Iron Age coins declared treasure

One of the UK's largest hauls of Iron Age gold coins has been declared treasure at an inquest in Suffolk.

The 840 handmade coins, called staters, were unearthed in a field near Wickham Market, Suffolk, in March last year.

After Michael Dark made the discovery with his metal detector, archaeologists found more coins, which are now at the British Museum in London.

Experts believe they were produced by predecessors of the Iceni queen Boudicca and date from 40BC to AD15.

It is the largest haul of coins to be discovered in 150 years and could be worth up to £500,000.

Rare find

Only a few hoards of similar Icenian coins, which depict a horse on one side, have ever been found.

The Iceni lived in Norfolk, much of Suffolk, and parts of Cambridgeshire during the century before the Roman conquest in 43AD.

Archaeologists think the coins were probably buried in the early years of the 1st Century, about 25 years before the Romans arrived.

Only the bottom half of a pot containing some of the coins had survived, the rest was smashed during cultivation of the field.

Mr Dark told the BBC: "I knew there was a lot there but did not realise it was as significant as it was."

He said he would like to see the hoard displayed at Ipswich Museum.

Suffolk coroner Dr Peter Dean declared the hoard treasure, as the coins were more than 300 years old.

During the treasure trove inquest, Dr Dean heard how most were produced in Suffolk and Norfolk, but why such a large hoard was buried is still unclear.

Source:news.bbc.co.uk

Perth Mint Marks Barbie's 50th

Barbie celebrated her big "5-0" on March 9, which Tuvalu marked with issue of a .999 fine silver dollar struck by the Perth Mint.

Barbie may have made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959, but it was not until May that year that her international career was launched.

Up to this point dolls with adult bodies were few and far between in America. Most were modeled on babies. Ruth Handler, wife of the co-founder of the Mattel toy company, believed a niche existed in the market for an adult-bodied doll after she had watched her daughter, Barbara, dress paper dolls.

During a trip to Europe in 1956, Ruth came across such an adult doll called Bild Lilli, originally made for adults. However, the doll proved popular with German children who enjoyed dressing Lilli in different outfits.

Ruth took several Lillis home, reworked their design and christened her new creation Barbie, after he own daughter. Despite reservations on the part of Mattel's executives, "Teen-age Fashion Model" Barbie went forth to meet her public, dressed in a simple black and white zebra striped swimsuit number and flaunting her trademark ponytail. She came either as a blonde or brunette with a range of clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson.

She was an instant star. In her first year, 350,000 Barbie dolls went to good homes around the world. Today more than a billion Barbies have been sold worldwide in more than 150 countries. Mattel claims three dolls are purchased every second.

Ruth Handler believed it was important for Barbie to have an adult appearance despite early market research showing some parents were unhappy about Barbie's celebrated bust. Ruth ignored the market research.

Nonetheless, Barbie has had numerous makeovers over the years. The most famous was her 1971 eye job. She no longer glanced sideways demurely but now had a direct, in-yer-face, look. And her waistline appears to have thickened somewhat in middle age.

Trivia buffs will want to know that Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. Her parents are George and Margaret Roberts from Willows, Wis. She attended Willows High School and Manhattan International High School in New York.

She has owned more than 40 pets including a panda, a lion cub and a zebra. She has a pink Corvette convertible, holds a pilot's license and is rated for flying commercial airliners. She has a medical degree and served briefly as an astronaut.

Her on-off relationship with Ken Carson, who first stopped by in 1961, is on again as of February 2006, following a two-year stint in Splitsville.

Barbie's status was recognized in 1974 when a section of Times Square was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week. And in 1985 she sat to have her portrait painted by Andy Warhol.

If any numismatist is tempted to splurge on a new collecting area, vintage Barbie dolls now command top dollar. Top price realized at auction was back in 2006 when £9,000 was paid for Midnight Red Barbie from 1965 at Christie's in London.
Source:numismaster.com

The Hunt for Undervalued Gold

One of the fun aspects of numismatics is the potential to find a coin that qualifies as a real sleeper. By this term, I mean, a coin that is drastically undervalued and that one hopes will go up in value in the relatively near future. It really does seem to be an idea that is stronger among coin collectors than among aficionados of other hobbies. Few others expect to buy anything to add to their collection and then have it increase in value.

