Greg Manning Auctions' Spectrum Division Named a Primary Distributor of S.S. Republic Coin Discovery

Business Wire, August 27, 2004

WEST CALDWELL, N.J. & IRVINE,Calif. -- Odyssey Marine Exploration Finds 1865 Shipwreck Treasure Valued at $75 Million

Greg Manning Auctions, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMAI) announced today that Spectrum Numismatics International, a wholly owned subsidiary of GMAI, has been named one of the primary distributors to market an important discovery of gold and silver coins estimated to be worth at least $75 million. Primarily minted between 1838 and 1865, the wreck of the S.S. Republic was recovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration Company (AMEX: OMR). The S.S. Republic was bound for New Orleans from New York City in 1865 when on October 25, a northeast gale, described by the ship's captain, Edward Young as the "perfect hurricane," caused the order to abandon ship in forty foot seas off the Georgia coast. Of the 92 passengers and crew on board, all but two made it safely aboard lifeboats and a raft. However the ship's cargo, that included a reported $400,000 dollars in gold and silver coins (1865 value), as well as a large shipment of freight, quickly sank to a depth of 1,700 feet. Odyssey, after a twelve year quest using state of the art equipment, finally succeeded in its goal to locate the S.S. Republic and its thousands of coins, many in uncirculated condition and valued at up to $450,000 each.

Spectrum Numismatics International has previously marketed a number of fabled coin discoveries including the Binion silver coins and the Wells Fargo $20 gold pieces. Greg Roberts, C.E.O. of Spectrum stated, "Coins with the provenance of the S.S. Republic will forever be identified with this famous shipwreck and this important era in the history of our country and our nation's coinage of beautifully designed and executed gold and silver pieces." He went on to add, "We are working toward an agreement with the Odyssey group to auction a select few coins in our Bowers and Merena and Teletrade divisions. Spectrum will be selling the majority of the S.S. Republic coins to individual investors and collectors through Goldline International, Inc. (www.goldline.com), a precious metals and rare coin investment firm founded in 1960. Spectrum previously worked with Goldline in the successful distribution of the Binion Silver Dollar Collection and Wells Fargo 1908 No Motto $20 gold piece hoard.

Greg Manning, First Vice Chairman, CEO and President stated, "Spectrum and GMAI look forward to working with Odyssey in the future as they continue to search for important shipwrecks around the world. We expect that the sale of the S.S. Republic coins will have a positive impact on the first and second quarters of our fiscal year 2005 which began on July 1st."

The story of the sinking of the S.S. Republic is a feature article in the September issue of the National Geographic magazine. To learn more about this amazing discovery go to www.nationalgeographic.com, www.shipwreck.net, and www.goldline.com.

About Greg Manning Auctions

Greg Manning Auctions, Inc. is a global collectibles merchant and auction house network, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia and on the Internet. This network was created in September 2003 when GMAI and Auctentia, S.L. effectively integrated their auction businesses, creating a GMAI-AUCTENTIA global collectibles auction network.

In North America, GMAI is a leading traditional and e-commerce - live event, Internet, and interactive telephone - auctioneer and merchant/dealer of collectibles. Coins, stamps and sports cards are offered at www.gregmanning.com and www.teletrade.com. Its operations include the Greg Manning Auctions division, Ivy & Manning Philatelic Auctions, H.R. Harmer, Greg Manning Galleries, Spectrum Numismatics, Teletrade, Nutmeg Stamp Sales, Superior Sports Auctions, Bowers & Merena Galleries and Kingswood Coin Auctions.

In Europe, the leading auction houses affiliated with the network are Auctentia Subastas of Madrid, Spain (operating under the name "Afinsa Auctions"); Corinphila Auktionen of Zurich, Switzerland (65% owned by GMAI); and the Koehler group of auction companies of Berlin (66.67% owned by GMAI) and Wiesbaden, Germany.

GMAI also owns GMAI Auctentia Central de Compras (CdC) of Madrid, Spain, which is engaged in the sale, marketing and production of owned and third-party collectibles, with an emphasis on specialized philatelic material.

Both GMAI and CdC currently act as exclusive supplier of collectibles - primarily stamps and coins - on a worldwide basis to Afinsa Bienes Tangible, S.A. of Madrid, Spain, one of the world leaders in marketing tangible investment products.

Statements in this press release that relate to future plans, objectives, expectations, performance, events and the like are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Future events, risks and uncertainties, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Factors that may cause such differences include changes in market conditions, changes in economic environment, competitive factors and the other factors discussed in the "forward-looking information" or "risk factors" sections included in GMAI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including GMAI's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, prospectuses and other documents that GMAI has filed with the Commission.