On a recent trip to visit friends in Arizona, our first stop was at a rest area on the Minnesota/Iowa border. There is also a casino across the road so the wife and I decided to try our luck before heading on down the road. It quickly became evident that luck was not with me that day so I wandered around looking for a ticket redemption machine to cash in my meager leftovers. What I discovered was a meeting room at the rear of the casino floor with a "Coin Show" sign outside.
I immediately forgot about cashing in the ticket and ventured in to see what there was to see. The room had a number of coin dealers with some nice selections of gold and silver coins. After checking the offerings and making a small purchase, we were on our way again.
As we continued on with our trip I was reminded again of the value of what these dealers were offering. This building holding the coin show is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farm fields as far as the eye can see. And yet the coins, especially the gold coins, available for anyone there to buy are recognized for their value worldwide. Whether you are in Minneapolis, Paris, Hong Kong, Sidney or Buenos Aires your Gold Eagles, Gold Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, etc. can be redeemed for local currencies or other available "treasures". That's why you should have and hold some gold bullion coins.
Well true to form the Gold and Silver Eagles reported as being produced by the U.S. Mint for February were a shadow of their January numbers.
one-ounce gold eagles - 20,000 (versus 84,500 for January)
half-ounce gold eagles - 0 (versus 49,000 for January)
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 2,000 (versus 38,000 for January)
tenth-ounce gold eagles - 5,000 (versus 85,000 for January).
Silver Eagles came in at 1,490,000 which is less than 25% of January's 6,107,000. Maybe February is a catch-your-breath month for them and we'll see if March's numbers are significantly better.
Just a reminder about my Gold Investing web site where more gold info can be found.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Gold Investing - A Change To eBay Coin Auctions
eBay has announced that, as of 02/20/2012, they will no longer accept listings for replica coins in their coin auctions. As you may know, a replica coin is considered to be "a copy or reproduction of an actual coin, including U.S., foreign and other historic coins". Not everyone is happy with this but I think it is a good move. eBay could take some heat off of themselves if they set up another category just for replica coins.
In the past, I attempted to include current eBay auctions on certain pages of my Gold Investing Simplified web site. My intent was to provide the visitor with active auctions of $20 Libertys, $20 Saints, American Gold Eagles and Krugerrands. What I ended up getting was mostly crap with "real" coin listings far and few between. So I dropped them from all but the Krugerrands page. Once the replicas are banned, I may reinstate the listings if it means better information for my visitors. An article describing eBay's announcement and rationale can be found here.
Gold has certainly enjoyed some nice gains the past few days. On Wednesday, spot gold moved past $1700 per ounce for the first time since mid-December (a gain of $44.40 on the day). As of this writing, spot gold is at $1717.80, a gain of $112.70 over the last 30 days. Silver is also having a few good days and spot silver is at $33.26, a gain of $4.54 in the last 30 days.
Here's where we stand regarding Gold American Eagles so far in January...
one-ounce gold eagles - 76,000, half-ounce gold eagles - 46,000,
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 32,000, tenth-ounce gold eagles - 75,000.
Silver American Eagles are at 5,697,000 and within striking distance of the all-time monthly record of 6,422,000 set in January 2011.
In closing let me say if you are shopping for gold or silver coins and haven't browsed eBay coin auctions, you are missing out. Even if you don't want to buy, you can get quite an education on what is selling (and at what price) and what is not selling (either due to too high asking price or just no demand). There are always some coins being offered that I am interested in buying but there are others I would never buy on eBay. But that discussion is for another time.
Thanks for reading.
In the past, I attempted to include current eBay auctions on certain pages of my Gold Investing Simplified web site. My intent was to provide the visitor with active auctions of $20 Libertys, $20 Saints, American Gold Eagles and Krugerrands. What I ended up getting was mostly crap with "real" coin listings far and few between. So I dropped them from all but the Krugerrands page. Once the replicas are banned, I may reinstate the listings if it means better information for my visitors. An article describing eBay's announcement and rationale can be found here.
