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To respond to the many inquiries we receive about coin collecting, we decided to develop a series of videos and upload them to YouTube.  Here is the first one.

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132067

Ethiopian church leader says Friday, June 26, marks the right time to unveil the Biblical Ark of the Covenant, which he says has been hidden in his church for centuries.

Abuna Pauolos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was in Rome this week to meet with Pope Benedict XVI. While there, he told reporters that the time had come to reveal before the world the Holy Ark. He said that the holy container has been in the custody of his church for hundreds of years.

Paulous said he would make the full announcement this Friday, June 26, 2 PM local time (3 PM Israel time, 8 AM New York time) at a press conference in Rome.

The claim that the Biblical Holy Ark has been kept at the Church, in the city of Axum, is an old one, but this is the first time that the Church plans to actually reveal the actual container, or news of it. It is not known whether the Church claims that the actual Tablets of the Law are inside it.

Copies of the alleged Ark are kept in many other churches in Ethiopia.

The news of the impending announcement was first reported by the Italian news agency Adnkronos. Pauolos told the news outlet, “Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that G-d delivered to Moses, and the center of searches and studies for centuries.”

Pauolos said “The Ark of the Covenant has been in Ethiopia for many centuries. As Patriarch, I have seen it with my own eyes, and only a few, highly-qualified persons could do the same – until now.”

The building of the Ark of the Covenant – also known as the Ark of Testimony and the Ark of G-d’s Covenant – in accordance with Divine instructions is recounted in the Book of Exodus. The Ark held the Tablets of the Law, and traveled with the People of Israel, leading the way into the Promised Land. It was placed first in the Tabernacle in Shilo, and centuries later in the Holy Temple built by King Solomon. Since then, its whereabouts have been unknown, though one popular legend says it was brought to Ethiopia. Alternatively, it could be under the Temple Mount, in a cave at Mt. Nevo in Jordan, in the Vatican, a hideaway in Utah, or elsewhere.

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link to rebuilding solomons temple here: http://endtimepilgrim.org/temple.htm

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all sounds a bit suspicious but IF it is true it will be a massive event in terms of christianity and also in respect to rebuilding solomons temple which must have the ark in it to be complete

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There was an interesting study done by few economists. They checked the denomination effect. Or the effect the coins have on the spending habits of the consumers.

The results of the study are quite remarkable. People tend to spend the coins faster than the bills or notes.

We’ve done some studies with four quarters and a dollar, and we found that people were much less likely to spend the $1 note that they were given than the four quarters they were given

The initial study was done in the US.Just to make sure that the findings are not influenced by the country they live in, the economists went to China and found the same kind of results.

I wish they had come to India. The results would have been really different. One cannot buy anything meaningful (A fevistick?) with the available coins. The maximum denomination of a coin is 5 rupees. And the economists would have to give a whole lot of 5 rupee coins to gage the consumer spending.

But, the results of this survey are not to be ignored. If the countries can issue more coins in place of the bills the world economy might be revived a little sooner as this would be a direct effect on the spending habits. More so than the tax cuts and the stimulus cheques.

We’ve done some studies with four quarters and a dollar, and we found that people were much less likely to spend the $1 note that they were given than the four quarters they were given (NPR)

Given that Obama is more open, bi-partisan and all that  - he might pay heed to this advice and slow down on his tax ‘reforms’. (Read : Boy George is at it again)

Coming to India, there was a lot of news about 10 rupee coins being circulated. I haven’t seen one. But, when I do, that will be the first thing I will spend. Heck, I will even spend a 20 rupee coin if is introduced. So, Yes I agree completely with the study.

Government of India should introduce those 10 rupee coins a little faster and may be this fiscal. What do you think?

PS : Apparently the 10 rupee coins are already introduced but have a defect. They can break into 2 pieces. What would that be? 20 rupees? That would revive the economy even faster. May be Obama needs to get that breaking formulae from Rao  or Singh.

Casual coin collecting

The most ordinary type of coin collector is the casual collector. Casual collectors are both kids and adults. They collect random coins because they like the fun of it. The casual coin collector does not spend as much money on buying and preserving coins as a more advanced coin collector. Casual coin collectors usually have interest in coins with a special meaning to them, like for instance a coin minted in their year of their birth. Casual collectors often get hold of more interesting pieces as gifts from friends or family members. The gift of a rare coin has transformed many casual collectors to curious collectors instead.

Curious coin collecting

When a collector goes further than just circulation finds and getting gifts. He develops more of an interest in coins and becomes more a curious collector. The curious collector will buy some inexpensive coins, maybe look around coin shops or look at coins on eBay or other related internet sites. That way a survey of potentially interesting areas of coin collecting is made, and as the curious coin collector interacts with more seasoned collectors, he is bit by bit learning the trade of buying or selling coins. Like for instance studying coin books before making any serious decisions about buying expensive coins. At a point most curious collectors learn enough to become an advanced coin collector.

