Three Rare Coins Sell For Nearly $900k

Three rare Australian coins have fetched almost $900,000 at auction - taking out two records in the process.

Australia's first coin, known as the 'Hannibal Head' Holey Dollar, sold for $410,000, while the first gold coin, an 1852 Adelaide pound, netted $370,000.

Both coins fetched record prices for coins of their type sold at auction, with the pound eclipsing the previous record by $240,000.

The coins went under the hammer in Melbourne on Monday night along with an 1813 Colonial Dumps coin, which had a less impressive result, selling for half the estimated price at $100,000.
Coinworks managing director Belinda Downie said it was an exciting auction result.

'It was a win-win. The vendor's happy. I saw really beautiful quality coins sell for very exciting prices, so, from a Coinworks perspective, and an industry perspective, there are no complaints,' she told AAP.

The top selling Holey Dollar is the only one of its type in private hands, with the only other known example housed in the NSW State Library.

'This one is unique for private buyers,' Ms Downie said.

'The quality of the coin is superior to most. It's got a really gorgeous history.'

The Holey Dollar was created from 40,000 Spanish coins acquired by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to alleviate Australia's coin shortage.

Governor Macquarie enlisted the services of convicted forger William Henshall to cut a hole in the centre of each dollar and later to stamp each with the words New South Wales and a five shilling value.

The rare coin gained notoriety after being found in 1881 as part of a bushranger's hoard and was later owned by the Tasmanian governor, Ms Downie said.

'Right from the onset this particular coin has always enjoyed publicity,' she said.

Aussie Banks Worth More Than Europe's Combined

FOR the first time in history the value of Australian banks are now worth more than the Eurozone. 
 
The Commonwealth Bank made a net profit of almost $7.1 billion, the biggest ever reported by an Australian bank. That boils down to a daily profit of almost $19.5 million or more than $13,000 a minute.

 ANZ  posted a $4.4 billion profit for the nine months to June, an increase of 10 per cent.

CBA chief executive Ian Narev told the Adelaide Advertiser that he is “proud and not embarrassed” by the massive profit surge. He said the results boil down to strong Australian economy and the confidence of their shareholders.

“The people who own this group. . . 60 per cent of them are Australian households directly, that's 800,000 Australian families, “Another 20 per cent of our shareholders are Australians who own them directly through their pension funds.

“So the shareholders who we are doing well for are millions and millions of Australian households,” said Mr Narev.

ANZ's Australian, New Zealand and Asian operations, chief executive Mike Smith told news.com.au the group attributes their success to effective management of ongoing funding and competitive pressures. He also said ANZ had picked up market share in deposits, mortgages and business lending

Other financial analysts have said the massive profits can be explained by the fact that unlike European and American banks, Australia have not loaded up on subprime debt, bad real estate loans or “piles of dodgy foreign debt”.

Home Owners Forced to Take Super - Australia Mortgage

HOME owners have raided their superannuation funds of a record $100 million in last-ditch bids to avoid foreclosure, new government figures have shown.

The surge in mortgage-holders seeking emergency access to their savings has alarmed housing and social welfare groups, who warn many families are still struggling to meet loan repayments despite steep cuts in the interest rate

With distressed owners receiving an average of $15,250 each, there are also concerns some super accounts could be drained of more than a third of their value. The number of households in serious financial trouble has worsened despite mortgage lending rates falling about 1 per cent in the past six months and nearly 3 per cent since their peak in mid-2008.

Figures obtained by The Sun-Herald showed 6500 home owners were given emergency access to their super last financial year to prevent an imminent foreclosure.

A Commonwealth Department of Human Services report found $99.38 million was released, up 25 per cent on 2010-11 and well above the disbursements in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
It also marks the third year in a row that the number of people applying for, and being granted access to, their nest-egg has increased.

A campaign manager for Australians for Affordable Housing, Sarah Toohey, said years of house price growth had seen debt balloon and forced households to devote an unsustainable amount of income to meeting mortgage repayments.

''It's alarming and it shows that housing affordability is about more than just interest rates,'' she said.
''The sheer size of what people have to borrow to get into the housing market now really puts household finances under strain.'