Gold has certainly enjoyed some nice gains the past few days. On Wednesday, spot gold moved past $1700 per ounce for the first time since mid-December (a gain of $44.40 on the day). As of this writing, spot gold is at $1717.80, a gain of $112.70 over the last 30 days. Silver is also having a few good days and spot silver is at $33.26, a gain of $4.54 in the last 30 days.
Here's where we stand regarding Gold American Eagles so far in January...
one-ounce gold eagles - 76,000, half-ounce gold eagles - 46,000,
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 32,000, tenth-ounce gold eagles - 75,000.
Silver American Eagles are at 5,697,000 and within striking distance of the all-time monthly record of 6,422,000 set in January 2011.
In closing let me say if you are shopping for gold or silver coins and haven't browsed eBay coin auctions, you are missing out. Even if you don't want to buy, you can get quite an education on what is selling (and at what price) and what is not selling (either due to too high asking price or just no demand). There are always some coins being offered that I am interested in buying but there are others I would never buy on eBay. But that discussion is for another time.
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Gold Investing - An Event That Didn't Happen
Gold has certainly had some serious setbacks in the last few months. After reaching a lofty high of $1900.30 in September, the end of December saw the price drop to $1531.00. One thing I was watching for was for a possible drop below 2010's ending number of $1421.60.
There are powerful forces against the rising price of gold and it was certainly possible for this take-down to occur in the thinly traded markets that are normally associated with end-of-year activity. If it had happened, we would have had to listen to anti-gold faction crowing about how the gold bubble had burst and to look for a steady price decline.
As it stands now, the gold bubble hasn't burst and has an 11 year pattern of higher year-over-year closing prices (you can see all of these prices on my Gold Investing Home Page ). Spot gold ended 2011 at $1566.40, a gain of $144.80 (not quite 10%) for the year.
Here are the December and total 2011 Gold Eagle totals from the U.S. Mint (assuming no adjustments to these totals in the first few days of 2012):
one-ounce gold eagles - 65,500, year-to-date 910,000;
half-ounce gold eagles - 0, year-to-date 65,000;
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 0, year-to-date 82,000;
tenth-ounce gold eagles - 0, year-to-date 370,000.
A total of 1,000,000 ounces of gold were used to mint these 1,427,000 bullion coins in 2011. Silver Eagles for 2011 had an ending number of 39,868,500.
On a positive note, the U.S. Mint announced last Wednesday that they anticipate having enough American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins to meet demand in early 2012. For the last several years, the Mint has had to allocate their early sales of gold and silver Eagle bullion coins (to its authorized dealers) due to an unprecedented demand and a lack of coin blanks (planchets). It was reported on Reuters web site and you can find it here. Two other items from the Mint: 1) the 24k Gold American Buffalo won't be available until March 2012; and 2) they will begin accepting orders for the 2012 dated one ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce American Eagle gold and silver coins starting on Jan 3rd, 2012.
One last article I would like to call your attention to is by Egon von Greyerz, the founder and managing partner at Matterhorn Asset Management out of Switzerland. This entry appeared on the King World News Blog on 12/29/2011. He gives his thoughts on why gold has gone down and his prediction for what gold will do in 2012. The article can be read here.
Thanks for reading. Happy New Year.
There are powerful forces against the rising price of gold and it was certainly possible for this take-down to occur in the thinly traded markets that are normally associated with end-of-year activity. If it had happened, we would have had to listen to anti-gold faction crowing about how the gold bubble had burst and to look for a steady price decline.
As it stands now, the gold bubble hasn't burst and has an 11 year pattern of higher year-over-year closing prices (you can see all of these prices on my Gold Investing Home Page ). Spot gold ended 2011 at $1566.40, a gain of $144.80 (not quite 10%) for the year.
