Monday, November 24, 2003
Collectors need not work in the dark. Year-end publications summarize market trends and offer precise values for U.S coins, North American coins and other specialized fields.
Among the first available is Coin World's 2004 Guide to U.S. Coins ($7.50 softbound). The new reference summarizes prices realized in auctions through August 2003, as well as current data on mintages. It includes important essays on the Jefferson nickel, the state quartet program and the basics of collecting.
Pride of Portugal
Portugal, whose coins have often celebrated its role in 16th-century discovery voyages, has issued a 10-euro silver coin in the Ibero-American Nautica series. The Spanish Mint has organized the series.
The new coin depicts a caravel in full sail, with an astrolabe navigational instrument and three guiding stars. The Portuguese coat of arms stands on the reverse.
The proof coins, in .925 silver, sell for $85. Uncirculated versions in .500 fine silver are $39.95.
Mail queries to the Coin and Currency Institute, Box 1057, Clifton, N.J. 07014, or call (866) 471-1441. Internet orders can be placed at mailcoin-currency.com.
Large bidding
Philadelphia dealer Catherine Bullowa's "last" mail-bid sale produced some predictable and some not-so-expected prices, largely for U.S. coins and currency.
Star of the sale was the 1781 silver medal celebrating American independence. The obverse bears the profile of Liberty with flowing locks and with the French Liberty cap. The reverse shows Minerva, also French, spearing the British lion, while the infant Hercules strangles two serpents. The designer was French, and American gratitude for French intervention in the Revolution was strong at the time.
The winning bid was $17,600 without the 10 percent buyer's charge.
A $50 gold octagonal slug, struck in 1852 by the U.S. Assay Office, brought a winning bid of $11,000. A 1798 silver dollar sold for $4,000, surpassing the expected price by a third.
The sale caused a stir since it was the 51st annual sale by Bullowa, who said it was her last -- in this form. She's fashioning another venue for next year, perhaps on the Internet.