By Coinweek ….
CoinWeek News Wire for December 29, 2017
Brain Food
1.) The economics of the Bitcoin payment system
Unlike other payment systems, Bitcoin is a two-sided platform with pre-specified rules. Its two main constituencies are the users who hold balances and engage in electronic transactions, and miners who maintain the system’s infrastructure.
A simplified description of the system is as follows…
2.) Saviour of ancient Telugu coins
Venkatesh Kandula, a numismatist, who has collected more than 1,800 rare ancient Telugu coins, shares his journey…
3.) The Greek Custom of Vasilopita and the Lucky Coin for the New Year
The Bishop called all deacons and his assistants and told them to knead buns and put pieces of gold in each one. When they were ready, Basil the Great distributed the bread to all inhabitants of the city of Caesarea. In the beginning everyone was surprised, but then they were even more surprised when every family that cut the buns found pieces of gold inside. It was a special piece of bread, one that brought people joy and blessings together.
Since then, the Vasilopita has become a Christian tradition, where on the first day of the New Year, Saint Basil’s Day, the faithful cut the bread hoping to find the coin that is said to bring them blessings throughout the whole year…
Under the Radar
4.) Bulgarian National Bank to issue commemorative coin for EU Presidency
The Bulgarian National Bank intends to leave its mark on Bulgaria’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union as well. In will issue a shiny silver coin with partial gold plating, which will carry the logo of the Presidency on one side.
It will show the logo of the Bulgarian National Bank, along with the year of its foundation, 1879, on the other side.
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency
5.) An Islamic Perspective on Bitcoin
Bitcoin can be used for real-world transactions as it has the ability to serve as a medium of exchange and unit of account. Bitcoin must fulfil the two remaining functions that consists the store of value and intrinsic value to qualify as a form of legal money in Islam. Bitcoin can function as a store of value only when it is inflation proof…
6.) Ethereum founder threatens to leave if crypto community doesn’t grow up
Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, thinks crypto is heading in the wrong direction…
7.) Washington Is Trying to Regulate Bitcoin. These People Are Trying to Stop It
Their top targets include a Senate bill that would include digital currency in an update of money-laundering laws, requiring more entities to police potentially illicit transactions. Some advocates are also backing a House bill that would exempt crypto transactions of up to $600 from capital-gains tax reporting…
8.) Bitcoin Not a Threat to Financial Systems, Says US Chief Financial Regulator
In its 152-page report, the FSOC stated that virtual currencies are only utilized by a very small number of consumers and their underlying Blockchain technology offers potential in various industrial applications…
Crime & Punishment
9.) NCIC Crime Bulletin
From the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC):
Stolen Currency
A USPS package being sent from Tennessee to Southern California was delivered ripped open and contents removed.
The following notes were stolen:
- $5 1928B Legal Tender DA block PCGS 65PPQ s/n D97067180A
- $2 1953A Legal Tender *A block PMG 66EPQ s/n *03345352A
- $1 1899 Silver Certificate PMG 53 s/n K23758473K
- $10 1934 Federal Reserve Note Philadelphia LGS PMG 64EPQ s/n C16686658A
- $10 1934D Silver Certificate Wide, BA block PMG 64 s/n B39206882A
- $100 1862 Confederate PMG 64EPQ s/n 47158
- $20 1914 Federal Reserve Note Minneapolis PMG 35 s/n I5064074A
- $20 1950B Federal Reserve Note GB block PMG 67EPQ s/n G84598342B
- $1 1935A North Africa IC block PCGS 67PPQ s/n I36067096C
- $1 1918 FRBN Boston PMG 55 s/n A3631851
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].
Matching Grant Campaign
In 2017 the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC) fielded over 1,000 phone calls and emails from dealers, collectors and law enforcement. Over 115 cases were reported to NCIC with numismatic losses exceeding 2.1 million dollars. NCIC participated in 52 cases and provided investigative strategies to law enforcement on the remaining investigations. These efforts resulted in the recovery of over $300,000.
We will continue our educational initiatives in 2018 by providing free training to law enforcement across the country on “Investigating Numismatic Crimes”. These classes provide officers with the basic tools and resources to effectively investigate a numismatic crime.
An anonymous dealer will match up to $2,500 in a matching grant campaign until January 1, 2018. If you would like to donate go to www.numismaticcrimes.org or send to P.O. Box 14080 Arlington, Texas 76094
Have a Safe and Happy New Year!!