Here are the December and total 2011 Gold Eagle totals from the U.S. Mint (assuming no adjustments to these totals in the first few days of 2012):
one-ounce gold eagles - 65,500, year-to-date 910,000;
half-ounce gold eagles - 0, year-to-date 65,000;
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 0, year-to-date 82,000;
tenth-ounce gold eagles - 0, year-to-date 370,000.
A total of 1,000,000 ounces of gold were used to mint these 1,427,000 bullion coins in 2011. Silver Eagles for 2011 had an ending number of 39,868,500.
On a positive note, the U.S. Mint announced last Wednesday that they anticipate having enough American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins to meet demand in early 2012. For the last several years, the Mint has had to allocate their early sales of gold and silver Eagle bullion coins (to its authorized dealers) due to an unprecedented demand and a lack of coin blanks (planchets). It was reported on Reuters web site and you can find it here. Two other items from the Mint: 1) the 24k Gold American Buffalo won't be available until March 2012; and 2) they will begin accepting orders for the 2012 dated one ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce American Eagle gold and silver coins starting on Jan 3rd, 2012.
One last article I would like to call your attention to is by Egon von Greyerz, the founder and managing partner at Matterhorn Asset Management out of Switzerland. This entry appeared on the King World News Blog on 12/29/2011. He gives his thoughts on why gold has gone down and his prediction for what gold will do in 2012. The article can be read here.
Thanks for reading. Happy New Year.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Gold Investing - Gold Down Big, Time To Bail?
I suspect, with the recent dip of spot gold's price below $1600 per ounce, you may have done some soul-searching as to your gold investments. If you have some, should you sell now to lock in some gains (or limit your losses)? If you have not yet invested, is this a good time to jump in or has the bubble truely burst?
Regarding my thoughts, I am not ready to give it up just yet. In fact, as long as the price stays above $1500, I don't give it a second thought. If it drops down to $1200 or so, then I might have to make a decision. I don't think that will happen and several very savvy investors don't think there is a reason to panic either.
Many of the so-called experts that are saying the bubble has burst did not see this 11 year bull market at all (but now they are sure it's over). You must understand that, to some, a high and rising gold price is not desireable as it is a reflection on the weakness of paper-based assets. With the present condition of many economies and their fiat currencies, thinking the bubble has burst is wishful thinking in my humble opinion. And I'm not alone...
Zerohedge posted an article on 12/14 titled Citi predicts Gold At $3400 In "The Next Two Years", Potential for Move As High As $6000. If they are even half-right, that doesn't sound like the bubble has burst to me. The article is here. John Hathaway, the seasoned manager of the Tocqueville Gold Fund, believes that gold's run is not over yet and that "This correction is well within the confines of what you can tolerate to say gold is still in a bull market." That article can be found here.
Richard Russell, The Godfather of newsletter writers, was quoted in a King World News blog titled Gold Trading Above $1,500 is Bullish Action. He believes the great bear market rally in stocks is about over and recommends GET OUT OF STOCKS. He states "gold will be the last man standing". The article is here. Two days later, in another King World News blog, Mr. Russell stated "I will Stay with Gold & Gold Stocks to the End". In this blog entry, Richard Russell makes some hard-hitting statements about America and the current state of affairs. He has lived long enough to have insights that most do not. If you want to limit your reading to "happy talk", don't read his comments. Otherwise, they can be found here.
I want to end on a happy note. Some generous donor in Pennsylvania dropped a one-ounce South African Krugerrand in a Salvation Army red kettle. This has happened before but the donor remains anonymous. I can't think of a much better place for a Krugerrand to land. The very short article is here.
Thanks for reading. If you celebrate it - Merry Christmas. If not, Happy Holidays.
Regarding my thoughts, I am not ready to give it up just yet. In fact, as long as the price stays above $1500, I don't give it a second thought. If it drops down to $1200 or so, then I might have to make a decision. I don't think that will happen and several very savvy investors don't think there is a reason to panic either.
