SEDWICKCOINS BLOG

I am Emily Sedwick, daughter of Daniel Sedwick, and for the past 2 summers I have had the great privilege of being employed at my father’s company. I have always been exposed to the world of numismatics growing up, accompanying my father to the office and even to a few FUN shows, but it wasn’t until I joined the Sedwick Coins crew that I found a real appreciation for the business.

Numismatics is not just about the coins but the history that goes along with them. Lola (my fellow intern) and I get plenty of history lessons from Cori in the office, but for those of you who are new to the business or collect coins as a hobby, the FUN show is an excellent place to learn firsthand. Although the July FUN show was not my first coin show, it was my first since I started working for Sedwick Coins.

On Thursday, the first day of the show, Lola and I spent time manning the cases and conversing with fellow dealers. It was an honor being able to introduce myself as Dan’s daughter as he is a well-respected dealer. Many times I would introduce myself to a dealer only to discover I had already met him or her as a child!

Everyone at the show was friendly and excited to have a young person in the business. Talking to and learning from such venerable collectors and businessmen was priceless work experience for a seventeen year old. Lola and I also attended a seminar called “Consumer Protection Update” by Tony Swicer and Sandy Pearl. This was a great talk for any person interested in the coin world because it cautioned against the prevalence of counterfeit currency and provided tips to avoid common traps.

I was not at the show on Friday so Lola took over and attended another seminar on foreign coins. She also started a small project organizing coins from a collection consigned to us that I was able to continue on Saturday. One of the coolest parts of the show was watching my father give an interview for Coin Week online magazine. He got to show off a gold disk consignment from the 1715 Fleet and talk about upcoming shows and auctions. Before we packed up for the weekend, I got to walk around and view the merchandise from the other dealers. Most of the booths were bustling with dealers making consignments, but what I found really great was the number of families and curious new learners that attend the shows as well.

The FUN show displayed to me a diverse group of people who are passionate about what they do and who encourage anyone willing to learn. So whether you’re a coin dealer, collector, or novice eager to learn, the FUN show is the perfect place to immerse yourself into a world of treasures.

With our Sedwick Treasure, World & U.S. Coin Auction #19 done and dusted, we look ahead to our next auction in November. Save the dates: November 11-12, 2016. This is our live floor auction and we invite you to join us! We will bring in world-class speakers to talk about their various areas of expertise, conduct an all-day floor auction in comfortable surroundings, and keep you busy every minute of the day. And Walt Disney World is just a shuttle ride away.

Cori Downing and Lola Berastegui

To help us with the usual things that take a back seat as we prepare for our auctions and to manage our eBay store, we have brought on board two interns this summer. Emily Sedwick, Dan’s daughter, is with us for a second summer and Lola Berastegui is a newbie. Both young ladies are extremely quick learners. Could one or both be a budding numismatist? Only time will tell.

Emily Sedwick hard at work

Visit us next month at the 10th Annual Summer FUN Convention at the Orange County Convention Center between July 7 and 9. Our booth number is 735. Both Emily and Lola will be there, so if you are a regular customer, please come by and introduce yourself. It’s also a good time to leave us your consignments for our next auction as the deadline for doing so is August 15.

Lola learning the ropes

We feel very fortunate to have Emily and Lola working for us this summer and hope they gain some valuable experience and life lessons!

My Stock Portfolio!

A year ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 18,200-18,300. Where is it today? It’s been inching back up from the cellar and hovers in the mid-17,000s. Despite the spin my stock broker tries to put on things, I know my portfolio looks pretty sad. Fortunately, I practice something called diversification. That means I own coins and artifacts in addition to stocks and bonds. How much more pleasure I derive from looking at my collections from time to time (and more important, adding to them) than I ever could by watching the stock market fluctuate!

Lot 289, Sedwick Treasure Auction #19

We have two important investment opportunities in our upcoming auction that will enhance any portfolio, two magnificent gold artifacts from the Atocha with equally important pedigrees. First is Lot 289, a gold disk with a cut edge weighing in at a generous 1438 grams and 19.75 fineness. It was originally for sale with Christie’s Auctions in June 1988 (Lot 81) which was the main Atocha auction for artifact and coin sales. Given today’s spot gold prices, this disc melts for $48,500, so the current bid of $45,000 is actually UNDER MELT VALUE! You can’t ask for a better investment than that. Our sales estimate is between $50,000 and $75,000 which surely seems reasonable.

Lot 1673, Sedwick Treasure Auction #19

The other is Lot 1673, a complete gold “wedding” chain, uncleaned with shells attached. It has been appraised for $200,000 in 1999 by James Sinclair, an archeologist for the Atocha material. It comes with another important piece of history, a certificate with original signatures of all the important people associated with the Atocha, including Mel Fisher. Shipwreck gold chains are considered an early form of tax evasion with the owner being exempt from paying the typical king’s fifth on gold and silver coins and bars. Our sales estimate is between $100,000 and $200,000 and this is a very special piece that comes around once in a lifetime. It’s never been for sale before. If you have the disposable income to consider bidding on Lot 1673, you should ask yourself whether you would rather have your money invested in stocks or in an irreplaceable piece of shipwreck history that is well recognized throughout the world. Imagine owning something that may otherwise be housed in a museum.

So, if you love collecting shipwreck coins and artifacts—and recognize them as a better investment than the stock market–either one of the pieces I’ve mentioned is well worth your consideration. Get your bid in today because we go live on Wednesday. Happy bidding! www.auction.sedwickcoins.com 

Lot 239, Sedwick Treasure Auction #19

Rarely does one random event lead to so much mayhem as the wreck of the SS Central America when it sank in a hurricane in 1857. It reminds me of something that Eppie Lederer (aka Ann Landers) once said when someone asked her whether she fabricated any of the letters in her advice column: “I can’t make this stuff up.” The story of the aftermath of the wreck of the SS Central America is rife with sorrow, greed, adventure, and downright bizarreness.

There are many great articles and books about the fate of the SS Central America and its re-discovery by Tommy Thompson and his group of investors called the Columbus America Discovery Group over 100 years later, but in a nutshell, the ship was laden with gold from the California gold rush years and uncirculated gold coins from the San Francisco mint when it sailed into a hurricane off the coast of Carolinas on September 9, 1857. The ship sank, taking with it an estimated $50,000,000 in today’s money and no hope of recovery. Many people drown although some were rescued. This significant monetary loss became a factor in the so-called Panic of 1857 that shook public confidence in the economy. Fast forward to September of 1988, when an engineer from the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, named Tommy Thompson had an idea where the SS Central America could be located and subsequently found the wreck thanks to technology not previously available. He and his crew were able to bring up an estimated $100-150 million of recovered gold. After that, the story takes a twist for the crazy when Thompson failed to pay investors and fled to an abandoned mansion in Vero Beach, Florida with his girlfriend, Alison Antekeier. They were finally caught holed up in a Hilton hotel in Boca Raton, Florida in January of 2015 and are now in prison. What was in the hotel room? Lots of strange, that’s what:

• 43 cellphones and 12 computers
• A trash bag full of prescription medication
• Registration papers for a trust in Belize
• Money wrappers in $10,000 amounts
• An expired US Treasury check for $216,939
• And an award-winning idea for hiding money, lunch boxes containing cash

So, if you want to own an extremely interesting piece of history, now is your opportunity! We have 3 coins from the wreck in our upcoming Treasure Auction #19, and one of them can be yours. We can’t often offer you both a beautiful coin and a really interesting story to go with it.

Lot 240, Sedwick Treasure Auction #19

Lot 243, Sedwick Treasure Auction #19