[Posted June 26th, 2009]
Over the last few years over 100 antiquities have been returned to Italy from major North American museums. The piece that attracted the most publicity was the Sarpedon krater by Euphronios; it was returned by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other items include a Roman portrait statue of Sabina, and quantities of pottery made in Apulia, southern Italy. These voluntary returns, offered without active legal action, have done much to restore the patinated reputations of museums.
The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) that serves as an umbrella organisation for museums has now changed its policies on the acquisition of undocumented antiquities. The AAMD now advises constituent organisations not to buy objects that are unknown prior to 1970, the date of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. A public object registry has been launched by the AAMD with the object of letting interested parties check what is passing into public collections. (The scheme has had limited use since its launch with a total of four items in the register by mid-June 2009.)
Some senior figures in the North American museum world — for example, James Cuno — have continued to voice their disquiet over the changing situation. But such views appear to be in a minority. Museum curators who handle archaeological material understand the issues and are aware of the level of destruction sustained by archaeological sites around the world to supply "museum quality" objects for the market.
The growing realisation that action needs to be taken about the antiquities market has been reflected in the work of the US Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC). The most noticeable action was over antiquities from Iraq in the wake of the Second Gulf War and the looting of the Baghdad Museum. However there have also been memoranda of agreement with countries such as Italy, China and Cyprus.
The workings of CPAC are now under scrutiny. A Freedom of Information Act suit (FOIA) was filed against the US Department of State back in November 2007; this was in response to the restriction on the imports of ancient coins from Cyprus. This action was supported by three bodies: the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG), the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN), and the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG).
The purpose of the FOIA suit is made clear on the ACCG website:
The State Department recently imposed unprecedented import restrictions on ancient coins from Cyprus—requiring importers of even a single common coin of “Cypriot type” to provide unfair, unworkable and unnecessary documentation.
Why have these bodies taken such action against the US Department of State?
The IAPN, based in Brussels, Belgium, states on its website:
The IAPN is a non-profit organisation of the leading international numismatic firms founded 1951. The objectives of the Association are the development of a healthy and prosperous numismatic trade conducted according to the highest standards of business ethics and commercial practice.
The PNG describes itself as follows:
The PNG is a nonprofit organization composed of the world’s top rare coin and paper money experts. As numismatic professionals, our primary mission is to make the hobby safe for collectors and investors by maintaining rigid standards of excellence for our member dealers.
This is clarified as follows:
The Professional Numismatists Guild, Inc. is the only numismatic organization in the United States that restricts its membership to dealers who possess and demonstrate three essential qualifications: Knowledge, Integrity and Responsibility.
Is this alliance of three organisations in reality acting over freedom of information? Could there also be an implicit commercial interest in the liberalisation of the market in ancient coins?
The US State Department, as Defendant in the case, seems to suspect ulterior motives and made this statement in their formal reply (dated May 19, 2009):
Consequently, Plaintiffs’ claims that they are advocating the public interest are properly viewed with some skepticism given ACCG’s “two phase” “coordinated plan” to attempt to rescind the import restrictions, which would commercially benefit a number of its benefactors, who appear to be U.S.-based dealers and brokers of ancient coins.
This statement has been refuted by the Plaintiffs (the ACCG, the IAPN, and the PNG).
In April 2009 the ACCG tested the agreements with Cyprus and China by deliberately bringing a set of ancient coins in the USA by air ("Coin Collectors to Challenge State Department on Import Restrictions", PR Newswire May 13, 2009).
As mandated, U.S. Customs detained the coins upon arrival. The ACCG now plans to use this detention as a vehicle to strike down the unprecedented regulations banning importation of whole classes of ancient coins. The collectors’ advocacy group claims that, among other abnormalities, the decision process for these agreements was orchestrated contrary to the spirit and intent of governing law.
The ACCG seems intent on criticising a policy that is intended to offer some protection to the archaeological heritage of Cyprus and China by placing restrictions on the movement of material that may have been derived as a result of illicit diggings on archaeological sites.
So will the legal action and test case merely serve to inflame the situation? Do such actions present to the world an image of North American collectors of archaeological material (and that includes ancient coins) who are more interested in owning objects than preserving archaeological contexts and integrity?