Many of the so-called experts that are saying the bubble has burst did not see this 11 year bull market at all (but now they are sure it's over). You must understand that, to some, a high and rising gold price is not desireable as it is a reflection on the weakness of paper-based assets. With the present condition of many economies and their fiat currencies, thinking the bubble has burst is wishful thinking in my humble opinion. And I'm not alone...
Zerohedge posted an article on 12/14 titled Citi predicts Gold At $3400 In "The Next Two Years", Potential for Move As High As $6000. If they are even half-right, that doesn't sound like the bubble has burst to me. The article is here. John Hathaway, the seasoned manager of the Tocqueville Gold Fund, believes that gold's run is not over yet and that "This correction is well within the confines of what you can tolerate to say gold is still in a bull market." That article can be found here.
Richard Russell, The Godfather of newsletter writers, was quoted in a King World News blog titled Gold Trading Above $1,500 is Bullish Action. He believes the great bear market rally in stocks is about over and recommends GET OUT OF STOCKS. He states "gold will be the last man standing". The article is here. Two days later, in another King World News blog, Mr. Russell stated "I will Stay with Gold & Gold Stocks to the End". In this blog entry, Richard Russell makes some hard-hitting statements about America and the current state of affairs. He has lived long enough to have insights that most do not. If you want to limit your reading to "happy talk", don't read his comments. Otherwise, they can be found here.
I want to end on a happy note. Some generous donor in Pennsylvania dropped a one-ounce South African Krugerrand in a Salvation Army red kettle. This has happened before but the donor remains anonymous. I can't think of a much better place for a Krugerrand to land. The very short article is here.
Thanks for reading. If you celebrate it - Merry Christmas. If not, Happy Holidays.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Gold Investing - What Happened to November's Gold Eagles?
I like to check on the U.S. Mint's Gold Eagle program a few times each month to see what the numbers are. So far in November, with the month half over, the numbers are dismal. Thru 11/15 those numbers are...
one-ounce gold eagles - 11,500, half-ounce gold eagles - 0,
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 2,000, tenth-ounce gold eagles - 5,000.
This is by far the slowest start of any month this year. October was the next slowest production month with 50,000 ounces of gold used for all Gold Eagles produced in that month. So far in November only 12,500 ounces of gold have been used. You always have to wonder if they are again having trouble getting the blanks (planchets) to make the coins. Just a few days ago, it was announced the U.S. Mint purchased (or agreed to purchase) $1.25 billion in gold and silver bullion from Sunshine Minting Inc. (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho). The article states Sunshine Minting "supplies raw silver and silver and gold blanks to the U.S. Mint and 13 other government mints around the world." You can see the article here.
The current bull market in gold will turn 11 years old in February of 2012. Gold has gained each year since 2001 including the very rough year of 2008. This year looks to be more of the same as gold is up approximately 30% in the last year. This after gold reached a high of $1,920.30 an ounce in September then dropping to $1,534 an ounce later in the month. Spot gold currently is at $1769.10.
There are many savvy financial professionals who are predicting gold will go much higher, not the least of which is the respected Stephen Leeb. He was recently quoted in two separate entries appearing on King World News Blog which you might find of interest. You can read them at This Will Drive Silver to $100 Rapidly and at You Have to Love Gold Here.
One last blurb for those who hold silver coins - I just published an article on Cleaning Silver Coins on my Silver Investing Simplified site. Before you even think about cleaning any of your silver coins, you may want to to review this article. It is at Cleaning Silver Coins.
Thanks for reading.
one-ounce gold eagles - 11,500, half-ounce gold eagles - 0,
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 2,000, tenth-ounce gold eagles - 5,000.
This is by far the slowest start of any month this year. October was the next slowest production month with 50,000 ounces of gold used for all Gold Eagles produced in that month. So far in November only 12,500 ounces of gold have been used. You always have to wonder if they are again having trouble getting the blanks (planchets) to make the coins. Just a few days ago, it was announced the U.S. Mint purchased (or agreed to purchase) $1.25 billion in gold and silver bullion from Sunshine Minting Inc. (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho). The article states Sunshine Minting "supplies raw silver and silver and gold blanks to the U.S. Mint and 13 other government mints around the world." You can see the article here.
