Press Release

Collectors Universe Diamond Grading Division GCAL Now Official Grading Service for ESCADA Fine Jewelry in USA

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Collectors Universe, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLCT), a leading provider of value-added authentication and grading services to dealers and collectors of high-value collectibles and diamonds, today announced that its diamond grading division Gem Certification & Assurance Lab (GCAL) has entered into an agreement which designates GCAL as the official grading lab for ESCADA Fine Jewelry USA. The Pluczenik Group, a sightholder for the Diamond Trading Company, is the licensee of ESCADA Fine Jewelry.

Under terms of the agreement, Collectors' GCAL division will provide grading and authentication services as part of a double verification system of quality assurance for ESCADA Fine Jewelry in the U.S. market. In addition to photomicrographs of the diamond and direct assessment light performance of the diamond for brilliance and symmetry, each GCAL grading certificate includes a Gemprint that will specifically match the diamond to its GCAL certification. Gemprint is a non-invasive, patented identification technology that captures and stores a digital image of the unique refractive pattern of a diamond, in essence, the "fingerprint" of the diamond. The GCAL certificate with Gemprint provides security for the retail customer, and also establishes a method for tracing the diamond to its owner if the item of ESCADA Fine Jewelry is lost or stolen. ESCADA Fine Jewelry is sold at some of the finest luxury jewelry retailers.

"The GCAL grading certificate will provide confidence and security that ESCADA Fine Jewelry sellers in the U.S. can offer with what is most often the first diamond ring for many buyers," stated Don Palmieri, President of GCAL.

"We're pleased to have our GCAL division associated with ESCADA Fine Jewelry, one of the most highly respected global brand names in luxury fashion," said Michael Haynes, Chief Executive Officer of Collectors Universe. "With the double verification and the added security provided by GCAL with Gemprint, ESCADA Fine Jewelry and its U.S. retailers are taking a step to increase consumer confidence. This agreement represents another validation of the strong value proposition created by our unique GCAL services, the only diamond grading and authentication service able to provide non-invasive, patented identification technology that provides unbiased verification of a diamond's authenticity."

About Collectors Universe

Collectors Universe, Inc. is a leading provider of value added services to the high-value collectibles and diamond markets. The Company authenticates and grades collectible coins, sports cards, autographs, stamps currency and diamonds. The Company also compiles and publishes authoritative information about United States and world coins, collectible sports cards and sports memorabilia, collectible stamps and diamonds. This information is accessible to collectors and dealers at the Company's web site, www.collectors.com, and is also published in print.

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains statements regarding our expectations about our future financial performance which are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "project," or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may."

Due to a number of risks and uncertainties to which our business is subject, our actual financial performance in the future may differ, possibly significantly, from our expected financial performance as set forth in the forward looking statements contained in this news release. Information regarding those risks and uncertainties, and their possible impact on our future financial performance, including, but not limited to the risks that our strategy to expand into new collectibles and other high value asset markets, such as the diamond market, will not be successful in enabling us to improve our profitability and that those businesses and the services that they provide will not gain market acceptance, or will increase our operating expenses and possibly cause us to incur losses. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties to which our business is subject is contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended June 30, 2005 which we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 13, 2005 and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2005, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 9, 2006.

Due to the above-described risks and uncertainties and those described in our 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, which speak only as of its date, or to make predictions about future performance based solely on historical financial performance. We also disclaim any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this news release or in our Annual or Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contacts:
Joe Wallace
Chief Financial Officer
Collectors Universe
949-567-1245
Email: jwallace@collectors.com

Brandi Piacente/E.E. Wang
Investor Relations
The Piacente Group, Inc.
212-481-2050
Email: brandi@thepiacentegroup.com
Email: ee@thepiacentegroup.com

SOURCE: Collectors Universe, Inc.
04/05/2006

CONTACT: Joe Wallace, Chief Financial Officer of Collectors Universe,
Inc., +1-949-567-1245, jwallace@collectors.com; or Investor Relations, Brandi
Piacente, brandi@thepiacentegroup.com, or E.E. Wang, ee@thepiacentegroup.com,
both of The Piacente Group, Inc., +1-212-481-2050, both for Collectors
Universe, Inc.
Web site: http://www.collectors.com
(CLCT)