017
Brain Food
1.) Patriotic collectors boost market for ancient Chinese artefacts
Following the fashions to buy western art and classic wristwatches, historical Chinese artefacts are now the must-have item for the country’s wealthy collectors who are snapping up maps, books and other objects that have been in foreign hands for often hundreds of years.
“It’s about the emergence of China,” Mr Stone says. “The government sees art and culture as a key industry. It’s part of the strategy for the development of China.”
2.) Those valuable 1970 quarters are probably not in your couch
A 2016 story from Woman’s World indicated that the auction listed a 1970 U.S. quarter for sale at $35,000. The reason for the steep price? A claim that the rare quarter was one of a possible few made on top of 1941 Canada quarters…
3.) Where have 8,000 Kiwi five-cent coins gone? Into American pockets
During the school holidays, Davidson and her husband flew to her old home town near Seattle in the US state of Washington with the coins in a suitcase that weighted just over 22kgs.
She then mailed them to Green’s address in Indianapolis at a cost of $500, and was reimbursed.
What came next brought her to tears…
Under the Radar
4.) UAE Central Bank to reissue commemorative coin
The UAE Central Bank announced on Wednesday that a commemorative coin that seeks to honour the “Mother of the Nation” will be reissued.
The move is on the occasion of the patronage of Sheikha Fatima Programme for Excellence and Social Creativity, according to state news agency WAM…
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency
5.) Bitcoin Is the New Crisis Currency
Zimbabwe, where the price of bitcoin spiked to double the international rate after this week’s military takeover, shows Jamie Dimon, Axel Weber and other cryptocurrency skeptics where the real-world use of bitcoin, and possibly its future, lies. It’s becoming the preferred way for residents of failing economies to transfer money without dealing with banks, protecting their savings from political turmoil, and avoiding the local currency when its value declines due to inflation…
6.) The rise of Bitcoin doesn’t mean the end of banks. Here’s why
The blockchain does not create or eliminate trust. It merely converts trust from one form to another. While we previously had to trust financial institutions to verify transactions, with the blockchain we have to trust the technology itself…
7.) Russia Will ‘Never’ Consider Bitcoin Legalization, Says Minister
According to state-owned news service TASS, Nikolai Nikiforov stated: “Bitcoin is a foreign project for using blockchain technology, the Russian law will never consider bitcoin as a legal entity in the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.”
However, Nikiforov added that it is “quite possible” that Russia could consider using blockchain technology, as well as various digital tokens. However he did not provide any context in which the technology might be utilized…
8.) Bitcoin is about to grow even bigger, using your money (and you won’t even know it)
A survey of institutional investors (the groups that control massive pools of money such as pensions and retirement funds) found that 31 percent have already bought some bitcoin and another 36 percent are considering an investment…
Crime & Punishment
9.) NCIC Crime Bulletin
From the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC):
Suspect Photo Coin Show Thefts
The Macomb College Police Department in Michigan is investigating a theft at a recent show held on their campus facility.The individual pictured to the right is a person of interest in purchasing small inexpensive coins and then palming expensive coins. He has targeted one dealer at three different shows in 2017. The incidents occurred at the Macomb College show, Grandville show and East Lansing show.
Anyone with information should contact Sergeant Anthony Greene, Macomb College Police
South Campus, K-340, at (586) 445-7136 or [email protected].
Assistance Needed
The Numismatic Crime Information Center on behalf of law enforcement is looking for anyone who has done business with an individual identified as Ken Shearn.
Please contact the NCIC’s Doug Davis if you have any questions or information about any of the cases above. You can reach 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.
10.) Twin Brothers Captured After Costa Mesa Burglary, Chase
Officers responded to the shop after the brothers had driven away in a car, police said. An officer spotted the suspects’ fleeing vehicle at 19th Street and Newport Boulevard, and a chase ensued. The men led officers onto the eastbound 55 Freeway, then stopped the car, jumped out and ran off the roadway and across a drainage ditch…
Counterfeit Cavalcade
11.) Police Warning Residents About Counterfeit Money in Mississauga
Peel Regional Police have released a statement saying that there has been a “significant increase” in counterfeit Canadian $100 bills across the Region of Peel. There have been over 30 occurrences in Brampton and Mississauga over the last month involving the currency being passed during food delivery and through retail businesses…
12.) Fake Rs 2,000 notes seized: Here’s how similar they are to real currency
The Delhi police seized 330 fake notes in denomination of Rs 2,000 after a tipoff. The counterfeits had most of the security features of the new currency notes…
13.) U.S. Hits Iranian Firms With Sanctions Over Counterfeiting Yemeni Banknotes
The U.S. Treasury Department says it is imposing sanctions on four companies and two individuals for counterfeiting Yemeni currency worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)…
Banknote News
14.) Kenya allowed to tender for new look currency
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) can now go ahead and open tenders for printing of the new look Kenyan currency, which shall not bear the portrait of any individual…
15.) First world banknote issued with new security design made in America
[Crane Currency’s] first banknote with the new anti-counterfeiting feature was printed as a commemorative banknote issued by the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan. It is also the country’s first currency printed in vertical orientation rather than horizontal…
16.) General Aung San one step closer to banknotes revival with Myanmar vote
Aung San, Burma’s independence hero, the father of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and founder of the country’s modern-day armed forces, was once printed on several denominations of the Burmese kyat, but his image was phased out by the former military junta decades ago…
17.) Signs of the times: Why can’t Treasury Secretaries Steve Mnuchin and Jack Lew write properly?
