DANIEL WEBSTER Prince William coin sells out in minutes

It took only 80 minutes to sell out the British Royal Mint's mammoth gold homage to Prince William on his 21st birthday. The mint's gold kilo coins, bearing a 1,000-pound denomination, sold for $24,000 each. It was the highest face value ever on a United Kingdom coin.
A three-coin gold proof set also sold out on announcement.
Silver coins
The mint will now strike silver kilo coins, with a face value of 50 pounds, to sell for $1,150. Both gold and silver coins carry a portrait of the prince, taken from George Bodnar's photographs and sculpted by David Cornell. Both coins carry the older portrait of Queen Elizabeth by Raphael Maklouf.
The Islands of Guernsey and Jersey have also issued birthday coins with different portraits of the prince and Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the queen. A three-coin silver proof set -- for Alderney, Jersey and Guernsey -- is being sold at $139.50. The Alderney uncirculated five-pound silver coin is priced at $16.50.
Queries go to the Mint, 14101 Southcross Dr. West, Burnsville, Minn. 55337, or (800) 221-1215. Internet sales are at www.royalmint.com/shop/productsearch.asp.
Wildlife winners
Another best seller has been the U.S. Mint's National Wildlife Refuge Medal series. The first, a silver eagle, has almost hit its 35,000 production limit. The second silver proof, a salmon, is nearing a sellout, too.
The third medal in the series, an elk, is scheduled to be available Sept. 15. The final medal in the series will show a canvasback duck.
All medals are available in bronze, and remain available even if the silver versions sell out. Queries go to the Mint, Box 382601, Pittsburgh Pa. 15250, or at www.usmint.gov.
Still in business
Reports that Catherine Bullowa's mail-bid sale Oct. 6 will be her last are decidedly premature. The plainspoken owner of the Coinhunter, in Philadelphia, is marking 51 years in the business with the sale, but says she is simply rethinking the way coins can be sold now by small auction houses.
"We're competing with the big guys," Bullowa said, "and many sellers believe the big guys get better prices. They don't, but that's the prevailing idea. This is not my last sale, but maybe the last in this format."
Bullowa is both dealer, as a 51-year member of the American Numismatic Association, and a numismatic scholar, as a board member of the American Numismatic Society.
XDaniel Webster is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.