World Gold Coin Colletion - Louis Eliasberg Auction
April
20, 2005, 2:33 AM EDT
NEW
YORK (AP) _ A rare world gold coin collection that had sat undisturbed for nearly
a half-century in a Baltimore bank vault fetched more than $10 million in an international
auction.
The draw was more than twice what had been estimated, said
Christine Karstedt, president of American Numismatic Rarities of Wolfeboro, N.H.,
which conducted the auction of this world gold coin collection.
About
2,500 world gold coins from Europe, Latin America and Asia were sold during the
two-day sale Monday and Tuesday of this world gold coin collection.
The
highest price paid for a single world gold coin was $379,500, for a five-ounce
world gold coin made in Venice around 1770 showing Jesus and St. Mark. The amount
was a record for a non-ancient Italian world gold coin, the auctioneers said.
The earliest known round coin from Colombia , pressed in 1755 and depicting
King Ferdinand VI of Spain , sold for $103,500. The oldest coin in the world gold
coin collection, a gold piece hammered by hand in Sicily in 413 B.C., sold for
$5,060.
The world gold coin collection came from the estate of Louis
E. Eliasberg Sr., a prominent Baltimore banker who began acquiring world gold
coins in 1934, soon after President Roosevelt's gold proclamation. Earlier auctions
of world gold coins from this world gold coin collection have drawn more than
$45 million.
Names of the winning bidders in this week's world gold
coin auction were not disclosed. Prices included a 15 percent fee paid by winning
bidders.
World
gold coin collecting has become more popular in the last few years. There seems
to be a renewed interest of gold coins of the world.