At the same time, coin collecting generally places limits on just how much of a sleeper you may expect to find. For example, it's not at all common to find a coin in change - one made from copper-nickel and produced by the tens of millions - that will go up in value by thousands of dollars. It's more likely you will find something in change that is worth $10 to $100. A great find, no doubt, but not a world-shattering rarity.

For that world shatterer, you probably have to hope to find some older U.S. gold $10s or $20s. It might come as something of a surprise then to know that there are still a few sleepers within the field of U.S. gold coins. Admittedly, not all of them have enormous growth potential, but it's a fair bet that many of us will be surprised at how much a single coin might go up in price should it move from sleeper to fully awake.

One series of U.S. gold coins that spans several decades is the Coronet Head $5. Christian Gobrecht's design was minted from 1839-1908 and saw some rather amazing high mintages in the good years and some horridly low ones during the lean years. That means there ought to be some great possibilities when it comes to sleepers. If we're really lucky, the general price of these gold pieces won't be too high either.

Let's start at the near end, since there's a good chance of higher mintages in the more recent years. Three examples of dates or date and mintmark combinations that ought to qualify as high mintage are: the 1900 1.4 million, 1901-S 3.6 million, and 1903-S 1.8 million. By just about any count, a gold coin with more than 1 million to its name is probably a common date.

Next, we need to check out the prices of these three dates. It should come as no surprise to any experienced collector that they are the about the same for all three. In About Uncirculated-50 each will cost around $235. In Mint State-60 the price climbs to $250 for any of the three. In MS-63 the price goes up rather substantially, to $750. But whether the price jumps or crawls up with the grade, these three numbers give us a basis against which we can compare any other of the dates and mintmarks within this series.

It turns out that for the Coronet gold $5s we don't have to look too far. The 1904-S is an example of a coin with a far lower mintage - 97,000 to be exact. That's just over 14 times lower than the three dates already mentioned. In AU-50 it's $270. How about in MS-60? Well, here is jumps up to $900. In MS-63 the climb is still higher, to $3,850.

What do these numbers mean? Well, the cynic will state quickly that it means that without $3,850 you aren't going to get a great specimen of the 1904-S. But a more optimistic collector will note just as quickly that this coin is a steal in AU-50. Sure, it's not as good a coin as a mint-state specimen. But an AU-50 is no slouch, either. It is certainly a coin that meets my definition of a sleeper.

For another example, let's go to 1896. In that year, the Philadelphia Mint seems to have gotten to gold $5s in a somewhat half-hearted way. Mintage is listed as only 59,063. Those numbers are perhaps obviously dwarfed by the 1900, 1901-S, and 1903-S I am using as benchmark dates. They are, to be precise, more than 23 three times lower than the 1900, which was the smallest of my trio of common dates.

The prices of the 1896 Coronet gold $5 shake out as follows: $238 in AU-50, $300 in MS-60, and $9,750 in MS-63.

What do these numbers mean? The gold pieces of Philadelphia in general appear to be somewhat undervalued when compared to their mintmarked brethren. Possibly, collectors like Western gold better because it is associated with the Wild West, with gold rushes, and with a whole cowboy way of life. Possibly, gold pieces from Philadelphia have simply survived better over the course of years. But whatever the reason, we have a case in hand where a much lower mintage coin from Philadelphia can be had for a truly lovely price.

To prove my point, let's look at one additional date within the gold $5 series, the 1891. This shiny little devil was coined to the tune of 61,413 coins, including a proof mintage of 53 pieces. Overall, it's about as scarce as the 1896, which makes it as scarce when compared to the common dates. It's priced at $277 in AU-50, $450 in MS-60, and $8,000 in MS-63? Once again, it appears the gold of the Philadephia Mint is listed at prices that point to a real sleeper in grades below MS-63.

Let's take a look at a higher denomination gold coin, the Coronet gold $10, to see if there are any sleepers there.

Gobrecht's design graced the gold $10 for essentially the same number of years as it did the gold $5. It just starts and ends one year earlier. Like the gold $5s, the gold $10s saw years with hefty mintages, and some years in which the coins seemed to be nothing more than an afterthought.

