Big Ideas, Little World with Tom Michael

The Road Home

2008-05-16T12:09:27.1760000-04:00

Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

Wo de fu qin mu qin or The Road Home

A Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2000 and an Audience Award at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival are good endorsements for this pleasant little chinese film - The Road Home - but it was the story line which first attracted me. A marriage born from love in a time and culture where arranged marriages were the accepted method and class distinction was a powerful tool to keep people in their place.

A sentimental story, with minimal chinese dialogue with english subtitles, The Road Home succeeds in holding the viewers attention, primarily because of the fine acting of Zhang Ziyi. Her characters story is one that most people can understand and relate to on a base emotional level. Most of us have experienced it to some degree in our own lives and this holds us intent on her pursuit.

Technically, I enjoyed the use of b/w filming for the opening and closing, with color reserved for the extensive flashback which makes up the largest potion of this film. The sharp and vibrant color is a good reflection of the hightened emotion experienced in that period in the main characters lives.

Don't let the language barriers deter you, give The Road Home a try.

New Books, New DVD References

2008-05-16T11:07:09.6500000-04:00

New Catalogs and DVDs From Krause Publications

Two new KP catalogs arrived back from the printers recently. The Standard Catalog of World Paper Money - Modern Issues - 1961-Present, 14th edition, edited by friend and fellow blogger George Cuhaj hit my desk earlier this week. It features fully updated pricing, better quality images, a nice color section, some simplification in arrangement, ie. South Korea is now under "S", and for the first time ever the book includes a full DVD version of this product! Throw this disc in the DVD drive of your computer and you can have the complete contents of this catalog on your screen. The catalog with DVD included runs $55.00 and is currently available at krausebooks.com, while a separate DVD only version will be released June 8th for $44.95.

Also back from the printers this week is the 7th edition of the U.S. Coin Digest. This catalog covers most everything in U.S. coinage, with chapters on history, manufacture, grading, varieties and errors, Territorial Gold, Hawaii, Philippines and Puerto Rico, and more. This catalog offers color images of most U.S. coin types in a lay flat, hard cover, spiral binding. In addition, this book too includes a DVD of the full contents, which you can run on a PC or Mac which has a DVD drive, using Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or later version. At a cover price of $16.99 this presents an extremely good value for collectors of U.S. coinage, or those considering entering the hobby at any level. The DVD for U.S. Coin Digest is also available through our magazine division at a price of $9.99. For details check Numismatic News.

Friday Fix

2008-05-16T10:46:04.7190000-04:00

Friday Fix

London pm fixes for 5-16-08

Gold $897.00

Silver $16.83

Platinum $2136.00

Palladium $443.00

Stack's Wilson Dollar

2008-05-16T10:25:35.0700000-04:00

Two Gold Wilson Dollars in One Year

In my last posting I included an image of the gold Wilson Dollar which sold through Heritage in April and again this week. As a follow-up, I thought I should post images of the other gold Wilson Dollar which sold through Stack's in January, thus providing at one site a nice photographic record of two of the three know gold strikes.

Additionally, here are a few quick details about the Wilson Dollar medals in brief reference form:

Bronze mintage: 3,700
Silver mintage: 2,200
Gold mintage: 5
designed by Clifford Hewitt
dies cut by George T. Morgan
For Manila Mint opeing in 1920
Mint facility was first and only U.S. branch mint opened and operated outside the United States
U.S. Mint Chief Engineer Clifford Hewitt supervised the outfitting of the Manila Mint and the striking of the Wilson Medals
Original Manila Mint building was destroyed during WWII

Build a Wilson Dollar set - Now!

2008-05-15T11:38:48.7030000-04:00

Three Wise Wilson Dollars

On July 16, 1920 the Manila Mint in the Philippines held a ceremony for its inauguration. Medals were struck for the occasion, under the supervision of Chief Engineer Clifford Hewitt, using dies cut by George T. Morgan of the U.S. Mint, just a matter of five or six years before his death. Today these medals are known as " Wilson Dollars" and are typically sought by collectors of Philippines coinage as nice additions to their numismatic holdings.