They don’t teach cursive in New York schools much nowadays, but they used to. So why can’t Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a grad of Riverdale Country Day in the Bronx, sign his name on the currency? Instead he neatly printed each letter on the money…
Gold, Precious Metals & Bullion
18.) Gujarat Poll Blues: Muted gold demand this wedding season
Demand for gold is set to remain subdued this wedding season as restrictions on cash movement in Gujarat due to the ensuing assembly election and the impact of GST have slowed down consumption of the yellow metal…
19.) Electric Vehicles to result in large platinum and palladium price declines
The electrification of transport will have a big impact on specific industries and commodity markets during the next couple of decades…
20.) Mysterious Turk At Center Of “Secret Gold” Trade With Iran, Vanishes From Federal Jail
Zarrab – the gold trader accused of helping Iran evade sanctions – invoked the name of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as part of a scheme that U.S. prosecutors say was supported by Turkey’s government, according to court documents…
Red Kettle Report
21.) First gold coin arrives in Salvation Army’s red kettle in Naperville
As the Salvation Army’s traditional red kettle bell ringing has just begun, organizers announced in a news release that it has received a gold coin and a silver bar in the kettle at Casey’s Foods…
Metal Detecting, Treasure & Archaeology
22.) ‘Exceptional’ medieval treasure trove unearthed at abbey in France
The medieval loot included 2,200 deniers (or pieces of silver) mostly issued by Cluny Abbey itself as well as 21 gold dinar coins, originally from the Middle East which were stored in a canvas bag…
The coin, minted during the doomed reign of King Richard III, is one of only a handful still in existence. Experts speculate the gold coin may have been dropped by one of Richard’s soldiers fleeing the pivotal Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.
The half angel was a gold coin roughly two centimetres in diameter and weighing just under three grams. It was introduced in 1472 during the reign of King Edward IV…
Museums & Exhibits
24.) Money Through the Ages: A Walk Through Japan’s Currency Museum
The basis of the museum’s exhibition is the Seｍpeikan Collection, which was gathered over many decades by renowned numismatist Tanaka Keibun (1884–1956). Tanaka collected historically important examples of currency from Japan and across East Asia, with a particular emphasis on China. The collection was held at the Seｍpeikan museum, but was donated to the Bank of Japan in 1944 toward the closing days of World War II to ensure its safety.
The museum occupies part of the bank’s premises in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo, the same spot where the kinza, or gold mint, stood in the Edo period (1603–1867). Here gold coins were created until the closing days of the shōgunate. Not far away is the Ginza district, which takes its name from the mint for silver coins established here in 1612, but is today the city’s swankest shopping area…
Upcoming Auctions & Events
- Pandolfini Auction 2 – November 28
- Rago Arts and Auction Center Coin & Currency Auction – November 30
- MDC Monaco Numismatic Auction III – December 1
- Editions V. Gadoury Annual Auction – December 2
- Naville Numismatics Live Auction 36
- Stack’s Bowers December Collectors Choice Online Auction – December 13
Just for Fun
25.) Artist Hand-Engraves Incredible Gold Bug Coin with Mechanical Wings
Russian artist Roman Booteen is a modern master in the art of the hobo nickel–a term used to describe the 18th century sculptural art form of hand-engraving coins. His latest extraordinary piece, entitled Gold Bug, was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s short story… It features a central beetle motif with a tailored mechanism that allows its wings to open and close, revealing and concealing its 22K gold body…
World of the Weird
The notorious case of the mysterious plane hijacker known as D.B. Cooper just took another curious turn, which has some saying the anonymous criminal who parachuted out of a plane with $200,000 in stolen cash could still be alive.
A new letter that was signed by Cooper was recently made public for the first time in a freedom of information lawsuit, in reference to the 1971 hijacking and the FBI’s investigation into that now cold case…
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