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[Posted June 25th, 2009]
Author: U-A | Filed Under: Investment | 
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[Posted June 25th, 2009]
Money
Money is a medium that can be exchanged for goods and services and is used as a measure of their values on the market, including among its many forms as commodities such as gold, an officially issued coin or note, or a deposit in a checking account or other readily liquefiable account.
In the modern world we take money for granted.
However, pause for a moment and imagine what life would be like without money. Suppose that you want to consume a particular good or service, such as a Macbook. If money didn’t exist, you would need to barter with the retailer for the Macbook that you want.
Barter
Barter is the process of directly exchanging one good or service for another. In order to purchase the Macbook, you would need to have something to trade for the Macbook. If you specialized in growing orange, you would need to bring enough boxes of oranges to the retailer’s shop to purchase the Macbook. If the retailer wanted your oranges and you wanted his Macbook, then a double coincidence of wants would exist and trade could take place.
But what if the retailer didn’t want your oranges? In that case you would have to find out what he did want, for example, chicken. Then you would have to trade your oranges for chicken and the chicken for Macbook.
But what if the person selling chicken had no desire for oranges, but instead wants a cooker? Then you would have to trade your oranges for a cooker and it would take a lot of oranges to buy a cooker. Then you would have to trade your cooker for chicken and the chicken for Macbook.
But what if…??
It would become easier to make the Macbook yourself or to just do without.
The Evolution Of Money
Somehow at some point money became the universal commodity that has no other uses other than for value exchange.
Money evolved as a way of avoiding the complexities and difficulties of barter. Money is any asset that is recognized by an economic community as having value. Historically, such assets have included, among other things, shells, stone disks (which can be somewhat difficult to carry around), gold, and bank notes.
The modern monetary system has its roots in the gold of medieval Europe. In the Middle Ages, gold and gold coins were the common currency. However, the wealthy found that carrying large quantities of gold around was difficult and made them the target of thieves. To avoid carrying gold coins, people began depositing them for safekeeping with goldsmiths, who often had heavily guarded vaults in which to store their valuable inventories of gold. The goldsmiths charged a fee for their services and issued receipts, or gold notes, in the amount of the deposits. Exchanging these receipts was much simpler and safer than carrying around gold coins. In addition, the depositors could retrieve their gold on demand.
Goldsmiths during this time became aware that few people actually wanted their gold coins back when the gold notes were so easy to use for exchange. They therefore began lending some of the gold on deposit to borrowers who paid a fee, called interest. These goldsmiths were the precursors to our modern fractional reserve banking system.
Functions Of Money
Regardless of what asset is recognized by an economic community as money, in general it serves three functions:
* Money is a medium of exchange.
* Money is a measure of value.
* Money is a store of value.
Money as a medium of exchange: Used as a medium of exchange, money means that parties to a transaction no longer need to barter one good for another. Because money is accepted as a medium of exchange, you can sell your lemons for money and purchase the desired Macbook with the proceeds of the sale. You no longer need to trade lots of lemons for a cooker and then the cooker for chicken and then the chicken for the Macbook. As a medium of exchange, money tends to encourage specialization and division of labour, promoting economic efficiency.
Money is a measure of value: As a measure of value, money makes transactions significantly simpler. Instead of markets determining the price of oranges relative to cookers and to chicken and to Macbook, as well as the price of cookers relative to chicken and to Macbook, as well as the price of chicken relative to Macbooks (i.e. a total of six prices for only four goods), the markets only need to determine the price of each of the four goods in terms of money. If we were to add a fifth good to our simple economy, then we would add four more prices to the number of good-for-good prices that the markets must determine. As the number of goods in our economy grew, the number of good-for-good prices would grow rapidly. In an economy with ten goods, there would be forty-five good-for-good prices but only ten money prices. In an economy with twenty goods there would be one hundred and ninety good-for-good prices but only twenty money prices. Imagine all of the good-for-good prices in a more realistic economy with thousands of goods and services available.
Using money as a measure of value reduces the number of prices determined in markets and vastly reduces the cost of collecting price information for market participants. Instead of focusing on such information, market participants can focus their effort on producing the good or service in which they specialize.
Money as a store of value: Money can also serve as a store of value, since it can quickly be exchanged for desired goods and services. Many assets can be used as a store of value, including stocks, bonds, and real estate. However, there are transaction costs associated with converting these assets into money in order to purchase a desired good or service. These transaction costs could include monetary fees as well as time delays involved in the liquidation process.