The design sports a portrait of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, with legend: PRESIDENT. OF. THE. UNITED. STATES. on the obverse and a depiction of Juno Moneta kneeling with scales, guiding a nude youth on the operation of a coining press on the reverse, with legend: TO. COMMEMORATE. THE. OPENING. OF. THE. MINT. and MANILA P.I. 1920 in the exergue. The youth is feeding planchets into the press.

These medals were struck in three compositions, with 2,200 pieces struck in silver, 3,700 pieces struck in bronze and just five pieces struck in gold. Many of the bronze and silver pieces were tossed into Manila Bay, making high grade, quality examples tough to find today. Even lower grade examples bring reasonably good prices, as survival rates are not the best and sea salvaged pieces are often encountered. Of the five originally struck gold medals, noted Philippines coinage expert Lyman L. Allen noted in his 1997 reference, U.S. Philippine Coins, that only three are know to have survived.

Which makes it amazing that over the spring and summer months of 2008 at least one nice uncirculated example of each of the three metals, including two of the gold examples, of the Wilson Dollar have been offered on the market, making it possible for someone to have very quickly built a choice or brilliant set of these interesting and historical medals.

The first came up in March through the Philippine Mail Bid Sale XI presented by Cookie Jar Collectibles. This was one of the bronze pieces. It was graded choice uncirculated with 95% red surfaces and realized $1103. Stack’s offered an MS-61 graded Wilson Dollar in their January sale, where it realized $80,500. In April, Heritage offered a second example of the rare gold medal at auction during the Central States Numismatic Society Convention. This piece graded MS-62 and sold for a recorded $69,000. This same gold example was again offered through a Heritage Online auction closing Tuesday May 13th, where it realized $77,625. On June 7^th,Presidential Coin and Antique Company will offer a brilliant uncirculated silver example in its Auction Seventy-Eight as lot 208, allowing some savvy collector the opportunity of completing the grand uncirculated "Wilson Dollar" triumvirate over a slim three-month period.

Volatile Gold Leads to Interesting Predictions

2008-05-10T17:04:41.5620000-04:00

Gold Bomb on the Horizon?

Volatility in spot gold prices is leading to some wide and varied predictions for the most popluar of the precious metals. Reading through many, many comments over the last few weeks leaves one wondering where gold and the other precious metals might be headed. No one has a supreme answer, but several traders are now expecting extended corrections for gold over the next few months.

Some are looking for spot gold to drop down to the $800 an ounce level by June or July at which point they can see lots of support. Here are links to a few of the more interesting predictions along these lines of thought:

From the Resource Investor site, a prediction by Interfax-China

From Jim Rogers of the Quantum Fund, a buying level

EBay Goes Green

2008-05-10T10:53:00.9840000-04:00

EBay Does Energy Efficiency

EBay , the Internet auction giant, just recently finished construction on a new building at their headquarters in San Jose, California. It's meant to house about 800 employees of the PayPal branch of their business and has been designed at the highest of "Green" standards. It has the largest solar roof in San Jose and sports lots of automated functionality engineered to save energy. Accomplishing this added about 4%-5% to their construction budget, a figure very close to the insertion fees sellers pay to list items on eBay's auction site.

It's nice to see a massive business like eBay moving in the "Green" direction, but I do hope that they will care for their customer base to the same degree that they care for the environment. Collectors of all kinds have come to depend on eBay as their exchange network. Many coin dealers do the lion's share of their selling on eBay and some newer entrants do business exclusively in shops and auctions on eBay, with PayPal payment a near industry standard.

As costs rise sellers are directly affected in a very immediate way. Cheaper items become harder to justify selling individually and I have seen more put together coin sets out on eBay lately than ever before. In the case of new issues, that is often a good thing for buyers, but the junk groups that are cropping up only serve to litter the vast number of lots a potential buyer must sift through to find desirable items.

Let's just hope that eBay and their sister firm, PayPal, hold hobby health as close to their hearts as they do environmental concerns. Collectors should not have to foot the bill for eBay's elective drive to the "Green" way of life.

