ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

1794 silver dollar sells for a record $7.85 million

LOS ANGELES

What may be America’s oldest silver dollar has become the world’s most expensive coin, with its owner saying it changed hands in a private transaction between coin collectors for nearly $8 million.

Steven L. Contursi, who has owned the mint-condition 1794 Liberty dollar for the past seven years, confirmed Thursday he had sold it to the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation of Sunnyvale for $7.85 million.

The previous record price paid for a coin was $7.5 million for a U.S.-minted 1933 $20 gold piece, according to the American Numismatic Association.

Numismatics expert say the 1794 coin, if not the first U.S. silver dollar ever minted, is clearly the first of the approximately 150 still in existence.

ND man charged with fraud after fairy-tale wedding

FARGO, N.D.

Prosecutors say the marriage of a couple at Fairy Tale Weddings in North Dakota was a fairy-tale fraud.

Federal court documents released last week say 23-year-old Jeffrey Goble agreed to marry 28-year-old Alma Numic for $15,000 so the Bosnian woman could obtain U.S. citizenship in 2008.

Goble is now charged with marriage fraud. He could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. A message left for his public defender wasn’t returned.

Numic has since moved to Bosnia.

Court documents say the pair met through Goble’s co-worker but parted ways after the wedding.

Fairy Tale Weddings didn’t return messages. The Grand Forks wedding business’ website encourages couples to “Let your imagination create your wedding day.”

Labor group offers to lease Texas governor’s mobile home

AUSTIN, Texas

A labor union has a new home for the Texas governor, whose spacious accommodations cost the state nearly $10,000 a month.

This home has no pool or fancy ice machine. But it’s a delightful shade of green — and it’s mobile.

The Texas AFL-CIO bought a manufactured house and showed it off last week, saying Gov. Rick Perry could lease it for $1 per year.

The union was making fun of Perry’s rental home in a gated community.

The Associated Press reported that the Republican governor has spent almost $600,000 in public money the past two years to live temporarily in the home on the outskirts of Austin.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner says the AFL-CIO stunt is merely a political gimmick for Democratic candidate Bill White.

Associated Press