Coins DIG

The Los Angeles City Council decided Wednesday to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries next to residences, but rejected a proposal to keep them at least 500 feet away, which would have drastically limited the available locations.

The council, however, put off a vote on the last contentious issue until Tuesday, when it will decide whether dispensaries must be 500 feet or 1,000 feet from so-called sensitive uses, such as schools, parks and religious institutions.

After a monthlong hiatus from the issue, the council had been expected to vote on the ordinance Wednesday.

The company's surprise statement on Tuesday that it was no longer ready to censor search results in China and might pull out of the world's biggest Internet market by users has put it squarely at odds with the Chinese government.

But analysts and business experts on Wednesday said Google's past clashes with powerful companies and industries, and the importance of the Chinese market to Google's future, suggest that self-imposed exile from China may not be Google's end-game.

Hard lines in previous battles have been negotiating tactics and could be this time, too, they said.

The Central States Numismatic Society has donated $2,500 to the Numismatic Crime Information Center, the non-profit corporation announced Dec. 1. The donation will help fund an educational program designed to educate law enforcement about numismatics and numismatic crime.
NCIC will launch the new program during the early part of 2010, it says. The program is designed to educate police officers at the local level.

Apple Inc. shares may keep advancing after reaching a record as the maker of the iPhone and Macintosh computer introduces new products to fuel sales, analysts said.

Apple rose 31 cents to $211.92 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 9:39 a.m. New York time. It climbed to record $211.61 yesterday, fueled by holiday sales estimates and speculation that Apple will release a tablet device next year. The shares have more than doubled this year, compared with a 61 percent rise for the Standard & Poor’s Information Technology Index.

U.S. stocks moved higher Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24 points to 10544, the S&P 500 rose 3 points to 1130 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 10 points to 2296. Among the companies whose shares are actively trading in the session are Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and 3PAR Inc. (PAR).

Joining California, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, Washington has become the latest state to step up efforts to legalize and regulate marijuana.

Legalization bill was introduced in the California and Massachusetts earlier this year. Now states like New Hampshire and Washington have pre-filed their bills for the legislative session that commences in January.

Further, about two dozen states in the nation like Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin are considering the bill to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purpose and also to decriminalize possession of small amounts of the herb.

With every bit of evidence that the mini-Depression of 2009 is behind us, and signs pointing to economic recovery and expansion, collectors will have the rare opportunity to ring in the New Year at the Florida United Numismatists convention with the Heritage auction featuring, amid other rarities, one of the five known examples of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel.

It has a rich history and a performance as an investment that would please any owner.Of the five coins, two are off the market permanently in museums. The Norweb specimen was donated to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection in 1978, and the Aubrey and Adeline Bebee specimen went cross-country to the Colorado Springs. Colo., museum of the American Numismatic Association, the national coin club, in 1989.

Japan's Toyota Motor plans to boost its global production in 2010 by 17 percent to about 7.5 million units, Japanese media reported Saturday.

The output target -- which does not include Toyota group firms Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors -- is still down about one million units from the peak year of 2007 and matches the level of 2005, the business daily Nikkei said.

But Toyota may raise its 2010 output further after taking into account the impact of the government's decision to extend subsidies for purchases of environmentally friendly vehicles by six months to September 2010, the paper said.

Heritage Auction Galleries and Ivy Press announced Dec. 1 the release of the 136-page book Gobrecht Dollars. It is the most thorough review to date of the existing scholarship on these controversial and much sought-after coins, according to Heritage.

“This reference book, the result of five and a half years of work, is intended for the general numismatist that is looking for a deeper understanding of these fascinating coins,” said Mark Van Winkle, editor of the tome and chief cataloger at Heritage. “It gathers together the diverse threads of the Gobrecht story without delving into the more speculative areas of die markers and their possible consequence for establishing emission sequences.”

A London restaurant has asked diners to sign away their right to sue before consuming Christmas pudding, a traditional Yuletide treat that sometimes contains coins or charms.

Neleen Strauss, the owner of High Timber in central London, acknowledged that the idea was a bit silly but she said she would rather be safe than sorry.

''It has created a bit of a stir in the restaurant and people looked at it disbelieving at first,'' she said Thursday. ''I thought it was going to be a pain but decided to do it to cover my backside.''

Recipes for Christmas pudding -- sometimes known as a plum pudding -- are varied, but generally involve a rich boiled or steamed mixture larded with fruits and spices.

Traditionally silver coins are hidden in the mix so that some portions have them and others don't.