Friday Fix

2008-05-09T10:45:20.5000000-04:00

Friday Fix

London pm fixes for 5-9-08

Gold $876.00

Silver $16.97

Platinum $2079.00

Palladium $437.00

Odyssey, Black Swan and the Mercedes

2008-05-09T10:00:46.9060000-04:00

Spain Pursues Odyssey

About one year ago, in late May, 2007 I wrote a posting covering the news story of the Odyssey Marine Exploration recovery of a shipwreck with loads of silvers coins. At that time Odyssey had not released much information about the shipwreck location, origin of the ship or the coins, but from photo's of buckets of coins we were guessing that they were Spanish 8 Reales. Odyssey had brought the coins and other items from the discovery site back to their warehouses in Tampa, Florida. Their announcement did not give the original location of the wreck.

Lot's of mystery, good chance for dispute and a great pirate story in the making!

In the ensuing months, the Spanish government filed claims to the property. They objected to the removal of the coins from their orginial site and sought court assitance in gaining more information from Odyssey about the shipwreck. Slowly, Odyssey has been forced to give up the tightly held details of the find, which they have been calling "The Black Swan".

Today the Associated Press released more details about this shipwreck case, which I read in a FOXnews story. Seems the Spanish government has come to the conclusion that the ship that Odyssey located the remains of was the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spainsh naval vessel sunk by the British in 1804 off the coast of Portugal as it was returning from South America with silver coins struck in Lima, Peru.

Spain wants the return of all items from this wreck, as they claim to retain full title to all property aboard the ship when it sunk. The Mercedes was a naval vessel belonging to the Spanish government and it seems that under maritime law such a ship remains the possesion of the country under whose flag she sailed, even if it now rests at the bottom of the sea.

Since Odyssey flew the coins out of Gibraltar to Tampa, Fl without notifying the Spanish government, it will now be up to a U.S. court to decide their fate. At the heart of this dispute will be an attempt to conclusively identify the shipwreck, which may be difficult, as most of what remains are the artifacts. The ships hull is gone and it sounds as if much of the rest of the actual ship is gone as well. However, Spain feels it has conclusive evidence, presumably in comparisons of records, recovery items and location of the wreck. In the article I read it was mentioned that the treasure contains 1803 dated 8 Escudos struck at Lima, but those are not uncommon coins, so the Spanish government must have more decissive evidence to back up thier claim, given the extremely high confidence level exhibited by their public statements.

In the coming months we'll learn more as we see what the courts have to say after reviewing the evidence submitted from both Odyssey and the Spanish government. In addition, because Spain and Odyssey have worked together on other explorations in the past, but no longer, other legal actions may follow and Odyssey may find themselves up aginst an armada of legal tangles.

Mariner's Astrolabe in Sedwick Treasure Auction

2008-05-08T12:27:10.4530000-04:00

Shipwreck's and Treasure!

When it rains, it pours, at least where my streams of conscious thought are concerned. Last week I posted about a shipwreck discovery off the coast of Namibia, where about 1,000 gold and silver coins were uncovered, along with 50 elephant tusks, copper ingots, 8 cannons and other items including two astrolabes.

Afterwards, friend and fellow Market Update writer, Lisa Bellavin, asked me to do a brief interview for Coin Chat Radio on the shipwreck, which we recorded earlier this week for broadcast through NumisMaster later today. If you'd like to hear it, just go to www.numismaster.com and click on Coin Chat Radio on the right-hand side of the top navigation bar. For the interview I did a bit more research, including some investigation into astrolabes, which I knew very little about.

At the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory website hosted in Greenwich, UK, I was able to learn quite a bit about the history and function of the astrolabe. One of the most enlightening things I discovered is that Mariner's Astrolabes, like the two uncovered in the Namibian shipwreck, are quite rare. Seems the NMM only has seven examples in their collection, of which only two are from the time period when these devices were actually used for sailing navigation. Mariner's Astrolabes were used for navigation most heavily from about 1500 to 1700 at the latest, when more accurate instruments such as the Backstaff and Davis Quadrant came into wider use.