The current bull market in gold will turn 11 years old in February of 2012. Gold has gained each year since 2001 including the very rough year of 2008. This year looks to be more of the same as gold is up approximately 30% in the last year. This after gold reached a high of $1,920.30 an ounce in September then dropping to $1,534 an ounce later in the month. Spot gold currently is at $1769.10.
There are many savvy financial professionals who are predicting gold will go much higher, not the least of which is the respected Stephen Leeb. He was recently quoted in two separate entries appearing on King World News Blog which you might find of interest. You can read them at This Will Drive Silver to $100 Rapidly and at You Have to Love Gold Here.
One last blurb for those who hold silver coins - I just published an article on Cleaning Silver Coins on my Silver Investing Simplified site. Before you even think about cleaning any of your silver coins, you may want to to review this article. It is at Cleaning Silver Coins.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Gold Confiscation - What Are The Odds?
It seems like more articles are popping up concerning gold confiscation - what the U.S. Government will do, may do, won't do, can't do, etc. This all stems from the original confiscation of most gold holdings from U.S. citizens in 1933. I say most because within the Executive Order it stated "Gold coin and gold certificates in an amount not exceeding in the aggregate $100 belonging to any one person; and gold coins having a recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins." were exceptions. So an individual could legally own just under five ounces of gold (the price of gold was $20.67 at the time) and a number of rare and unusual coins (as a collector). You can see the entire document at Executive Order April 5, 1933 .
How updates to the gold confiscation language progressed from 1933 until the present day is the topic of the first article I would like to call your attention to. Written by David L Ganz J.D., it is titled "Gold Confiscation: Here's how it could happen - and what you can do about it". After reading his credentials, I can't imagine too many people more qualified to write on the subject than Mr Ganz. It is a long article and you might want to skim the upper part until you get to the commentary on the applicability of current U.S. law to gold ownership. There is an impressive picture of gold coins (well worth seeing) at the end. You can read the article here.
The second article related to gold confiscation appeared on the GATA (Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee) web site. It details correspondence that GATA had with the U.S. Treasury Department in 2005 (possibly the most recent "official" statement from the U.S. Government as to its powers, or perceived powers, concerning gold and silver confiscation). The article provides the actual list of questions GATA has asked the government to respond to as well as the detailed response provided by Chief Counsel of the responsible area of the U.S. Treasury. You can see it here.
Some investors take great comfort in the fact that rare and unusual (numismatic?) coins were exceptions to the law and, therefore, would surely be exempt again if gold confiscation became a repeat event. This feeling is helped along by some dealers telling their customers that a coin with a 15% or more premium over the spot value of gold won't be confiscated.
I don't believe there is such a thing as a confiscation-proof coin. The current language would seem to favor coins that are rare and unusual but that language could be changed in a heartbeat by a desperate government. As far as the 15% exemption law, I don't think it exists. A regulation was proposed in the Federal Register, Vol 49, No.3, 1/5/1984 but it was never adopted. If you have proof that there is such a law, I would be most interested in being notified of it.
I don't believe that gold confiscation is in our near future as there are much more attractive targets to home in on (can you say 401k?). But information is power and hopefully these two articles will help you make informed decisions on your future gold investments.
Thanks for reading.
How updates to the gold confiscation language progressed from 1933 until the present day is the topic of the first article I would like to call your attention to. Written by David L Ganz J.D., it is titled "Gold Confiscation: Here's how it could happen - and what you can do about it". After reading his credentials, I can't imagine too many people more qualified to write on the subject than Mr Ganz. It is a long article and you might want to skim the upper part until you get to the commentary on the applicability of current U.S. law to gold ownership. There is an impressive picture of gold coins (well worth seeing) at the end. You can read the article here.
