(602) The Front Page: Volume 2 Issue 6: Last Revision: 03/13/06
And the latest word is bad, no, in fact terrible!
Here is what I have been told about the situation at this time: Very few, if any U.S. Citizens are traveling to or from Mexico with old Mexican Coins in their possession. Supposedly it is now unlawful to own or leave Mexico with any old Mexican coins in your luggage! Supposedly Mexican Customs authorities are now confiscating any old Mexican coins found at all of the Mexico’s International Airports. Even citizens of Mexico are fearful of traveling with old Mexican coins by air; they are driving to the border and crossing over by car or foot.
Yes, you read that correctly! Mexican Customs officials are supposedly confiscating all old Mexican coins in the airports of Mexico.
I stumbled on this story by accident while talking to Rick Ponterio in early March. I asked Rick about the Mexico City Convention during the 1st week of March. Rick’s reply, “I didn’t go because of customs problems”. I found his report unusual and alarming.
So I talked to one of the collector’s I know in Mexico about his trip to the show, he said, “I bought several nice coins, but I was disappointed because of the lack of American dealers and collectors at the show.” He went on to say very few of the U.S. Mexican Specialty Coin Dealers were there and only one had a booth.
This is very unusual. So I asked what he knew about this situation? My Mexican friend said he heard it was a direct result of an old Mexican law. This law was written long ago to keep Mexico’s ancient artifacts from being exported. But until “all of the flack” about the missing antiques in Afghanistan and Iraq, its coverage by the U.S. press, and the pressure created by U.S. politicians, the law hadn't been enforced. Leave it to the politicos and press in the U.S. to screw up the works.
Here is another example of the worldwide craziness that is going on. I can understand, to a point, wanting to protect the ancient artistic heritage of a country. But trying to stop the export of old coins and paper money that were originally intended for commerce and export is just plan ludicrous.
You would think there are other, far more pressing problems facing our world than this one, which has been blown completely out of proportion by the U.S. press and the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives? Thanks Hilary and friends!
Just consider what could happen to the future of our hobby? Suppose a large collection of Mexican Numismatic items, from one of the old collections in Mexico, comes on the market. If I understand this correctly ... it is now illegal for a collector or dealer to purchase these items and export them. This will greatly affect not only all Mexican Coin Dealers in Mexico, but also collectors and dealers located in the U.S.A. too.
If a Mexican dealer sells one or more of these old Mexican Numismatic items to a U.S. dealer or collector, someone will have to smuggle them out of Mexico. If you buy one or more of these items … you are buying and receiving illegal contraband, which can and may be seized by U.S. Customs Agents.
And you can, and may probably be prosecuted in the U.S. Federal Courts because of this “feeding frenzy”? At the very least you will run up sizable “legal fees” that could take years to pay-off.
Don’t think this can happen? Well it already happened during March 2006. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and Homeland Security (ICE) seized 130 pounds of ancient coins found near Saudi Arabia in 1994. Yea, you read that right, a guy found the coins in 1994 while scuba diving. A federal informant, seeking a reward for his actions, turned him in. The feds then setup a full blown “sting operation” to catch this guy. Once caught, the culprit cooped with the feds by coming clean and returning all of the coins so they wouldn’t prosecute or persecute him. For more info go to www.cointoday.com/, you will not believe this story that appeared in the Washington Post?
I wonder, “What happened to the 10 year Statue of Limitations Law?” I wonder, “What happened to the International Sea Salvage Laws?” I wonder why our government bureaucrats are “kissing the butts” of foreign governments at the expense of U.S. Laws and the time tested Sea Salvage Laws? Didn’t our man Mel Fisher fight this one all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and win his case for all coin collectors and sea salvage people in the future?
Now is the time for action! Now is the time for all Mexican Coin Collectors and Dealers, both here and in Mexico, to get off our collective butts and try to stop this! However, the only people who can change this are the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives! Furthermore it is very doubtful they will do anything, unless you, I, and everyone else connected with our hobby writes and calls them. Bug these idiots until they do something to reverse this travesty of justice.
