Awesome Coins

Pure .9999 Fine Sold 24kt Gold Bullion / Ingot / Coin US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Sep-03-2010 21:17:11 PDT

25 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S BONUS 24K BULLION US $44.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Sep-03-2010 21:20:34 PDT

Pure .9999 Fine Sold 24kt Gold Bullion / Ingot / Coin US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Sep-03-2010 21:49:34 PDT

10 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S BONUS 24K BULLION US $19.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 4:16:50 PDT

Pure .9999 Fine Sold 24kt Gold Bullion / Ingot / Coin US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 5:22:30 PDT

3x 6x LED Magnifier Magnifying Glass with Leather Case US $8.99 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 8:22:09 PDT

3x 6x LED Magnifier Magnifying Glass with Leather Case US $8.99 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 8:24:04 PDT

25 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S BONUS 24K BULLION US $44.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 8:57:28 PDT

PCGS MS-63 Eight Piece Gold Type Set Collector Coins US $12,900.00 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 9:09:58 PDT

John F.Kennedy COMMEMORATIVE COIN SET SILVER GOLD US $100.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 9:42:34 PDT

1910 U.S. Two & Half $2.50 + 1914 $5 Indian Gold Coins US $635.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 10:09:46 PDT

1915 $2.50 Indian Gold+1879 1882 $5.00 Liberty Coin US $950.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 10:11:08 PDT

Gold Coin Lot 1915 $2.50 1911 $5.00 1881 $10.00 VF-EF US $1,325.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 10:11:19 PDT

RACETRACK BETTING BOX WITH OLD COIN COLLECTION + MORE US $37.00 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 11:45:26 PDT

24K BULLION + 10 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S. ++ US $19.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 12:30:49 PDT

25 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S BONUS 24K BULLION US $59.95 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 15:09:46 PDT

10 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S BONUS 24K BULLION US $19.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 15:18:35 PDT

2010 Buffalo (1OZ .999 FINE SILVER) BULLION COIN US $26.00 (9 Bids) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 16:42:00 PDT

1987- 50 dollar gold US liberty coin...1 ounce US $3,000.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 16:45:15 PDT

10 COIN ESTATE LOT OLD PROOFS + 24K GOLD SCRAP BULLION US $19.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 16:50:39 PDT

24K BULLION + 10 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S. ++ US $27.85 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 16:52:17 PDT

*ESTATE COIN LOTs! *10 COINS ea* SILVER & Gold Bonus!!* US $27.85 End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 17:01:19 PDT

24K BULLION + 10 COIN LOT! OLD MINT GOLD SILVER U.S. ++ US $19.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 17:41:25 PDT

150+Alaska Gold DUST Nuggets Mining, Gold Bullion US $39.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 17:48:26 PDT

50 WALKING LIBERTY MINI GOLD COINS*LOT OF 50*FREE GOLD US $16.15 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 17:50:31 PDT

*ESTATE COIN LOTs! *10 COINS ea* SILVER & Gold Bonus!!* US $19.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 19:20:10 PDT

2006 $50 99.99% GOLD BUFFALO MS70 ""FIRST STRIKE''' US $1,395.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 20:34:12 PDT

US GOLD TYPE SET UNCIRCULATED/BU 1908-1915S US $2,125.00 (5 Bids) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 21:00:11 PDT

4 FRESH NGC US GOLD COLLECTION 1900S-1924 US $3,550.13 (10 Bids) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 21:00:25 PDT

3 US GOLD COINS $5, $10 1881-1911 US $1,335.00 (3 Bids) End Date: Saturday Sep-04-2010 21:00:27 PDT

Bicentennial Council of the 13 Original States GOLD NEW US $10.50 (5 Bids) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 8:01:15 PDT

1911-D $20 St. Gaudens ANACS MS 62 Gold Coin US $1,450.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:19:37 PDT

1908 $20 St. Gaudens ANACS AU 58 Gold Coin No Motto US $1,277.00 (3 Bids) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:22:30 PDT

1907 $20 Saint Gaudens NGC MS 63 Gold Coin US $1,600.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:24:17 PDT

2007W $25 Gold American Eagle NGC PF70 Ultra Cameo US $725.00 (2 Bids) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:32:58 PDT

2007W $50 Gold American Eagle NGC PF70 Ultra Cameo US $1,500.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:34:45 PDT

2006W $50 Gold American Eagle NGC PF70 Ultra Cameo US $1,500.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:36:45 PDT

2007W $10 Gold First Spouse M. Washington NGC PF70 US $700.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:41:10 PDT