But just how rare are Mariner's Astrolabes? Well, the most current bit of data on this turned up in yesterdays mail, when I opened a package from well known coin dealer, Daniel Frank Sedwick, good friend, well known author and long time Standard Catalog contributor from Winter Park, Florida. In the package was a catalog for Dan's upcoming Treasure Auction #3 set to close May 29th.

Treasure Auction #3 contains nearly 1200 lots of gold and silver cob and milled treasure coins primarily from the Spanish colonies, along with gold ingots, silver bars, and a vast array of artifacts including tableware of porcelain, greyware, silver, pewter and earthenware, plus a lovely Octant and, as luck would have it, a rare 16th Century bronze Mariner's Astrolabe. In the lot write-up Dan mentions that this is one of about 70 Mariner's Astrolabes currently know to exist. This example rests in a coral matrix and is estimated at $35,000 to $50,000.

Penny & Nickel in Steel?

2008-05-07T11:56:09.2650000-04:00

Base Metal Prices Force the Issue

In U.S. numismatics the one cent piece (penny) and five cent piece (nickel) are the current hot buttons. High prices for the base metals, copper and nickel, used in their production have driven up manufacturing costs above the face value of these coins and hobby professionals, like friend and fellow blogger Dave Harper have been talking up the subject for some time now.

Costs always push these discussions out to the broader public and media however and this morning I noticed a story on CNN. Historically, in our field lots of collectors and professionals have been debating the need for the cent for many, many years. In general, we collectors do not want to see the cent dropped from coinage and at the U.S. Mint we have an ally in Director Edmund C. Moy, who has been wonderful at listening to collectors.

Still, paying more than face value to produce a penny or nickel is economically unsound. The suggestion that both coins be switched in content to steel is an interesting one. I am not sure how the public might react to such a change, but I can say that as a collector I, personally, would enjoy such a move. A metal change is the simplest way to move the type collector into action. Most numismatists would certainly make a point of adding a new steel cent or five cent to their collection. They might even take the opportunity to encourage kids to do the same, as collecting pennies and nickels has always been the lowest cost, smallest downside, easiest access channel into numismatics.

In addition a metal change would force U.S. collectors to take a better look at the long date runs of the Lincoln cent and Jefferson nickel. Generally only the highest grades garner interest currently, but if the composition of these types changes, perhaps markets would begin to mature and structure might develope for marginal differences in date and grade scarcity.

Consider taking a moment and expressing your opinion on this subject. Post a comment here, or stop over at NumisMaster, where several surveys, blog posts and articles have already been generating lively discussions among collectors.

Gold Futures Dip

2008-05-07T10:58:51.8590000-04:00

Gold Future Slip on Dollar Strength

Another bump in the road today, as spot gold and gold futures dipped in the wake of increased strength for the U.S. dollar. Crude oil continues to rule the roost with a top figure of about $122 a barrel. This will be the second day that crude oil is holding at or near this level.

In general it seems clear that the world's economic bases of power are shifting. Buying power is growing in China and India, as disposable income is catching up with the great numbers of their populations. With oil prices high, the centers of gold futures exchange are naturally shifting. Dubai is quick becoming the focal point for gold futures trading. The Dubai Gold & Commodity Exchange has become the center for activity, especially in gold futures. And trading in gold futures increased by about 50% last year.

Free Comic Book Day

2008-05-02T17:39:14.1530000-04:00

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!

One of my many interests includes comic books. I am a fan of Archie Comics and other teenage comics from the golden and silver ages. I like funny animal comics too and even some super heros, but the teenager ones are my favorite type.

If you like comics too and are looking for something to do tomorrow, think about stopping by a comics shop near you and picking up a few free comics to read or pass on to a friend. Bring along your children! Free Comic Book Day is great fun for the whole family. If you haven't looked at comics in years, you may even discover some of the old titles you used to enjoy for sale in the back issues bins.