In contrast, money is a poor store of value during periods of inflation, while the value of real estate tends to appreciate during such periods. Thus, the benefits of holding money must by balanced against the risks of holding money.
Summary
Money simplifies the exchange of goods and services and facilitates specialization and division of labour. It does this by serving as a medium of exchange, as a measure of value, and as a store of value.
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[Posted June 25th, 2009]
Sunday traffic to Baltimore was not bad. Even though the Orioles were playing the Atlanta Braves at Camden Yards (the O’s crushed the Braves 11-2), there was not a lot of traffic in downtown Baltimore. I was able to park in my usual overpriced location at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel and hobbled my way through the lobby, up the escalator, to the walkway between the hotel and the Baltimore Convention Center.
I know that some dealers wanted Whitman to bring back Sunday hours, but when I was there the floor was empty. It appeared that more than half of the dealers left before the Sunday session but the number of people there appeared less than I saw before closing on Friday. Maybe this is not a good indicator of the potential for Sunday attendance because of the nearby Orioles’ game. Rather than regular parking rates, nearby lots charge “event rates” which may keep people away. The next Whitman Baltimore show will be November 12-15. The Baltimore Ravens, who play in nearby M&T Bank Stadium, will play on Monday night that week. We will see how Sunday hours do in November without competing events in downtown Baltimore.
The great thing about going to these shows are the people you meet. There are some dealers that it is great to talk with. They are wonderful, hard working people who make this a great hobby. These are also the dealers that I continue to buy from because not only do they deserve my business, but they also sell at a fair price, which all that we collectors can ask for.
Every show always has an underlying theme, a type of coin that seems to be more prevalent with the dealers and looked after by the buyers. This time it was interesting because nearly every dealer, regardless of what they were selling, had rolls or singles of the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial cents. One dealer whose inventory contained a lot of silver coins as well as gold and silver bullion also had rolls and singles of the cents for sale. There were others with the D.C. & U.S. Territories quarters and Presidential Dollars, the 2009 cents were a dominant theme.
  While talking with that bullion dealer I found very nice examples of the 2009 silver Maple Leaf and Panda. While the Maple Leaf was very full of luster and is a solid and consistent design, I continue to be amazed at the artistry and craftsmanship of Chinese Panda. Since they hired a new artist in 2001, the design of the Panda coins have been phenomenal. The artistry and the quality of the strike makes the Panda something really special to own.
As I looked over the shoulder of the buyers searching the cases, I noticed that 20th century United States silver coins were a popular choice. From early Washington quarters to Walking Liberty half dollars, I noticed quite a few people interested in silver. And not just silver coins, quality early issues of these popular series. Even some later series were receiving attention, like the Roosevelt Dime and Franklin Half Dollar. I think this is the first time since I have been attending this show that I observed the dominant coin was not the Morgan Dollar.
Even though the Sunday session was sparsely attended, I still had the opportunity to meet and talk with a lot of good people. I even found a Father’s Day present for my father that I know he will like. I also know he reads this blog so this purchase will remain a secret until he receives it next week!
 In keeping with my tradition, I had to find that one “oh, neat” item. This time, it was given to me shortly after my arrival on Friday. Following the setup of my exhibit, I spoke with Patti Finner in the Kids Korner. While speaking with her, she gave me a card with a type 2 blank cent planchet and an uncirculated 2008-D Lincoln Cent. A type 2 planchet is one whose rims were upset, the last step before striking. The planchet and the cent are in US Mint-type blister packaging and attached to a card explaining the “Before and After” of the process. The card was produced by the US Mint in conjunction with the h.i.p. program (History In your Pocket) for teaching children about coins and collecting.
I will be talking more about my conversation with Patti Finner in another post, but I would like to publicly thank her for this neat card and our very educational conversation.
If you made it this far, I am sure you can guess that my exhibit did not win at the show or I would have mentioned it at the beginning. The exhibit that one was a person who collected half-cents that were clipped during the minting process in each of the positions of the clock. He presented 12 coins in the layout of a clock that showed each coin and their clip. It was a very interesting and fun exhibit. It was a very fun and educational experience. I learned a little about exhibiting and will be making adjustments in order to do better next time—and there will be a next time. At least I received an uncirculated 2009 Silver Eagle for participating.