And if you were or are planning to make a coining trip to Mexico … forget it!
I’ve heard a great rumor since the Heritage NYINC’06 sale (remember its only a rumor) about these coins. Supposedly the original finder of the three coins sold the first two coins for something under $10,000 each. Then, when he saw the article about the reported private sale by the Goldbergs, of one of them, for a cool million (unverified) dollars, he decided to select Heritage to sell the third coin. Smart move!
A Great story … if true?
I never met James in person, but from time to time I had several long and involved phone conversations with him while he was with Stack's. Always a proper gentleman on the phone, and willing to take the time needed to research something for an inquisitive collector, even if you weren’t a large Stack's customer. I sorely missed him after he retired from Stacks, and I always thought he left a gapping vacuum in the firm when it came to Latin American after his retirement.
James lived a full life; he was 92 years old when he passed away. Mr. Risk was a longtime coin collector, author and a champion of learning about coins before you started purchasing them. He was an avid supporter of both the New York Numismatic Club and the ANA, who presented him and David Spink the Heath Literary Award in 1963 for an article about the Class I Proof Draped Bust Dollar in The Numismatist.
Mr. Risk was much better known in British numismatic circles than in Latin American numismatics, but he had a vast knowledge and love of Mexican coins as I found out from my personal conversations with him.
Joe has promised to tell all of our MCM readers about his adventures in Mexican Numismatics … so stay tuned for an in-depth story a little later.
Yes, you read that correctly … we have Mexican Coin Magic readers in London, Paris and Brussels, Belgium, not to mention collectors in several Latin America countries other than Mexico.
I have been trying to locate and begin a dialog with Professor Buttrey in order to complete a list of all his books, essays, and articles about Mexico and Mexican Numismatics. This list is needed to complete the FoxLair Library Master List of Mexican Numismatic Publications.
Additionally I have a number of questions about Mexican contemporary counterfeits and modern fakes that need to be addressed and further studied. The first article, by Buttrey, I can find about these items was first published in the Memorias De La Academia Mexicana de Estudios Numismaticos Volume III No.9 in 1974.
Later, while researching this article on the Internet, I happen to find a website authored by Buttrey and another noted numismatist John M. Kleeberg. These numismatic scholars accuse John J. Ford of being the “ringleader” and one of several well-known people in numismatic circles who created many of the fake U.S. and Mexican gold bars that have been slowly fed into the numismatic market over the years. This revelation has spurred me to do more research on the gold bars, Ford, and the others involved in what appears to be a large-scale fraud.
Once my research is complete, we will have an article about everything we can find, both fact and rumor. But I can already assure you this information will be rather shocking and it may reveal a person, unknown until now, who could possibly have assembled the greatest collection of Mexican Numismatic material ever seen.
If you can’t wait and would like to see what Buttrey and Kleeberg have to say on their website go to… www.fake-gold-bars.co.uk/index.html
Wow! The U.S. Park Service has done a bang-up job building this new facility, but even more exciting is the information available on-site for sale. They have well over 100 maps, books, and newspaper reprints from this era about Mexico, Texas, and the U.S. Mexican War. Many of these books are actual reprints of soldiers’ diaries, historical works and biographies of many of the later important personalities from both sides of the conflict.
I purchased several reprints of the following two newspapers:
Both of reprints have several interesting articles and maps, so if you are a student of this era let me know and I will send you copies of these reprints for my cost plus postage. Later, when I have the time I will return to the facility and make a complete list of the books and map portfolios they have available with ordering information.
And if you ever visit this area, let me recommend you set-a-side a couple of hours to visit this facility because at least one of the rangers stationed there is very knowledgeable about the history of the battlefield and the people involved with this interesting period.
I hope some people are finally beginning to appreciate the “True Rarity” of many Mexican Numismatic items? However, I hope there isn’t something “fishy” going on in our hobby. Some recent events seem highly questionable to me.