The second article related to gold confiscation appeared on the GATA (Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee) web site. It details correspondence that GATA had with the U.S. Treasury Department in 2005 (possibly the most recent "official" statement from the U.S. Government as to its powers, or perceived powers, concerning gold and silver confiscation). The article provides the actual list of questions GATA has asked the government to respond to as well as the detailed response provided by Chief Counsel of the responsible area of the U.S. Treasury. You can see it here.
Some investors take great comfort in the fact that rare and unusual (numismatic?) coins were exceptions to the law and, therefore, would surely be exempt again if gold confiscation became a repeat event. This feeling is helped along by some dealers telling their customers that a coin with a 15% or more premium over the spot value of gold won't be confiscated.
I don't believe there is such a thing as a confiscation-proof coin. The current language would seem to favor coins that are rare and unusual but that language could be changed in a heartbeat by a desperate government. As far as the 15% exemption law, I don't think it exists. A regulation was proposed in the Federal Register, Vol 49, No.3, 1/5/1984 but it was never adopted. If you have proof that there is such a law, I would be most interested in being notified of it.
I don't believe that gold confiscation is in our near future as there are much more attractive targets to home in on (can you say 401k?). But information is power and hopefully these two articles will help you make informed decisions on your future gold investments.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Gold Investing - September A Busy Month For The U.S. Mint
The early September production numbers of Gold (and Silver) Eagles started out low, leading one to believe it would be another ho-hum month for these popular bullion coins. And then things started happening and the numbers came out fairly decent. Silver Eagles had their second highest month of the year at 4,460,500. Gold Eagle numbers were about in the middle of the pack for the year so far. Final September numbers for Gold Eagles...
one-ounce gold eagles - 87,500 (just 17,500 reported thru 9/10);
half-ounce gold eagles - 1,000 (0 reported thru 9/10);
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 2,000 (0 reported thru 9/10);
tenth-ounce gold eagles - 25,000 (5,000 reported thru 9/10).
So far in 2011, 852,000 ounces of gold have been "used" in support of the Gold Eagle program and another 132,500 ounces in their 24K Gold Buffalo program.
Some gold investors are getting nervous after the price of gold had its worst week since 1983. Not Richard Russell who recently stated "I look at gold and silver, not as a play for profits, but as an accumulation of hard assets, in a world that it drowning in fiat money, and a world that will probably print trillions more of irredeemable paper." You can read the entire post here.
One last article to share with you regarding the price of gold and if it's time to bail. "The recent selling of gold was related to panic from hedge funds needing to raise money for redemptions as well as a tightening of margin requirements. This was not selling pressure based on any fundamental change in conditions or outlook."This short article appeared on MarketWatch.com and you will find it here.
At the time of this post, spot gold sits at $1,666.30 and spot silver is at $30.77.
Thanks for reading.
one-ounce gold eagles - 87,500 (just 17,500 reported thru 9/10);
half-ounce gold eagles - 1,000 (0 reported thru 9/10);
quarter-ounce gold eagles - 2,000 (0 reported thru 9/10);
tenth-ounce gold eagles - 25,000 (5,000 reported thru 9/10).
So far in 2011, 852,000 ounces of gold have been "used" in support of the Gold Eagle program and another 132,500 ounces in their 24K Gold Buffalo program.
Some gold investors are getting nervous after the price of gold had its worst week since 1983. Not Richard Russell who recently stated "I look at gold and silver, not as a play for profits, but as an accumulation of hard assets, in a world that it drowning in fiat money, and a world that will probably print trillions more of irredeemable paper." You can read the entire post here.
One last article to share with you regarding the price of gold and if it's time to bail. "The recent selling of gold was related to panic from hedge funds needing to raise money for redemptions as well as a tightening of margin requirements. This was not selling pressure based on any fundamental change in conditions or outlook."This short article appeared on MarketWatch.com and you will find it here.
At the time of this post, spot gold sits at $1,666.30 and spot silver is at $30.77.
Thanks for reading.
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