By Coinweek ….
CoinWeek News Wire for September 29, 2017:
Brain Food
1.) Body Armor Made of Old Chinese Coins
The Tlingit believed that the coins would provide protection from bullets. There is some anecdotal evidence that such body armor was in fact effective in a battle with the Russians in the year 1792. According to Russian historical accounts, “bullets were useless against the Tlingit armor”.
Of course, it may have been that the armor was more effective in terms of psychological warfare then in actually providing protection from bullets. Russian smoothbore muskets at the time were notorious for being unreliable and inaccurate…
2.) How Earth’s hellish birth deprived us of silver and gold
Earth should have a lot more gold and silver than it does. These elements are strewn throughout the solar system, but they’re relatively rare here. Now scientists say they think they know why…
Under the Radar
3.) New Sir Isaac Newton coin celebrates 375th anniversary of his birth
A new 50p coin celebrating Sir Isaac Newton can be snapped up by people visiting his birthplace and family home from this week.
Just 375 Sir Isaac Newton 2017 50p circulating coins are being released into tills at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire…
Barr also praised the House’s Monday passage of the legislation on a voice vote, adding that he hopes it will see similar support in the U.S. Senate soon…
Current Events
5.) Man admits Olympic medal theft from Dumfries museum
One of the men accused of stealing a gold medal won by Rhona Martin at the 2002 Winter Olympics has admitted committing the theft. Charlie Walker, 25, pleaded guilty to breaking into Dumfries Museum and taking the medal and other items…
6.) Cashless Society: Is This What An ‘E-krona’ In Sweden Could Look Like?
“If this trend continues, Sweden may, in the not-too-distant future, become a society in which it is no longer possible to pay using cash. This development is unique from an international perspective,” a communiqué from the world’s oldest central bank stated…
7.) Man who leaked Zimbabwe bond coin invoice speaks, ‘I sent invoice to my friend’
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has unmasked the person who leaked photos of a consignment invoice of bond coins destined for Zimbabwe from South Africa this week and has reported the case to police to institute criminal proceedings against the suspect.
Tinashe Sikwila, a 32-year-old Zimbabwean employed as a driver by Prestige Carriers, took pictures of the consignment invoice, which ended up circulating on social media. Prestige Carriers had been contracted by South African Mint.
Banknote News
8.) Australia’s $100 notes: where did they all go?
While cash is sluggish in the legal economy, it is still zooming round in the illicit economy. If you’re on Gumtree trying to sell “party supplies” it’s highly unlikely you’re accepting credit cards for your goods. You take cash and use it to pay suppliers, etc. You are also likely to avoid banking it, so it piles up…
9.) $100 notes: the heart of the black economy?
While the RBA doesn’t have any direct data, its damaged banknote facility has uncovered multiple examples of huge cash piles in excess of $20,000…
10.) Azerbaijan’s Central Bank may issue 200-manat banknotes
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) doesn’t rule out the possibility of issuing banknotes with a face value of 200 manats in the future, Alim Guliyev, first deputy chairman of the CBA, told Trend Sept. 19.
Nevertheless, Guliyev added that at present, there are no such discussions in the government…
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency
11.) Breaking – South Korea Bans Initial Coin Offerings
As reported by regional news sources News1 Korea and JoongAng, the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) decided to ban initial coin offerings during the September 29 meeting of its cryptocurrency task force in Seoul. The purpose of the ban is to protect investors from fraud.
12.) Japan To Launch Their Own Cryptocurrency: The J-Coin
Once launched and adopted, the FT reported that the value that J-Coin could add to the Japanese economy amounts to around $100 million. That will certainly offset some of the already sunk costs of the cash handled in Japan and could certainly stimulate the ease and efficiency of consumers buying goods/services…
13.) First Bitcoinization of a Sovereign State is Happening Now
In recent months, news about Bitcoin being widely purchased and mined in Venezuela has led to a number of rumors regarding the growth and demand of the cryptocurrency there. An interview with Daniel Osorio of Andean Capital Advisors on CNBC indicates that the country may soon ‘Bitcoinize’ completely.