Using the same process as before, we find the 1881 Coronet $10 had a mintage of 3.87 million. Coming in behind it, but still with a massive total, the 1901-S has 2.8 million. Continuing, the year 1894 chalks up 2.4 million, and the 1882 is just behind at 2.3 million.

Now, for each of these the coins range around $500 in AU-50, $600 in MS-60 and $1,000 in MS-63. Just that glance indicates it's probably better to go for the MS-60 piece, if you can afford it.

But I'm not looking at common dates. I'm going for the sleepers in the series. So, doing a bit of scouting about lands us quickly at the listing for the 1902 $10. Just 82,513 gold $10s were minted in Philadelphia that year. And, importantly, the prices are the same in AU-50 and MS-60 as those I just quoted for the higher mintage gold coins. Even going for the harder to find MS-63 pieces, the price only goes up to $2,800, not twice that of the common dates in that grade.

Before continuing, let's take stock of some real numbers, meaning the real dollars it costs for any of these coins. If you are the type of collector who sets a strict ceiling on your purchases of around $50, this whole discussion has probably been a mix of wishful thinking and outright longing for you. Still, thanks for reading this far. It means you are at least thinking about going for something bigger.

If you are the type of collector who thinks of your holdings as an investment in addition to being a hobby collection, well, these prices probably aren't too shocking for you. You already know that you have to spend money to make money.

But I'll use these prices to make two points. First, if you are going to go hunting for the less common pieces I have mentioned, buy certified coins. Even if the idea of third-party graded coins leave a sour taste in your mouth, buy them in this case. The last thing you want is to own a piece that you are sure is an MS-63, for which you spent over $1,000, only to have someone offer to buy it from you as an MS-62, or even an MS-60. Don't take the chance. Plus, it lowers the chance of receiving an altered or counterfeit coin.

Second, remember that even though these coins may be sleepers now, there is no guarantee they will awaken soon. If you collect numismatic reference books as well as coins, you can page through old issues of price guides and find that some coins have been undervalued for decades. We call them sleepers here, as we examine them, but some sleepers may be in a long term coma. The point is that we shouldn't assume a sleeper is a fantastic investment vehicle.

Having said all this, let's jump into the Coronet $10s once more. The 1906-O $10 has a mintage similar to 1902. The 1906-O had a total of 86,895. In AU-50 it is valued at $600, the MS-60 is at $750, and the MS-65 brings $4,900. It looks as if the highest grade is quite a bit to swallow, but the lower two are once again right on the same plane as the prices for the higher mintage $10s.

Let's check out two more Coronet $10s, but do so with dates that have even lower mintages. The 1893-O $10 has a total of 17,000. That's tiny compared to the four leaders I am using as my baseline. But let's also compare the 1893-CC, with its 14,000, and see what similarities and differences there might be. After all, the lure of the Carson City mintmark has long been a siren song to collectors. Let's see what it means for these gold pieces.

The 1893-O comes in with $640 in AU-50. So far, so good. That's a definite sleeper. In MS-60 this becomes an $880 coin. Still, that's not too bad. Finally, in MS-63 the price is $5,300. That's a steep price. Technically, it's still a sleeper in that it is far below where it could be based on its scarcity. But it's hard to imagine spending this much money on a single coin in the hope it will quickly rise in value. Still, all in all, the 1893-O has some serious sleeper potential to it.

What about the 1893-CC $10? What do the numbers look like here? Well, in AU-50 itís $1,800, which isn't cheap, but isn't as expensive as it could be. In MS-60, that number jumps to $8,500. That's steep. And in MS-65, at least one of the major monthly price references doesn't even list this date. It sounds like that's the stuff of auctions.

Ultimately, it does appear that the CC mintmark carries a premium. But it's curious to note that the AU-50 coin still qualifies as affordable, or probably does for a person who could lay out $1,800 for an MS-63 $10 that qualifies as common. It's also heartening to see that the 1893-O is a serious sleeper, at least in two of the grades I've looked at.

The list could go on and on. I haven't looked at any of the gold $20s, for example, or any of the Indian Head $5s and $10s that came after the Coronets. One can only wonder what sleepers lie among all those dates and series.
Source: numismaster.com