Music Friday: For 70 Years, Singers Have Told the Story of 'Big Blue Diamonds'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, music legend Van Morrison serves up his 2006 interpretation of "Big Blue Diamonds," a frequently covered song that was first released 70 years ago.

Written by Earl J. "Kit" Carson, "Big Blue Diamonds" tells the story of a young woman who pursues material wealth instead of true love, but then regrets her terrible mistake.

Morrison sings, "Oh, she wanted more than I had money to buy / So she left me sad and lonely I am told / Big diamonds, big blue diamonds / Now she'll trade them / For a love behind the little band of gold."

Country singer Red Perkins introduced the song as a 78 rpm single in 1950. Since then, a cavalcade of performers across many music genres — including country, rhythm and blues, jazz and rock and roll — have put their signatures on the song.

Here's just a partial list of the artists who have covered "Big Blue Diamonds": Tex Ritter (1950); Jimmy Dean and his Texas Wildcats (1955); Jack Lionel (1961); Little Willie John (1962) Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs (1965); Tommy Tate (1966); Little Johnny Taylor (1967); Gene Summers (1971); Arthur Prysock (1971); Mel Street (1972); Ernest Tubb (1972); Jerry Lee Lewis (1974); Willy DeVille (1990); Don Walser (1996); Percy Sledge (2004) and Morrison (2006).

Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1945. His dad worked in a shipyard, but had previously lived in Detroit, where he amassed a huge, and diverse, record collection. Morrison grew up listening to blues, country and gospel. By the time he was 13, the boy was singing and playing the guitar and sax in several bands.

At 22 years old, Morrison became an international star with his timeless hit, "Brown Eyed Girl." That song was followed by a slew of chart-toppers, including 1970's "Moondance" and 1971's "Tupelo Honey."

Over the years, Morrison has been called one of the prolific recording artists and hardest working live performers of his era. The 75-year-old has been touring regularly since 1958 and, in 2017, released his 37th and 38th studio albums.

He was knighted in 2016 to honor his services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland. The six-time Grammy winner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Please check out the audio track of Morrison performing "Big Blue Diamonds." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Big Blue Diamonds"
Written by Earl J. "Kit" Carson. Performed by Van Morrison.

Blue diamonds, big blue diamonds on her finger
Instead of a little band of gold
Big diamonds, big blue diamonds tell the story
Of the love that no one man could hold

Oh, she wanted more than I had money to buy
So she left me sad and lonely I am told
Big diamonds, big blue diamonds
Now she'll trade them
For a love behind the little band of gold

Blue diamonds, big blue diamonds how they sparkle
But what can they do to warm your heart and soul?
When you're lonely in the moonlight and you want lovin'
Big blue diamonds don't they seem so reckless and bold

I'd gladly do my part, to mend a broken heart
But a love that's warmed over soon grows cold
Big diamonds, big blue diamonds
I don't want them, no
I just want a love behind the little band of gold

Credit: Image by Jarvin / CC BY-SA.

Julius Caesar ‘Assassination Coin’ Dating to 42 BC Could Be Worth Millions

A previously unrecorded example of an ancient “Ides of March” gold coin commemorating the assassination of Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 44 BC has been confirmed by rare coin authenticators in the United States and the United Kingdom. Only three are known to exist.

One expert described the nickel-sized rarity as “a masterpiece of ancient coinage” and estimated that it could be worth millions.

“It was made in 42 BC, two years after the famous assassination, and is one of the most important and valuable coins of the ancient world,” explained Mark Salzberg, Chairman of the Sarasota, FL-based Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, the company whose experts confirmed the coin's authenticity.

The front of the coin features a portrait of Marcus Junius Brutus, one of Caesar’s assassins, and the other side dramatically depicts two daggers and the marking "EID • MAR." The initials represent the Latin abbreviation for the Ides of March, which corresponds to March 15 on the calendar and is the date Caesar was assassinated.

While nearly 100 Ides of March silver coins are known to still exist, this is only the third example known to be struck in gold. Of the other two, one is in the British Museum on loan from a private collector and the other is in the Deutsche Bundesbank collection.

“There were rumors of a third example, and NGC authenticators were excited when this coin was submitted at our London office and sent for evaluation at our headquarters in Sarasota,” said Salzberg.

The EID • MAR gold coin will be offered at public auction by Roma Numismatics Limited of London on October 29, 2020. According to the auction house, this previously unrecorded coin was closely held in a private European collection for many years.

"The conservative pre-auction estimate is £500,000 ($647,173), but considering the coin’s rarity, artistry and fabled place in history, I would not be surprised if it sold for several million,” predicted Salzberg.

Adding to its appeal, the coin is still in mint condition, according to NGC’s experts, despite its being more than 2,000 years old.

Between the two daggers on the back of the coin is a "pileus" — a cap of liberty traditionally given to Roman slaves when they were freed. The cap’s image was a symbolic statement that Rome was liberated after the assassination of the tyrant dictator.

“It’s a small gold coin with huge historical and collector value," added Salzberg. "It is the undisputed masterpiece of ancient coinage.”

Credits: Images courtesy of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.

For 2nd Time in 18 Months, Japanese Dad Honors Daughter With Flawless Diamond

Eighteen months ago, an unnamed Japanese private collector plunked down $13.7 million for a D-flawless, 88.22-carat oval diamond at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. He gifted it to his eldest daughter and named it “Manami Star” in her honor. Yesterday, it was deja vu all over again for the devoted dad, as his winning bid of $15.6 million secured a D-flawless, 102.39-carat oval diamond at Sotheby's Hong Kong. This time, he gifted it to his second daughter and named it "Maiko Star" in her honor.

 

Yesterday's single-lot auction was considered a landmark event for a number of reasons.

It was the first time a diamond of that importance and value was offered at auction without reserve. Usually, a high-value item would enter an auction with a reserve price, which is the confidential minimum selling price agreed upon between the auction house and the consigner. If the bidding failed to meet the reserve, the piece would be withdrawn from the sale. With no reserve, the top bidder is the winner, no matter what.

“Offering without reserve is really a way to let the market decide what the price is going to be for this diamond,” Quig Bruning, Sotheby’s head of jewelry in New York, told barrons.com in the lead-up to the sale.

Yesterday's auction also represented the first time a 100-plus-carat flawless diamond was sold via a combined online and live auction. Online bidding had started on September 15 and had reached $10.9 million. Yesterday's live sale ran for about 10 minutes with the bids slowly increasing in increments of HK$100,000 ($12,903).

The auction was also significant because this was only the eighth time a D-flawless diamond weighing more than 100 carats had been offered at auction and only the second time an oval-shaped, 100-plus-carat D-flawless diamond had been put on the auction block.

It looks like the Japanese collector got a great deal. Sotheby’s did not publish a presale estimate for the diamond, but based on previous sales of similar stones, some experts were anticipating a winning bid of $30 million.

In 2013, a 118.28-carat, D-flawless, oval diamond fetched $30.8 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.

The 102.39-carat gem was cut by Diacore from a rough diamond weighing 271 carats. That stone was sourced in 2018 at De Beers’ Victor Mine in Ontario, Canada. The exacting process of cutting and polishing the diamond took more than a year, according to Sotheby’s.

Credit: Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.