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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Treashunt, post: 242473, member: 6763&quot;]Parish coin cache found</p><p>By Kyle Stock (Contact)</p><p>The Post and Courier</p><p>Wednesday, June 13, 2007</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Investigators digging through the seized assets of economist Al Parish have confirmed a small treasure: a collection of rare coins worth at least $525,000.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are 36 coins in the collection, including a $2.50 gold piece minted in 1805 that is now worth at least $60,000.</p><p><br /></p><p>Parish spent at least $792,000 on the pieces, according to George Read, a Charleston-based art appraiser working on the case.</p><p><br /></p><p>That means he may have spent $267,000 more on the pieces than they&#039;re worth.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rosemarie Ingenito, the dealer who sold the coins to Parish, also invested $75,000 of her savings in his investment pools.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Atlanta-based businessman charged with rounding up Parish&#039;s holdings found the coins at a California dealer a few weeks ago. The former economics professor had bought the collection from Beverly Hills-based Mecca Consultants, but didn&#039;t pick it up.</p><p><br /></p><p>This week, investigators received an appraisal of the coins, confirming their authenticity and high value.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;They are absolutely, 100 percent the real McCoy,&quot; Read said. &quot;It&#039;s really a beautiful thing and it&#039;s nice to finally have something go right.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>The public will have a chance to see the coins July 13-14 at an auction of all sorts of Parish items in the Charleston Area Convention Center. There will be a small admission fee, a charge that will be rebated to successful bidders.</p><p><br /></p><p>Investigators recently decided to display virtually all of Parish&#039;s assets at the local auction next month, even the blue-chip pieces that will likely be sold via international dealers in New York or London.</p><p><br /></p><p>Parish, who faces 10 counts of criminal fraud and up to 205 years in prison, has a cache of art and collectibles, including about 130 expensive watches, a sketch by Pablo Picasso, a Norman Rockwell painting, a suitcase owned by Andy Warhol and a guitar reportedly strummed by Jimi Hendrix.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Whatever big trumpet-blowing stuff we have, we&#039;ll have it in there,&quot; Read said.</p><p><br /></p><p>Though Parish allegedly owes 600 investors at least $56 million, the receiver has turned up only about $1 million in cash and garnered another $130,000 by selling three of his cars.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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