For more information on Free Comic Book Day check out the FCBD website or the Comics Buyer's Guide website - CBGExtra. Take a look at the neat countdown to Free Comic Book Day clock my comics friend Brent Frankenhoff installed in his FCBD forum!

Paradise Road

2008-05-02T10:53:28.7540000-04:00

Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

Paradise Road

After I recommended No Country For Old Men a few weeks ago, I found that friend and fellow Market Update writer Maggie Pahl is also a Coen brother’s fan. This led to some DVD lending and a little local Coen revival. I rewatched Miller's Crossing and Blood Simple and then got to thinking. What other films has Frances McDormand done without the Coens?

A little checking turned up a healthy number of interesting sounding movies, two of which I was able to watch this week. City by the Sea is a well-acted action thriller, with Frances McDormand, Robert De Niro and James Franco (of the Spiderman franchise). Director, Michael Caton-Jones, keeps your attention with a simple, yet compelling plot that pulls the viewer in its emotional directions. Honor, character and personal choices are the driving themes, but this film maintains high entertainment levels as well. Extras on this disc include a six point film making school by Michael Caton-Jones which is well worth watching if you enjoy the behind the scenes stuff.

The second film, my recommended film of the week, was Paradise Road, starring Glenn Close, Pauline Collins, Frances McDormand and Cate Blanchett. Set during WWII, this film tells the story of a group of woman who end up detained by the Japanese military in an internment camp in Sumatra for the duration of the war. The lyric flow of class, cast, race and nationality distinction being broken down and rebuilt as comradery and fellowship through hardship and common threads makes for an outstanding piece. It’s hard to recognize the British ladies you saw dinning in Singapore at the beginning of the film by the time the gates are opened by the defeated Japanese at the end. It is also rather hard to watch what they went through, given that this film is based on a true story.

Though music is the tool that these women finally use to bond and regain strength and dignity for themselves, it is the journey to a broader acceptance of humanity and the rejection of prejudice that I found to be the gem of this film.

Friday Fix

2008-05-02T10:49:54.1690000-04:00

Friday Fix

London pm fixes for 5-2-08

Gold $853.50

Silver $16.19

Platinum $1878.00

Palladium $412.00

Precious Metals Review

2008-05-02T10:01:30.4040000-04:00

A Quick Review of Precious Metals Cycles

When you sit back and think a minute about precious metals prices over the last 30 years you can begin to see the cycles of interest and activity. This came to mind as I read an excellent short historical analysis of the precious metals market since 2006 posted this morning by Gary Dorsch at Seeking Alpha. Take a moment to read through Mr. Dorsch's posting, I am sure it will serve you well.

It's good for us to look back before deciding how to move forward. Plus it's fun to reminisce!

I remember hearing some great stories about the coin market during that 1979 to 1980 period. In the ten years after the market crashed, dealers still refered to that high point as "The Party". It was a time when some people made lots of money and others came too late or held too long and lost it all. During the 1990's I met many coin collectors who were still holding their silver and gold, waiting for those 1979-1980 price levels to return so that they could cash out without a significant loss.

It's all a matter of timing...and knowledge...and intuition...and outlet. In other words it is much more complicated to trade in precious metals than most people can imagine.

Collecting precious metal coins with an eye towards appreciation, however, is something that most of us do to some degree and that's a good thing. It's a pursuit we can enjoy while keeping our downside risk to a minimum.

Just remember, there is a fine line between collecting for enjoyment and investing in collectibles for profit. Most of us cross back over and forth over that line quite frequently in small degrees, but the collecting side tends to bring us more happiness and less stress. I think about those folks holding on to their silver and gold through the 1980's and 1990's, waiting for a time to unload. The next cycle finally arrived, but was the 20 years of aggravation worth waiting out the profit?

Shipwreck Found Off Coast of Namibia

2008-05-01T13:09:33.6340000-04:00

Spanish Gold & Potuguese Silver in Shipwreck Find

The Namdeb Diamond Corp., a joint venture of De Beers and the Nambian Government, has discovered gold and silver coins in a 500 year old shipwreck located off the coast of Namibia. They suspect that the ship may be connected to Bartolomeu Dias, the famed Portuguese explorer who was the first European to navigate the Cape of Good Hope.