Advanced coin collecting

Every advanced coin collector is a unique coin collector. Some are dedicated generalists looking for a few examples of all kinds of coins. If they do have enough resources, this can result in an astounding collection, as that of King Farouk of Egypt, who collected everything he could get his hands on.

Many coin collectors are completists who want an example of everything within a certain set. For instance Louis Eliasberg was the only coin collector thus far to assemble a complete set of known coins of the United States. Other coin collectors focus on coins of a certain nation or historic period. And some collect coins from various nations or settle on error coins or exonumia like tokens and medals. As you can see, it can vary a lot.

At the highest levels of coin collecting, it is a highly competitive sport. It can lead to astronomical prices as enthusiastic collectors struggle for the very best examples of each date and mint mark combination.

Historical coin collecting

Coin collectors of ancient and medieval coins are more interested in historical significance than other coin collectors. The coins of Byzantine, Roman, Indian, Greek, Celtic, Merovingian, Parthian, Ostrogothic and ancient Israelite origin are among the most popular ancient coins collected. Specialties tend to vary a lot, but the common approach is collecting coins minted during a particular emperor’s time in power. A completist would for example strive for a representative coin from each emperor.

National coin collecting

Usually coin collectors of national coins specialize in the coins of their own country. A common way to collect national coins includes collecting one of every date and mint mark for a particular series. This is termed collecting by type. For instance a date set in Britain may include one Queen Victoria large penny for each year, 1837–1901. In another example a U.S. type set might include an example of each variety of each denomination produced. Most coin collectors of national coins create unique combinations of date, mint mark and type sets.

Error coin collecting

Collecting error coins is a modern development made doable through the automation of coin manufacturing processes. Coin collectors of ancient and medieval coins; accept coins with errors because manual coin manufacturing processes lend unique features to each coin struck.

Examples of coin errors could be repunched mint marks, doubled dies, double strikes, overdates, off metal coins, clipped coins, displaced or off center coins, and different denominations on two sides of one coin.

World coin collecting

World coins are collections of relatively recent modern coins from nations around the world. Geography is often the engine for this type of collector; he can travel around the world through his coin collection. Many collect by subject, for instance collecting coins from around the world featuring animals.

World coins are usually inexpensive and may be a good starting point for children. Most children find foreign coins by looking under change-to-cash machines, where customers throw away assorted coins found in their penny jars. It is possible to find coins from all over the world, ranging from Canada, to South Africa, to Korea.

By Doug Hornig, Editor, BIG GOLD

The Chinese Fake It

You probably remember movies about the Old West, wherein a shady-looking character would offer to exchange a gold coin for a horse, and the seller would bite down on the coin to verify its authenticity. That was about all you could do if you lacked proper assaying equipment and had to make a snap judgment: depend on your teeth to tell you whether the metal in your hand was sufficiently soft to be genuine gold.

The bite test is actually a pretty good one since gold, despite being among the heaviest metals, is also very soft. If you chomp down and shatter a tooth, it ain’t gold. But before you go munching on your coin collection, you might want to ask yourself, why bother?

Well, because of the Internet. While the Net has become an indispensable resource and we’d never want to return to the days when basic research meant a long day in the library, it also has the ability to stir up a hornet’s nest of concern at the drop of a stick.

One such hornet release followed the recent publication of a three-part series by Coin World, dealing with the subject of coin counterfeiting in China, where it’s quasi-legal. Instantly, the Web was buzzing with the worries of bloggers and eBay shoppers, and the pontifications of pundits about this dire threat.

Before we got too worked up about it, first thing we did was carefully read the source material. Yes, the Coin World articles raise the issue, and they feature an in-depth interview with one Chinese counterfeiter, although that’s not what he calls himself. He’s a proud artisan who produces replicas.

Of what? As it turns out, it’s primarily copies of ancient Chinese coins, which are sold to tourists. A few fake U.S. silver dollars are put up each week on eBay, but they are required to carry a Replica stamp.

Do all Chinese counterfeiters abide by this regulation? Perhaps not. But eBay has always been a place where caveat emptor rules, so the best policy would probably be simply to avoid coin purchases from China.

Problem Areas

Next, we consulted with our favorite dealer, asking if they come across many fake bullion coins, such as Eagles or Maple Leafs. The answer was no. They’ve only seen a handful during their thirty years in business.

