Arnold-Peter Weiss case sends chills down the spines of collectors

By now we have heard the case of Arnold-Peter Weiss, the Brown University medical school professor who was arrested for trying to auction three rare ancient coins.  At issue is that under Italian law, such antiquities could not be removed from italy after 1909.  The three ancient decadrachms, potentially valued at millions of dollars, ended up being declared forgeries.  Weiss, however, was still being prosecuted because he believed he was breaking the antiquities law, even though he was not.

The case contains several disturbing facets:

1. A conversation was recorded in which Weiss stated "I know this is a fresh coin.  This was dug a few years ago."  Is the government monitoring the phone calls of high end coin collectors?
2. The coins were examined by Weiss ( a well known coin expert) and many professional coin auctioneers who all assumed the coins were authentic.  This means that the modern day forger has gotten so good that the experts can be fooled.  Because of the coins values (the cheapest was expected to bring in $350,000), it was subjected to extra scrutiny.  How many other "authentic" ancient coins are in fact, frauds?
3. Can most ancient coins now be confiscated?  There are many ancient coins in the hands of United States collectors.  Most do not have evidence that they were exported from Italy before 1909 (even if they were).  

The reverse proof silver eagle -- limited edition?

Today the United States Mint began taking orders for a two coin set containing a silver proof 2012 S American Eagle and a reverse proof 2012 S American Eagle.

The price of the two coin set is $149.95 -- about $75 per coin.  This price is sure a bolt from the blue.  After all, a "regular" 2012 proof silver eagle is currently priced at $59.95.

The mint's advertisement states "The United States Mint has a tradition of offering special limited-edition coin sets to American Eagle Coin collectors."
"What will the edition be limited to?" I hear you ask.





Customers may place orders from now until July 5, 2012.  However many are ordered -- that's how many the mint will produce.  This should limit any increase in value.  After all, you can buy as many as you want today, giving no reason to pay more tomorrow.

There are two gimmicks here:  One is the notion that a collector must be extra for the "S" mintmark.  Why should an 2012S be worth more than a 2012W -- especially when the mint can produce unlimited quantities of either to meet demand.  The second gimmick is the "reverse mirror proof," which in my view should be priced the same as a regular proof.

Will the public go for the gimmicks?  We can keep score.  On its web page, the mint will continually provide data on how many were sold.

1870-S Three dollar gold coin up for auction -- hold on a minute!

An 1870-S three dollar gold coin has been put up for auction by the Four Seasons Auction Company.  The 1870-S coin was thought to be unique and struck for the purpose of placing in the cornerstone of the San Francisco mint.  The mintmark was also unique in that it was handmade, rather than stamped.  The coin last sold in 1982 for $687,500.

The current coin is a different 1870-S three dollar gold coin.  This should cause us to pause -- so this coin is perhaps not unique.  The mintmark looks different from its sister.  Does this mean that a second die was made just to produce a single coin?  Or is this story quickly losing its credibility.

The coin was apparently discovered embedded in a souvenir book in San Francisco.  How and why did it get there?  This remains shrouded in mystery.

The auction company expected the coin to fetch about four million dollars.  And yet the coins has not been authenticated by any service.  Again, this should cause us to pause.  The auctioneer encouraged people to view the coin in person and to bring experts.  But who is the expert who can authenticate a coin with a unique mintmark that was struck from a once-used die?

The coin has apparently been suddenly removed from the auction.  Either way, I encourage my millionaire friends to exercise caution.