There are archaeologists and geologists involved in the recovery, so things should proceed correctly and without damage to the artifacts, which include navigational astrolabes, copper ingots, ivory tusks, pewter tableware, weapons, cannons and more. The Southern Africa Institute of Maritime Archaeological Research has Bruno Werz on hand to assist and Dieter Noli, their chief archaeologist, seems to running the show. Noli has ideas about the wreck. He thinks the copper found on board and the ivory would indicate official business, perhaps of the Portuguese government. The copper may have been acquired for use in making cannons.

Both Spain and Portugal have been notified by Namdeb and further progress is awaiting approvals and agreements between these prominent parties. Namdeb will probably be looking for additional expert support from both governments, but Noli seems to have matters well in hand.

A huge amount of ivory, mostly in the form of elephant tusks was also discovered with the wreck. Early reports indicate that coins in the wreck may number in the thousands and there were about 50 elephant tusks. At least two astrolabes were present at the wreck site, a great find for Werz, as his picture indicates.

Namibia has an area known as the Skeleton Coast, where many shipwrecks have occured over the years. It's a great place to survey if you are into shipwrecks or maritime history.

Precious Metals in Decline

2008-05-01T10:27:13.3060000-04:00

Gold on the Down Slide

It's not April Fool's Day, it's May Day! But don't panic yet. Precious metals may still rebound and if you expect this, then now would be a good time to buy.

After the Federal Reserve again lowered interest rates a quarter percent yesterday afternoon gold had a flurry of buying which seemed to strengthen it's hold near $875. This morning however, major selling has driven the most watched of the precious metals down near the $850 level.

Silver is nearing $16.50, with platinum near $1875 and palladium near $400. All are on the decline, with inflation worries hushed for the moment.

The dollar strengthened agianst the Euro to about $1.55, in the wake of this last interest rate cut. The fed is indicating that they will now hold off on any further cuts, which seems a wise choice. Gold futures are trading normally in light of these factors, so we may soon see another stable plane approaching for precious metals. But the potential for a resumption of the bull market still looms in everyones mind.

Gold Continues Dropping

2008-04-29T15:47:17.9930000-04:00

Precious Metals in Decline

Gold continued it's steady decline yesterday and slipped below $870 shortly this afternoon. Investors seem wary in light of the expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut which may come tomorrow.

Silver sits just above $16.50 at the time of this posting with Platinum just below $1920 and palladium at $420. All showing significant drops in afternoon trading.

Atonement

2008-04-25T17:23:37.5720000-04:00

Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

Atonement

After the Academy Awards, I usually try to watch all the films, which I have not yet seen, that were nominated for best picture. I figure if they took the honor of an Academy nomination, it's probably a good idea for me to watch them. So this week I viewed Atonement.

Normally I don't go in much for romances, but I do like some of the Jane Austin based films and war pictures are ok by me, so Atonement looked like a good opportunity. The film is directed by Joe Wright, who also directed Pride and Prejudice. It has a war segment and offers some odd emotional crossings, so I came to it expecting to be at least lightly entertained.

Atonement however, turned out to be an excellent picture. Clearly much thought was put into its development from the novel by Ian McEwan. I really enjoyed the scene transitions, which help to blend the crossing story lines. Judging by the disc extras these moments came straight from the novel and proved perfect for use in the film editing. Atonements blending of sounds and scored music also provided a great treat for me. The typewriter clacks really helped to hold the film together and brought added emotional effect when needed. Powerful acting from James McAvoy and Keira Knightley brought an elevation, which kept Atonement from becoming overly melodramatic in it's themes of class distinction and snobbery.

In a way, Atonement might be compared to Titanic in its method of story telling and I think that is a good thing for the potential viewer to hear. If you enjoy this type of film, jump right in, but even if British romantic drama is not your cup of tea, I think most viewers will be able to appreciate the fine craftsmanship which went into making Atonement.