In order to pay for lunch, locals are beginning to accept only Bitcoin or money wires of foreign currencies. The problem, according to Osorio, is that unlike Zimbabwe and other nations where hyperinflation has taken its toll, Venezuela does not have access to enough dollars to manage the economy…
14.) Unverified Rumor Circulating That Amazon May Accept Bitcoin By October
The move would also continue a trend that began with Overstock and has included other enterprise-level tech companies. A recent comment within a Google API tutorial has led many to believe that the online behemoth will also begin accepting Bitcoin within the Google Store, as PayPal and others already do…
15.) Russian Government Seeks Cryptocurrency Researchers, Will Pay 2.5 Million Rubles
The Russian State Duma is holding a tender for a detailed study on the subject of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and initial coin offerings (ICOs). The government will pay the winner 2.5 million rubles out of the federal budget. The deadline for submissions is October 10…
Crime & Punishment
16.) NCIC Crime Bulletin
From the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC):
Stolen Obsolete Notes
The Coweta County, GA Sheriff’s Department is investigating a burglary resulting in the loss of the following Obsolete notes.
- Merchants and Planters Bank $1 (1857) $1 (1859) $2 $3 $5 $10 $20 $50 $100
- Timber Cutters Bank $1 $2 $10 $20 $50
- State of Georgia Bank of Commerce $1 $2 $5 $20
- Farmers and Mechanics Bank $1 $2 $5 $10 $100
- Planters Bank $1
All were in a black binder marked “Currency Album” in gold leaf. All notes were from the 1850, and drawn on Savannah, GA chartered banks.
The victims vehicle was burglarized at a hotel in Newman, Georgia. The victims vehicle was packed with personal belongings due to the hurricane.
Please contact the NCIC’s Doug Davis if you have any questions or information about 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.
17.) Lewis Bennett indicted for stolen coins charges by grand jury
Meanwhile, the investigation into his wife’s disappearance is ongoing…
18.) Six men implicated in counterfeiting ring
The men bleached $1 bills, then scrubbed the ink off the bills before printing a scanned image of real [$20 and $50 bills] onto the bleached money, according to the indictment…
19.) Fake gold coin peddlers held
In April, a city-based man was duped by one Ramesh claiming that an old person found a pot containing 2 kg gold coins in Shimoga and offered to give it to him for 8 lakh. When he got the coins checked with a goldsmith, he found they were fake…
Treasure & Archaeology
20.) Papal seal from 1400s dug up in Shropshire field
The lead seal, found on Saturday by a group of American metal detector enthusiasts, was discovered in Oswestry. It is thought to be one of only nine that have been discovered in the UK. Chris Langston, who arranged the metal detecting holiday, said with a papal seal a person “could literally probably get away with murder” as it acted as a 15th century “get out of jail free card”…
21.) Man finds massive Roman coin hoard on metal detecting weekend
An amateur historian digging in a farmer’s field has told how he found a once-in-a -lifetime hoard of 2000-year-old Roman silver coins – worth up to £200,000.
Mike Smale, 35, found the hoard of 600 rare denarii in a farmer’s field in Bridport while hunting with his pals from the Southern Detectorists club…
Gold, Precious Metals & Bullion
22.) Russian Gold Reserves Grow Again in August
The Russian Central Bank announced last week that its gold reserves had reached 56.1 million troy ounces (approximately 1,745 metric tons). The total included an additional 500,000 ounces (approximately 15.5 metric tons) of gold added in August.
Year to date, the Russian Central Bank has added over 4.2 million ounces or approximately 131 tons of gold to reserves. Over the past two years, Russia has led the world in adding gold to her central bank reserves, ahead of the People’s Bank of China, the central bank that has added the second largest of amount of gold…
23.) India’s Pre-Diwali Gold Buying ‘Halved’ by New AML Rule
GOLD BUYING in the world’s No.2 consumer market of India is running at just half typical September levels according to press reports, with dealers blaming a change to the country’s anti-money laundering rules for weak sales ahead of next month’s peak Diwali festival demand…
24.) Platinum, palladium hit price parity for first time in 16 years
Palladium hit price parity with its better-known sister metal platinum on Wednesday for the first time since 2001, as demand expectations for the two assets diverged.
Both are primarily consumed by automakers for catalytic converter manufacturing, but platinum is more heavily used in the diesel vehicles that have fallen out of favor since 2015’s Volkswagen emissions-rigging scandal…
25.) China to bring back gold in international settlement with new oil futures
So far, globally, the dollar has been a major currency to pay for importing crude oil. China’s plan to import oil with yuan backed by gold would be a game changer as gold would become the de-facto payment standard despite the fact that all contracts might not finally be converted in gold…
Upcoming Auctions & Events
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- Rago Arts and Auction Center Coin & Currency Auction – November 30
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