I know that sometimes it seems that buying coins online either through auctions or dealers appears easy, but you should really try to visit a coin show. You should meet the people in the hobby. You should see the coins. There is nothing more fascinating than looking at a case full of shiny silver dollars or something you are not collecting. By being on the bourse floor, you can meet dealers and other collectors. You can ask questions. You can get a better appreciation for this hobby beyond just accumulating. It is a hobby of people bound by the this passion for numismatics and that makes for a fun day at a coin show.
Labels: Baltimore, coins, shows
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[Posted June 25th, 2009]
hobby is part of human life, the many options that can be in the hobby Go by one of us is to become a collector or craftsman collection. However, being a collection of gold is a matter that really values someone who has a vision and a high rating because to be a collector of gold we have to really identify where the original gold and the artificial. Collectors of gold, more like a gold coin in the form especially if the gold bullion.
gold bullion coin is a gold coin that the womb has its pure gold. This gold coin issued several countries and has its own history and serial. Each coin has a standard of raw materials and their own name to distinguish each of the series is gold. There is only a Canadian Maple Leaf of Canada, Chinesse Panda from China, American Eagle from the United States, and many more series of gold coins this. Collectors select a lot of gold coins is gold because the value ekstrinsic as well as intrinsic value. The rare gold coins, the price will also be more expensive. So that the collection of gold coins as a hobby in addition also has a high economic value. Gold coin is one of the investment gold is good, because it forms an interesting, easy to buy or sell, and have a standard that is known broadly.
Events collect a gold coin is really interesting. Has even developed into its own branch of science that is Numismatik, the knowledge to recognize, learn, and this gold coin collecting. Collection of gold coins is a lot of collectors made of gold that has been established. Gold coin has its own price, related to the value ekstrinsik. There are two factors that Hars be investing in gold through coins, or the grade levels and the scarcity or dearth. Grade the quality here is a collection of coins, while the scarcity of scarcity here the level of the coin. The more rare, the more expensive price of a coin. In collecting gold coins, you better have one coin, but in many series, from the series but a lot of coins. If a collector wants is one of the rare coin series, it does not linger he will spend a lot of money to buy gold bullion coin is. Moreover, if a collector is pure collector for inner satisfaction. Many more countries that have issued coins and certain series. If you are interested to learn more in-depth, you can read in http://www.goldcoinsgain.com/ website and in the other related to the gold coins, before you buy gold.
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[Posted June 25th, 2009]
Gold is a versatile chemical element. It can be used as a jewelry, medicine, food and drink, electronics and coins. The true value of gold coins can be identified through its age, condition and rarity. Many people are into gold coins investing. If you are interested in gold investing then take time to visit gold coins gain. Shareholders are putting gold in IRA. With the global economic crisis, gold is a great substitute for pension plans. If you have bought gold bullion coins for $25,000 and kept it throughout financial crisis, global recession and inflation, you can sell the gold more than $500,000 today.
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[Posted June 25th, 2009]
As of June 18, 2009, COMEX reported deposits of 119,313,877 Toz of silver, IShares SLV reported 280,510,676 Toz. Various Published reports indicate that IShares holds about 2/3 of the entire world stock of silver, which would place world silver reserves around 420 Moz. By that reckoning, COMEX holds all but 20 Moz of the remaining silver inventories in the world.
This does not take into account the private silver holdings (coin and medals) which accounted for 65 Moz of production in 2008. COMEX holdings are supposed to be in Good Delivery Bars of 1,000 ounces (more or less) and much of the IShares is probably as well.
If most of the coin and medal production of the past ten years has gone into private hands, then almost 386 Moz of silver is currently in private hands. That would put total world known reserves around 800 Moz.
http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/energy-metals/nymex-daily-reports.html
http://us.ishares.com/product-info/fund/overview/SLV.htm
Silver Institute supply and demand figures 2008
Does the 20Moz, not accounted for, cover the rest of the silver stockpiles in the world? Or are there additional stockpiles that we are unaware of? I do not yet have answers for that.
Expectations are that the amount of silver mined in 2009 willl fall below levels of 2008, but so will demand. The question is how much. The Silver Institute balances out Supply and Demand by adding figures for old silver scrap and Net Government Sales to their Supply side and producer De-hedging and Net Investment to the demand side. It is interesting that Total Fabrication, minus de-hedging and Net INvestment has been running significantly higher than Mine Production since at least 1999. The US Government transferred all of it’s Government Supply to the mint by calendar year 2004 and currently retains no silver stocks outside of what the US Mint purchases to produce American Eagles.
