Vatican in the gold business

Investors should soon be able to buy 3-ounce gold reproductions of gold seals that are iconographic treasures, found in secret archives in the basement of the Vatican in Rome.

The seals, said to make up the largest such collection in the world, are affixed to priceless documents that g o back to the 12th century, ranging from an order from Frederick Barbarossa, to coronation seals from the Bourbons and the Hapsburgs.

Money, it seems, is needed to keep these archives going, and a speci al mint is to be set up, by an investment banker in Milan, which plans to reproduce in limited editions of 10,000 each, about 31 of the original seals. The mint would use about 1,000 kilos of gold every two months, beginning this March, to produce the 3-ounce reproductions.

An international consortium of banks is being organized to underwrit e the operation, and these banks in turn will distribute the gold seals to investors and collectors in more than 20 countries.

The seals may be not that much of a threat to the Maple Leaf gold co ins, but they should attract investors with a stronger-than- usual sense of history.

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