Not that it’s hard to do. With modern 3-D laser imaging, a die can be created that mimics the real thing in perfect detail. The good news is that it’s impractical. The difficulty is that any counterfeit bullion coin would likely have to be gold in order to pass. If it were pure, then the profit margin would be too small to make the deal worthwhile. And if the counterfeiter skimped on the gold content, the coin’s weight would be a dead giveaway.

The only alternative would be to gold-plate a coin made out of some other metal. But again, getting the weight right while preserving the correct size would be a challenge.

Which brings us to the areas where counterfeiting can be a real problem. The most significant is rare coins. These can be made with the proper gold (or silver) content, then artificially aged so that only an experienced numismatist could pick them out. Because of the premium they command, rare coins made with real gold would be highly profitable where a bullion coin would not.

This is one of the reasons (disinterested grading is the other) why many collectors will only trade coins graded and slabbed by third-party specialists like Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or Numismatic Guaranty Corp. (NGC).

Ominously, though, some counterfeit coins are turning up inside phony slabs. If you collect rare coins and have any reason to suspect them, it’s pretty easy to sort the real slabs from the fakes. Coin World provides illustrations on just how to do that here. (http://www.coinworldonline.com/articles/ChineseCounterfeit/Diags.aspx)

Gold bars are a different matter. Fakes do show up in the market from time to time, and they’re hard to identify. Generally speaking, counterfeiters don’t bother with the smaller ones, which are stamped, numbered, and sealed. They concentrate, our dealers tell us, on 1-kilogram or larger sizes. These are poured, rather than stamped, and can be easily adulterated or even hollowed out and filled with lead or some other metal. Compounding the problem is a lack of standard weights, even among good delivery gold bars. The “400-ounce” bar, for example, can vary anywhere from 390 ounces to 420.

How to Protect Yourself

As noted, we don’t believe that there is a serious issue with counterfeit bullion coins at the moment. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist, nor does it mean that evolving technology might not make them more profitable in the future than they are now.

The best precaution is the simplest: deal with someone you trust. Establish a relationship with a coin dealer who has built a strong reputation, preferably over a matter of decades, such as the dealers we recommend in BIG GOLD. Buy from them, even if you stumble across some mail order supplier who is charging less of a premium.

For small bars, purchase only those that carry the stamp of one of the known, trustworthy refiners, such as PAMP, Credit Suisse, or Johnson Matthey. For bigger orders, ask your dealer if they do assays. Reputable outfits generally assay bars that are a kilogram or larger. If you want a 100-ounce bar, consider buying direct from the Comex, which will also vault it for you. That removes the assay requirement when you buy, but remember that if you take physical delivery of a large bar, you’ll need an assay when you sell. Do not, under any circumstances, buy a larger gold bar on the Internet or from a private seller you don’t personally know.

If you’re still worried about a coin, there are tests you can perform to check it out.

• For gold, you can bite it, although you may not want to mar the surface of the real thing. Silver coins you can drop on the floor and they will ring; alloys won’t. The ring test is less useful with gold, since 24-karat gold doesn’t ring; less than 22 karats does, but so does brass.
• 

• Size and weight are good measures. Make a list of the diameters of genuine coins for comparison purposes. Get a scale calibrated to hundredths of a gram. If a bullion coin weighs light (or, possibly, heavy), it’s bogus. Here’s a handy list of gold coins with all weights, diameters and thicknesses: http://www.onlygold.com/TutorialPages/Coin_specsFulScreenVersion.htm. 

• A good counterfeiter may be able to get all other aspects of an adulterated coin right, but he won’t be able to fake density. Gold has a higher specific gravity than other metals, and you can test for that. Many Internet reference sites will tell you how.

• You could buy a commercial counterfeit detector. They aren’t cheap, but will quickly and easily test for weight, thickness, and diameter.

• If you happen to have some nitric acid and are a very careful person, you can drop your coin into a beakerful. Base metals will react, gold won’t.

• Rare coins are more of a challenge. If that’s where your interest lies, look for specimens that have been graded and slabbed. Otherwise, there’s no substitute for experience. Examine coins with a magnifying glass, heft them in your hand. Get to know what the real deal looks and feels like. Read up on the kinds of imperfections that characterize the phonies. Become your own expert.

Precious metals are going to be attractive to con artists, just like anything else of real value. But there are some decent safeguards already built into the system. Supplement them with your own knowledge and common sense, and it shouldn’t be difficult to avoid becoming a victim.

Good thing you don’t really have to worry about purchasing fake bullion coins… because it’s the best time to buy gold, and maybe one of the last chances you get to buy at $800+ levels. Read our report on why ultra-low interest rates could make gold rise to $1,500 (and higher) in the near future – and how you can profit: Click here to learn more.

