Bob’s Pick - “The Mermaid” by Artist Zhou Ling

This stunning example of the blending and fusion of traditional Chinese and 20th Century European (particularly French) art, characteristic of the Yunnan School, is by one of the co-founders of the Yunnan School, Zhou Ling (b. 1941).  Zhou Ling, a recipient of many awards both here in the West and in China, is much beloved for her extraordinary technique, which made itself manifest from a very early age, and her deeply humanistic portrayals of the peasant life of the Yunnan Province, minority peoples living and working in both natural and magic-realist environments.

Zhou Ling, currently residing in Chicago, has had an extraordinary life, having lived through and survivied most of the posts-WWII upheavals and persecutions that have wracked the Chinese Mainland, including Mao Tse-Tung’s Cultural Revolution and the Chinese Communitss’ wars on artists and their repeated attempts to control and direct their subject matter and techniques.

“The Mermaid,” currently on display and for sale at Empire’s Washington Street location, presents a wonderful opportunity, at a price far below anything a prospector of pawn shop gold would comeacross at a Newbury Street Boston or Soho art gallery, to acquire a lovely work of art, both a beautiful picture and a piece of our modern world’s turbulent history.

         Example of Yunnan School of Art

Empire Loan’s Sales Manager Bob DeNutte has pulled out three remarkable pieces from the Empire Emporium to serve as this issue’s featured items, gold coins in fact, which in turn has occasioned some reflections on just some of the types of gold jewelry that Empire makes available to prospectors of pawn shop gold: Numismatic coinage and Bullion coinage. So, before we get to the descriptions (and photos) of the actual items, let us, at Bob’s behest, take a moment to reflect on these two very important and distinctive categories of coinage, in the hope that once you are better informed, you will thereby become a savvier shopper. In the process, we trust that you will realize the benefits of coming to Empire to do your gold digging, what with all of the value added by our experienced and solicitous staff. Speaking of which, we hope that as you peruse through our web site, and check out previous issues of Pawn Talk, you will come to the realization that Bob is much more interested in sharing his knowledge of and experience with jewelry, vs. trying to sell any particular items. Besides, by the time you have finished reading this article, there is a good chance that the featured items will have already been sold (this is good stuff cheap, and it doesn’t sit on the shelf for very long!). What you will have learned about it, on the other hand, will be yours to keep and will be of benefit to you for a long time to come…

Numismatic vs. Bullion, what is the difference?

Numismatic Coinage is, as Bob likes to put it, “the change in your pocket.” What he means by that is that at one point, these types of coins were actual currency, with a face value. In the good ol’ USA, they have been issued in $1, $2½, $5, $10, and $20 denominations. They are not used as currency anymore, and their face value is pretty meaningless, in light of the wild fluctuations (mostly up, up, up, in recent years) in the price of gold we have seen over time. But they are pretty, and oh, how they shine, stamped as they are with either the “Indian Head” or some representation of Lady Liberty. For this reason, they are eminently collectible, and people like to set them with precious stones, to make pendants, bracelets, etc. Thereby they fulfill two functions: Historic and Esthetic.

Bullion Coinage is, to quote our local sage Bob again, “just metal.” This form of the precious metal was produced solely as a practical way for people to hold gold, and surprisingly, is a relatively recent way of making gold available to the general public. Because back in the day, the only way to obtain gold was to buy bricks of the stuff, like those shiny stacks of ingots that Goldfinger coveted, and wanted to make radioactive in the James Bond historical thriller “Goldfinger.” In the early 1970’s, President Nixon unhitched the US Dollar from the International gold standard, which created a new investor’s market for gold, in light of its newly acquired speculative value, and, voila! First the South African Krugger and, then the Canadian Maple Leaf, then the Chinese Panda came on the market, and people did not need to be carrying around little gold kit-kat bars, but could get their gold in smooth shiny coins, which then could be given some esthetic value by setting them as rings or as pendants. But contrary to gold coinage of the numismatic variety, these are very plain looking coins, are not particularly collectible, and really are just what they are, worth their weight, at whatever the price of gold is going for on a given day.

Which brings us to the three pieces that Bob has pulled out of the Empire inventory for our review… :

1^st Piece: Woman’s Pendant, w/Numismatic coin

This is a USD $5.00 “Liberty Head” gold coin, dated 1903, 22 ct. gold, with .9 purity (very pure). It is surrounded by 26 small diamonds totaling 1.4 cttw. It has two “handles” to pass a chain through, and combined with said chain will make a lovely pendant, most esthetic and pleasing to the eye, and a guaranteed partner-pleaser. The holder that the coin is set in is 14 ct. gold.

2^nd Piece: Woman’s Ring, w/Bullion coin

$5.00 Liberty coin dated 1990, 1/10 03 pure gold surrounded by 24 diamonds totaling .48 cttw. Mounting is 14 ct. An elegant way to carry around some solid value.

3^rd Piece: Man’s Ring, w/Bullion coin

¼ oz. in gold, $10 face value, dated 1998, Liberty coin with Eagle back. Mounting is 14 ct. gold.This ring says: Solidity, Strength, Surety. Not for the limp-wristed! Its quiet simplicity and smooth lines say: I don’t need to make an impression, and that’s impressive!