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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.) Coin store robbery suspect headed to trial
[David T.] Bobe and Michael A. Rodenizer, 38 of Berwick, are charged with felony robbery, conspiracy and aggravated assault for the Sept. 25 assault on Robert Sterner and the theft of about $75,000 worth of gold bars, coins and currency from his business, Sterner’s Coin Shop…
11.) $1.5m Perth Mint gold seized in US fraud case
More than $1.5 million in Perth Mint gold has been handed to US authorities after its owner, a Texan man, was jailed for 40 years for a fraud that netted millions of dollars.
Matthew Norman Simpson, 34, was chief executive of an internet provider in Dallas until an FBI raid in 2009 named him as an alleged conspirator in a “massive cybercrime conspiracy”.
12.) Barrie police warn of fake gold bars sold online
According to a Canadian Press story … Barrie Police “say the bars appear to be real at first glance and are professionally packed and bear a stamp resembling the Perth Mint or the Royal Canadian Mint.” However, testing has shown the bars are nothing more than copper plated with gold…
Banknote News
13.) Fake $100 bills circulating in Canada
Police in the Greater Toronto Area are warning retailers that ’tis the season for counterfeit currency and that they should keep an eye out for fake $100 bills.
In Peel Region, police said they’ve received about 50 reports of counterfeit $100 bills since November. Police in Durham Region said they received 17 reports of fake $100 bills from Oct. 1 to Dec. 10…
14.) Swiss National Bank buys majority stake in bank note materials maker
The Swiss National Bank said it was buying a majority stake in a maker of materials for banknotes and passports – to safeguard production and prevent its new bank notes running out.
The central bank said it was acquiring a 90 percent stake in Landqart AG after the company – which makes substrates used in the new 10 franc note – got into financial difficulties…
Medals, Tokens & Exonumia
15.) Wooden coin program a good way to help panhandlers
Instead of giving money to those inhabiting the streets, you were able to purchase wooden coins that the receiver may cash in at any supermarket or consignment store for food, water, or toiletries, but could not be used for possibly harmful alternatives. The people buying the coins could be ensured that they were helping and not harming the receiver…
16.) Victoria Cross medal thief Ronnie Van Wakeren granted parole
Ten years ago the National Army Museum at Waiouru was hit with a burglary in which 96 medals were stolen, including nine Victoria Cross medals.
Ronnie Van Wakeren and James Kapa were convicted for the theft – the former getting 12 years and three months prison and the latter 13 years three months inside…
17.) It’s ‘very gold’: The presidential coin undergoes a Trumpian makeover
The presidential seal has been replaced by an eagle bearing President Trump’s signature. The eagle’s head faces right, not left, as on the seal. The 13 arrows representing the original states have disappeared. And the national motto, “E pluribus unum” — a Latin phrase that means “Out of many, one” — is gone.
Instead, both sides of the coin feature Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Metal Detecting, Treasure & Archaeology
18.) Celtic coins found in field could be next major hoard
Metal detectorists John Quemard (43) and his 16-year-old son Bradley have found 27 Celtic coins buried in a field in an undisclosed location. The coins are more than 2,000 years old.
Experts say they belong to the Coriosolitae tribe and are the same type of coins found in a field in Grouville in 2012. That discovery by Reg Mead and Richard Miles is the world’s largest coin hoard and is estimated to be worth millions of pounds…
19.) The tense truce between detectorists and archaeologists
Archaeologists primarily value information about the past. Objects are important, but only within their archaeological context – their relationship to structures, deposits and the full range of finds – contributing to the wider understanding of a site or landscape. For metal detectorists, the primarily focus is the objects themselves, the collection of which by detectorists divorces an object from most of the information which makes it valuable to an archaeologist…
20.) The ‘Titanic of the Pacific’ harboured gold then oil in threat to Hauraki Gulf
New efforts are under way to convince government to salvage a massive quantity of oil trapped inside a shipwreck in one of New Zealand’s most treasured marine environments.
If successful, it will be a return to the wreck which sank in 1940 with half a billion dollars worth of gold on board…
Upcoming Auctions & Events
- Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) Triton XXI Auction – January 9-10
- Goldberg Auctioneers New York Sale (Auctions XLII, XLIII, XLIV) – January 9-11
- Stack’s Bowers Galleries 2018 NYINC Auction – January 11-13
“Good News, Everyone…”
21.) Coin collection found during renovation of home
A lucky discovery of a stash of coins, and a pin from a century ago, has allowed them to be reunited with their intended owners, years after the family left their Maple Ridge home…
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