Investment in Gold bullion coins and silver Coins are far better investment option than Stocks

Silver bars have emerged as popular silver investments because they are uniform in size, making them easy to handle and convenient to store. Additionally, silver bars are compact, which enables investors to secure a
great deal of wealth in relative small storage areas. Silver bars with recognized hallmarks are readily accepted for resale, making them easy to convert to cash.

Palladium bullion bar and coin investors have few palladium investment choices today. When palladium spiked to $1100 in late 2000, most palladium investors sold their bullion coins and bars into that rise and exited the market. During the ensuing years, the demand for small palladium coins and bars was so small that most mints quit producing palladium bullion coins and private refineries ceased making palladium bullion bars. Because it was industrial buying that send palladium soaring-and not palladium investors-nearly all palladium bars and coins sold in 2000 ended up being melted. Now, though, palladium bullion bars and coins are being produced to meet renewed palladium investment demand.

Popular forms of palladium for investment are 1-oz Credit Suisse and 1-oz PAMP bullion bars, both of which are refined in Europe. In late 2005, the Royal Canadian Mint began striking 1-oz Palladium Maple Leaf coins, which could prove to be investor favorites for palladium investments. Although Credit Suisse and PAMP are respected names in precious metals refining, many investors prefer coins produced by government mints.

Platinum bullion and coin investors do not have a large selection of platinum coins from which to choose. Yet, the platinum bullion coins available come from the most prestigious mints in the world. Platinum Eagles are produced by the U.S. Mint, Platinum Maple Leafs by Canada’s Royal Canadian Mint, and Platinum Koalas by Australia’s Perth Mint. American Eagle Gold coins are a good collectibles and are considered a good investment option.

Another Kind of famous gold coin is the American Buffalo Gold Coins. It is always advisable to buy Gold coins when the gold prices are reduced. Do not get attracted and buy Gold coins when prices are at soaring. It may prove to be a bad investment if the prices fall back.

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Author’s Bio - Inventory of Coins and Bullions include many types of Bullion Coins like American Gold Eagles, Gold Bullion Coins and bars. In the future, coins and Bullions will expand by including jewelry and gift items.

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Gold is a precious metal found underground around the world. Gold is considered by many as a store of value and a safe haven for wealth in economic crisis. One of gold’s important properties is psychological, because it is so closely associated with money. This gives it an immeasurable advantage over other tangible stores of wealth.

American Eagle Bullion Coins provide investors with a convenient and cost-effective way to add a small amount of physical platinum, gold, or silver to their investment portfolios. Since their launch in 1986, gold, platinum and silver American Eagles gold coin have become leading bullion coin investment products.

American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins are the first .9999 fine 24-karat gold coins ever struck by the United States Mint and offered for sale through a network of Authorized Purchasers. The $50 gold coins will be available to members of the public seeking a simple and tangible means to own and invest in 24-karat gold in the form of legal tender coins whose content and purity is guaranteed by the United States Government.

Gold has attracted investors throughout the centuries, protecting their wealth and providing a ’safe haven’ in troubled or uncertain times. This appeal remains compelling for modern investors. Although there are also a number of other reasons that underpin the widespread renewal of investor interest in gold.

American gold coins have been wanted by collectors for the possibility of enormous value particularly if the currency is rare, in good state, and is in soaring demand. US coin sellers have set prices and dollar amounts of worth on many types of United States money. The worth is determined by four main factors. Scarcity or rarity is the main factor for discovering the worth. The rarer the legal tender, the higher its value.

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Inventory of Coins and Bullions Include many types of Bullion Coins like American Gold Eagles, Gold Bullion Coins and bars. In the future, coins and Bullions will expand by including jewelry and gift items.

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Demand plays a significant role in the rarity of a gold coin. Rare is the term used for coins that is not found frequently and is also very scarce and uncommon. This term is referred to the numismatic industry because being rare is a relative term and even though there are specific coins in existence, they are limited. This makes them eminently desirable and rare.There are many types of coins and the high quality coins are found in gold, silver and are in great demand amidst investors and collectors. Nickel coins have fair market and copper coins market is unpredictable. Auctions provide information regarding these coins because the supply is limited and shrinking.The condition of the rare coin is also very important. Though, there is no particular grade to exclude, the thumb rule is that the higher the grade of the coin the greater demand is entertained. Today, the Professional coin grading service and the numismatic guarantee corporation are companies that encapsulate the gold coins and safeguard it from more damage.

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.However, investors of gold bullion should seek bargains and inquire the availability. No matter, what the position of the bullion market, the Gold eagles and Kruger Rand’s are more appealing. In addition to this, Gold Eagles as well as Kruger Rand’s have the stamp of gold contents in English. The lesser known gold coins for investment are Australian Kangaroo, Hungarian 100 Coronas and the Austrian Philharmonics. The old European coins should be totally avoided for investment