Escala's Collateral Finance Corporation Named "Official Numismatic Lender" of American Numismatic Association

Business Wire, July 30, 2007

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Escala Group, Inc. (ESCL.PK), a global collectibles company in stamps, coins, and arts and antiques, today announced that the American Numismatic Association (ANA) has named Escala's Collateral Finance Corporation (CFC) as the exclusive official numismatic lender of the ANA.

The ANA is a Congressionally-chartered, 32,000-member nonprofit association, and is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating and encouraging people to study and collect money and related items.

CFC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc., which conducts Escala's trading operations, provides loans to dealers, collectors and traders in the rare coin and bullion market. These loans, which are offered on monthly, six-month or one-year terms with an origination fee, are secured by the coin and bullion assets of the borrower, whether part of the investor's collection or in the dealer's inventory. CFC also provides loans against coins that are in the process of being independently certified for authenticity and grade by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) or Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). CFC offers final loan amounts - ranging from $10,000 to over $5 million - of up to 70% of the collateral value of coin assets, and 90% of the collateral value of bullion assets, based on its in-house expert valuations of the collateral

Greg Roberts, President and CEO of A-Mark Precious Metals, commented, "The Professional Numismatists Guild conservatively estimates that the retail market in rare U.S. coins exceeded $3 billion in 2006. The rise in prices of precious metals continues to fuel greater interest in rare-coin collecting and bullion trading. With our experience in collateral lending, we have formed CFC to meet the growing demand for capital to fund the investment in rare coins and bullion."

Mr. Roberts continued, "Currently, CFC offers competitive lending rates to dealers and traders, and we expect to expand these lending services to individual collectors through our dealer relationships and our new relationship with the ANA."

Thor Gjerdrum, Chief Financial Officer of CFC, added, "We are very excited to be named the exclusive numismatic lender of the ANA. To maximize on-hand merchandise that attracts the broadest market of rare coin collectors, dealers need access to capital to fund opportunistic purchases that round out their inventories. In response to an increasing number of inquiries in the market for this type of finance product, A-Mark established CFC to meet the borrowing needs of coin dealers, collectors, and bullion traders. CFC offers a financing alternative that can quickly and easily help them improve liquidity, expand inventory, and generate greater profit."

About Escala Group, Inc.

Escala Group is a consolidated global collectibles network. The Company is a leading auctioneer of stamps, coins, arms, armor and militaria, and other memorabilia, targeting both collectors and dealers. Escala is also a merchant/dealer of certain collectibles and trader of precious metals. The Company's collectibles offerings span the modest to ultra high-end price spectrum. Escala conducts its operations in two business segments: collectibles and trading.

Escala's Group Companies focused on philately are H.R. Harmer and Nutmeg Stamp Sales of North America; Corinphila Auktionen of Zurich, Switzerland and the Kohler auction house in Wiesbaden, Germany, from our European division; and John Bull Stamp Auctions, Ltd, the oldest philatelic auction house in Hong Kong in our Asia division. Escala's Group Companies in its numismatics division include Teletrade, Bowers and Merena Auctions, North American Certified Trading, and Spectrum Numismatics International, one of the largest wholesalers of rare coins in the U.S. Greg Martin Auctions is in the Company's art and antiques division.

The trading activities of Escala Group are conducted through A-Mark Precious Metals, one of the largest private sellers of bullion coins and bullion gold, silver and platinum to the wholesale marketplace.

ABOUT A-MARK PRECIOUS METALS, INC.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, Ca. and established in 1965, A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc., (APM) is a full service precious metals merchant offering a wide array of precious metals products and services on a global basis. APM maintains a network of strategic relationships with a variety of Sovereign Mints, First Tier Financial Counterparties and Precious Metals Dealers which APM utilizes to meet the complete precious metals needs of its client base.

ABOUT COLLATERAL FINANCE CORPORATION

Collateral Finance Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. It offers collateral-based loans on numismatic, semi-numismatic and bullion products. CFC is a licensed California Finance Lender.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

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 Escala Group's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Escala Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, prospectuses and other documents that Escala Group has filed with the Commission. In particular, any statement related to Escala Group's expected revenues or earnings or Escala Group's being well positioned for future profitability and growth are forward-looking statements.