It is hard for me to fathom that not one, but two, Mexican Proclamation Medals reached the unheard of plateau of over $250,000 in a single sale. Then in a March Stack’s Auction several of the more expensive Mexican coins from the Eliasberg Collection show up, and all sell (?) for much less than they did in the Eliasberg Sale.
Was the good Dr. Globus the mystery buyer with Harvey Stack at the Eliasberg Sale? It isn’t unusual for extremely rare U.S. coins to come back on the market in less than a year, but it is highly unusual for rare and expensive Mexican coins to make this quick a reappearance. Some of these coins include the ex Clapp-Eliasberg Mo 1823 JM Hookneck 8 Escudo which was hammered down for over $50 grand, the Mo 1732 8 Escudo with no assayer's initials and the Mo 1847 MF 8 Escudo to name a few.
I guess it really doesn’t matter about the ex Eliasberg coins or the mysterious buyer with Harvey because there are two Mexican Republic 5 Pesos in the Stack’s March Sale that are real “barn-burners”. The first one is a Ho 1877 A that is a real beauty and is by far the highest grade Hermosillo 5 Peso I have seen or recorded in my years of research. While not as rare, the Zs 1888 Z is still one of the more elusive 5 Pesos. My sales records for these two 5 Pesos indicate only one public sale before now of either. And both of these coins are much higher-grade coins than either of the previous sales. I just hope all of you fanatic 5 Peso collectors find out about these two jewels before it was too late.
Oops, too late! Both coins sold for $9,500 each, plus the juice. I wonder who the lucky new owner is of these two fantastic coins, and where he or she lives? I know one thing, someone got both coins a very cheap prices! Several collectors told me they expected the Ho 1877 A 5 Pesos to sell for well over $20,000. I wonder what happened?
In other auction news we find…
Duane Douglas: had a great early 2006 auction of some really nice material. Duane, why don't you send us some information for our readers about your results?
Ponterio & Associates: what can you say about the Ponterio & Associates CICF'06 Sale#138 except wow? If you can't find something of interest in this sale, you aren't paying attention.
Richard Long: All is quiet from Langlois Oregon so far this year.
Review of the Mexican Coin Magic website in the NUMISMATIST
Michael Marotta (the ANA webpage guru and monthly columnist) sent us a nice email the other day. He is doing a column on websites dealing with Mexico in the May, 2006 issue of the American Numismatic Association’s NUMISMATIST and will include a review of MCM. See (612) The Mexican Coin Answer Man for copies of his emails.
It has taken some time for the mainstream numismatic community to notice our little website and give us some ink in their publications, but it is finally starting to happen. Some of you “old-time” Mexican coin buffs may wonder why we worry about this happening?
One of our (the MCM staff) greatest concerns is the “burning” question of where and how will our hobby find the NEW collectors of the future for Mexican coins? WE are beginning to see some crossover from U.S. coin collectors and even a few new collectors outside the U.S. and Mexico interested in Mexican Numismatics. We know this is happening because we are seeing multi-visits to our website from them. We are receiving emails from them saying it is great to find a source for “good” new information about Mexican coins.
The whole crux of our website is to give all Mexican Coin Collectors, both old and new from all over the world, a place where they can become better educated and find a meeting place to ask questions and converse with other collectors. There are some in our hobby that feel all new collectors need to “pay their dues”! These people believe each and every new collector must endure long years of frustration and study before becoming a “qualified buyer” of their wares. All of us “old-timers” have experienced this frustration of years of trying to determine what coins were rare and which were not? Which coins could be found in high-grades and which could not? Unless you read Spanish well, there has very little historical information printed about the many Mexican mints, the intriguing stories about the people behind making the coins, and facts that you can trust.
Our ultimate goal with the MCM website is to change all of this! This is the reason that all of the Mexican Numismatic Community and those interested in Mexican coins need to change their attitude. However, if the general coin collecting public does not know about our website, we will eventually fail. Because we are a non-profit publication we need as much “free” publicity as possible.
Now you can see why we greatly appreciate Michael Marotta’s future plug in the NUMISMATIST and the one already given us in Coin World by Jeff Starck.
Until next time good hunting.