At the current deficit ratio, it would take about four years to consume not only the silver in deposits, but also in private hands. That would leave us trying to prioritize slightly less than 700 Moz of silver production a year with a demand of 825-850 Moz per year. It could be done by restricting silver to industrial applications and eliminating photography use altogether which might allow for the continued use in jewelery, silverware and coins.
Government Sales have been steadily dropping since 2006 according to the Silver Institute, from 78.2 Moz to just 30.9 Moz in 2008. Even scrap sales were down from 188 Moz to 176.6 Moz.
Meanwhile IShares SLV has added 3500 Tons of silver to their holdings from levels reported by the USGS in 2008. That’s 112 Moz diverted to investments. I say diverted because the silver going into IShares is not coming from industrial applications and has to be coming from existing silver stockpiles.
This brings up some interesting points. If IShares is adding silver at such a rapid pace, where is the additional silver going to come from when there is a yearly deficit? 19.5 million of the 64.9 million ounces of silver for coins and medals was accounted for by the US Mint. So far through mid-June, the number is 13 million which would put the total production from the Mint at potentially 25 Moz or more. Using the same ratio as last year, that would translate into a coin & medal demand of 83 Moz for 2009 or 20 Moz more than last year which would offset the photography application decline. If IShares goes over 10,000 tons of silver (they are reporting 8700 right now) that would have to come from current mine production.
I’m not sure the Silver Institute is taking into account the IShares silver demand. Perhaps they are but it does not appear to be the case.
Another point is the USGS records the Treasury as having 220 tons of silver on deposit with the USMint as of 2008. This is 11 times the amount of silver that should still be available for counting as "world reserves" and that figure has remainded unchanged since 2000. (In 1999, the Treasury reported 618 tons of silver, it fell to 220 in 2000 and has remainded unchanged since.)
USGS Mineral Commodities Survey, PG 148.
Disclosure: Long GLD,SLV, physical holdings, stock in retirement accounts
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[Posted June 22nd, 2009]
 A rare coin which was found in a field near Salisbury is set to sell for over £10,000 at auction later this month.
It was discovered by a woman -who wants to remain anonymous - as she was walking through the field and saw it sparkle.
She picked it up and took it home before dusting it off and noticing how unusual it was. The coin was then taken to Spink auction house in London who valued it.
They say the coin is an extremely rare Anglo-Frisian Solidus coin from ninth century England worth over £10,000.
I can understand the woman wanting to remain anonymous but I think we can safely assume people in Salisbury call her "That woman who keeps walking around the field". William MacKay, coin specialist for Spink, stated, "It’s always thrilling to see the face of the owner when you share that their coin is incredibly rare and valuable.
"In this case we know that these coins are highly desirable as so few exist and collectors will pay any price to add such a gem to their collection."
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[Posted June 18th, 2009]
Gold coin investment provides hedges against devaluation and currency degradation. Yet, the investors constantly hunt the internet for more information regarding gold investments.Gold coins are simpler and better methods of collecting gold as a coin is smaller in size. This makes it easy to store in one’s house or a bank. They cost only a small sum when compared to any other method of storing gold. Gold coins come in all sorts of types. Some common types are the American Eagles, Australian as well as UK Sovereigns, Canadian Maple Leafs, Chinese Pandas and South African Kruger Rand’s.At present, the American gold eagle coins are considered to be the best gold investment on the planet. Though the South African coins are not imported any more in the United States for investment, they have retained their popularity and even today thousands of investors are yet trading daily in the US.
The weighing of gold coins are done in the unit gram. Previously the unit troy ounce was used. The purity of a gold bar is determined as the number of parts per 1,000. Gold having a purity of 999 parts of 1,000 is the purest form of gold that is available. The weighing of gold coins are done in the unit gram. Previously the unit troy ounce was used. The purity of a gold bar is determined as the number of parts per 1,000. Gold having a purity of 999 parts of 1,000 is the purest form of gold that is available.Gold coins can be purchased from an offline shop or the Internet. A buyer has to check all the information that is available. While the guidelines and the cautionary steps to be taken are many, the satisfaction of obtaining a gold coin is just the epitome of content
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