2007W $10 Gold First Spouse A. Adams NGC PF70 US $700.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 10:43:39 PDT

60 1922 MINITURE PEACE DOLLAR GOLD COINS PLUS FREE GOLD US $16.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 11:00:59 PDT

50 WALKING LIBERTY MINI GOLD COINS*LOT OF 50*FREE GOLD US $15.85 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 11:55:10 PDT

JFK memorial coin. Broze Babe! US $9.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 11:56:37 PDT

METALLIC GOLD TREASURE CHEST W/ GOLD FLAKES**GOLD COINS US $16.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 12:24:01 PDT

22K Yellow Gold 1oz American Eagle Coin Jewelry US $2,684.99 End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 14:45:57 PDT

INDIAN HEAD (1OZ .999 FINE SILVER) BULLION COIN US $17.49 (4 Bids) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 16:49:08 PDT

2010 $100 PLATINUM EAGLE NGC PF 70 EARLY RELEASE RARE US $2,275.00 (5 Bids) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 17:23:18 PDT

200+Alaska Gold DUST Nuggets Mining, Gold Bullion US $54.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 17:48:44 PDT

22K Yellow Gold 1/20oz Chinese Panda Coin Jewelry US $184.99 End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 17:59:09 PDT

UNCIRCULATED 24K GOLD PLATED U.S. PENNIES (Lot of 20) US $4.95 End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 18:19:46 PDT

NEW ORLEAN SAINTS NFL Louisiana US State Quarter w/BOX US $5.95 End Date: Sunday Sep-05-2010 18:19:52 PDT

Does the downturn spell the beginning of the end for suburbia? Some experts say yesterday's cul-de-sac is tomorrow's ghost town.

The downturn has accomplished what a generation of designers and planners could not: it has turned back the tide of suburban sprawl. In the wake of the foreclosure crisis many new subdivisions are left half built and more established suburbs face abandonment. Cul-de-sac neighborhoods once filled with the sound of backyard barbecues and playing children are falling silent. Communities like Elk Grove, Calif., and Windy Ridge, N.C., are slowly turning into ghost towns with overgrown lawns, vacant strip malls and squatters camping in empty homes. In Cleveland alone, one of every 13 houses is now vacant, according to an article published Sunday in The New York Times magazine.

The demand for suburban homes may never recover, given the long-term prospects of energy costs for commuting and heating, and the prohibitive inefficiencies of low-density construction. The whole suburban idea was founded on disposable spending and the promise of cheap gas. Without them, it may wither. A study by the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech predicts that by 2025 there will be as many as 22 million unwanted large-lot homes in suburban areas.

The suburb has been a costly experiment. Thirty-five percent of the nation's wealth has been invested in building a drivable suburban landscape, according to Christopher Leinberger, an urban planning professor at the University of Michigan and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. James Howard Kunstler, author of "The Geography of Nowhere," has been saying for years that we can no longer afford suburbs. "If Americans think they've been grifted by Goldman Sachs and Bernie Madoff, wait until they find out what a swindle the so-called 'American Dream' of suburban life turns out to be," he wrote on his blog this week.

So what's to become of all those leafy subdivisions with their Palladian detailing and tasteful signage? Already low or middle-income families priced out of cities and better neighborhoods are moving into McMansions divided for multi-family use. Alison Arieff, who blogs for The New York Times, visited one such tract mansion that was split into four units, or "quartets," each with its own entrance, which is not unlike what happened to many stately homes in the 1930s. The difference, of course, is that the 1930s homes held up because they were made with solid materials, and today's spec homes are all hollow doors, plastic columns and faux stone facades.

There is also speculation that subdivision homes could be dismantled and sold for scrap now that a mini-industry for repurposed lumber and other materials has evolved over the last few years. Around the periphery of these discussions is the specter of the suburb as a ghost town patrolled by squatters and looters, as if Mad Max had come to the cul-de-sac.

If the suburb is a big loser in mortgage crisis episode, then who is the winner? Not surprisingly, the New Urbanists, a group of planners, developers and architects devoted to building walkable towns based on traditional designs, have interpreted the downturn as vindication of their plans for mixed-use communities where people can stroll from their homes to schools and restaurants.

Richard Florida, a Toronto business professor and author of "Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life," argues that dense and diverse cities with "accelerated rates of urban metabolism" are the communities most likely to innovate their way through economic crisis. In an article published in this month's issue of The Atlantic, he posits that New York is at a relative advantage, despite losing a chunk of its financial engine, because the jostling proximity of architects, fashion designers, software writers and other creative types will reenergize its economy.

[painting via Sharilyn Neidhardt]