8th Jan 2008 07:00
Avarae Global Coins PLC08 January 2008 AVARAE GLOBAL COINS PLC UK'S FIRST DEDICATED COIN FUND TAKES ADVANTAGE OF MINISTRY OF JAPAN SALE London (AIM: AVR): 8 January 2008 - Avarae Global Coins plc ("Avarae" or "theFund"), the UK's only publicly traded investment company dedicated to investingin rare and high quality coins, today announced the purchase of a collection ofcoins from Japan's Ministry of Finance. The equity market did not reap the rewards some might have hoped for in Japanduring 2007 as fund managers reported underperformance in the region. Theeconomy is suffering and Japan's national debt has risen to over 729 trillionyen, the equivalent of 5.71 million yen (just under £25,000) for every man,woman and child in Japan - so the future does not look so bright. However, analternative asset class currently gathering traction with investors is theJapanese coin market. Three years ago State Minister Tatsya Ito announced thatthe Ministry of Finance would be selling gold coin holdings totaling 32,683individual pieces and weighing an incredible 225kg in an effort to raise 10billion yen to offset against the national debt - auctions that would take placeover three years starting in February 2005 and ending in March 2008. The rarer and better coins have been offered in live room auctions, each coinsold in a plastic slab clearly marked in English "Ministry of Finance, Japan".Avarae held off buying coins until now as the Japanese coin market has been flatsince the announcement took place, but with 80% of the entire collection sold,the future of coin investments in Japan is starting to look quite attractive tothe outside world. As a result of greater flow in the market, Avarae purchaseda lot of 385 high grade gold coins issued between 1870 and 1917. The Companybelieves that the latest investment for the Fund has great potential and expectsto see a price recovery in the years ahead, which would add significant value tothe latest holding. Commenting on the opportunity for investment, Sir John Wheeler, Chairman of theAdvisory Panel to Avarae Global Coins plc, said: "The Japanese coin market has been very subdued in recent years, particularly sosince the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced the sale of so many gold coinsin a series of auctions. We have avoided buying until now but since such alarge proportion of the collection has now been sold, and because we were ableto strike a deal when sterling was at 240 yen, we feel that this sizeable lot ofhigh grade coins has great potential. Historically, once a treasured collectionhas been disseminated, the coins usually start to recover in price As aconsequence of these Ministry of Finance sales together with other factors,Japanese coins have not enjoyed the same strength as has been seen with coins of the US and throughout Europe. We feel, with the auctions drawing to an end,that Japanese coins could start to catch up with their peers." For further information on Avarae Global Coins plc, please contact: Brian Hatton/Matthew Wood +44 (0)16 2461 5614 Avarae Global Coins plc Gordon Puckey/Sarah Scott +44 (0)20 7947 2856/7Phoenix Financial PR This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
AVR.L