TEHRAN, Nov 15 - The price of gold coins in Iran fell by more than 4 percent after the Central Bank started supplying newly-minted coins to the market, Iranian newspapers reported on Sunday.

"The gold bubble burst", read a headline in daily Jam-e Jam, referring to Saturday's decline in the price of a standard Iranian gold coin to 2.69 million rials from a record high of 2.82 million rials reached last week.

The market was closed on Friday, which is a public holiday.

On Thursday, the Central Bank announced plans to inject 5 million newly-minted gold coins into the domestic market in order to control rising coin prices and restore balance in the market.

At a coin price of 2.8 million rials, the total value of the planned intervention would amount to roughly $1.4 billion. It was not immediately clear over what time period the new coins would be supplied to the market.

The price of gold coins in Iran has risen sharply in line with developments on international markets where gold bullion has risen 28 percent this year to a record high $1,122.85 an ounce on Thursday. It traded at $1,118.85 on Friday. [GOL/]

Many Iranians buy gold coins as wedding gifts and also as a long-term investment.

Iranian media said the new coins were being offered by three Iranian banks -- Kargoshie, Sepah and Tejarat.

A standard gold coin weighs around 8.13 grams. It is also sold in smaller denominations of half a coin and a quarter of a coin.

The planned central bank intervention appeared in part to be an attempt to help bring down inflation and reduce liquidity in the economy. Iran's year-on-year inflation stood at 7.6 percent in October, continuing a downward trend that began in late 2008. (Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Hans Peters)

Technorati Tags: buy roman coins, gold coins for sale

How about these right... I think you'll find the following nuggets of wisdom particularly insightful. Leave your comments below. Check out the second one in particular...

Looting matters: Looting Matters: Are Import Restrictions on ...

"Orphan" Antiquities Study - The Cultural Policy Research Institute, a think tank formed last year "to build a viable legal framework for the protection of world historical Read the rest of this entry

Technorati Tags: antiquities, antiquities auctions

Ancient Greek pottery is highly valued for form and decoration. The Greek vases are artistic and technical masterpieces created by artists working in teams to construct, decorate, and fire the pottery. The most popular subjects of figural scenes are mythical. The most fascinating attributes of ancient Greek pottery is its amazing detail.

The history of Ancient Greek pottery is divided stylistically Read the rest of this entry

Technorati Tags: ancient greek antiquities, ancient roman artifacts

I hope you've been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.

Type Set Spurs Interest in Many Designs

Years later, upon visiting a favorite coin shop during Christmas shopping, I became a fan of type Read the rest of this entry

Technorati Tags: coin shop, commemorative coins