A new commemorative gold coin marking the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing has been released for sales and it can been purchased by anyone willing to pay $1 million. The coin weights 22 pounds. However, one question arises, and that is, why should one pay a million dollars for a coin that is not a rarity. The answer is rather simple: this numismatic item is made in solid-gold that has the weight of a one-year old toddler and such kind of gold is extremely rare.

For the first time in about three decades the Kellogg Twenty will come back to Baltimore. The 154-year-old $20 gold coin was a unique California Gold Rush specimen, which, for a certain period of time, was owned by John Work Garrett, who was a Baltimore resident, as well as a diplomat. The Kellogg Twenty is considered by a lot of coin collectors to be one of the finest gold coins in the United States from the middle of the 19th century.

It is worth mentioning that the grandfather of John W. Garrett (1872 – 1942) was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad executive John Work Garrett (1820 – 1884), who was also the company's president. In his turn John Work Garrett was the eldest son of T. Harrison Garrett (1849 – 1888), who started collecting coins during his life as a student at Princeton. The collecting of rare coins marked lots of new rarities when the two sons of T. Harrison, John and Robert (1875 – 1961), became passionate with numismatics.

Recently the People's Bank of China introduced a new 10 yuan banknote that features a design commemorating the summer Olympic Games, which will take place in Beijing this year. According to the officials of the China Central Bank, the institution looks forward to issue six million banknotes with such denomination.

News reports from China state that thousands of bank branches have already started exchanging the new banknotes to people willing to obtain them. It's interesting to note that currently there are a huge number of people who are standing in line just to obtain the new bills.

The biggest completely automated Internet auction company for certified currency in the United States, Teletrade, has held an exclusive online auction, besides the company's usual 3 weekly auctions. The Auction 2549 featured over 200 exclusive certified coins and currency, which accounted for an impressive $1,050,000. Thus Teletrades' June auction reached a total of over $4.75 million, the highest sales mark of the company during a one-month period.

The unique Friday auction included a great collection of certified coins. All of the coins were presented in unique PCGS Green Holders. Wells Fargo $20 specimens were also presented in these original holders. These coins were auctioned together with a wide range of other exclusive that were certified by American rarities PCGS and NGC. Among the special selection of U.S. rarities, there were 5 coins that accounted over $100,000 each:

On July 2, 2008, the Director of the U.S. Mint, Ed Moy, presented the design for the new 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar. The presentation was made at the National Federation of the Blind's annual convention, which took place in Dallas, Texas, during the March for Independence. Louis Braille was born in January 4, 1809 and was the inventor of a world-wide system that visually impaired people use for writing and reading.

Recently the Bank of Russia presented three new investment coins: St. George the Victorious, Sable and One Chervonets. The peculiarities regarding the three specimens are presented below.

The history of ice hockey can be traced back to the 16th century. A game on ice by the name of Bandy is said to have existed in the Netherlands at that time. Bandy, generally regarded as the forerunner of modern ice hockey, is played with a small ball according to rules closely resembling those of football. The first proper match took place in 1875 in London. Just five years later, Bandy reached Switzerland, the mountains of Grisons to be precise.

Archeologists working at a Colony of Avalon dig site were able to unearth a unique Scottish Sword and Sceptre gold coin, which is dated back to 1601. The face value of the Scottish coin is six pounds, its weight is equal to 5 grams and it was found on the site, which is believed to be the territory where the colony spent its early years.

According to the news provided by the Colony of Avalon Foundation, the finding represents the first ever whole 22-carat gold coin discovered at the dig site, which is found at the southern shores of Ferryland, Newfoundland.